Durham University
Programme and Module Handbook

Postgraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2025-2026

Module BUSI4X215: Thinking Entrepreneurially

Department: Management and Marketing

BUSI4X215: Thinking Entrepreneurially

Type Tied Level 4 Credits 15 Availability Available in 2025/2026 Module Cap None.
Tied to N2P109
Tied to N2P309
Tied to N2P909
Tied to N2PE09
Tied to N5K609

Prerequisites

  • None.

Corequisites

  • None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

  • None.

Aims

  • The module aims to:
  • Introduce a psychological approach to entrepreneurship
  • Help students to understand how they can cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset, which can be applied in an entrepreneurial or organizational context as well as how to develop an entrepreneurial culture as a leader
  • Improve students’ confidence in decision-making in dynamic and uncertain environments, using entrepreneurship as a relevant context
  • Empower students to practice self-empathy and empathy when they engage in, or manage entrepreneurial actions.

Content

  • Introduction: The entrepreneurial mindset
  • Entrepreneurial ideas into action
  • Entrepreneurial decision-making under uncertainty
  • Impulsive entrepreneurial action
  • A psychological perspective to raising capital
  • Emotions and entrepreneurial wellbeing.
  • Adapting, persisting, and failing entrepreneurially
  • Leading entrepreneurially
  • Cultivating an entrepreneurial culture

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:
  • Improve their capacity to think entrepreneurially in different organizational contexts.
  • Understand how individuals’ cognition, including their emotions and neurodiverse traits, influence entrepreneurial action.
  • Demonstrate a broad understanding of the main theories of entrepreneurial action.
  • Understand the importance of developing an entrepreneurial culture within the organization.
  • Understand that generative AI can complement but not substitute entrepreneurial decision-making and action
Subject-specific Skills:
  • Students will be able to:
  • Develop cognitive skills such as the ability to think critically about entrepreneurial processes within new or established firms.
  • Develop team-based ideation skills, by learning techniques that will help them to generate ideas solve problems as a team.
  • Develop empathy which can improve relations and communication with future stakeholders such as customers, employees, and investors.
Key Skills:
  • Planning, organizing and time management
  • Decision-making
  • Presentation skills
  • Teamwork
  • Critical evaluation skills

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • Learning outcomes will be met through workshops where students will exchange feedback, and engagement with the module’s summative assessment.
  • The workshops will introduce students to a psychological approach in entrepreneurship and also entail participation in games and exercises that will help them to immerse in entrepreneurial ideation and decision-making under uncertainty.
  • The summative assessment will involve a written discussion that will test students’ ability to integrate theory and practice.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity Number Frequency Duration Total/Hours
Workshops 10 weekly 3 hours 30
Preparation and reading 120
Total 150

Summative Assessment

Component: Individual Essay Component Weighting: 100%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
Essay 2500 words 100%

Formative Assessment:

Students will receive feedback on their seminar contributions and a group presentation, where students will also exchange feedback.


Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University