Briga Hynes

Entrepreneurship education and training ‐ introducing entrepreneurship into non‐business disciplines

Entrepreneurs or the move towards self‐employment is, and will continue to become, an increasingly important element of economic growth and development. It is now recognized that small firms in Ireland are “net creators of jobs while the large firm sector is a net shedder of jobs”. To ensure that a sustained increase in self‐employment continues, it is critical that the correct infrastructure is in place to facilitate this development. One critical aspect of this infrastructure is the creation of an enterprise culture which will encourage and entice individuals to take the risk of starting a business. Examines one of the core components of an enterprise culture, which is education, and how the various educational programmes can incorporate entrepreneurship as a subject area which will foster the interest in enterprise. Focuses on how a process model for enterprise education can be used to target various student groups in an interdisciplinary manner, and emphasizes the need to teach entrepreneurship to non‐business students, who in many instances are the originators of ideas, but unfortunately do not have the business knowledge to develop the idea further.

Entrepreneurship education: A mechanism for engaging and exchanging with the small business sector

Purpose – The focus of this paper is to highlight the synergies and mutual benefits associated with a range of entrepreneurship education initiatives for a combination of internal and external stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a description of four entrepreneurship education initiatives in operation at the University of Limerick, Ireland. Detail on the objectives of the initiatives, the content, delivery, assessment and benefits of these initiatives is provided. Findings – Entrepreneurship and enterprising activity are widely regarded as instrumental for economic growth, for balanced regional development and for the creation of jobs. Educational institutions need to ensure that graduates are capable of acting in an enterprising manner in the workplace either as an entrepreneur or as an intrapreneur in paid employment. This double objective can materialise through the provision of entrepreneurship education, within either a business or a technical course. Additionally, these same programmes can also be an effective mechanism for the provision of targeted training programmes for skills enhancement in the owner/manager and the creation and facilitation of linkages and working relationships with the small business community. Involvement in technology transfer and industry‐based research activities also provides benefits to the small firm. Practical implications – The paper presents challenges for educators and educational institutions on how they perceive and address the needs of their stakeholders by extending the traditional paradigm of what constitutes the role of an educational institution. The need to engage with external stakeholders in programme design and delivery requires commitment by educational institutions and requires educators to change their knowledge and teaching perspective. The findings have implications on how entrepreneurship education initiatives are designed, delivered and assessed to meet the needs of different stakeholders. Originality/value – This paper and its conclusions add to the debate on the importance of linking educational institutions and industry, especially the small firm sector, by suggesting a number of methods of collaboration which mutually benefit a number of stakeholders.

Growing the social enterprise – issues and challenges

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of business growth as it applies to the social enterprise. It examines if social entrepreneurs have a growth agenda, how this is achieved and the challenges encountered in achieving firm growth.Design/methodology/approach – This exploratory study involves the completion of a series of four case studies of established social enterprises.Findings – Social entrepreneurs do have aspirations to grow their enterprise, where growth is perceived from multiple perspectives, primarily underpinned by the provision of a perceived social value. Firm growth is predominately measured from the external beneficiary perspective rather than internal financial metrics. Sourcing financing, staff retention adjusting to different roles in managing the enterprise and measuring the scale and impact of their business are the primary challenges encountered. The creation of social value and profit generation are not mutually exclusive in the social enterprise when social ...

The impact of regional entrepreneurial contexts upon enterprise education

Growing evidence demonstrates the significance of regional contexts in shaping entrepreneurship capital, and the importance of this for entrepreneurial knowledge and learning. We report the findings of a six-country study into enterprise education within schools, in less and more developed European regions. The fieldwork exposes differences by regional type, across enterprise education objectives, outcomes, resources and social constructions of the entrepreneur. Regional context can be seen as developing local narratives of entrepreneurial identities and careers. Context-setting within schools takes the form of storying entrepreneurship, of presenting credible local identities and expressing the meaning of entrepreneurship for these communities.

Enterprise education programmes in secondary schools in Ireland: A multi‐stakeholder perspective

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine the perceptions and attitudes towards enterprise education at secondary level[1] in Ireland from a multi‐stakeholder perspective. The key stakeholders involved in enterprise education are teachers, principals, pupils and parents. The examination encompassed profiling the Irish educational system and the evolution of enterprise education, appraising the role of the teacher in enterprise education and the identification and evaluation of the various programmes for enterprise at secondary level.Design/methodology/approach – The research methodology adopted for this study was a subject‐specific questionnaire personally administered to 95 respondents comprising teachers, principals, pupils and parents.Findings – The research findings suggest that tangible and intangible learning is obtained from such programmes, which create awareness of the possibilities for self‐employment, encourage more enterprising behaviour and result in important personal skills and competen...

