The overall aim of this course is to consolidate a student’s understanding of entrepreneurship practice and its relationship to entrepreneurship theory and research. A candidate should be aiming to become a subject matter expert in a particular area related to implementing an innovative or entrepreneurial project. The course contains a student driven research based project and therefore the nature of each project is negotiated with the lecturer/supervisor. A major objective is for candidates to integrate the knowledge gained through other courses and demonstrate mastery of their chosen subject domain.

The specific objectives of this course are for candidates to:

1. Understand and communicate the nature and purpose of innovation and entrepreneurship research and its relationship to innovation or entrepreneurship practice

2. Employ literature search techniques to develop a personal library of related articles from academic journal databases, industry, government and general media sources.

3. Candidates examine in-depth a selected and agreed area of entrepreneurship theory and research that relates to and/or influences the practice of entrepreneurship.

4. Apply effective communication skills in the development and presentation of business and research papers, reports, and plans.

5. Construct a Major Project Output (plan, report or paper) that produces evidence of an integrated and self-directed research and practical learning experience that synthesises a range of course material acquired throughout the entrepreneurship program.

To achieve these goals, you will need to demonstrate as a minimum:

• A comprehensive understanding of the relevance of entrepreneurship research for arriving at intended practical entrepreneurship outcomes.

• A comprehensive understanding of the nature and purpose of written and oral communications in achieving project outcomes.

• The integration of relevant knowledge from other courses into the Major Project Output (plan, report or paper).

Text book:
No text required

A set of articles will be provided on the MyUni site to assist students with the content and conduct of this course. Students are required to expand their search and reading by sourcing their own articles etc because this course is aimed at doing independent self-driven research.

Entrepreneurship and Research
1. Bygrave, William c2007, 'The entrepreneurship paradigm (I) revisited' in Ulhøi, John P. & Neergaard, Helle (eds.), Handbook of qualitative research methods in entrepreneurship, Edward Elgar, Northampton, MA, pp. 17-48.

2. Davidsson, Per 2002, What entrepreneurship research can do for business and policy practice, International Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 5-24.

3. Alvarez, Sharon A. & Barney, Jay B. 2006, 'Can organizing a firm create new economic value?' in Cooper, Arnold C. (ed.), Entrepreneurial strategies: new technologies in emerging markets, Blackwell Pub., Malden, MA, pp. 11-25.

4. Hall, J.K., Daneke, G.A. & Lenox, M.J. 2010, 'Sustainable development and entrepreneurship: Past contributions and future directions', Journal of Business Venturing, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 439-448.

5. Isenberg, Daniel J. 2010, How to start an entrepreneurial revolution, Harvard Business Review, vol. 88, no. 6, pp. 40-50.

6. Short, Jeremy C., Moss, Todd W. & Lumpkin, G. T. 2009, Research in social entrepreneurship: past contributions and future opportunities, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 161-194.

7. Sarasvathy, Saras D. 2001, Causation and effectuation: toward a theoretical shift from economic inevitability to entrepreneurial contingency, Academy of Management Review, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 243-263.

8. Zott, Christopher, Amit, Raphael & Massa, Lorenzo 2011, The business model: recent developments and future research, Journal of Management, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 1019-1042.


Research Methods and Practice
1. Leedy, Paul D. & Ormrod, Jeanne Ellis. 2001, 'Planning your research design' in Leedy, Paul D. & Ormrod, Jeanne Ellis, Practical research: planning and design, 7th ed., Merrill Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J., pp. 91-106, 107-121.

2. Johnson, R. Burke & Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J. 2004, Mixed methods research: a research paradigm whose time has come, Educational Researcher, vol. 33, no. 7, pp. 14-26.

3. Knight, Peter 2002, 'Research at a distance' in Knight, Peter, Small-scale research: pragmatic inquiry in social science and the caring professions, SAGE, London, pp. 80-113.

4. Neuman, William Lawrence c2003, 'The meanings of methodology' in Neuman, William Lawrence, Social research methods: qualitative and quantitative approaches, 5th ed., Allyn and Bacon, Boston, pp. 63-88.

5. Sharp, John A. & Howard, Keith c1996, 'Literature searching' in Sharp, John A. & Howard, Keith, The management of a student research project, 2nd ed., Gower, Aldershot, Hampshire, England, pp. 72-102.

6. Diamantopoulos, A. & Schlegelmich, B. B. c2000, 'It's all over...or is it?' in Diamantopoulos, Adamantios & Schlegelmilch, Bodo B., Taking the fear out of data analysis: a step-by-step approach, Business Press, Thomson Learning, London, pp. 219-225.

7. Veal, Anthony James 2005, 'Questionnaire surveys' in Veal, Anthony James & Ticehurst, G. W., Business research methods: a managerial approach, 2nd ed., Pearson Addison Wesley, South Melbourne, Vic., pp. 142-168.


Planning and Strategy
1. Dollinger, Marc J. 2008, ‘Entrepreneurial strategies’ in Dollinger, Marc J., Entrepreneurship: strategies and resources, 4th ed., Marsh Publications, Lombard, Ill., pp. 110-152.

2. Hamel, Gary 2000, 'Business concept innovation' in Hamel, Gary, Leading the revolution, Harvard Business School, Boston, Mass., pp. 59-113.

3. Mintzberg, Henry c1994, 'Models of the strategic planning process' in Mintzberg, Henry, The rise and fall of strategic planning: reconceiving roles for planning, plans, planners, Free Press, New York, pp. 35-90.

4. Stutely, Richard 1999, 'What's it all about?' in Stutely, Richard, The definitive business plan: the fast-track to intelligent business planning for executives and entrepreneurs, Financial Times Management, London, pp. 3-19.

5. Timmons, Jeffry A. & Spinelli, Stephen 2004, '[Extracted from] The business plan' in Timmons, Jeffry A. & Spinelli, Stephen, New venture creation: entrepreneurship for the 21st century, 6th ed., McGraw-Hill, Boston, Mass., pp. 397-420.