Undergraduate study in Innovation and Entrepreneurship

In your Bachelor of Commerce INNOVENT major you will gain the skills to:

• Recognise and seize opportunities that can be shaped to advance your career and improve the wellbeing of the people and organisations
• Capture value from innovation
• Solve business problems creatively and communicate effectively
• Understand how science and technology can be commercialised
• Develop a financial plan for a new venture
• Attract investors who bring ‘smart’ money to opportunities that can make a difference in Aotearoa-New Zealand
• Recognise the importance of supporting ecosystems locally and internationally
• Work in multidisciplinary teams as you turn an idea into an opportunity
  

Undergraduate courses you can take for the INNOVENT major include:

Stage I

In your first year of your Bachelor of Commerce INNOVENT major, as part of your common core of Stage I courses, you will complete the sequential Business 101 and 102 courses.

BUSINESS 101: Business and Enterprise 1

Businesses compete for ideas, customers, employees and capital. Entrepreneurs and managers make choices about how to create and capture value through innovation, differentiation of products and services, and how they utilise resources and organise activities. In this course you will explore frameworks for understanding how these choices are shaped by markets, technologies, government and society. You will develop entrepreneurial thinking, management skills and professional capabilities.

BUSINESS 102: Business and Enterprise 2

This course builds on BUSINESS 101 and further explores the frameworks for understanding choices by entrepreneurs and managers. It continues to develop your entrepreneurial thinking, management skills and professional capabilities needed for business success. The course also prepares you to undertake disciplinary specialisations, informed by an understanding of the context and cross-functional nature of business.

• Learn more about BCom core courses
  

Stage II

INNOVENT 203: The Entrepreneurial Mindset

In this course you will develop the skills to recognise and assess opportunities, solve problems creatively, communicate effectively, and make things happen. The course combines online modules, guest speaker events and working in a team to identify and put together a solution to a challenge (examples: climate change and applying artificial intelligence to education).       

INNOVENT 204: Understanding Entrepreneurial Opportunities

Learn to apply processes for creating, evaluating and realising
entrepreneurial opportunities. Working independently and in teams, you will be encouraged to shape an opportunity based on a scientific discovery or a new technology, and effectively communicate its potential for commercialisation.

Stage III     

INNOVENT 306: Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Action

This course integrates theory and practice in a variety of real-world contexts that may include start-ups, new product development, corporate venturing, Māori enterprise, social enterprise and technological innovation.       

INNOVENT 307: Ecosystems for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

This course provides a broad understanding of the key elements in the ecosystems that support innovation and entrepreneurship. Through first-hand interaction with people in our local ecosystem, along with insights from global ecosystems, you'll learn the challenges and benefits of participating in these ecosystems.       

BUSINESS 304: Strategic Management  

This course can be included in the INNOVENT major. The course uses business cases to help you analyse and respond to complex organisational situations from a general manager’s perspective. The processes of strategising, the impact of organisational contexts, and the subsequent strategic tensions are explored so as to understand the adoption of various strategic practices.

INNOVATE 305

This course can be included in the INNOVENT major. The course consists of a special topic taken by arrangement with the Department of Management and International Business. If you are interested, please contact Associate Professor Christine Woods.

Career options

• Careers in Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Further study options

• Bachelor of Commerce (Honours)
• Master of Commerce
• Doctor of Philosophy (in Management or International Business)

Each year we award scholarships and prizes to thousands of students.

Find out about the scholarships you may be eligible for, search available scholarships or begin an application by visiting Scholarships and awards.

For general student enquiries, please contact the Business School Student Centre.