GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF BUSINESS
OPEN UNIVERSITIES AUSTRALIA

MKT341
Entrepreneurship and New Business Venturing

UNIT OUTLINE

 Griffith University 2016/2

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photo-copying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
prior written permission.
These materials may only be distributed to students enrolled in this course.
Published by Digitisation and Distribution, INS, Griffith University
CRICOS Provider: 00233E

CONTENTS
About this booklet

About Griffith University

About this unit of study and how it fits into the Griffith University
system 2
Contact staff 2
About MKT341

Unit description

Texts and supporting materials

Assessment notes

Assessment item 1

Assessment item 2

Assessment item 3

Assessment item 4

Submission of assignments 8
Requests for extensions on assignments

Penalties for late submission ..9

Supplementary assessment

Grade descriptors 9
Academic misconduct10

ABOUT THIS BOOKLET

This booklet introduces you to the components of the MKT341 Entrepreneurship and
New Business Venturing unit of Open Universities Australia. It details what you can
expect of the unit and what the University, Griffith Business School and your unit
convenor will expect of you when you submit work for assessment. The booklet also
provides you with an introduction to Griffith University and the type of intellectual work
it seeks to promote.

ABOUT GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY

Griffith University was established in the early 1970s with a distinctive philosophy. It is
organised along different lines from traditional subject-oriented universities, with a view
to providing an education which is more directly relevant to contemporary social
conditions, and therefore more useful to students both for their personal understanding of
their social and physical environments and for their future career prospects. This is
known as an interdisciplinary approach to education.
Traditional universities are often organised into departments, each of which teaches one
subject or discipline. Study at Griffith University, on the other hand, is organised around
contemporary problem areas, which require for their understanding and resolution the
collaborative contributions of people working across different disciplines and different
mixes of knowledges and skills. At Griffith, consequently, there are no departments
organised around traditional subjects. Instead, groups of staff with different intellectual
and disciplinary backgrounds design and teach broad-ranging interdisciplinary programs
designed to provide students with appropriate knowledges and skills. This Griffith
Philosophy informs this Open Universities Australia unit.
In some ways, this sort of work is more intellectually demanding than traditional
subjects, each of which occupies itself with carefully compartmentalised and limited
fields of enquiry (French literature, British history, economics). The interdisciplinary
approach is more intellectually exciting, and more closely corresponds to the real
conditions outside the University to which these fields of enquiry relate.
If you are interested in discovering more about Griffith University and the range of
programs it offers in its five campuses and colleges, the Griffith University Program
Catalogue may be accessed via the World Wide Web, at:
http://www.griffith.edu.au/programsandcourses

MKT341 Unit Outline

ABOUT THIS UNIT OF STUDY AND HOW IT

FITS INTO THE GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY
SYSTEM
MKT341 Entrepreneurship and New Business Venturing is, in Griffith University
terms, a ten-credit point course (10 CP) in the Contemporary Marketing Major for the
Bachelor of Business.
Information about the Bachelor of Business program available through Open Universities
Australia is provided in the Open Universities Australia Handbook or may be accessed
via the World Wide Web at:
http://www.open.edu.au

CONTACT STAFF
The convenor for this unit will be Dr Deepak Sardana. Please contact your convenor via

email at: d.sardana@griffith.edu.au

phone on: 07 5552 9691

or

The lecturer for this unit will be Dr. Simon Mzungu. Please contact your lecturer via

email at : s.mzungu@griffith.edu.au

phone on : 07 555 28443

or

[Note: For any purpose, you are advised to contact your lecturer prior to contacting the
Convener.]
Over the study period, you will be in regular contact with your convenor via email and
especially via the course web site at Learning@Griffith. Messages to the class will be
posted regularly on the announcement noticeboard on Learning@Griffith. If you have a
question about course requirements or anything to do with assessment, please use the
appropriate discussion board forum(s). If your question only concerns your personal
circumstances, please send it by email or call.
Please make sure you use your Griffith student email account when communicating with
your OUA Convenor. You would have received information about your Griffith student
email account in your enrolment package. Guidelines are also provided in the Getting
Started section of the unit web site.
Staff of Griffith University that can assist with enquiries about Open Universities
Australia are:

MKT341 Unit Outline

Administrative Officer
Griffith (OUA) Services
Griffith University
NATHAN QLD 4111
Phone:
Facsimile:
Email:

(07) 3382 1999

1 800 802 041 if you live outside the Brisbane area code
(07) 3382 1356
ocahs@griffith.edu.au.

