Training entrepreneurship at universities: a Swedish case

Characteristics and Effects of Entrepreneurship Education Programs: a Systematic Review

In recent decades, due to the unprecedented enthusiasm for processes related to teaching entrepreneurship, the subject of “entrepreneurship education” has been widely investigated. Several entrepreneurship education programs have been developed and tested under the hypothesis that it is possible to teach entrepreneurship and that such training is effective to develop both entrepreneurs and their ventures. Several studies, including systematic reviews and meta-analyses, have sought to understand the relationship between the interventions proposed in entrepreneurship education programs and their potential outcomes, such as the acquisition of different behavioral repertoires and business growth. In contrast, the content developed in different programs has not received attention. The aim of this systematic review is to describe aspects related to the interventions proposed in entrepreneurship education programs; specifically, this review aimed at determining what the interventions intended to develop, the characteristics of pedagogical strategies employed in these interventions, and the types of outcomes of such interventions. The results of the review showed that some important aspects, such as personalized learning in some stages of the interventions, the target audience, the formal preparation of mentors, and the development of specific content for achieving intended goals, need better consideration for the improvement of entrepreneurship education programs.

The impact of entrepreneurship education on innovative start-up intention: the mediating role of entrepreneurial mind-sets

Purpose

Entrepreneurship education at universities aims to create entrepreneurial thinking and spread the culture of entrepreneurial awareness, skills and attitudes to students to stimulate their entrepreneurship intentions as graduates. This study investigates the impact of entrepreneurship education on innovative start-up intention as well as the mediating role of entrepreneurial mind-sets of university students.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for analysis with (n = 204) valid questionnaires collected from university students.

Findings

The main findings show that entrepreneurial mind-sets mediate the relationship between entrepreneurship education and innovative start-up intention.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the body of knowledge by its application in a higher educational institution and enriches the literature with new evidence that entrepreneurship education could enhance innovative start-up intention.

Agroecological Entrepreneurship, Public Support, and Sustainable Development: The Case of Rural Yucatan (Mexico)

This paper offers an approach to Yucatecan social reality in terms of entrepreneurship and the process of creating companies dedicated to the production and/or commercialization of agroecological products, considering its contribution to sustainable rural development. The key actors’ perspective towards the existence of policies that favor land sustainability, assist in the development of rural areas and their population, and support these business initiatives is also presented. Likewise, it illustrates the small entrepreneurs’ standpoint on the role of public institutions in promoting wealth generation and sustainable development in lower growth areas, such as the state of Yucatan, in Mexico. A qualitative methodology was used for this research, based on in-depth interviews with a group of businessmen and -women from the region. The main results give a pessimistic view of institutional concern regarding both production and consumption of agroecological products and, therefore, the promotion of these enterprises for the socioeconomic development of Yucatan. From these findings, we detect: (a) A policy of scarce support for this type of production, due to political priorities; (b) inadequate management that prevents the consolidation of certain structures needed to support agroecological enterprises; (c) a lack of confidence in the Yucatecan government, which does not promote or support a social network of collaboration between agroecological producers and marketers; (d) a difficulty in undertaking agroecological enterprises because of social and cultural norms and poor environmental awareness among the population; (e) significant training deficiencies among entrepreneurs in agroecological agriculture; (f) absence of adequate distribution channels for agroecological products; and (g) excessive bureaucratic obstacles through laws that hinder entrepreneurial processes.

Support and development of small and new firms in rural areas: a case study of three regional initiatives

This paper is based on qualitative analysis and addresses the important topic of small business entrepreneurialism in rural areas and its special conditions and needs. Our aim is to present examples of and suggestions for how to encourage firm start-ups and the continuation possibly also the development and growth of existing firms. The paper is based on three cases that illustrate (1) challenges in the support system in rural areas, (2) various forms of support that could be used in rural areas, and (3) expectations that are eligible to put upon support activities designed for rural areas. The main findings are that (1) that successful support of rural businesses requires a critical mass of regional entrepreneurs, firms, and support actors, (2) diversity is critical, and the various actors must be coordinated to carry out the desired measures effectively, (3) expectations for growth and orientation of the firms must be realistic because broad support is more important than targeted support, and (4) we were able to show that a cross-boundary collaborative work culture that avoids both thought silos and business silos and places no value on prestige should pervade all areas of business support.

Methods to enhance students’ entrepreneurial mindset: a Swedish example

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of intervention methods in an entrepreneurship education (EE) course that was designed to enhance the students’ entrepreneurial mindset by targeting their opportunity identification, creativity and risk management capabilities (RMC).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors formulate hypotheses on enhancement of opportunity identification, creativity and RMC, and they test them using data collected from pre- and post-tests of three courses: one treatment course group and two control course groups.

