Bachelor of Commerce in Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Total tuition fees for 2025:

R92 510

Overview

The tech-focused outcomes allow students to collaborate in a team to realise their businesses through tech prototyping and exploration of new technologies with more immersive experience content such as Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality and Virtual Reality. Each students role in the business relates to their chosen discipline and they work together to develop, research and prepare to launch a business start-up to be tested and monetised.

The tech-focus in the AFDA School of Business Innovation & Technology considers the necessity for students to learn coding techniques as well as Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality and Virtual Reality amongst other technologies. Research shows that Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) will become the computing platforms of the future (Goldman & Sachs 2016). VR and AR are changing how we design, create, and experience everything from retail, to architecture, health industries, engineering, education and entertainment. Global venture capital has invested $3.5 billion in VR and AR in the last two years and research shows that $30 billion will be invested in VR & AR by 2020 because VR & AR are destined to replace the future of computing, as these technologies begin to disrupt the PC and smartphone as they evolve towards smart glasses. This exponential leap towards immersive computing will affect all spheres of commerce (Goldman & Sachs 2016; Scoble & Israel 2017). Globally the VR and AR market will be worth $215 billion by 2021 (statista.com).

There are many benefits to this in that the integration of entrepreneurship and technology located in the two business hubs (AFDA Johannesburg and Cape Town campuses) will create many opportunities for students through collaboration, resources and deeper learning opportunities for your benefit. This differentiates the AFDA BCom degree to any other business or IT degree programmes available and adds more value for our current and future students doing this qualification.

Course Structure

As in the other AFDA 3-year degree programmes, there are 5 areas of study in the Bcom Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship programme.  They are grouped into three key modules – Research, Discipline and Project. All three modules are compulsory for all students.

1. Research

• • Research Studies equip students to develop conceptually relevant business ideas. Students are taught to align these ideas with the practical competencies taught in Discipline Studies in order to realise their project outcomes. Research Studies are comprised of 5 focus areas, namely Dissipating Value, Market, Business Modelling, Appeal, and Control.  In these five focus areas, students receive the required inputs to identify business opportunities with a potential market, to structure their business in a feasible way, to attract potential customers to their product/service, and to manage this effectively.

2. Discipline

• • In Discipline Studies, students are equipped to realise the concepts, as developed in Research Studies, through the technical and craft skills offered in Discipline. Students learn a broad variety of technical competencies through the means of lectures, discovery and peer-led learning under the guidance of a tutor.  The Discipline Studies Centre (DSC) hosts the software required to achieve the discipline competencies, namely:

• • • • • Business Strategy & Management
        • Marketing & Sales
        • Start-Up Finance
        • U(I)X Design & Operation

• • In Reflection Studies, students are taught to critically reflect on their term’s learning. As such, Reflection Studies is designed to assist students in cultivating life-long learning skills that enables them to monitor, develop and understand their performance in relation to the requirements of the world of work.

3. Project

• •  Contextual Studies teaches students the required 21st century skills, such as critical and creative thinking, good ethical practices, the ability to collaborate, and to use a variety of general software applications. These skills enable students to navigate opportunities that could emerge from a rapidly expanding, and evolving media economy.

• • In Project Studies, students learn to systematically apply the concepts and theories explored in Research Studies and Contextual Studies; together with the skills learned in Discipline Studies, to produce their term projects.  Project Studies is delivered through a series of small learning group activities and peer-led workshops, where project teams work towards achieving a set of project goals and performance objectives during the preparation, production and presentation of their projects.