MSc Entrepreneurship
The MSc in Entrepreneurship will be of particular interest if you already run your own business, are planning a career in either self-employment or an innovative, entrepreneurial organisation, or intend to teach entrepreneurship.
You can select your areas of specialism through elective modules in the second semester. The project also gives you the option either to learn more about research and the theory behind entrepreneurship via a dissertation or to apply theory to practice through formulating a plan for launching a new venture or developing an existing one.
This innovative programme is designed to provide you with a sound theoretical and practical understanding of entrepreneurship.
People who may be interested in the programme include:
- Budding entrepreneurs
- Existing entrepreneurs growing their businesses
- Developers of start-up companies
- People working in support organisations (for example, Business Links, chambers of commerce – anyone who advises entrepreneurs)
- Teachers of entrepreneurship
- Staff of any private, public or ‘not for profit’ organisation, as it equips you with an entrepreneurial mindset
Throughout this programme you will be encouraged to learn experientially and to develop the attributes, ways of thinking and behaviour of the entrepreneur.
Entry standards
Applicants should usually hold a Bachelors degree (UK Lower Second/2.2 or above) or equivalent qualification from a recognised British/overseas university. Every applicant is assessed individually on their own merit. Higher level professional qualifications may also be accepted. Relevant work experience could be an additional benefit where applicants have not reached the standard entry requirements, although it is not an admissions requirement for this particular degree programme.
Applications to our programmes should be submitted by 30th April 2012. Applications received after this date will only be considered subject to availability of places and on a rolling basis.
English language requirements
Non-native speakers of English will normally be required to have IELTS 6.5 or above, with a minimum of 6.0 in each component (or equivalent).
Please note that the University of Surrey offers English language programmes and is also an IELTS Test Centre.
MSc Entrepreneurship - structure and modules
Module Titles
Compulsory Modules
- Entrepreneurship and Creativity
- Entrepreneurial Strategy
- Entrepreneurial Marketing
- Organisational Behaviour
- Financial Management
- Research Methods
- Dissertation
Optional modules include:
- Enterprise for Creative Industries
- Innovation Management
Module Overview
The programme consists of six compulsory modules, two optional modules from a range of six, and a dissertation.
Compulsory Modules
Entrepreneurship and Creativity
Entrepreneurship is a widely used but little understood concept. You will be introduced to the various theories of entrepreneurship and their roles and functions, as well as the factors affecting its development.
Entrepreneurial Strategy
Entrepreneurial strategy is very different from corporate strategy. Similarities and differences are compared, and you will be introduced to the skills and competences required to enable them to lead and manage an entrepreneurial venture in the twenty-first century.
Entrepreneurial Marketing
This module is designed to link the core business discipline of marketing to the concept of entrepreneurship. It is divided into two elements: the principles of marketing customised to the entrepreneurial context; and the skills and competences specific to the entrepreneurial application of marketing.
Organisational Behaviour
This module integrates the study of forms, structures and processes of organisations with the human side of the psychology of work. The module will give you an insight into the fundamentals on which organisations are built, and provide analytical processes for understanding behaviour at work and managerial processes.
Financial Management
This module provides you with the foundations for understanding, analysing and interpreting financial information. It will enable you to apply accounting principles and financial theory to decision making across management disciplines and modern business organisations.
Research Methods
This module will introduce research project formulation and the key elements of research design, and will prepare you to design and execute your dissertation research study in a systematic and scientific manner.
Optional modules include:
Enterprise for Creative Industries
Businesses are increasingly employing creative and artistic methods to enhance communication, idea generation, teamworking and continuing professional development, and to stimulate productivity and sales. This module is based around four areas important to entrepreneurship and management in the arts and creative industries, but which also have resonance with mainstream business and management practice.
Innovation Management
This module provides you with the knowledge to understand and the skills to manage innovation at the operational and strategic levels within the context of internal and external business environments. The module particularly provides you with a holistic understanding of the concept of innovation and its relevance to today’s firm competitive advantage. It also focuses on giving you the capability to identify the links between the structures and processes which support innovation, and the opportunities for, and constraints on, innovation in specific business contexts.
Other optional modules include: Social Enterprise and Social Entrepreneurship; E-business; Project Management; International Trade.
MSc Entrepreneurship - entry standards
Entry standards
Applicants should usually hold a Bachelors degree (UK Lower Second/2.2 or above) or equivalent qualification from a recognised British/overseas university. Every applicant is assessed individually on their own merit. Higher level professional qualifications may also be accepted. Relevant work experience could be an additional benefit where applicants have not reached the standard entry requirements, although it is not an admissions requirement for this particular degree programme.
Applications to our programmes should be submitted by 30th April 2012. Applications received after this date will only be considered subject to availability of places and on a rolling basis.
