Enterprise and
Entrepreneurship
Meeting Notes from 28/04/2006
• Provide 2 examples of structure of workshops
• One to add on to employability
• One stand alone
…then we thought…
• One to engage with agenda – hearts and minds
• One to contain interactive activities with discussions –
consider inviting students?
• Provide examples and case studies containing
theoretical and interactive material
Ice Breaker..
• Name
• What you *do*
• One thing that no one else here knows
about you
Objectives of the workshop:
• NOT to *teach you entrepreneurship*!
• To provide resources for staff
• To provide resources for staff to use with
students
• To provide ideas about how to engage in
the enterprise/entrepreneurship agenda
within the HEI and with students
Entrepreneurship and enterprise
are important components in all
university curricula
Strongly
Agree
Neutral
Strongly
Disagree
There is already a lot of enterprise
and entrepreneurial activities within
modules on our GEES awards
Strongly
Agree
Neutral
Strongly
Disagree
Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
• What’s the difference between these terms?
• Why does enterprise and entrepreneurship
matter…to you…to students, to the HEI?
• How does enterprise feature in your curricula?
• How is enterprise currently displayed/promoted
within your own Faculty/Department?
• How is *success* in this area measured?
Characteristics of entrepreneurs or
enterprising people?
Individually, please take 1 min. to write down
three attributes, in rank order, that you
particularly associate with entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs are…
Characteristics of an Entrepreneur:
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Visionary; creative; innovative
Adaptable; problem-solver
Persuasive; inspirational
Confident; determined; motivated; a self-believer; selfish
Competitive; ambitious; a risk-taker; one who perseveres
Honest
Disciplined; hard working
Organised; a planner; a decision-maker
Understanding
Leader; team worker
Networker
Taker of opportunities
Researcher; enquirer
Born…or made?
• Trait Theory – seeks to identify common
links that bind them
• Social Development Approach – includes
risk, family influences, constraints etc.
• Structure Opportunity Model – includes
wider social factors such as family,
neighbourhood, school, peer group, work
environment etc.
Enterprise
…involves measures to encourage individuals to
become entrepreneurs and equip them with the
necessary skills to make a business successful
(Mason, 2000)
In essence, enterprise is about spotting opportunities,
creating new ideas and having the confidence and
capabilities to turn these ideas into working realities
(Nixon, 2004)
Entrepreneurship
…is an activity which leads to the creation and
management of a new organisation designed to
pursue a unique, innovative opportunity
(Hindle & Rushworth, 2000)
Fundamentally, it is about using enterprise to
create new business, new businesses and ‘cando’ organisations and services
(Nixon, 2004)
Intrapreneurship
…is the art of working within an organisation
to effect change, by developing new ideas,
procedures or products, by innovating
practice and thereby enhancing the
business
(Kneale, 2002)
Social entrepreneurship
…involves using entrepreneurial skills for the
public good rather than for private profit, that
is using imagination to identify new
opportunities and determination to bring them
to fruition
(School for Social Entrepreneurs)
Arguments for Entrepreneurship
• In the US, 18% of graduates start their
own businesses; in the UK it is 7%
• Significant numbers of undergraduates
aspire to start their own business
• It is not necessarily about *making money*
but developing skills and competences
So………..
What are the problems, difficulties and
challenges in incorporating [more]
enterprise/entrepreneurship into the
curriculum?
Problems with incorporating
enterprise/entrepreneurship
into the curriculum
• There is a limited amount of room
• Many academics prefer to teach their own
research work
• It doesn’t fit into traditional academic discourse
• Some students aren’t interested in being
enterprising or entrepreneurial
Incorporating enterprise/entrepreneurship
into the curriculum…
Develops and enhances skills, aptitudes and
attitudes - provides students with the opportunities
and motivation to:
 work creatively and independently
 develop research, analysis and critical thinking skills
 practice time, project, risk and people management skills
 be able to work in unfamiliar environments and respond to
unexpected events
 better understand their own capabilities and traits and to
enhance their confidence in their own abilities
Incorporating enterprise/entrepreneurship
into the curriculum…
Aids business and financial knowledge and understanding
True…many staff in the GEES disciplines may be less well equipped
to provide detailed information on the business/financial knowledge
required to set up a business than, say, Business School staff
However…supporting the students in the these skills areas
empowers them to seek out and take advantage of other sources of
information
Many higher education institutions offer:
 booklets, workshops, courses, guidance, advice etc.
…to support entrepreneurship through their careers services,
enterprise units and business schools
Many universities now have graduate business start-up facilities, and
incubator units
For example…
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Enterprise Fellowship Scheme
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
SPEED
Entrepreneur Awards
Shell LiveWIRE
A few questions to consider…
• What does your Dept. understand by
enterprise and entrepreneurship? How is it
discussed?
• What forms of pedagogy and assessment
are appropriate to support enterprise and
entrepreneurial activity?
• Can you identify where enterprise and
entrepreneurship manifest themselves in
your programmes?