MKT341 Unit Outline

ABOUT MKT341
This unit will provide the student with an in-depth understanding of the interface between
marketing and entrepreneurship. In particular, students will develop an advanced level of
knowledge of the entrepreneurial process including how to recognise opportunities,
unlock market development potential and facilitate the satisfaction of exchange
relationships within the context of competitive environments and financial constraints.
This course entails the development of analytical and conceptual skills required to test the
feasibility of a nominated business concept. In particular, it requires students to conduct
field research, identify a market opportunity and answer fundamental questions
concerning marketing, strategic, operational, human resource and financial issues.

UNIT DESCRIPTION
This course develops your knowledge and understanding of marketing in the smaller
enterprise. In particular, the course is designed to put marketing theory into practice at the
level of the smaller firm. The smaller firm by its very nature allows for the integration of
theory and practice and requires students to take a holistic approach to marketing in the
"real" world.
Learning Objectives
After successfully completing this unit you should be able to:

1. demonstrate

understanding of the interface between marketing and

entrepreneurship within existing small and medium sized enterprises;
2. develop an understanding of marketing approaches and techniques appropriate to
entrepreneurial ventures;
3. understand the role of strategic marketing, operations, human resource
management and financing within the entrepreneurial process;
4. build an understanding of the 'marketing driven' and 'market driving' new venture
creation process.
Unit Topics

Topic 1: The entrepreneurial revolution: changing the world through innovation

Topic 2: The Business Plan
Topic 3: The entrepreneurial process
Topic 4: The opportunity: creating, shaping, recognising, seizing
Topic 5: Screening venture opportunities
Topic 6: The entrepreneurial mind: crafting a personal entrepreneurial strategy
Topic 7: The entrepreneurial leader and team
Topic 8: Resource requirements
Topic 9: Entrepreneurial Finance
Topic 10: The deal: valuation, structure and negotiation
Topic 11: Leading rapid growth, crises and recovery
Topic 12: The harvest and beyond

MKT341 Unit Outline

Topic 13: Revision of unit content

TEXTS AND SUPPORTING MATERIALS

Textbook
Timmons, J.A, Murray Gillin, L. Burshtein, S. L., & Spinelli, S. (2011). New Venture
Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century - A Pacific Rim Perspective, McGrawHill.
Unibooks is OUAs exclusive supplier of textbooks.
Unibooks
Telephone 1-800-447-313
Facsimile: 08 8223 4876
Website and online ordering: http://www.unibooks.com.au
Email: open@unibooks.com.au

Supporting Materials
Learning@Griffith unit web site
This web site is available only to students enrolled in MKT341 and is central to both your
learning and assessment. Information about how to log on to Learning@Griffith is
provided in the materials sent by OUA as part of students enrolment. Log onto this web
site frequently three times a week as a minimum.
Library resources
Additional reading and research material is available online and for loan from the Griffith
University Library. Some readings may be placed in the Unit Content section of the web
site.
Self-help resources are also available at:
http://www.griffith.edu.au/library/workshops-training/self-help-resources
Information on borrowing procedures is available at:
http://www.griffith.edu.au/library/borrowing/off-campus-and-rural-placement-students
Off campus students guide is available at:
http://libraryguides.griffith.edu.au/off-campus-students
In addition to these learning resources you will need:

access to a computer that has Internet capability.

Accesstoyourstudentemailaccount,whichwillbeusedtosendyouallemails
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MKT341 Unit Outline

relatingtotheunitincludingassessmentinstructions.Ifyouarrangetohaveyour
Griffith University emails forwarded to another email address, it is your
responsibilitytoensurethattheyarereceivedinatimelymanner.Instructionsfor
gettingaccesstoyourstudentemailareinthematerialssentbyOUAaspartof
studentsenrolment.

