1997 Swinburne Higher Education Handbook

EF936 Opportunity Evaluation Techniques
12.5 credit points 39 hours Prerequisite: nil
A first year subject in the Innovation and Enterprise suite of
programs.
0 b jedives
The subject is designed to provide participants with the
essential tools that in the past many business people have
been unable to attain. Participants leave the subject with the
ability to objectively analyse whether a business idea is an
idea or actually an opportunity.
Many individuals and companies fail to realise that available
opportunities are only made feasible by systematic
application of appropriate methods, skills and resources.
This subject takes students through a "screening guide n
developed from international and Australian models. How
dies an entrepreneur recognise the "quality" aspects of a
successful venture, the team, the market, the financial issues,
competitor response and tactics? Are there any fatal flaws,
strengths weaknesses, threats and opportunities for the
proposed venture?
. .
The key to this subject is "mind-set n - a way of thinking.
Participants will constantly be challenged with Yeality
checks n . The subject matter is not pure theory, but a set of
useable tools for the real world.
Content
Introduction to innovation
Sources of innovation
Opportunity recognition and analysis
The screening guide
Market implications
The financial requirements
The human element
Textbooks
Timmons, J, New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st
Century, 4th edn, revised, Irwin, 1994
Additional Reference
Fritz, P, The Possible Dream: TCG An Australian Business Success
Story, Ashwood House/Penguin Books, 1988
Timmons, New Business Opportunities, Brick House Publishing,
Action, 1980
Vesper, K, New Venture Strategies, Prentice Hall, 1980
Golis, CC, Enterprise and Venture Capital, Allen & Unwin, 1989
EF938 Commercialising Innovation
3 hoursper week equivalent City Prerequisite: nil
Assessment: a combination of personal assignments, group
assignments, class participation and/or exam
A first year subject in the Innovation and Enterprise suite of
programs
Objectives and Content
This subject develops an understanding of technology
strategy in relation to 'product' (device, service or process)
and process innovation, value chains, competitive reaction,
barriers to market entry, intellectual property protection,
and an international perspective on converting a good idea/
opportunity into a productive commercial success. It
examines selecting, staffing and managing R&D projects to
achieve strategic business objectives and the problems of
accelerating the pace of technological innovation in product
development. Particular consideration is given to invention,
development and innovation as they relate to
commercialisation processes. Students' accounting skills will
be extended to include cash flow techniques and ananalysis.
The techniques acquired in this subject are applied to the
production of a commercial feasibility analysis, heavily
emphasising cash flow projections. National and
international case studies will be used to demonstrate the
elements of market and financial success for developed
products and services.
Recommended reading
Porter, M.E. Competitive Advantage, Free Press, 1985
Urban, G., hauser, J., Dholakia, N., Essentials for New
Product Management, Prentice Hall, 1987
EF940 lnnovation Creativity and Leadership
3 hours per week equivalent City Prerequisite: nil
Assessment: a combination of personal assignments, group
assignments, class participation and/or exam
A second year subject in the Innovation and Enterprise suite
of programs
Objectives and Content
This subject explores holistic application of the principles of
the innovation process, marketing, accounting and
leadership, the forces and ground rules that operate in large
organisations and various analytical tolls to real-life
challenges, Major segments of the subject are leadership and
lateral thinking; learning, listening, communications; and
lick and the market place. The aim is to equip students to:
listen and look for innovative challenges; develop their right
brain abilities of intuition, the subconscious and lateral
thinking; apply both sides of the brain to the realisation of
the challenge regardless of the resources presently available;
understand the roles played by leadership, learning,
listening, communicating, lateral thinking and lick in the
innovation process; and understand their own strengths and
weaknesses as potential innovators.
Recommended reading
Hardy, C. The Age of Unreason, Arrow, 1995
Turgeon, M. Right Brain, Left Brain Reflexology, Healing Arts
Press, Vermont, 1994
EF943 Strategic Intent and Corporations
4 hours per week equivalent City Prerequisite: All Year 2
MEI subjects Assessment: a combination of personal
assignments, group assignments, class participation and/or
exam
A third year subject in the Master of Enterprise Innovation
Obiectives and Content
This subject focuses on the role of entrepreneurship, the
nurturine " of innovation and successful management - of
innovation in established and generally large corporations.
These activities are often referred to as intrapreneurship. The
presentation of this subject is designed to provide a strong
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