Business Skills for the Creative Industries

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• formulate a business proposal with an appropriate rationale.
• techniques to develop creative businesses;
• academic theoretical frameworks pertaining to business development;

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• evaluate ideas from cross-disciplinary perspectives to inform the development of a creative business plan.
• apply critical thinking and be able to select from a range of business ideas;

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• manage your time effectively.
• use a wide range of information sources, databases and referencing skills;
• clearly communicate business data and information;

Indicative content for this module may include:

• Understanding the growth and development of the creative sector
• Creative techniques in developing a business idea
• Design thinking for a business product/service
• Creating a digital brand identity
• The role of IP in protecting ideas versus Creative Commons
• Half day Business Simulation
• Funding a Business/Crowdfunding
• Types of business formats
• Freelancing
• Understanding basic finance
• Developing a business plan
• Understanding your personality profile

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include:

• lectures;
• case studies;
• seminars;
• Business Simulation;
• use of apps.

Learning activities include:

• seminars;
• group problem solving and brain storming;
• team activities;
• use of apps.

Relationship between the teaching, learning and assessment methods and the learning outcomes:

Lecture material for each topic will be uploaded on to Blackboard on a session-by-session basis, which will include an outline of the lecture, learning outcomes, copies of any power point slides, essential reading and suggested further reading and preparation for end of course module assessment.

Resources & Reading list

Internet Resources

A good resource in understanding the role of education in the design and creative industries.

A source for what is happening in the UK and recent papers published about the creative industries.

Textbooks

Alexander Osterwalder , Yves Pigneur, Gregory Bernarda , Alan Smith, Trish Papadakos (2014). Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want (Strategyzer). John Wiley and Sons.

Ronald Kay (2012). Managing Creativity in Science and Hi-Tech.

Judkins, R (2015). The Art of Creative Thinking. Hodder and Stoughton.

Vaughan Evans (2015). FT The FT Essential Guide to Writing a Business Plan: How to win backing to start up or grow your business.

The Open University (2016). Design Thinking.

Chris Bilton (2006). Management and Creativity: From Creative Industries to Creative Management.

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.