ASSESSMENT NOTES
Assessment Task
Assessment #1
Concept quiz #1

Concept quiz #2

Due Date

Weighting

Learning
objectives

Week 4 students
have one week to
complete (20/06/16
to 26/06/16)

10%

1, 2, 3

10%

1, 2, 3

Week 7: students
have one week to
complete (12/07/16
to 18/07/16)

Assessment #2 New
Business Venture
Concept Statement

Week 11: Monday,

8th August 2016 by
5:00pm AEST

30%

1, 2, 3, 4

Assessment #3
Elevator Pitch

Week 12: Monday,

15th August 2016 by
5:00pm AEST

10%

1,2,3,4

Assessment #4
Final examination

TBA

40%

1, 2, 3, 4

NOTE:

STUDENTS SHOULD REFER TO THE OUA CALENDAR OF

KEY DATES TO MATCH THE WEEK NUMBER WITH ACTUAL
DATES. FAILURE TO READ THIS INFORMATION WILL NOT
BE ACCEPTED AS A VALID REASON FOR LATE
SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENTS.

ASSESSMENT ITEM 1
Item 1: Concept Quizzes 1 & 2

Due Date:

Quiz 1: students have one week to complete (20/06/16 to 26/06/16)

Quiz 2: students have one week to complete (12/07/16 to 18/07/16)

MKT341 Unit Outline

Weighting: 20% (10% per Quiz)

Task Description:
Therearetwoconceptquizzesheldduringthestudyperiod.Quiz1:Week4andQuiz2:
Week7.Bothquizzesaremultiple-choice format. The quizzes will be conducted online.
The quizzes will be located under the Assessment folder/tab on Learning@Griffith of the
MKT341 unit website. Students will have one week to complete each quiz. The quizzes
will be made available 9.00am of the day of commencement and close 11.55pm (on the
last day stipulated to complete it).
The rationale for this assessment item is to keep students up to date with the unit material.

Quiz 1: will include 20 multiple-choice questions and will cover all material
presented in lectures and the text from Chapters 1, 3 and 5 ONLY.
Quiz 2: will include 20 multiple-choice questions and will cover all material
presented in lectures and the text from Chapters 6, 2 and 9 ONLY.

Criteria & Marking:

The marks will be available to students via the Grades Centre on the unit website
immediately once the student has completed the quiz online. Therefore, students will
obtain instant feedback for this assessment piece.
Submission: Students will complete both quizzes online.

ASSESSMENT ITEM 2
Item 2: New Business Venture Concept Statement
Due Date: 8th August 2016, Monday, Week 11
Weighting: 30% (Marked out of 100)
Length: 2500-3000 words
Task Description
A concept statement is a written document that explains and analyses an existing or
proposed business venture. It spells out in some detail the business owner's intentions for
the future of the firm. As such it is a forecast, or forward projection of a business idea. It
explains the goals of the firm, how it will operate and the likely outcomes of the business
venture. A sound concept statement is the blueprint for a company's marketing and
operational activities including financial projections, detailing the strategies and tactics
that will be used to achieve specified objectives in a given time period. Accordingly,
students will develop their understanding of marketing through analysing, researching
and writing a concept statement for a real business. The set weekly activities and
provided guides/briefs will assist students in developing an understanding of the various
sections of the concept statement. This Concept Statement should be 2500-3000 (+/10%) words in length. It should be prepared in a professional manner and should be in
report format with a title page, an executive summary, a table of contents and suitable
headings to guide readers through the various sections. The assessed copy will contain

MKT341 Unit Outline

references in the report and a reference page to demonstrate your underpinning research
and material from other academic and practitioner-based sources. The Concept Statement
should reflect a strategic focus, critical analysis, appropriate application of the
entrepreneurial marketing content covered in the course, as well as demonstrating a depth
of thought and appropriate research.
Weekly course work (activities and discussion board forums) will help students progress
the various sections of the plan.
Your concept statement should use headings, be typed in Times New Roman 12 point
font, use double-line spacing and have 25mm margins.

