Communication and Entrepreneurship MSc

Investigate the multidisciplinary subject of business and organisational communication.

We cover a range of quantitative and qualitative approaches, examining how individuals and groups use spoken, written and digital communication to enact their workplace identities, how workplace teams and communities communicate effectively and how tasks at work get achieved through communication.

The wide range of methodologies and analytical frameworks for interrogating business and organisational communication include:

• conversation analysis
• corpus linguistics
• critical discourse analysis
• pragmatics
• linguistic ethnography
• sociolinguistics

We also highlight contemporary issues emerging from the field, exploring, for example, new multi-media technologies and globalisation on communication in commercial domains and organisational environments.

The module demonstrates how the findings of communicative research can be practically applied in teaching and training materials and in consultancy work.

This module is worth 20 credits.

The purpose of the Project is to provide students with the opportunity to undertake independent research into a topic appropriate to Communication and Entrepreneurship transfer and problem solving. In undertaking the project, students should draw on and extend material presented in the course. The project has several aims, beyond reinforcing information and methodology presented in the taught modules. Students will gain experience by:

• addressing the challenges involved in developing the commercial potential of ideas and projects and/or examining/enhancing communication within a business/commercial/professional environment
• giving a PowerPoint presentation that describes some aspects of the work achieved
• producing a written report in a style that would be useful, not only to those involved in their academic field of investigation, but also to potential employees, investors, and other relevant stakeholders/personnel.

The module will introduce you to the latest thinking in the areas of creativity, the creative process, knowledge management practices and the nature of entrepreneurship. Having established the vital link between creativity, entrepreneurship, innovation and value creation, the course uses directed reading, case study exercises, reflective blog writing and group-based creative problem solving to illustrate entrepreneurial creativity in practice. You will be introduced to a variety of creative problem solving techniques and learn how to apply these techniques in the context of the development, evaluation, and application of ideas and concepts with commercial potential. The course culminates in you pitching your entrepreneurial opportunity to peers and real world entrepreneurs.

This module is worth 20 credits.

You will be introduced to the more practical elements of innovation and enterprise activity across multiple contexts, including corporate and social entrepreneurship . The module will prepare you to recognise opportunities, and to implement innovation and enterprising ideas. The ability to make informed and timely decisions will be an important aspect of this, and the module will use a start-up business simulation to encourage this.

This module develops a knowledge and understanding of: 

• the dynamics of the global economy and international business and/or an awareness of cultural, legal/regulatory, political, and economic differences across countries and/or an appreciation of management issues from a global perspective
• business innovation - creativity, intrapreneurial - and entrepreneurial behaviour and enterprise development, and the management and exploitation of intellectual property
• leadership and management of people within organisations - leadership, organisational behaviour and motivation
• strategic management - the development and implementation of appropriate strategies within a changing environment

Corpus linguistics provides methods for studying collections of electronic texts. These could be written texts (including literary texts), material from the internet, or transcripts of spoken language.

We introduce fundamental corpus methods, that include:

• retrieving and interpreting word frequency information
• studying patterns of words in the form of concordances
• analysing key words and key semantic domains

The module will explain these concepts and illustrate methods through case studies, with an emphasis on the use of corpus methods for the purposes of discourse analysis.

Through hands-on sessions, you will practise using corpus analysis software and several online interfaces. Throughout the module, you are encouraged to reflect on the applicability of a range of methods to your own areas of interest (for example, literary linguistics, critical discourse analysis, ELT).

For the assessment, you will complete a small-scale corpus project on a topic of your choice (in consultation with the module convenor). This project can test ideas that might be further developed during the dissertation.

This module is worth 20 credits.

Communication is an essential aspect of any workplace. From the language used in the cockpit of aeroplanes, to the language used in advertising and call centres, spoken, written and visual discourse is at the very centre of, and often defines, contemporary work practices.

Discover the theories and insights of sociolinguistic-related research, as applied to a vast array of work-related and institutional settings. We cover a range of communicative topics that reveal how language is used and abused in the workplace and institutional setting, including:

• linguistic coercion in courtrooms, classrooms, prisons
• electronic communication
• miscommunication
• advertising communication
• critical discourse analysis and multimodal critical discourse analysis
• political talk and the use of persuasive discourse
• jargon, double speak, and fake news

Often taking a critical perspective on language in the workplace (exposing inequities in institutional discourse), the module will emphasise the vital relationship between power and communication in the workplace. It shows how looking closely at and through language can illuminate and enhance communication in a range of workplaces and institutional settings.

This module is worth 20 credits.

You complete the course with a 60-credit, 10-12,000 word research project and short presentation.

In your research project, you develop the commercial potential of your ideas and projects, or analyse the language and communication of a particular business, organisation or professional setting with a view to enhancing communication within it.