Run by Bangor Business School

30 Credits or 15 ECTS Credits

Semester 1 & 2

Organiser: Mr Jeffrey Williams-Jones

This module provides students with an excellent opportunity to practice key parts of the business planning process, and business plan production. This includes; planning, designing and writing an independent business plan that addresses a business management/ entrepreneurial/ new venture creation idea. Students will learn about the stages involved in proposing a new venture/ business idea and the development of a sustainable business plan. They will be led through the systematic process of writing a 'feasibility plan' or 'new venture proposal' (depending on their idea) and also the production of a substantial 3rd year business plan relating to their initial feasibility plan or proposal. Students will learn invaluable business plan skills which will enhance their employability and instil confidence when embarking on new ventures/ new projects within industry.

Notes: This module is NOT available to students on BA Business and ICT, BA Business and Law, or to students on joint honours degrees including a named subject in a school other than BBS. A version of this module is available through the medium of Welsh. Business Plan: exploring the process of establishing a venture from idea generation to the completion of a business plan. To follow the process of developing a business plan through its various stages, including business description and the market, development and production, sales and marketing, management team and the financial plan.

This module will introduce students to the key tenets of planning, designing, conducting and writing-up an effective feasibility plan (or new venture proposal) and a 3rd year undergraduate business plan for a business/ management/ new venture creation (or related) idea.

Participants will be required to draft a proposal for a short feasibility plan (or new venture proposal) within business/ management/ new venture creation (or related) (etc). This will include (but not limited to) the formulation of a business/ management/ new venture creation (or related) idea, business/ management/ new venture creation (or related) acknowledgement of the problem, Proposed solution / Outline of approach, Timeline. Pricing etc

Students will then be supported through the principles involved in new venture creation and be required to develop a sustainable business plan. This includes the process of establishing a venture from idea generation to the completion of a business plan. To follow the process of developing a business plan through its various stages, including business description and the market, development and production, sales and marketing, management team and the financial plan.This will include (but not limited to) Executive Summary (objectives, products and services, target markets, financial projections, investment required) Products and Services (Products summary, pricing, margins, profit per unit) External Analysis (economic indicators, market research and trends) Marketing Plan.

Students will receive support support via lectures, tutorials and drop-in sessions so that their final submission will provide insight into the nature and generation of business plans.

good

B- to B+ (60-69%): Students must show that they have a good grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements and good integration of theory/practice/information in pursuit of the assessed work's objectives.

threshold

D- to D+ (40-49%): Students must show that they have some grasp of the elements contributing towards a business related project. This will include some grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements and some integration of theory/practice/information in pursuit of the assessed work's objectives.

excellent

A- to A* (70% +): Students will have shown an excellent grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practice elements and excellent integration of theory/practice/information in pursuit of the assessed work's objectives.

C- to C+

C- to C+ (50-59%): Students must demonstrate that they have a adequate grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements and adequate integration of theory/practice/information in pursuit of the assessed work's objectives.

1. An awareness of the issues facing businesses while focusing on a specific knowledge area while choosing across a wide spectrum of management topics, including but not limited by operations, human resources, marketing, entrepreneurship, information, and finance

2. Demonstrate business industry information and interpretation skills

3. Appreciate the purpose of key aspects of planning and carrying out research into business and management

4. An appreciation and application of quality measures for assessing the quality of a credible and sustainable business plan

5. Demonstrate key presentation and organisation skills. This through planning, editing and compiling a substantial business plan project report.

6. An ability to synthesise and critically appraise a body of academic or industrial literature to generate a feasibility proposal.

Type	Name	Description	Weight
COURSEWORK	Business Plan	Students will be required to develop a sustainable business plan. This will include exploring the process of establishing a venture from idea generation to the completion of a business plan. To follow the process of developing a business plan through its various stages, including business description and the market, development and production, sales and marketing, management team and the financial plan.	80
COURSEWORK	Feasibility Plan/ New Venture Proposal	Students are required to draft a proposal for a short feasibility plan (or new venture proposal) within business/ management/ new venture creation (or related) (etc). This will include (but not limited to) the formulation of a business/ management/ new venture creation (or related) idea, business/ management/ new venture creation (or related) acknowledgement of the problem, Proposed solution / Outline of approach, Timeline. Pricing etc. Further details will be provided.	20

		Hours
Private study	130 hrs private study on Sem 1; 140 hrs private study on Sem 2.	270
Lecture	In Semester 1 the lectures will introduce the challenges of Business and Management - Business Plan. The introduction to a business management project will include the structure of a business plan appropriate methodologies.	20
One-to-one supervision	Regular supervision in Sem 2 of the progress of the Business Project	10

• Literacy - Proficiency in reading and writing through a variety of media
• Numeracy - Proficiency in using numbers at appropriate levels of accuracy
• Computer Literacy - Proficiency in using a varied range of computer software
• Self-Management - Able to work unsupervised in an efficient, punctual and structured manner. To examine the outcomes of tasks and events, and judge levels of quality and importance
• Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives
• Information retrieval - Able to access different and multiple sources of information
• Inter-personal - Able to question, actively listen, examine given answers and interact sensitevely with others
• Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity.
• Presentation - Able to clearly present information and explanations to an audience. Through the written or oral mode of communication accurately and concisely.
• Teamwork - Able to constructively cooperate with others on a common task, and/or be part of a day-to-day working team
• Management - Able to utilise, coordinate and control resources (human, physical and/or financial)
• Argument - Able to put forward, debate and justify an opinion or a course of action, with an individual or in a wider group setting
• Self-awareness & Reflectivity - Having an awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses, aims and objectives. Able to regularly review, evaluate and reflect upon the performance of yourself and others
• Leadership - Able to lead and manage, develop action plans and objectives, offer guidance and direction to others, and cope with the related pressures such authority can result in

