Experiential Activities: A Tool to Increase Entrepreneurial Skills
12.4 Results
This graph shows how the family environment motivates students to start their own business, with 64 % of the students surveyed considering their family circle as a positive example of entrepreneurship (Fig. 12.1). This result is consistent with the empirical evidence presented by Scott and Twomey (1988), where there is a clear relationship between the role of parents and the influence they have towards starting a business. In 1994, Dyer supported this evidence, citing that entrepreneurs come from families where either the father or mother is self-employed. So children of entrepreneurs are more inclined to look at entrepreneurship as a more acceptable option than working for someone else. If the students have a family role model to follow, there is a high possibility of participating in the family business (Fig. 12.2).
Based on results of the focus group conducted by Carter (1998) regarding inten- tions of graduated students to start a new business, the findings indicate that gradu- ates considered it important to first gain some experience before starting a business.
In addition to this, they required previous work for acquired knowledge in a specific sector to start networking.
Fig. 12.1 Positive example of entrepreneurship
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Based on the results of this graph, we have two positions that make us infer that the points made by Carter in 1998 are not far from reality: 36 % of the results per- ceived as inconceivable to start a business in the next 5 years, while 32 % see it as something likely. The sum of both responses: 68 % allows us to infer that while students intend to start a business, they consider that not having enough experience increases the chances of success (Fig. 12.3).
According to Brockhaus and Nord (1979) having work experience and previous training influences a person’s decision to start a business. This statement supports the results of the survey where having worked previously is the variable that shows a higher incidence among students to consider a crucial factor to start a business.
This same answer relates to working in a family owned business, which is consid- ered to provide experience with the business environment, and both responses are linked to the fact that students completing their internship acquire knowledge in business within the business sector. These three factors summarize that 79 % of responses, allowing us to highlight the fact that experience gained in the work field
Fig. 12.2 Chance of starting their business in the next 5 years
Fig. 12.3 Perception of activities outside school they consider help start a company?
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inside a company, triggers the decision to create a company. The results match with THEPOINTSMADEBY-ATTHEWSAND-OSER1995), who found a statistical relationship between work experience in small businesses and the interest in having their own business. This matches up with the study by Scott and Twomey (1988) who posed that one of the most influential elements to start a business is the work experience that an individual has. Sandberg and Hofer (1987) state that previous entrepreneur- ial experience in family businesses is also considered an important factor to success in the field of entrepreneurship.
One example of the need, importance, and impact of employment and practice in the entrepreneurship learning/education field is the one stated by Zhun and Xuyang (2014). In their study of the employment and entrepreneurship practice education system in China for college students, they cited that it has provided “college stu- dents with a platform to have a career planning through competition, and entrepre- neurship program contests.” One example mentioned in their article is the “Challenge Cup” competition, where students obtain experience from the employment that it provides, but they also learn certain abilities they will need as entrepreneurs. This kind of competition stimulates them to create a business, and in addition, they develop practical experience and psychological quality in higher practice through formal education (Fig. 12.4).
Galloway and Brown (2002) suggest that it has been shown that individuals who take courses related to entrepreneurship show higher intention of starting a new venture. Usually universities have at least one course within the undergraduate pro- gram. Due to this fact and the high impact that courses have, it is critical to start developing experiential learning activities within the course. Degree programs com- prise different materials through the application of final projects, which detonate on students the intention to start a business.
One example of the practice-based proceedings that universities can implement in their entrepreneurship courses is the one described by Kontio (2010) from the
Fig. 12.4 Perception of activities within the school they consider help start a company?
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strategy of Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS) that successfully combines entrepreneurship, applied R&D, and teaching. They have implemented three phases that can be integrated into a student’s study plan, and if he or she decides to focus on entrepreneurship, that will help them to acquire and develop the knowledge and skills they will need as entrepreneurs in a practical manner through- out their program. The first phase is “What is entrepreneurship,” where the students acquire the basics of business operations by solving certain problems in small mul- tidisciplinary groups by using problem-based learning. Then, they move on to the second one called “Learn real entrepreneurship in safe environment,” where the students create or join existing co-operatives and run a real business. And the third phase is called “Become an entrepreneur,” where students can exploit business ideas they might have and start their own business under the guidance of a personal men- tor. This University also runs specialized student competitions to support initiation of new ideas (Kontio 2010).
In addition to this, some institutions have an incubator that supports efforts posed by the authors, and is found in several schools. In addition to this, some institutions have an incubator that supports the efforts posed by the authors and it is found in SEVERAL SCHOOLS !S -ORIGUCHI ET AL 2014) case study describes, the authors explained the Business Administration Bachelor’s Program offered by the Faculty OF -ANAGEMENT AND "USINESS AT THE &EDERAL 5NIVERSITY OF 5BERL½NDIA IN -INAS Gerais State, Brazil, where they offer the implementation idea with a pre-incubator project, in addition to the practical method approach used in the courses, in the university’s new business incubator, which is located on campus. The activities mentioned above are the most common activities that universities deployed within undergraduate courses. Solomon (2008) found in the 2004/2005 National Survey of Entrepreneurship Education that business planning (44 %), classroom discussions (43 %), guest speakers (28 %), case studies (26 %), and lectures by business owners WEREAMONGTHEMOSTPOPULARTEACHINGMETHODS-ÓLLER2014) concluded after analyzing different pedagogies that entrepreneurship education is comprised of a variety of pedagogies including traditional activities and cases, experiential–
oriented pedagogies, such as simulations or on-site visits and practice-oriented ele- MENTS !CCORDING TO -ÓLLER 2014)), both traditional and experiential-learning pedagogies bring benefits and challenges to educators and students (Fig. 12.5).
One aspect to consider is the way that academic programs are deployed to encourage entrepreneurship. Based on the results of the survey, we identified that universities promote entrepreneurship through several courses, not only through the one that is known as “Entrepreneurial Development or Business Plan Development”. An example of this is in the field of management where different areas that compose a company are analyzed. Occasionally, they have guest speak- ers, and the students usually present an integrating project of application at the end of the school year. In addition to what has been done in this area, students in business programs, who are in their final year at the university, develop a business plan within the entrepreneurial courses content, and it is presented to judges rep- resenting the business sector for evaluation. Those projects that are identified as having potential usually are suggested to continue to develop through the business
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incubator. These activities represent two out of the four types of approaches posed by Jerome Katz (2003) to deploy the venture, which allows us to infer that the institutions are moving in the right direction. However, it is important to highlight the fact that these activities are conducted informally, that is, the actions are not considered in the program of the subject, so the results cannot be controlled by the institution and/or there is no way of monitoring this. Despite this, derived from the results, the main challenge is to increase the number of courses that promote the creation of a company and to formalize their activities and increase the num- ber of students who use the services of the incubator to develop a project.
The students surveyed present a tendency to start a company due to the courses they took during their school year. This matched the point made by Kolvereid and -OEN1997), who analyzed the relationship between students who have entrepre- neurship studies and the possibility of starting a business. Added to this relation- ship, it highlights the fact that those students whose parents or close family has created a company show a clear intention to start a business.