Elizabeth A. McCrea

Integrating Service-Learning into an Introduction to Entrepreneurship Course

Despite fairly widespread recognition that entrepreneurship occurs in both profit and nonprofit enterprises, a review of experiential learning techniques in entrepreneurship education does not explicitly mention service-learning. This omission may be because of a perceived lack of relevance of the pedagogy to entrepreneurship, the belief that inexperienced students are not interested in or capable of the work, and/or faculty concern about the approach’s time-consuming nature. Yet service-learning can be a powerful pedagogy for teaching the skills and body of knowledge pertaining to entrepreneurship. This article chronicles the author’s experience integrating service-learning into an introductory undergraduate entrepreneurship course and offers it as a model for others to adapt to their own preferences and teaching context. It includes the author’s rationale for using service-learning, an abridged course syllabus, sample student reflection assignments, a project grading rubric, and other course materials. Client and student feedback as well as the author’s personal reflections on the learning experience are also provided.

Mail Boxes Etc. or The UPS Store? A Decision From a Franchisee's Perspective

In 2001, the United Parcel Service (UPS) purchased the entire Mail Boxes Etc. (MBE) franchise system. After test marketing several new concepts in 2003, the corporation strongly encouraged franchise owners to reposition their MBE outlets as “The UPS Store.” Joseph and Courtney Morris, owners of a thriving MBE outlet, faced a quandary: should they retain their well–established MBE identity, adopt the new UPS brand name, or sell their franchise outright? The case incorporates both family issues and business factors as the franchisees struggle with a decision that could have significant impacts on their financial future.

Mind Mapping: An Experiential Approach to Syllabus Review

ABSTRACT On the first day of class most management faculty review or “go over” the syllabus, typically through an instructor-led presentation. However, research indicates that students retain little, if any, of the syllabus material, leading to frustrating outcomes for both students and instructors. Here we report the results of a post hoc natural experiment, where we compared the effectiveness of the traditional, review-and-discuss method to the effectiveness of a mind map approach used in another undergraduate management course. Before we conceived of the natural experiment, each faculty member reviewed the syllabus using his or her preferred method. One week later, the faculty members administered the same unannounced quiz in each section to measure both the amount and type of information the students recalled. Overall, the mind map approach was more effective, with mind-mapping students correctly answering more questions, especially regarding higher order concepts like course learning objectives and the nature of major assignments.

Adding to the Pedagogical Portfolio: Launching a Student Business in a Semester Course

Common pedagogical approaches to entrepreneurship education include business plan writing, case studies, consulting, and simulations. Yet, in effect, these learning vehicles are simply proxies for the venture launch process. Operating under the assumption that learning entrepreneurship is a complex endeavor best addressed by a portfolio of pedagogical techniques, some instructors have experimented with launching student businesses in addition to traditional approaches.The challenge is how to do this with inexperienced undergraduate students within the confines of a 15-week semester. Included in the article are an outline of the process, a qualitative assessment of student learning, and suggestions for further research.