Thinking like an Entrepreneur

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2014:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject is intended to allow students to:

• Investigate concepts of entrepreneurial behaviour and their relevance in both small and large organisations;
• Examine the processes of successful new venture creation; and
• Experience the preparation of a business model for a new venture of their own 
choosing or the pursuit of a new opportunity within an existing organisation. 


The intent of the subject is to equip students with a set of skills that will be useful throughout their careers, whether they are working in startups or existing organisations.

• Understand what motivates entrepreneurs to develop new ventures;
• Appreciate the importance of entrepreneurial behaviour to the success of the small business sector of the Australian economy;
• Be able to examine the concerns of a number of entrepreneurial people and explain their behaviours, their strategies and the performance using appropriate theoretical frameworks;
• Appreciate the characteristics of entrepreneurial people who operate inside larger organisations;
• Be able to use a number of creative opportunity generation techniques;
• Understand the elements of the business planning process as it applies to the identification and investigation of new venture opportunities;
• Appreciate the way in which financiers and influential decision makers view business plans/proposals for new ventures.

• Individual assessment (40%), consisting of
  • Class participation, as assessed by the lecturer (20%)
  • Two written reports, of between 500 and 1,000 words each, based on attendance at guest seminars, discussion before and after the seminars. Each report is a hurdle requirement and makes up 10% of assessment (20%)
• Group assessment (60%), to be carried out in syndicates of three or four members, consisting of a presentation and a brief written report on one of the following:
  • A business model for a new venture opportunity of the group’s own choosing, including customer development, proposed metrics, and an identified minimum viable product; or
  • A proposed approach to exploiting a new business opportunity within an established organisation

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.