• knowledge of some of the contexts in which accounting can be seen as operating (examples of contexts include the legal, ethical, social and natural environment; the accountancy profession; the business entity; the capital markets; the public sector)
• knowledge of the main current technical language and practices of accounting (for example, recognition, measurement and disclosure in financial statements; managerial accounting; auditing; taxation) in a specified socio-economic domain
• Analysis, deduction and induction. Economic reasoning is highly deductive, and logical analysis is applied to assumption-based models. However, inductive reasoning is also important. The development of such analytical skills enhances students' problem-solving and decision-making ability.
• Framing. Through the study of economics, a student should learn how to decide what should be taken as given or fixed for the purposes of setting up and solving a problem, i.e. what the important 'parameters' are in constraining the solution to the problem. Learning to think about how and why these parameters might change encourages a student to place the economic problem in its broader social and political context. This 'framing' skill is important in determining the decision-maker's ability to implement the solutions to problems.
• A knowledge of the major theoretical tools and theories of finance, and their relevance and application to theoretical and practical problems (e.g. concept of arbitrage and examples of its use; financial mathematics and capital budgeting criteria; informational efficiency; optimal risk sharing; portfolio theory; asset pricing models and the valuation of securities; cost of capital; derivative pricing; risk management; information asymmetry; principal agency relationships; signalling; Fisher separation and capital budgeting criteria; behavioural finance; term structure and the movement of interest rates; determination of exchange rates and financial intermediation).
• An ability to interpret financial data including that arising in the context of the firm or household from accounting statements and data generated in financial markets. The interpretation may involve analysis using statistical and financial functions and procedures such as are routinely available in spreadsheets (eg Microsoft Excel) and statistical packages. It may assume the skills necessary to manipulate financial data and carry out statistical and econometric tests (e.g. estimation and interpretation of asset pricing models; financial modelling and projections; event studies and residuals analysis; elements of time series analysis, such as serial correlation mean reversion, and stochastic volatility).
• An understanding of the financing arrangements and governance structures of business entities, and an appreciation of how theory and evidence can be combined to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of such arrangements (e.g. decisions as to sources of finance and financial structure; the pricing of corporate securities; the market for corporate control; corporate governance structures and mechanisms; financial planning and international dimensions of finance).
• An understanding of financial service activity in the economy, and an appreciation of how finance theory and evidence can be employed to interpret these services (for example, information asymmetry, adverse selection and moral hazard could be employed to analyse the fundamental nature of services, such as insurance, pensions, bank lending and consumer credit, and also explore fundamental problems arising in such financial service provision. Efficient market hypothesis could be used to explore evidence for fund manager performance and the effectiveness of equity and bond saving services).
• An ability to understand financial statements, and a basic appreciation of the limitations of financial reporting practices and procedures (eg financial statement analysis; the relation between cash flow accounting and accrual accounting; discretionary accounting practices).
• People management: to include communications, team building, leadership and motivating others.
• Problem solving and critical analysis: analysing facts and circumstances to determine the cause of a problem and identifying and selecting appropriate solutions.
• Research: the ability to analyse and evaluate a range of business data, sources of information and appropriate methodologies, which includes the need for strong digital literacy, and to use that research for evidence-based decision-making.
• Commercial acumen: based on an awareness of the key drivers for business success, causes of failure and the importance of providing customer satisfaction and building customer loyalty.
• Innovation, creativity and enterprise: the ability to act entrepreneurially to generate, develop and communicate ideas, manage and exploit intellectual property, gain support, and deliver successful outcomes.
• Numeracy: the use of quantitative skills to manipulate data, evaluate, estimate and model business problems, functions and phenomena.
• Networking: an awareness of the interpersonal skills of effective listening, negotiating, persuasion and presentation and their use in generating business contacts.
• Ability to work collaboratively both internally and with external customers and an awareness of mutual interdependence.
• Ability to work with people from a range of cultures.
• Articulating and effectively explaining information.
• Building and maintaining relationships.
• Communication and listening including the ability to produce clear, structured business communications in a variety of media.
• Emotional intelligence and empathy.
• Conceptual and critical thinking, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.
• Self-management: a readiness to accept responsibility and flexibility, to be resilient, self-starting and appropriately assertive, to plan, organise and manage time.
• Self reflection: self-analysis and an awareness/sensitivity to diversity in terms of people and cultures. This includes a continuing appetite for development.

Talis Reading list

http://readinglists.bangor.ac.uk/modules/asb-3414.html

Reading list

Blackwell E,. (2017) "How to Prepare a Business Plan" Kogan Page London Barrow, C., Barrow, P., and Brown., R. (2018) "The Business Plan Workbook". Kogan Page: London Bateman, D (2016) Business Plans that Get Investment" Legend Business: London

Optional in courses:

• N2T1: BA Business Management and Chinese year 4 (BA/BMCH)
• N2R1: BA Business Management and French year 4 (BA/BMFR)
• N2R2: BA Business Management and German year 4 (BA/BMG)
• N2R3: BA Business Management and Italian year 4 (BA/BMI)
• N2M1: BA Business Management and Law year 4 (BA/BML)
• N2R4: BA Business Management and Spanish year 4 (BA/BMS)