ASSESSMENT ITEM 3
Item 3: Elevator Pitch
Due Date: 15th August 2016, Monday, Week 12
Weighting: 10%
Task Description
This is an oral assignment in which the student "pitches" the New Venture Business
Concept that was developed in the Concept Statement. The student will have 3-5 minutes
to present the pitch.
Please note that the "pitch" is NOT a summary presentation of the Business Plan and
therefore does not require the student to prepare detailed power point slides. In fact
minimal use of power-point slides could achieve the result more efficiently. However, the
student still needs to thoroughly prepare for the "pitch."
Further details about submission of the Elevator Pitch will be provided after a range of
technical options has been evaluated.

ASSESSMENT ITEM 4
Item 4: Final Examination
Due Date: During Examination Period (TBA)
Weighting: 40%
Perusal Time: 10 minutes
Duration: 120 minutes
Format: Closed Book
Exam Constraints: NA
Task Description
The final examination will assess the students understanding of all material covered in
the course. The exam (2 hours) will be conducted during the exam period. Questions will

MKT341 Unit Outline

be drawn from topics and issues covered in lectures, tutorials and course readings,
including the textbook chapters covered during the entire course.

SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENTS
1.

Submission of all assignments will be online.

2.

All assessment items are to be submitted with a University Assessment Coversheet

unless advised otherwise by the Unit Convenor. Students are responsible for
ensuring they complete all sections of the Cover Sheet and that they have agreed to
the Academic Integrity Declaration.
In addition the Cover Sheet asks students to indicate whether they agree or do not
agree to their work, without disclosure of the contributor's identity, to be used, and
reproduced as an assessment exemplar for standard setting and moderation
activities. Students have the right to deny this request.

3.

Assessment items submitted without a cover sheet will not be marked by an

examiner until a cover sheet is provided, unless advised otherwise by the Unit
Convenor.

4.

Students are expected to retain copies of all assessment items submitted until a
final grade for the unit has been awarded. Creating a backup of all your computer
files is highly recommended.

5.

Students must name files using the following format: student name_student
number _tutor name (e.g. Smith_S123456_Tutor M Jones).

6.

Assignments received by fax, will NOT be accepted.

7.

Assessments will be checked by the University's text matching software.

8.

Citation and referencing format should conform to the GBS guidelines both in the
body of your paper and its attached reference section. Please check with your
convenor to confirm the required style (i.e. APA (American Psychological
Association) or Harvard) and refer to the online Referencing tool for correct
referencing format.

Assignment feedback will normally be provided to students within two weeks of

submission.

REQUESTS FOR EXTENSIONS ON

ASSIGNMENTS
Students are to submit assessment items by the due date indicated in the unit materials.
Assessment items submitted after the due date may be subject to a penalty unless an
extension has been approved prior to the due date. As this is an online course, please note
that it is your responsibility to organise access to the internet to submit your assignment
by the due date.
A request for an extension should be lodged with the [insert unit code] Convenor by the
due date for the assessment item. Contact details for the [insert unit code] Convenor are
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MKT341 Unit Outline

provided in this Unit Outline and in the Staff Information section of the
Learning@Griffith site.
Verification of incapacity must be provided by a doctor, counsellor or work supervisor.
Documentary evidence submitted in support of applications should comprise medical
evidence, or evidence provided by other recognised professional services (eg, counselling
services) and include dates of incapacity on the certification. A copy of the extension
request approval should be attached to the assessment item when it is submitted. It is in
your interests to think through the consequences of an extended submission date for an
assignment. An assignment submitted late may not be able to be returned to you before
you sit the final exam.

PENALTIES FOR LATE SUBMISSION

An assessment item submitted after the due date, without an approved extension, will be
penalised. The standard penalty is the reduction of the mark allocated to the assessment
item by 10% of the maximum mark applicable for the assessment item, for each working
day or part working day that the item is late. Weekends count as one day in determining
the penalty. Assessment items submitted more than five days after the due date without an
approved extension will be awarded zero marks.

SUPPLEMENTARY ASSESSMENT
Supplementary assessment is available in this unit in accordance with Section 8 of the
University Assessment Policy. The Policy can be accessed at the following link:
http://policies.griffith.edu.au/pdf/Assessment%20Policy.pdf
A Pass mark (50% or greater) must be achieved in the supplementary assessment item or
exam to achieve the grade of 4. If, having completed your supplementary assessment, a
Pass mark (50% or greater) is not achieved, your original grade of 3 will remain for this
course. A student is permitted only one attempt at each supplementary assessment item.