A few questions to consider…
• Where is enterprise and entrepreneurship
taught and practiced in the Dept./Faculty?
• Are enterprise and entrepreneurship
knowledge and skills made explicit within
learning outcomes?
• Can students actually *be* enterprising
and entrepreneurial on your awards? How
are they made aware of this, by whom and
when?
A few questions to consider…
• How is enterprise and entrepreneurial
activity monitored and reviewed when
updating modules?
• How are students acquainted with
enterprise and entrepreneurship and of its
influence on their self development?
• How is enterprise and entrepreneurial
activity promoted, advertised and
managed within the Dept.?
A few questions to consider…
• How are staff currently *developed* into a
greater acceptance of, and open attitude
toward, enterprise and entrepreneurship?
• How is enterprise and an entrepreneurial
culture currently given ‘visibility’ in the
Dept./Faculty?
Strategies for linking enterprise/entrepreneurship
with institutional strategies
• Embed within policy and strategies
• Explain to, and involve staff and students in, appropriate activities
• Audit teaching and assessment strategies – modifying where
necessary
• Develop special events and structures to promote and facilitate
enterprise and entrepreneurship
• Review staff enterprise activities and incentives
• Review links between staff consultancy/applied research and
teaching
• Review staff interview and induction processes to integrate aspects
of enterprise and entrepreneurship
Strategies for linking enterprise/entrepreneurship
with courses and programmes
Develop student’s understanding of enterprise by:
 Developing curriculum
 Developing their awareness
 Developing their understanding
Strategies for linking enterprise/entrepreneurship
with courses and programmes
Develop student’s ability to be enterprising &
entrepreneurial by:
 Getting them to *be* enterprising
 Assessing their enterprise activity
 Providing them with some training/development and
developing/promoting student’s involvement in enterprise
 Embedding enterprise into the curriculum
Strategies for linking enterprise/entrepreneurship
with courses and programmes
Further develop student’s understanding of enterprise by:
 Following through on the strategy delivering the employability
policy
 Following through on the strategy delivering the PDP policy
 Evaluating student’s experience of enterprise and
entrepreneurship and feeding this back into the curriculum
Strategies to develop entrepreneurial skills
Inspire
Demonstrate through the good examples
By practice
Lead by example – show/tell them what you do
Research – research linked to
teaching
Enquiry through to research; problem solving
and project work.
Outline ideas succinctly
Word limits / tutorials / presentations / outline
& essay planning /dissertation proposals /
Negotiable/negotiated learning
Assess own strengths or
weaknesses
Peer group assessment / critical evaluation /
Discussion/ tutorial/ question
Marking scheme
Self assessment/ profiling
Communicate effectively
Build team
Network
Human skills interactivity
Inspiration comes from a variety
Good accommodation
Stimulating teaching/subject
Enthusiasm
Good equipment
Have ideas
Make things happen
Innovate
Bring relevant/new experience from outside
Keep up to date/new techniques
Thinking differently
Utilising experience
Expose students to best practice
Alumni network
Guest speakers
FT/PT mix
Off campus venues, events & activities
Question…
At what level, and how, is enterprise &
entrepreneurship best incorporated into your
curriculum?
I would…
• Focus on the acquisition of skills and explain
why this is important
• Get students to interview or talk to or to listen to
entrepreneurs
• Invite enterprising people in to talk
• Simulate pre-start up, and start up, activities
• Use case studies including
any in-class students who have
a business
I wouldn’t…
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Use the word ‘entrepreneurship’ too much
Use a text book about entrepreneurship
Use concepts and models
Focus on knowledge acquisition
Only focus on the good or on the bad
points of being self-employed
Examples of practice
• In groups, please look through the
examples of good practice and decide on
one or two, but no more, that you
collectively ‘like the look of’
• Settle on a short summary of why it
appeals to you and what specifically
interests you - nominate a spokesperson
More resources…
 GEES Enterprise, Skills & Entrepreneurship
Resource Pack
 HEA’s Supporting Entrepreneurial Skills
Matrix (SESM)
 Stanford Technology Ventures Program
 Institute for Enterprise @ Leeds Met.
Context case materials - Intrapreneurship
More resources…
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The Institute for Enterprise – Leeds Met. Uni.
White Rose Centre for Enterprise
Northern Ireland Centre for Entrepreneurship
Business Link
Harvard Business School
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
Innovation Network
The Lambert Review – Uni./Business Cooperation
Prince’s Trust
More resources…
• Social enterprises
– Skoll Foundation
– Said Business School Oxford – Skoll foundation
– Duke Uni. – Centre for Advancement of Social
Entrepreneurship
– Cabinet Office – Third Sector
– Community Action Network
Final thoughts…
• Take 5 min. to consider a NEW way that
you might modify a learning object or an
assessment within a module that are
involved with to specifically develop a
student’s enterprise skills
• Write it down!
and finally…
Thank you for your time…..
Questions, points, more information?
GEES Subject Centre