Entrepreneurship Education in Training firms
Austrian experiences with a unique principle of education
and a challenging teaching method
Gerhard Geissler
Vienna, 11th march 2015
How do you think about
this thesis?
The weakness of our
education system is
that it does not prepare young
graduates for self-employment
and business entrepreneurship.
It encourages the students to
follow the tradition of job-seeking.
I. Patil,
Director of the Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai University
Agenda
 The curriculum for higher vocational
schools in Austria
 First discussion session
 Entrepreneurship
 Entrepreneurship Education
 Training firm
 Entrepreneurship Education and the
Training Firm
 Final discussion session
The curriculum for higher vocational
schools in Austria
Clusters of the curriculum for
higher vocational schools
Clusters
Forms
I
II
III
IV
V
Σ
Personality and Career
6
5
5
4
3
23
Language and Communication
8
9
8
7
8
40
Entrepreneurship – Economy
and Management
8
11
12
14
9
54
Society and Culture
2
4
2
2
2
12
Mathematic and Natural Science
5
4
5
5
4
23
Focus Subjects
-
-
2
2
2
6
29
33
32
34
28
158
Excerpt of the curriculum: The
cluster „Entrepreneurship –
Economy and Management“
Subjects
Forms
I
II
III IV
V
Σ
Business
3
3
3
3
2
14
Accounting and Management Control
3
3
3
3
2
14
Business Training, Project Management,
Training Firm, Case Studies
-
2
2
3
1
8
Informatics
-
1
2
2
1
6
Office Management
2
2
2
-
-
6
Law
-
-
-
3
-
3
Economics
-
-
-
-
3
3
8
11
12
14
9
54
Excerpt of the curriculum: The
cluster „Entrepreneurship –
Economy and Management“
Subjects
Forms
I
II
III IV
V
Σ
Business
3
3
3
3
2
14
Accounting and Management Control
3
3
3
3
2
14
Business Training, Project Management,
Training Firm, Case Studies
-
2
2
3
1
8
Informatics
-
1
2
2
1
6
Office Management
2
2
2
-
-
6
Law
-
-
-
3
-
3
Economics
-
-
-
-
3
3
8
11
12
14
9
54
Competence structure model of the education
standards for the cluster “Entrepreneurship –
Economy and Management”
functional
subjects
Remembering
Understanding
Applying
Analysing
Creating
cross
sector
subjects
content level
A
B
C
D
E
1. enterprise and law
2. materials management
3. marketing
4. finance and investment
5. human resources
6. AMC
7. entrepreneurship
8. management
9. international business
10. economic sectors
11. communication
cognitive level
A B C D E
A
B
C
D
E
Normative basis of the competence
structure model of the education
standards for “Entrepreneurship –
Economy and Management”
The education standards are based on:
 An economic understanding of an
eco-social-market economy
 An understanding of enterprises based on the
new management-model of St. Gallen
 An understanding of competencies based on the
definition of Franz Weinert
 A polyvalent understanding of formation that
allows a general entrance into a professional
field
 An understanding of education that fosters
entrepreneurship education as a principle in the
curriculum
Eco-social market economy
St. Gallen Management-Model
Definition of competencies –
Franz Weinert
“Competences are those cognitive
abilities and skills, motivational,
volitional and social dispositions and
abilities that are needed for the
process of problem solving in
variable siutations.”
(Weinert 1999, 2001)
First discussion session
???
How would you adopt this normative basis
of Austrian vocational schools into the
curricula of your country?
• What type of economy do want?
• What is your opinon on the „nature of an
enterprise“?
• What should school graduates do after school
and which vocational competencies do they
therefore need?
Entrepreneurship
What do we know about
successful entrepreneurs?
Extern
Organidimension zation
Person
Requirements
• demographic
characteristics
• human capital
(content)
• traits
(personality)
• values
business
motivation
idea
entrepreneurial
behavior
business
plan
micro-social
environment
market
opportunitiy
The new
enterprise
Processes
network
team
location
• strategy
• finance
• marketing
• organization
current
situation
general macro-economic and social environment
structure of
the sector
Which of these key factors of successful
entrepreneurs can be taught in arranged
teaching/learning processes?
Extern
Organidimension zation
Person
Requirements
• demographic
characteristics
• human capital
(content)
• traits
(personality)
• values
business
motivation
idea
entrepreneurial
behavior
business
plan
micro-social
environment
market
opportunitiy
The new
enterprise
Processes
network
team
location
• strategy
• finance
• marketing
• organization
current
situation
general macro-economic and social environment
structure of
the sector
How should we teach?
School promotes independent
thinking and behavior and
enhance self-responsible acting.
It is supposed to convey the
knowledge and skills that will
develop my personality and a
wide range of task specific
competencies that allow my
orientation in a modern world.
Nice!
Sit down!
Entrepreneurship Education
Entrepreneurship education between
entrepreneurial/professional autonomy
and promotion of civil society
Level IV: Entrepreneurship – promoting an “entrepreneurial spirit”
Level III: Entrepreneurship – promoting civil society
(social entrepreneurs)
Level II: Entrepreneurship – economics education
(context and conditions of market economy)
Level I: Entrepreneurship – business education
Entrepreneurial
autonomy
• Founding companies
• Setting up businesses
Professional
autonomy
Employees as
co-entrepreneurs
… Understanding market economy – introduction to micro and
macroeconomics & economic policy
... through development of pedagogic objectives such as maturity,
responsibility & a well-informed outlook
i.e. attitudes such as independence, assumption of responsibility etc.
Portfolio of competencies of an
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurial competence
Professional
competence
Methodological
competence
Selfcompetence
Social
competence
Entrepreneurial
teachinglearning gap
Know-how
Know-what
Know-why
Know-who
Know-when
Basic economic
knowledge
+
Knowledege
about how to
start a
business
+
general
knowledge
Procedural
knowledge
+
Strategic
knowledge
Entrepreneurial
attitudes:
Curiosity,
creativity,
achievement
orientation etc.
Ability to
comunicate,
sensibility
+
Ability to act
autonomously
+
Ability to act in
Solidarity
Beyond the
possibility to
be developped
at school or
university.
Training firm
What is a training firm?
The training firm is a place of
learning for training and
further training of business
people
where
practical
knowledge is trained in an
action-oriented manner.
A training firm is a virtual
enterprise, acting like a
real enterprise. The traded
goods and the money do
not really exist.
Entrepreneurship Education in
the Training Firm
“Principles of construction” for the
curriculum of a training firm on the basis of
the four-level model of entrepreneurship
education
Promotion of entrepreneurial virtues ranging from the spirit of innovation and
motivation to the assumption of responsibility for oneself and society
Social business as entrepreneurship’s contribution to a dynamic
civil society and thus to the promotion of counter-hegemonic projects
Entrepreneurship as a curricular/didactic orientation
Entrepreneurship
to determine content of curriculum and skills
Business plan as subject-specific
didactic approach
to link up business knowledge
and skills
Level I
Understanding the
market economy –
including complex
economic issues
Level II
Level III – “Entrepreneurship as basic qualification of the citizen”
(cf. Faltin/Zimmer 1998, p. 261)
Level IV – Transmission of attitudes and skills for a dynamic economy and society
Final discussion session
???
1.
2.
3.
4.
What
What
What
What
was new?
was interesting?
was surprising?
do like to know?
Thank you!
Prof. Mag. Dr. Gerhard Geissler, MSc
Department of Management
Institut of Business Education
Building D2
Welthandelsplatz 1
1020 Vienna
+43 1 313 36 4421
gerhard.geissler@wu.ac.at