Leaning Outcomes:

1.Be able to critically analyse the concepts and process of entrepreneurship.

• 1.1 Critically analyse the nature, characteristics and challenges of establishing different kinds of enterprise.

• 1.2 Critically assess own entrepreneurial skills and attributes. 

• 1.3 Evaluate what makes a successful commercial or social entrepreneur.

2. Be able to evaluate innovative and entrepreneurial management processes for a project or organisation. 

• 2.1 Evaluate methods for encouraging creativity and innovation in organisations. 

• 2.2 Evaluate potential creative and innovative management ideas. 

• 2.3 Critically explore how to lead others to  positively embrace innovation and change.

3. Be able to critically assess proposals developed from new ideas.

• 3.1 Analyse business ideas.

• 3.2 Evaluate production, and marketing feasibility of new business ideas. 

• 3.3 Produce business planning forecasts using financial techniques.

4. Be able to develop a business plan.

• 4.1 Develop a business plan for a new business.

• 4.2 Develop a control and monitoring mechanism for the business plan.

Topics:

Indicative reading list 

Core texts: 

• Burns, P. (2007) Entrepreneurship and Small Business. Hampshire: Palgrave. Barrow, P. (2008) The Best-laid Business Plans. London: Virgin.
• Bently, L. (2008) Intellectual Property Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
• Ford, B. R., Bornstein, J. M., Pruitt, P. T. and Young, E. (2010) The Ernst & Young Business Plan Guide. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
• Green, J. (2005) Starting your own business. New York: How to Books. Jones, P. (2007) Tycoon. Montessori, M: Hodder and Stoughton.
• Mair, J. (2006) Social Entrepreneurship. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. 
• Mawson, A. (2008) The Social Entrepreneur, making communities work. London: Atlantic Books. 
• Rae, D. (2007) Entrepreneurship: From opportunity to action. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan 
• Reuvid, J. (2006) Start-up and run your own business. London: Kogan Page. 
• Robinson, K. (2005) The element: How finding passion changes everything. London: Penguin. 
• Stokes, D. and Wilson, N. (2006) Small business management and entrepreneurship. London: Thomson. 
• World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) (2012) The enforcement of intellectual property rights-A case book. Retrieved from: http://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/intproperty/791/wipo_pub_791.pdf 

Additional reading: 

• Barringer, B. R. and Ireland, D. (2009) Entrepreneurship: Successfully launching new ventures. Boston: Pearson Education.
• Alinsky, S. D. (1999) Rules for radicals. Westminster: Random House. Burgh, B. (2007) The go-giver. New York: Portfolio Hardcover.
• Claxton, G. (2000) Hare brain, tortoise mind: How intelligence increases when you think less. London: Ecco.
• Gittomer, J. (2003) The sales Bible: The ultimate sales resource. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons. 
• Gladwell, M. (2002) The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference. London: Back Bay Books.
• Godin, S. (2005) Purple Cow. London: Penguin. 
• Godin, S. (2008) Tribes. London: Paitkus

Books: 

• Kirby, D. (2002) Entrepreneurship. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 
• Mawson, A. (2008) The social entrepreneur: Making communities work. London: Atlantic Books. 
• Semler, R. (2001) Maverick! The success story behind the world’s most unusual workplace. Harlow: Random House Business Books.
• Vaynerchuck, G. (2009) Crush it! Why now is the time to cash in on your passion. New York: Harper Studio.
• Weinber, T. (2009) The new community rules: Marketing on the social web. Farnham: O’Reilly Media.
• West, C. (2008) Think like an entrepreneur, your psychological toolkit of success. Harlow: Prentice Hall. 

Journals/newspapers: 

• Journal of Social Entrepreneurship; 
• International Journal of Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation; 
• Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship; 
• Journal of Entrepreneurship; 

Websites: 

• www.epo.org/index.html 
• www.businessballs.com 
• www.businesslink.co.uk 
• www.directedcreativity.com 
• www.enchantedmind.com 
• www.hypohoist.co.uk 
• www.orkneyrose.com/about 
• www.sfedi.co.uk 

Entry requirements

To enroll The Doctoral Award, the learner must possess:

• Graduated with a Master’s degree from an accredited university or achieved a Level 7 Diploma according to the European Qualifications
• For a degree from non-global accredited universities; The learner should have followed Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning for Qualifications (APELQ) policy of SIMI and/or University Partners.
• Learners must be over 24 years old.