Findings

The pretests and posttests of the treatment course demonstrate that the applied intervention methods have a positive impact on how the participants perceive their opportunity identification and creative capabilities. The participants in the control groups, which used a traditional course design, reported no such effects. Combined, the authors’ findings suggest that the new intervention methods positively affected the participants’ entrepreneurial mindset.

Originality/value

This study contributes to extant EE literature by examining the question of how certain pedagogical intervention methods enhance the participants’ self-efficacy with regard to possessing opportunity identification, creativity and RMC. The findings reported in this paper have implications for EE scholars, program evaluators and managers who seek methods to enhance the entrepreneurial mindset of people in their organizations.

The entrepreneurial university: an exploration of “value-creation” in a non-management department

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the strategies undertaken by “entrepreneurial” universities to leverage their bottom-line especially in response to withdrawals of public funding. Internationalisation has been the most prominent from setting-up overseas branch campuses to aggressive recruitment drives for international students, and more recently, the launch of new programmes to attract a wider market.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a documentary analysis, this study explores the future of curriculum development in entrepreneurial universities, using narratives around an “unconventional course” launch as a case illustration.

Findings

The findings reveal an interesting interaction of innovation, opportunity recognition, risk taking and pro-activeness at play within a university environment. The study also highlights how instructors have, in the past, based their syllabi on celebrities – from the Georgetown University to the University of South Carolina, University of Missouri and Rutgers University cutting across departments from English through sociology to Women’s and Gender Studies.

Practical implications

Overall this study captures the relationship between hip-hop artistry and poetry, as well as meeting the demands of society – societal impacts – not the least, bringing “street cred” into the classroom.

Social implications

The case illustration of a course launch at the University of Missouri linking hip-hop artists to curriculum development and pedagogy, opens up the discourse on the future trajectory of teaching and learning in higher education, with its attendant social implications – not the least for life after graduation.

Originality/value

This study provides fresh insights into the entrepreneurial potential of universities in co-branded/marketing activities with the hip-hop industry.

Education in entrepreneurship and the Theory of Planned Behaviour

Purpose

– The purpose of the present empirical study is to investigate the relationship between education in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial behaviour and compare the effectiveness of frequently used entrepreneurship education teaching approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

– Hypotheses are derived from the “Theory of Planned Behaviour” (“TPB”), which suggests that education in entrepreneurship is positively related to attitude (“A”), subjective norm (“SN”) and perceived behavioural control (“PBC”); that the effect on A, SN and PBC is stronger for extensive courses in entrepreneurship than for more superficial forms of educational efforts; and that education only influences entrepreneurial intentions indirectly through the effect on A, SN and PBC. The hypotheses are tested using data from two different surveys, one from Belgium and one from Norway.

Findings

– None of the hypotheses are supported. However, the findings from the study indicate a strong direct relationship between participation in extensive education programmes in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intention.

Research limitations/implications

– Additional empirical evidence would be required to confirm these results and help to improve our understanding of the validity bounds of the TPB in the field of entrepreneurship.

Practical implications

– The findings indicate that educational programs or events of limited duration have a rather limited usefulness and that efforts should rather be directed on programs of longer duration. This would, for instance, speak for a re-orientation of some policies like those financing short seminars on venture creation for unemployed people.

Originality/value

– Using data from two different surveys, one from Belgium and one from Norway, this study raises questions about the sufficiency of the TPB.

The University Students Entrepreneurship Evaluation System Based on BP Neural Network

In the knowledge economy period, nowadays the entrepreneurship of university students more and more attracts attention of society and universities. However, the entrepreneurship education of university students in China currently remains at the exploration stage and the entrepreneurship evaluation system of university students is not ideal. The absence of the entrepreneurship evaluation system is the important factors restricting the development of employment of university students’ entrepreneurship education, and the creation of university students’ entrepreneurship evaluation system is the center of the evaluation system as a whole and key. According to the characteristics of BP neural network, the paper presents an entrepreneurship evaluation system of university students by applying the BP neural network theory. It draws some constructive conclusions and suggestions as results.

THE EVOLUTION OF SPIN-OFF VENTURES: AN INTEGRATED MODEL

The article aims to give an overview of the main models in the spin-off research field. The main evolution models known in literature will be analyzed. The evolution models will be discussed in increasing order of complexity. However, the existing models will prove to be inadequate to reflect the real-life situation. Therefore, a new integrative model will be discussed in detail, illustrated by using 17 case studies of Belgian academic spin-offs. The model incorporates the dynamic nature of academic spin-off evolution and the major peripheral aspects. It can be used by practitioners and academics to enhance reproducibility and decision making.