“Making an impact”: a profile of a business planning competition in a university (original) (raw)
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Journal of Management Development
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine young learners’ attitudes towards enterprise education within the context of a university led initiative to construct a sustainable framework which benefits identified stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach The research used self-completed questionnaires with 117 business studies students in Stages S4-S6 from secondary schools across Dundee and business students from Years 1-4 at one university in Dundee, Scotland. Findings The research reveals that respondents positively engage with enterprise education and felt that their project management, creative thinking, communication skills and confidence were enhanced by the activity of real-world business challenges. The findings support the notion that an enterprising spine embedded in the academic curriculum better equip the learner with the necessary hard and soft skills required for the employment market but not necessarily to be entrepreneurial. Research limitations/implications A li...
2018
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Embedding enterprise: a business school undergraduate course with an enterprise focus
Industry and Higher Education, 2013
This study profiles, through a case study of an undergraduate business programme, how a business school has embedded the theme of enterprise in its core undergraduate programme. Key participants in the development of the strategy and programme tutors and students were interviewed, to provide information for an analysis of the principle objectives and the impact of the course. The findings confirm the need to adopt a top-down strategy to identify underpinning themes that support all programme activities: the programme curriculum should focus on key themes and use innovative assessment and teaching and learning strategies, as well as added-value activities that enhance its effectiveness. The authors offer recommendations for best practice, including specific modules of study, use of guest speakers, added-value activities for developing student skills and innovative assessment strategies. It is argued that the paper will help university policy makers to construct valid programmes in which themes of enterprise and self-employment are integrated in order to enhance experiential and added-value activities.
Enterprise and entrepreneurship education: Guidance for UK higher education providers. Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, 2018
Foreword Described as a landmark document by the British Government’s Chief Entrepreneurial Adviser, and used to inform international initiatives such as the European Commission’s EntreComp Framework, QAA’s 2012 guidance on Enterprise and Entrepreneurship1 has been applied to shape and develop new educational initiatives worldwide. Five years on, we have seen its impact evidenced in new types of courses, new types of learning and new metrics for success. The purpose of this document is to capture this impact and to provide a future roadmap for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Education. We have consulted widely, heard case studies from around the UK at our Quality Enhancement Network events, taken the views of over 60 delegates from an international conference, and listened to international colleagues who are actively using it in contexts that we never imagined. The 2012 team described the guidance as a ‘stake in the sand’, meaning that at that juncture many of the concepts were untried and untested. This document builds on the success that has been evidenced, learns from interpretations derived from it and once again looks forward, in order to support the educator community which has evolved and continues to evolve this important educational agenda. I can only express my deepest gratitude to all of those who have supported this review and, ultimately, contributed to the development of this document. The names and organisations of those involved in the final drafting are included at the back of this guidance, and indicate the sheer breadth of stakeholder engagement. The reader who is familiar with the 2012 guidance will notice that our definitions have been enhanced, a new breadth of impact measures has been developed, and the pipeline of learning activities is aligned to institutional support. These were the changes called for by the educators who joined our consultations, however, these new additions are simply enhancements, in line with what the community of practice has called for. Andy Penaluna Chair, QAA Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Review
The context of enterprise education: insights into current practices
Industry and Higher Education, 2012
This paper presents the results of an investigation into contextual differences in the development and delivery of enterprise education in higher education globally. Using information gathered from an online survey distributed to enterprise educators, distinct differences in the provision of enterprise education are identified, as are differences of opinion among enterprise educators. The findings demonstrate that although enterprise education is highly diversified in terms of presentation, content and style, there are clear commonalities with regard to expected student outcomes. The respondents reported low levels of business start-up activity among students during enterprise education and/or within one year of graduation. Over 75% of the educators surveyed had personal start-up experience, and there was limited reliance on academic literature, with a preference for referencing broader stakeholder perspectives. With regard to the practical implications of this research, the international metric of enterprise education appears to be a broad set of enterprising skills that equip and enable students to recognize and exploit opportunities in order to navigate future unknowns. The commonly employed metric of business start-up appears less valid in light of this investigation.
Applying Enterprise: Active Learning Environments for Business Higher National Diploma Students
Journal Journal of Further and Higher Education, 2018
This article details an approach to teaching entrepreneurship to Higher National Diploma (HND) students that combines lecture-based and experiential learning processes to increase student learning, comprehension, and entrepreneurial skills. A UK university redesigned an entrepreneurship course to have students design and implement business plans for a pop-up shop and an event in the local community, while working closely with instructors and outside stakeholders. The lectures used in the lessons were designed to complement the enterprise activities and be immediately applied in group work settings. Data were collected from student reflections and analyzed against instructor reflections to highlight both the success and challenges of this approach, as well as any areas of dissonance between student and instructor observations. While the benefits of active and experiential learning processes are highlighted in the literature, this article examines these teaching methods specifically in a HND context, an area in which research on the benefits of these teaching methods for developing entrepreneurial students and for developing students prepared for undergraduate education has been limited.
2016
Purpose This research investigates the effectiveness of an experiential learning approach, available to students in all disciplines that combined a hands-on entrepreneurial and enterprise experience with professional consultant mentoring by using a competition to win business start-up funding. Design/methodology/approach Students at a UK university had the chance to enter a competition in which they developed an entrepreneurial idea and then designed and presented a business plan to win business start-up capital. Students who were entrepreneurially motivated, but who lacked capital to start up their business, were targeted, as these students have been argued to benefit the most from a combination of business plan training and entrepreneurial development. Feedback and data was obtained from the students at each stage of the process and was thematically analysed to assess the development of students' entrepreneurial skills and knowledge through the experience. Findings The research found that the benefits gained from this approach included both enterprising and entrepreneurial skills, with the greatest impact being on student confidence and belief in their ability to start a business. The practical skills had a 'demystifying' effect on students that made them feel like entrepreneurship and enterprise start-up were attainable.