GRADE DESCRIPTORS
Students' results in units are recorded using the following numeric grades.
7 - High Distinction - Student demonstrated an exceptionally high quality of
performance or standard of learning achievement.
6 - Distinction - Student demonstrated a high quality of performance or standard of
learning achievement.
5 - Credit - Student demonstrated a good quality of performance or standard of
learning achievement.
4 - Pass - Student demonstrated a satisfactory quality of performance or standard
of learning achievement.
3 - Fail - Student demonstrated an unsatisfactory quality of performance or
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MKT341 Unit Outline

standard of learning achievement. There was evidence of achievement of desired

learning outcomes close to the passing standard but insufficient to pass.
2 - Fail - Student demonstrated an unsatisfactory quality of performance or
standard of learning achievement. There was evidence of achievement of desired
learning outcomes below the passing standard.
1- Fail - Student demonstrated an unsatisfactory quality of performance or standard
of learning achievement. There was evidence of achievement of desired learning
outcomes significantly below the passing standard.
Other grades that may be awarded are:

Fail No Assessment Submitted (FNS) - Did not present any work for
assessment, to be counted as failure:
Withdraw with failure (WF) - Cancelled enrolment in the course after the
final date for withdrawal without failure (see Student Administration Policy,
Section 6):
Withdraw (W) - The student has withdrawn from the course. This is NOT
counted as failure and appears beside the course on the academic record
when the withdrawal from the course is processed administratively after the
last date to drop a course without being liable for fees, up until the final date
for withdrawal without failure

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT
Students must conduct their studies at the University honestly, ethically and in
accordance with accepted standards of academic conduct. Any form of academic conduct
that is contrary to these standards is academic misconduct and is unacceptable.
Some students engage deliberately in academic misconduct, with intent to deceive. This
conscious, pre-meditated form of cheating is one of the worst forms of fraudulent
academic behaviour, for which the University has zero tolerance and for which penalties,
including exclusion from the University, will be applied.
However, the University recognises many students commit academic misconduct without
intent to deceive. These students may be required to undertake additional educational
activities to remediate their behaviour.
Specifically, it is academic misconduct for a student to:

Cheat in examinations and tests by communicating, or attempting to communicate,

with a fellow individual who is neither an invigilator or member of staff; by
copying, or attempting to copy from a fellow candidate; attempting to introduce or
consult during the examination, any unauthorised printed or written material, or
electronic calculating or information storage device; or mobile phones or other
communication device, or impersonates another.
Fabricate results by claiming to have carried out tests, experiments or observations
that have not taken place or by presenting results not supported by the evidence
with the object of obtaining an unfair advantage.

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MKT341 Unit Outline

Misrepresent themselves by presenting an untrue statement or not disclosing where

there is a duty to disclose in order to create a false appearance or identity.
Plagiarise by representing the work of another as their own original work, without
appropriate acknowledgement of the author or the source. This category of
cheating includes the following:

collusion, where a piece of work prepared by a group is represented as if it

were the student's own;

acquiring or commissioning a piece of work, which is not his/her own and

representing it as if it were, by purchasing a paper from a commercial
service, including internet sites, whether pre-written or specially prepared for
the student concerned and submitting a paper written by another person,
either by a fellow student or a person who is not a member of the University;

duplication of the same or almost identical work for more than one
assessment item;

copying ideas, concepts, research data, images, sounds or text;

paraphrasing a paper from a source text, whether in a manuscript, printed or

electronic form, without appropriate acknowledgement;

cutting or pasting statements from multiple sources or piecing together work

of others and representing them as original work;

submitting, as one's own work, all or part of another student's work, even
with the student's knowledge or consent.

A student who willingly assists another student to plagiarise (for example, by willingly
giving them their own work to copy from) is also breaching academic integrity and may
be subject to disciplinary action.
More information on the University policy on academic misconduct can be found at the
following web address:
http://policies.griffith.edu.au/pdf/Student%20Academic%20Misconduct%20Policy.pdf
Other policies and procedures relating to students in terms of exams, assessment, appeals,
academic misconduct and so on can be found at:
https://intranet.secure.griffith.edu.au/student/exams-assessment

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