Entrepreneurship and Strategic Communication

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

• 8. Decend work and economic growth
• 9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Objectives

The subject Entrepreneurship and Strategic Communication is part of the Professional Development and Innovation subject, included within the Nutrition Sciences, Dietetics, Health and Community Nutrition module, which is part of the mandatory training for the degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics.

The general objectives of this subject are:

• Moving from a business idea to an entrepreneurial project through the use of the methodology Lean Startup.

And the specific objectives:

• Create a new food product, suitable for human consumption, marketable, innovative, with environmental impact and following current regulations.
• Apply creativity techniques to identify interesting proposals.
• Prepare a technical report explaining the product that includes: product description, description of the nature of the innovative qualities, target audience and marketing channels, marketing plan, economic and financial plan, etc.
• Know the characteristics of the profile of an entrepreneur.
• Know how to reach the market with the chosen product or service.
• Learn to organize the company (identify the processes that need to be done, the tasks, hierarchies, etc. of people...).
• Determine the most appropriate legal form for the idea.
• Analyze the financing needs of the project.
• Calculate the turnover figure that will make it viable.

Learning outcomes

• LO1. Develop a business plan for the creation of a private nutritional consultation.
• LO2. Apply knowledge of strategic communication to develop a communication plan for a private nutritional consultancy.
• LO3. Carry out professional activities independently.
• LO4. Resolves problems and situations related to professional development with entrepreneurial and innovative attitudes.
• LO5. Uses audiovisual language and its different resources to express and present content linked to specific knowledge of the field.
• LO6. Apply their knowledge to solve problems in complex or professional and specialized work areas that require the use of creative and current ideas.

Competencies

Specific skills

• Participate in basic research, development, sales, labelling, communication and marketing of food products in a scientific manner, in response to the problems and social needs of consumers and current regulations.
• Understand the principles of entrepreneurship as a strategy to identify and solve emerging problems in the field of diet and human nutrition.

Basic skills

• Students have developed the learning skills necessary to undertake further studies with a high degree of independent learning.

Core skills

• Project the values of entrepreneurship and innovation in one's academic and professional career, through contact with a variety of practical contexts and motivation for professional development.

Content

From idea to business model

1. Key concepts of entrepreneurship
2. Creativity and innovation for the development of a business idea based on a product
3. The entrepreneurial profile
4. Create high-performance entrepreneurial teams
5. From idea to business plan. Structure of a business plan

Business model validation

1. Introduction to the methodology Lean Startup
2. Business model design
3. Customer development.Identification of hypotheses
4. Customer development. Problem validation
5. Customer development. Solution validation
6. Preparation of a technical report explaining the innovative product
   1. Product description
   2. Description of the nature of innovative qualities
   3. Target audience and marketing channels
   4. Marketing plan
   5. Economic and financial plan
7. Writing and presentation of the product and business model
   1. Elevator pitch

Evaluation

According to the Academic Regulations for undergraduate studies at UVic-UCC, there is only one official call that provides for two different evaluation periods:

• Ordinary period, which takes place as part of the training process and within the school period.
• Complementary evaluation period, in which the student can be evaluated again for the tasks, activities or tests that he/she has not passed satisfactorily within the framework of the first period.

Ordinary period

The evaluation is continuous and is based on:

• 2 exams on the material developed in class (first exam during week 7 and second exam during weeks 16-17). The exams weigh 25% each. During the recovery period, one of the two exams (repeatable) can be retaken.
• Development of a technical and entrepreneurial report of an innovative product and presentation in class. In this case, both the development process through tutorials and the final document and the presentation made are assessed (week 15). The weighting of the technical entrepreneurial report corresponds to 15% of the total grade and the remaining 15% corresponds to the presentation in class. The grade is determined and communicated when the project has been presented and the written version has been corrected (non-recoverable).
• Preparation and presentation of a elevator pitch which weighs 20% (it is not a group; each student must submit one of their own) (non-retrievable).

The final grade for the subject is the result of the weighting of the grades obtained in each of the parts and the subject is passed if a grade ≥5 is obtained. The average grade of the exams must be equal to or greater than 5 and no exam must have a grade lower than 4.5. Likewise, in order to make a weighted average, the retrievable activities must have a minimum grade of 5.

Complementary evaluation period

Students who do not pass some of the activities considered retakeable may retake them during this period. The evaluation of this second period cannot account for more than 50% of the final grade for the subject.

The final grade for this period is obtained by taking the weighted average of the grades obtained during the ordinary period and, if some activities have been made up, in the complementary assessment. The subject is passed if a grade ≥5 is obtained.

Important

Plagiarism or copying someone else's work is penalized in all universities and, according to the UVic-UCC coexistence rules, constitute serious or very serious faults. Therefore, during the course of this subject, plagiarism or the improper appropriation of texts or ideas from other people (see What is considered plagiarism?) and the improper or undeclared use of artificial intelligence in an activity automatically result in a suspension or other disciplinary measures.

To cite texts and materials appropriately, you must consult the academic citation guidelines and guidelines available on the UVic Library website.

Methodology

The subject is developed using different teaching-learning methodologies. Through the lecture methodology, the concepts and contents of the subject are developed.

The lecture methodology is combined with more active learning methodologies that involve the preparation of an entrepreneurial technical report in which the methodology must be used. Lean Startup, the resolution of cases and the discussion of these same cases, elements that allow the student to approach the reality of entrepreneurship.

Likewise, this subject is developed in a transversal manner with the subjects New Trends in Food Products and Restoration, Creativity and Gastronomy, which allows the creation of an innovative product with an adequate nutritional base.

Bibliography

Key references

• Osterwalder, A. & Pigneur Y. (2010). Business Model Generation [DVD]. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken.
• Ries, E, (2013). El método Lean Start Up. Deusto.

Further reading

Teachers will provide complementary bibliography and compulsory reading throughout the course via the Virtual Campus.