Entrepreneurship education: towards an industry sector approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the requirements for an industry sector approach to entrepreneurship education – the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. A modified Process Framework for Entrepreneurship Education is presented focusing specifically on ICT. The primary components of the Process Framework are described (inputs, process and content, assessment and outputs) to assist in the design of relevant and targeted entrepreneurship education courses to create an entrepreneurial mindset for graduates in this sector. This Framework can be modified to suit courses focusing on other industry sectors.Design/methodology/approach – Based on experiential learning and industry sector knowledge, an existing Process Framework for Entrepreneurship Education is modified.Findings – The Process Framework for Entrepreneurship Education can be modified for a specific sector. Inputs to the process include the personal profiles and personality characteristics of the students. The rec...

Practice-based learning in entrepreneurship education: a means of connecting knowledge producers and users

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a practice‐based entrepreneurship education programme which enhances collaboration between educational institutions and the small business community as a means of producing a more employable, well rounded and skilled graduates.Design/methodology/approach – A case description of the business consulting programme operated at the University of Limerick.Findings – The findings highlight how a practice‐based learning module brings real business learning into the classroom and simultaneously attends to the needs of different internal and external stakeholders by producing a more flexible and employable professional graduate. Furthermore, it creates a more meaningful relationship between education institutions (knowledge producers) and industry (knowledge users).Research limitations/implications – Educators need to evaluate the benefits of practice‐based learning programmes from the external stakeholder perspective as a basis of identifying more innovative practi...

Engendering Entrepreneurial Competencies in the Youth of Today: A Teacher's Perspective.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the creation of realistic, engaging entrepreneurial competencies in second-level students in the Republic of Ireland through the Student Enterprise Awards (SEA) programme. The focus of the paper will be on the interaction of teachers with the programme. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed-methods approach was adopted, with an e-mail questionnaire fully completed by 101 of the population 300, resulting in a 34 per cent response rate, which was regarded as acceptable. The qualitative approach was 29 semi-structured interviews with teachers and nine principals/head teachers. Findings – The findings suggest that there was strong endorsement by the teachers of the benefits accruing to students in all three areas of knowledge, skills and attitudes. This clearly reinforces the strength of the SEA programme which will become increasingly important for students who are facing uncertain career paths. The programme will help engender students with increased self-confidence, better communication and presentation skills. Better skilled students make them more employable. This programme was primarily delivered by teachers and completed by students who did it on a voluntary basis and have no official recognition of participation. Research limitations/implications – The research has identified a notable lack of enterprise-related teacher training in the current education system in the Republic of Ireland. Such training is necessary to ensure effective teaching of entrepreneurship and could bring consistency to the quality of enterprise education received by students in different schools. Students enjoy participating on the programme and see lifelong benefits from doing it, therefore it would be beneficial to incorporate it as a mandatory subject in the curriculum. Originality/value – Integrating the theoretical principles underpinning entrepreneurship education, which were presented in the paper, with the empirical teacher findings leads to a number of recommendations that can be adopted by the teacher, principal/head teacher and school board.

Changing times for management educators: Rethinking engagement with participatory forms of knowledge production

Abstract Oscar Wilde once quipped, ‘Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.’ Whilst business scholars have challenged this premise, debate rages concerning what elements are most worth knowing. Specifically, the value of rigorous academic research is often weighed against the merits of specific student experiences that may have more immediate value in the marketplace. Within this changed context, academics are challenged to embrace collaborative forms of research activity and re-imagine the nature of the academic-practitioner exchange and accompanying knowledge transfer. We explore this changing role of the business school with an eye towards outlining potential bridges between academic knowledge and benefits of interactions with practice. Specifically, we consider the academic-practitioner interface in the context of the wider debate on ‘rigour and relevance’ in management education and research. Participatory modes of knowledge production are discussed, and current ideas on the ‘management practice’ gap are discussed. We conclude that more innovative forms of research engagement are required to encourage academic-practitioner collaboration. To that end, we discuss a number of potential approaches to help foster co-learning and discovery and debate their student, educator and broader instructional implications.

At the heart or on the periphery: the role of Information Communications Technology (ICT) in small firms

The primary aim of the research is to investigate how Irish small firms use Information Communications Technology (ICT), specifically examining if it is an integrated aspect of the business or remains at the periphery. The results of a survey of 48 owner-managers showed that an issue arose in relation to the language used to describe ICT where respondents felt it was difficult to keep current with the ever evolving technologies and the number of interchangeable expressions used to describe it. The findings show that the low level of integrated usage of ICT by owner-managers was in the main related to insufficient knowledge and skills as to what ICT entails and a lack of appreciation of the contribution that it can make to their business in the short term. Challenges were encountered in updating and maintaining websites and difficulty arose in accessing suitable external assistance with ICT development.