{"id":803,"date":"2019-02-21T10:43:17","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T10:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/?p=803"},"modified":"2019-02-21T13:00:32","modified_gmt":"2019-02-21T13:00:32","slug":"can-we-teach-entrepreneurship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/business-school\/can-we-teach-entrepreneurship\/","title":{"rendered":"Can we teach entrepreneurship?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Our classrooms are the perfect incubators for budding entrepreneurs. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In our latest blog post, Dr Shumaila Yousafzai argues for a new approach to teaching entrepreneurship, which calls for action, practice and experimentation.<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The American Professor of\nEntrepreneurship, Jeff Timmons, once said: \u201c[Entrepreneurship] is not just\nabout new companies, capital, and job formation, nor innovation, nor\ncreativity, nor breakthroughs. It is also about fostering an ingenious human\nspirit and improving humankind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last two decades, the\nuniversal emphasis on the significance and potential impact of entrepreneurship\nas a powerful economic force has radically increased. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet, the response in entrepreneurship\neducation, that\u2019s to say, how we teach people to pursue their own business\nideas, has been somewhat lacklustre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, researchers and\npractitioners across the UK and the world continue to ponder whether or not\nentrepreneurship can<\/em> be taught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mystery and magic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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American management consultant, educator, and author, Peter Drucker. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In place of this philosophising, I think we\u2019d do well to remember American management consultant, educator, and author, Peter Drucker\u2019s declaration on the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cEntrepreneurship is not\nmagic, it is not mysterious and it has nothing to do with genes. It is a\ndiscipline. And, like any discipline, it can be taught.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As educators, we\u2019re lagging, and our<\/em> role in encouraging the next generation of entrepreneurs to address the global challenges should not be undervalued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our classrooms are the perfect incubators for budding entrepreneurs. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And as for education, I maintain\nthat it\u2019s the perfect vehicle to redefine and amplify purposeful study and\naction that might lead to a better life and a better world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Content is becoming a commodity,\nbusiness management education, in general, and our role and teaching approaches\nas educators, our classroom interactions, are being questioned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make no mistake, we are being\nscrutinised.  And the way we deliver entrepreneurship\neducation is no exception. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning through action<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Peter Drucker also said: \u201cEntrepreneurship is neither a science, nor art. It is a practice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, more than ever, our role\nas educators should be to nurture an entrepreneurial mind-set in our students\nby kindling their entrepreneurial spirits and providing experiences through\nwhich the practice<\/em> of\nentrepreneurship can occur.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through a practice-based\napproach, we are able to see students lead a more entrepreneurial life, gain a\npredisposition for action and develop a peace with uncertainty.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Value can be generated with very little.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve started to explore these\nprinciples on the Venture Growth module of our MSc\nin Business Strategy and Entrepreneurship<\/a> through an activity we call the \u2018Resource Challenge\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an exercise adapted from Tina Seelig, Professor of\nPractice in the Department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford\nUniversity<\/a> and is a great lesson in\nbootstrapping and starting something with very little. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students quickly learn that cash or physical resources are not their greatest asset. They recognise that starting with what they have, rather than what they need, increases their probability of success. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The exercise demonstrates that\nvalue can be generated with very little and helps students to apply an\nentrepreneurial and creative mind-set to resource acquisition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think cash last<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It also encourages the students,\nour future nascent entrepreneurs, to \u201cthink\ncash last<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the resource challenges\nsaw them take a bag of clay and, in groups, make money out of ornaments they\nmoulded with the raw material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another resource challenge saw\nthem launch a Valentine\u2019s Day-related business where they were given amazon\nvouchers and divided into groups. Students were allowed to borrow resources\nfrom their network of friends (e.g., glue, paint, glitter etc.) or from their\nkitchen drawers, but they were not allowed to use money to obtain resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Valentine’s Day ‘Resource Challenge’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The following instructions were\ngiven to them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n