The SIMI Swiss reserves the highest decision-making power for admission whether to accept or not accept after a specific review of each candidate’s profile to ensure that they can comprehend and gain benefits when participating. For the fake university or diploma mills, University Partners shall not be accepted.

English requirements

If a learner is not from a predominantly English-speaking country, proof of English language proficiency must be provided.

• Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) level B2 or equivalent
• Or A minimum TOEFL score of 101 or IELTS 6.5; Reading and Writing must be at 6.5 or equivalent

After graduating with Doctoral Award, students receive all certified documents from the SIMI Swiss.

Certified Documents:

• e-Certificate from the Swiss Information and Management Institute (SIMI Swiss).
• Hard copy certificate from the Swiss Information and Management Institute (SIMI Swiss) – Optional.
•  Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning for Qualifications (APEL.Q) certified from University Partners for credit and tuition fee transfer.

Because the program is accredited and recognized, students can easily use certified in the working environment and have many opportunities for career advancement. In addition, in case if you want to study for a SIMI degree or university partner degree, students can convert all credits and the full paid tuition fee when participating in the program University Partners.

The SIMI Swiss’ Doctoral Award means:

SIMI Swiss Doctoral Award is the award at the doctoral level and is equivalent to:

• Level 8 certificate of Regulated Qualification Framework (RQF) of UK
• Level 11 certificate of Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF)
• Level 8 certificate of Credit and Qualifications Framework (CQFW)
• Level 8 certificate of European Qualifications Framework (EQF)
• Level 10 certificates of the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF)
• Level 8 certificate of ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF)
• Level 10 certificate of the African Continental Qualifications Framework (ACQF)

Students can convert all credits and the full tuition fee when participating in the SIMI Swiss and/or University Partners academic programs if they want to study for an academic degree.

Credits transfer:

Learners can accumulate 20 credits from the Doctoral Award program when participating in the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) or PhD. Please see the credit transfer policy HERE

Tuition fee transfer:

When participating in the DBA/PhD program, students who have graduated 1 Doctoral Award will receive a discount of full tuition fee which you paid. Please see the tuition fee transfer HERE

The SIMI Swiss micro-credential program allows for the transfer of credits and tuition fees into full degree programs from SIMI Swiss and/or its university partners. SIMI Swiss reserves the right to limit admissions once the number of students exceeds the quotas.

Apply Policy:

• To participate in the SIMI Swiss micro-credential program, students need to meet the entry criteria corresponding to each level. Please see the “Entry” tab for more details.
• SIMI Swiss will not accept applicants if their entry qualifications are from diploma mill universities or schools/universities that are not accredited.
• For Doctoral Award programs, if an entry master is unavailable, students must demonstrate a minimum of 5 years of work experience in the relevant field. Please note that a master’s degree is required for the Doctoral program at SIMI Swiss and University Partners so that you could study Doctoral Award but could not move to the Doctoral program of SIMI and University Partners.
• English is not a mandatory entry requirement for short course programs, but candidates need to ensure that English is used in reading documents, listening to lectures, and doing assignments. Candidates should note that English is a mandatory requirement when switching to an academic program at SIMI Swiss and University Partners.

Apply Process:

1. Choose the program that suits your requirements. Note that applicants without a university degree will not be able to participate in the program at Master’s level, and applicants without a Master’s degree will not be able to participate in the program at the Doctoral level.
2. Email your application to support@simiswiss.ch with all the required documents. You could download the application form here.
3. Our admission department will contact you and guide you through further processes if the registration documents need to be supplemented.
4. SIMI Swiss will issue the Letter of Acceptant (LOA). You will proceed to the next steps according to the instructions and pay tuition fee.
5. SIMI Swiss will issue a student confirmation letter, login account to the e-learning system and related documents.
6. You have become an official SIMI Swiss student and enjoy your study journey.

The SIMI Swiss micro-credential program is fully online, allowing you to study anytime, anywhere. You have the option to attend live classes with SIMI Swiss. The final exam will be uploaded to the system and evaluated by the academic panel of SIMI Swiss. Students must submit assignments on time; failure to do so will result in the student being considered to have discontinued the program.