English language requirements
Non-native speakers of English will normally be required to have IELTS 6.5 or above, with a minimum of 6.0 in each component (or equivalent).
Please note that the University of Surrey offers English language programmes and is also an IELTS Test Centre.
Start date
September
Programme Leader
MSc Entrepreneurship - fees and funding
Fees
Entrepreneurship (full time):
UK/EU - £9,190
Overseas - £14,830
MSc Entrepreneurship - professional context
Professional placements
Top for Jobs
The University of Surrey has scored high marks in The Times employment league table for several years. Surrey graduates are among the most employable of any UK university. No other university can match our consistently high performance in the jobs league tables. For the past four years, almost all our postgraduates have found work or were undertaking further study within six months of finishing their degrees.
Professional recognition
The School of Management is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).
MSc Entrepreneurship - teaching
Teaching
The teaching and learning strategy is designed to benefit passive as well as active learners. Apart from catering for the needs of both types of learner and, therefore, providing a teaching and learning strategy that is fairer and does not disadvantage either group, it is intended to promote sound understanding of theory and how it may be applied in practice.
Whilst, in Honey and Mumford’s terms, the pragmatist and activist learners are given the opportunity to experience the theorist and reflector learning styles, the theorists and reflectors are able to learn by doing, thereby helping develop in them the attributes of the activist and pragmatist.
This is seen as important in a programme that is intended to educate you ‘for’ entrepreneurship rather than simply educating you ‘about’ it. Hence it carries more weight in the assessment process.
The teaching and learning methods include interactive lectures, guest lectures (role models), case analyses, group projects, discussion groups and presentations.
Staff perspective
The MSc Entrepreneurship programme is unique as it enables you to simulate the behaviours of entrepreneurs through reflecting on themselves and untapping their entrepreneurial capabilities.
Whether you want to start your own business, add value to a large organisation or anything else, this programme will prepare you to face these challenges. Some of you may have run your own businesses, others may be part of a family business whilst others aspire to start their businesses in the future. Whatever your level of experience you can utilise and build on it. The programme enables this through the range of modules and electives. In addition, you can opt to do a business plan dissertation which enables more depth and work towards their entrepreneurial future.
I have interviewed many successful entrepreneurs and business leaders for my work as an academic and for the press. I want you to learn from these successful individuals and so the MSc Entrepreneurship will include guest speakers from global companies. They will give first hand knowledge of their experiences, any hurdles they faced and how they were overcome.
We've had dynamic, creative students on the programme these past two years and they have come up with original business ideas. I love their energy and creativity. I enjoy watching students challenge themselves and grow. If you're up for the challenge this programme is for you.
MSc Entrepreneurship - learning
Dissertation and Projects
Dissertation
The dissertation is the final element of the programme which provides an opportunity for a sustained period of research. It allows you to concentrate on topics that are of particular interest to you and it draws upon a range of different aspects of the taught programme, particularly the Research Methods module. It also gives an opportunity for you to work on your own with individual supervision.
The dissertation should be either an original piece of research adding to existing knowledge and demonstrating the candidate’s analytical skills, or an original and critical study of existing knowledge on the subject.
You can also opt to write a full business plan.
MSc Entrepreneurship - graduate profile
Student Profile: Obomo Adanna Omole
MSc Entrepreneurship
Surrey is one of the few universities that offers an MSc Entrepreneurship as a stand-alone course. This, in addition to Surrey's cultural diversity and high number of international students present, made it an attractive proposition.
Entrepreneurship, as a course, is dynamic in all ramifications as it cuts across all disciplines in business and management. It also gives deep insight into the need for continuous innovation to beat the competition, learning from successful entrepreneurs like Richard Branson (CEO Virgin Atlantic).
There are often guest speakers who are real entrepreneurs and business owners. They share individual experiences which we learn from and take note of potential mistakes to avoid for our future business ventures. There is also a good relationship between the students and academic staff which fosters communication and increases understanding during lectures.
I have developed the ability to critically examine relevant issues by analysing the advantages and disadvantages before making any decision. This will be essential for my business in future when dealing with finances and major decisions have to be made.
The University provides excellent library services. The online library (Business Source Complete) has been particularly useful for assignments, coursework and projects. The University learning environment (ULearn) keeps me updated with any new information regarding coursework, submitting assignments and group discussions.
Living on campus, I am enjoying the company of flatmates from all over the world. We live together as one family and have learnt to tolerate each other’s differences. We take time to celebrate happy moments and encourage each other when needed. What better family could I have asked for away from home?
Student Profile: Panumas Lertsirisumpun
MSc Entrepreneurship
The MSc Entrepreneurship programme at the University of Surrey combines successful teaching methods and innovative techniques adapted in the entrepreneurial field. Interesting and informative modules such as Entrepreneurship and Creativity, Entrepreneurial Strategy, Entrepreneurial Marketing, Organisational Behaviour and Financial Management have prepared me for the dynamic entrepreneurial world.
