6B007E - Scaling Your Business: Lessons From High Growth Firms 01 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2032 | Version 0

Associated Module Information

Module Code: 6B007E
Module Title: Scaling Your Business: Lessons From High Growth Firms
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Business Management
Faculty Sub Group: Business Management
Module Leader: Rachael Rees-Jones
Module Team: Anthony Thomas, Liam Newton
First Intended Intake: SEP 2026 Final Year of Intake:
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 30 Credit Level: 6
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes: 101221 - enterprise and entrepreneurship
HECOS Code Weighting: 100

Document Version Information

Version 0
Valid From 01 Sep 2026
Valid To 31 Aug 2032

Module Aims

  1. To equip students with a critical understanding of the strategies, enablers, and barriers associated with scaling entrepreneurial ventures, drawing on evidence from high growth firms. 

  1. To develop students’ ability to evaluate real-world growth journeys, identifying both opportunities and pitfalls, and applying these insights to entrepreneurial practice. 

  1. To foster students’ capacity for strategic thinking, resilience, and problem-solving in the context of managing the complexities of business scale-up. 

Content Summary

This module, Scaling Your Business: Lessons from High Growth Firms, explores the dynamics, strategies, and challenges of scaling entrepreneurial ventures. Drawing on extensive research into high growth firms and real-world case studies, it examines the distinctive pathways through which businesses achieve rapid and sustainable expansion. Students will critically engage with themes such as strategic resource mobilisation, leadership and organisational development, internationalisation, and the role of innovation and ecosystems in supporting growth. 

The module emphasises both the opportunities and pitfalls of scaling, encouraging students to develop a nuanced understanding of why businesses pursue growth, how they manage the complexities of scaling, and what lessons can be drawn from the successes and failures of high growth firms. Through applied analysis, reflection, and interactive case-based learning, students will gain insights into the realities of entrepreneurial growth journeys, preparing them to anticipate and navigate the challenges of scaling in their own professional contexts. 

By completing this module, students will strengthen their strategic thinking, problem-solving, and evaluative skills, while deepening their awareness of the factors that underpin high growth entrepreneurship. This directly contributes to the broader course aim of developing entrepreneurial leaders capable of creating impact in competitive and evolving markets. 

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Lectures 6
Practical Classes and Workshops 50
Groupwork 50
Guided Study 114
Formative Assessment 20
Summative Assessment 60
Total Hours Selected 300

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Critically evaluate the distinctive characteristics of high-growth firms and their leaders; and apply relevant theoretical and empirical insights, including real-world case evidence, to analyse entrepreneurial growth journeys and propose sustainable and inclusive approaches to scaling.
LO2 Assess the opportunities and risks associated with scaling, integrating insights from practice to identify pitfalls, reflect on ethical and global considerations, and propose evidence-based strategies for sustainable growth.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Asynchronous Assessment Student Choice 1 requiring students to analyse a startup company, identify the challenges it faces in achieving growth, and suggest strategies for it to scale and grow – while also considering the ethical and leadership implications of these strategies. 0 N/A 100 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Student Choice 1 ✔ ✔

Reading List

Essential Reading 

Brown, R., & Mawson, S. (2013). Trigger Points and High Growth Firms: A Conceptualisation and Review of Public Policy Implications. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 20(2), 279–295. 

Brown, R., Rees-Jones, R., & Mawson, S. (2024). Learning to Ride the High Growth “Rollercoaster”: The Role of Publicly Funded Business Accelerator Programmes. Small Business Economics, 64(2), 233–258. 

Coad, A., Daunfeldt, S-O., Hölzl, W., Johansson, D., & Nightingale, P. (2014). High-Growth Firms: Introduction to the Special Section. Industrial and Corporate Change, 23(1), 91–112. 

Goswami, G., Medvedev, D. & Olafsen, E. (2019). High Growth Firms: Fact, Fiction and Policy Options for Emerging Economies. Washington DC: World Bank. 

Mason, C., & Brown, R. (2013). Creating Good Public Policy to Support High Growth Firms. Small Business Economics, 40(2), 211–225. 

 

Penrose, E. (1959, reissued 2009). The Theory of the Growth of the Firm. Oxford University Press. 

Rees-Jones, R. (2021). Supporting High Growth Firms. University of South Wales PhD Thesis (selected chapters). 

 

Supplementary Reading 

Bessant, J., & Tidd, J. (2020). Innovation and Entrepreneurship. 4th ed. Wiley. 

Brown, R., Mawson, S., & Mason, C. (2017). Myth-Busting and Entrepreneurship Policy: The Case of High Growth Firms. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 29(5–6), 414–443. 

Delmar, F., Davidsson, P., & Gartner, W. B. (2003). Arriving at the High-Growth Firm. Journal of Business Venturing, 18(2), 189–216. 

Goswami, G., Medvedev, D., & Olafsen, E. (2019). High Growth Firms: Fact, Fiction and Policy Options for Emerging Economies (selected chapters). 

McKelvie, A., & Wiklund, J. (2010). Advancing Firm Growth Research: A Focus on Growth Mode Instead of Growth Rate. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 34(2), 261–288. 

OECD (2010). High Growth Enterprises: What Governments Can Do to Make a Difference. OECD Publishing. 

Shane, S. (2003). A General Theory of Entrepreneurship: The Individual–Opportunity Nexus. Edward Elgar.