Unit rationale, description and aim
In today's economy, where traditional employment structures are shifting, startup business knowledge is crucial for individuals to navigate the complexities of freelance work and seize entrepreneurial opportunities. Understanding how to launch a business empowers individuals to thrive in flexible work arrangements, innovate, and contribute to economic growth. This unit offers applied learning and enables students to develop entrepreneurial mindset to succeed in their business ambitions. Key components consist of how to set up a business, implement business strategies and develop knowledge on new technologies. Students will be equipped to begin their business endeavours, possessing the necessary knowledge and skills to start, grow, and oversee small businesses anchored in the 17 United Nations Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Overall, the unit aims to provide a strong understanding of fundamental principles and practical abilities crucial for effectively launching and managing small businesses.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Identify relevant models, theories, concepts and p...
Learning Outcome 01
Explain the importance of entrepreneurship in a sm...
Learning Outcome 02
Analyse business frameworks, concepts, and models ...
Learning Outcome 03
Demonstrate entrepreneurial skills in local or glo...
Learning Outcome 04
Design a small business venture with the considera...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics will include:
- Introduction to small business management and entrepreneurship
- Igniting business and entrepreneurial talent
- Exploring avenues for business guidance and support
- Strategy formulation and business development planning
- Understanding SDGs and applying business ethics
- Technology for small businesses
- Market analysis and marketing for small business.
- Legal and regulatory compliance when registering a business
- Operations and distribution strategies for small business
- Financing business ventures and access to capital
- Go-to-market strategy
- Managing expansion and recognising global opportunities for small business
Assessment strategy and rationale
The assessment strategy for the unit is created to ensure that students not only achieve proficiency in all learning outcomes but also demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. To pass this unit, students must demonstrate competence in all learning outcomes and achieve an aggregate mark of at least 50%.
Assessment tasks are designed to be both formative and summative, providing students with ample opportunities to gauge their progress and develop their skills. The assessment approach is consistent across all modes of delivery, ensuring fairness for all students irrespective of their learning environment. Students will progressively be submitting assessment tasks during the study period, while receiving feedback from each to feed forward into their next task.
Assessment 1: students will focus on selected weekly modules to deepen and evaluate their understanding of key concepts and refine their knowledge as needed.
Assessment 2: students develop and present business pitch presentation with the goal of effectively communicate new business venture ideas.
Assessment 3: students requires students to design a business plan based on the pitch presented in Assessment 2, with consideration of technology in startups, legal and regulatory, operations, finance and marketing consideration and with the goal to manage expansion in a sustainable way.
Strategies aligned with transition pedagogies will be utilised to facilitate successful completion of the unit assessment tasks. For each assessment, there will be the incorporation of developmentally staged tasks with a focus on a progressive approach to learning. This will be achieved through activities, including regular feedback, particularly early in the unit of study to support their learning; strategies to develop and understand discipline-specific concepts and terminology; in-class practice tasks with integrated feedback; and greater peer-to-peer collaboration.
Overview of assessments
Assessment 1: Active Engagement Students wi...
Assessment 1: Active Engagement
Students will be evaluated on knowledge acquisition through a range of engagement activities, synthesis of information, and application of relevant theories and concepts in practical contexts.
Submission Type: Individual
Assessment Method: Online engagement
Artefact: Online record of engagement
30%
Assessment 2: Business Pitch Presentation Student...
Assessment 2: Business Pitch Presentation
Students design and present a business pitch presentation for their selected industry.
Submission Type: Team/Individual
Assessment Method: Oral
Artefact: Individual presentation
30%
Assessment 3: Business Plan Design a business pla...
Assessment 3: Business Plan
Design a business plan with consideration of technology in start-ups, legal and regulatory issues, operations, finance and recognising strategies aligned with sustainability frameworks.
Submission Type: Individual
Assessment Method: Report
Artefact: Written report
40%
Use of resources and technologies including Generative Artificial Intelligence:
For the assessments in this unit, students are permitted to use GAITs to clarify concepts, theories, ideas, etc., discussed in class. Students are also allowed to use GAITs to generate preliminary ideas for writing and/or edit a working draft of the assignment. However, students must develop or edit those ideas to such a significant extent, that what is submitted is their own work. Use of peer-reviewed references according to the assignment instructions is still expected.
Please note that the outputs from these tools are not always accurate, appropriate, or properly referenced. Students should ensure they have moderated and critically evaluated the outputs from generative AI tools such as ChatGPT before submission.
Students will be required to disclose and provide an acknowledgement statement by selecting from the below:
Please select ONE acknowledgement from the following and put it at the end of your submission:
· I acknowledge that I have not used GAITs (e.g., ChatGPT) in drafting and proofreading this assignment.
· I acknowledge that I have only used GAITs (e.g., ChatGPT) in drafting and proofreading this assignment, which is permitted in the assignment instructions.
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit is designed to create a dynamic learning environment and integrates life case studies, problem-based, and experiential learning methodologies to facilitate the analysis and application of knowledge and skills pertinent to creating and managing small business ventures. By employing a multifaceted approach through a series of workshop activities and online independent tasks, using a variety of learning resources (videos, texts, exercises, and cases), this unit progressively equips students with the competencies necessary for success in entrepreneurial endeavours.
Students will engage in mini seminars or lectures, and workshops that delve into core theories, providing a solid theoretical foundation upon which practical exercises are built. Guest speakers with entrepreneurial background will provide real-world insights and experiences into the learning process, offering students various perspectives on navigating the entrepreneurial landscape. Through a blended delivery model encompassing both face-to-face workshops and online components, students will actively engage in individual and group activities. These activities will serve as catalysts for the development and consolidation of practical knowledge related to entrepreneurship and business management theories and concepts.
Further to this, to ensure students are ready to transition from the Diploma and articulate into the second year of undergraduate study, transition pedagogies will be incorporated into the unit as the key point of differentiation from the standard unit. This focuses on an active and engaging approach to learning and teaching practices, and a scaffolded approach to the delivery of curriculum to enhance student learning in a supportive environment. This will ensure that students develop foundation level discipline-based knowledge, skills and attributes, and simultaneously the academic competencies required of students to succeed in this unit.
Mode of delivery: This unit is offered in multimode to cater to the learning needs and preferences of a range of participants and maximise effective participation for isolated and/or marginalised groups.
Representative texts and references
Barringer, B & Ireland, R 2019, Entrepreneurship: Successfully launching new ventures, 6th edn, Pearson Prentice Hall.
Frederick, H, O'Connor, A and Kuratko, D 2019, Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process and Practice, 5th edn, Asia-Pacific Edition, Cengage.
Scarborough, N and Cornwall, J 2024, Essentials of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management, Global Edition (12). Pearson Education Ltd, England.
Originally approved at Faculty of Law and Business Board on 00/00/2021