The knowledge I have attained will easily translate to the challenges that my family business in Thailand faces. With global business in recession, the international customer has changed–our company needed to meet these new needs. E-commerce, developing an e-catalog and launching my own clothing line are just some of the ways we plan to evolve.
Entrepreneurial qualities will enable me to formulate my new venture, while developing the existing one, even against the backdrop of the global recession.
During my time at Surrey, I lived in International House. It was a comfortable room in a great location. On campus, I was within a couple of minutes’ walk of the academic buildings, the bus stops, the gym and the bank. Most of all, my flatmates were great.
As an international student, I’m sure that my time studying at Surrey will be an important element in achieving my lifelong professional objective.
I am pleased that I had the chance to study here. Not only did I get to know a great professor who has helped me enormously, but I was lucky enough to make a lifelong friend.
MSc Entrepreneurship - more
Entrepreneurship at the Sharp End
The University of Surrey is passionate about entrepreneurship. Several high–profile entrepreneurial speakers have been involved with the MSc Entrepreneurship programme.
One of the guest speakers, Nigel Biggs, who started both Pixology plc and The Digital Camera Company in Guildford, is working to bring real-life business experiences to all the students at the University. His wider aim is also to show how enterprise and entrepreneurship are important, both in local social organisations and to the community at large.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Chris Snowden said:
“We are delighted to have a successful local businessman as our founding entrepreneur-in-residence. Enterprise and entrepreneurship are vital in the new economy and this new initiative greatly strengthens the University’s support in this area.”
Nigel added:
“Since starting out as a one-man company I have been passionate about small businesses. I want to help all those embryonic entrepreneurs with energy and enthusiasm to be inspired and confident about changing the world during their careers. I also intend to involve a wide variety of other entrepreneurs and business people in this role, as I believe it is the real-life experiences that students need to see and hear about.”
After Your Degree
The Surrey experience does not end with your degree.
You will have developed friends and contacts in many different countries and industries. Many Surrey graduates are now captains of industry and can be found in every part of the world and in all sectors of the economy. This network is likely to last a lifetime and support your career development over a sustained period.
You will also be eligible to become a member of the alumni organisation SIGNET (the Surrey International Graduate Network). SIGNET members remain actively in touch with each other via the quarterly newsletter, the membership list and social events organised by the committee.
Insight into Asian Business Leaders
At the cutting edge of the British entrepreneurial community are the Asian businesses featured in this year’s Asian Rich List, compiled by Dr Spinder Dhaliwal. “This is a fascinating list, which takes in businesses from manufacturing to finance, from food to hotels, from pharmaceuticals to fashion. It includes first, second and third generation achievers and also provides the definitive guide to who’s who in the Asian business world,” she said.
The list includes top names such as Lord Swraj Paul, the Caparo Steel magnate and Mike Jatania of Lornamead Pharmaceuticals, reflecting a move from traditional sectors such as textiles and manufacturing to the high-tech, high-growth sectors such as pharmaceuticals, IT and media. “Their success testifies to the staying power of Asian business which successfully combines the dynamism of the free market with the go-getting, risk-taking heroism of the entrepreneur. Not forgetting, of course, the values of family, thrift and hard work and a commitment back to the community,” added Spinder.
In her report, ‘Asian Entrepreneurs in the UK’, compiled for Barclays Bank in September 2006, Spinder noted the changing sectors and phenomenal growth of this entrepreneurial minority. “The Asian business sector has created wealth faster than the rest of the economy. They have bucked the trend this year as they did last year and the year before that. Asian wealth now creates and sustains more jobs than it has ever done. It stimulates growth in industries and places that would struggle without the engine of Asian entrepreneurship,” she said.
She is optimistic for their future prosperity: “Established Asian entrepreneurs achieved success in decades full of challenge and controversy, and present conditions are no different: sluggish economic growth, stock market uncertainty and question marks about the housing market provide the starkest of economic backdrops to Asian success.”
MSc Entrepreneurship - apply
You can apply for this programme online using the link(s) below. We recommend making an application as soon as you can, even if you do not have all the necessary supporting information ready at that time.
As part of the application process, you will be asked to enter a username and password. If you've used our application system before, please enter your details or click the forgotten password link.
If you are a new user, you will need to create a username and password by clicking the New User button.
Start date
September
Programme length
12 months full-time
Programme Leader
For general enquiries
T: 0800 980 3200 or
+44 (0)1483 681681
E: pg-enquiries@surrey.ac.uk
For admissions enquiries
T: +44 (0) 1483 686300
E: somadmissions@surrey.ac.uk