We are living in a time of transformational change. In this age of disruption, entrepreneurial skills have never been more essential. Companies like Facebook, Uber, Amazon, Airbnb and Tesla are changing the way we communicate, travel and consume. The next big brand could be started by anyone, anywhere, at any time, on a laptop. In this context, long-established institutions need to make sure they innovate in order to survive.
Oksana Koryak is director of Cranfield School of Management’s Management and Entrepreneurship MSc. She said: “In the fast-paced, dynamic and globalised world, companies need to be adept at identifying new viable business opportunities, redefining their market spaces, and adapting their business models to deliver value to their customers and serve their stakeholders. This is what entrepreneurship is about. It is companies’ ability to act entrepreneurially, innovate and reinvent themselves that underpins growth and long-term survival.”
Cranfield’s Management and Entrepreneurship MSc seeks to nurture the entrepreneurial mindset and ensure its students are best-placed to innovate in today’s market by taking a practical approach to entrepreneurial education focusing on both theory and application. Targeted at those who want to launch their own business or become actively involved in managing a family business, it seeks to provide a solid foundation in management education (it shares modules with Cranfield’s Management MSc), in combination with specialised entrepreneurial topics.
Oksana continue: “Ours is a very applied course designed to develop students’ practical skills and provides them with the relevant frameworks to help identify, evaluate and execute the entrepreneurial opportunities that would result in a successful venture.”
Typical activities might include a business simulation on wearable tech, or a visit to a company developing commercialisation for a new material or product. For their final project, students develop a real-life business plan or growth-oriented family audit that is comprehensive enough to be presented to stakeholders, including potential investors.
The course is supported by a number of successful high-profile entrepreneurs and investors, including the founders of GoApe!, Moonpig and CSR (Cambridge Silicon Radio), who attend regular business talks to share their experiences with students.
Dennis Sohni completed the Cranfield Management and Entrepreneurship MSc in 2017 and now works as business transformation manager at AirPlus International, which provides business travel payment solutions for corporations.
He said: “The course was very relevant. It’s key to have openness for new topics and for change; you need to be able to deviate from your original plan. Flexibility and being able to adjust to what is happening – this is what it taught me.
“If you’re going ahead with a project and realise that you need to change fast, this enables you to enact change rather than going with classical business structures. This is a very important skill in today’s world and really powerful in a corporate environment.”
Article originally published by Business Because.
