Entrepreneurship has the potential to be a value-enhancing mechanism that promotes economic growth, induces structural change and technological development, leading to advances in individual and societal wellbeing, says George Saridakis
With Global Entrepreneurship Week taking place from 16-22 November, it occurs to me how positive a celebration this is.
Entrepreneurship is argued by many to be a key driving force behind the evolution of our economies and societies. It is what motivates engagement between agents and institutions, triggering the recognition and exploitation of opportunities; it fosters risk-taking behaviour and disruptive innovation.
Entrepreneurship therefore has the potential to be a value-enhancing mechanism that promotes economic growth, induces structural change and technological development, leading to advances in individual and societal wellbeing. Given its potential for good, an important question arises. Is entrepreneurship like a planted shrub that can be supported and nurtured to ensure it bears fruit?
The answer to this question is, however, far from simple. This is because entrepreneurship is intertwined with, though not necessarily caused by, a complex set of personal attributes set within a wider economic and societal environment. These attributes are argued to include a tolerance of uncertainty, a strong internal locus of control, measured risk-taking, creative self-efficacy, practical decision-making, heightened commercial awareness, strong interpersonal skills, and persistence of learning and development in the event of business failure.
Nature or nurture?
Such attributes can be part of natural socialisation, but they may also be learned and nurtured formally in higher education. Thus we recognise the importance of creating an environment of entrepreneurial spirit, learning initiatives and outcomes that promote productive entrepreneurship; the education sector. So, what does this mean for the education system and the curriculum it provides?
For the past two decades many students have had the opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship as part of their curriculum. For others it has been an extracurricular activity, enabling them to develop entrepreneurial knowledge and crucial competences, taught by those with experience. University entrepreneurship programmes (both within and beyond Business Schools) have multiplied; teaching methods have diversified and are linked to high quality research. The exemplars are Business Schools that link universities, businesses and citizens, by seeking out solutions to the challenges facing local and global communities, societies and markets.
Despite the great technological and scientific achievements of our time that have led to improvements in the standards of living and the augmentation of welfare, we now face new world-changing challenges. Climate change and dwindling natural resources, growing and aging populations, geopolitical unrest, artificial intelligence and smart societies, genetic enhancement and public health are just some of the challenges on our doorstep. These challenges will shake our fundamental values, including privacy and democratic rights, and upset our socio-economic and demographic balances, such as income, skills and health inequalities.
An entrepreneurial mindset
Thus, an entrepreneurial mind-set, which balances the recognition and pursuit of opportunities with appreciation of the risks, is vital in shaping the response to these challenges around the world. These challenges are at the heart of the mission of a modern Business School, aiming to cultivate entrepreneurial intentions, to foster entrepreneurial and managerial creativity and to develop a better understanding of constantly shifting markets. To achieve this, many Business Schools work together, to share experiences, and are recognised by the UK’s Chartered Association of Business Schools and the Small Business Charter.
Entrepreneurship programmes and modules are increasingly offered by universities worldwide, and entrepreneurship has been placed in the forefront of the education policy agenda in both developed and developing economies.
The MBA degree constitutes one of the most successful and distinctive programmes for Business Schools. Although the latter originally focused on management education for the large corporate sector, there has been a significant shift to encompassing organisational entrepreneurship, leadership and management. MBA programmes are delivered today, serving a dual purpose for candidates: to prepare both economic and socially conscious entrepreneurs for any sectoral domain.
The MBA environment can be viewed as a microcosm of the global economy and of a multicultural society. Individuals from diverse social, cultural, professional and educational backgrounds, with a broad range of skills and motivations, embark on a programme that blends academic theory with industry practice, improving the capabilities of know-how, know-why and know-what.
MBA graduates are provided with a wealth of theoretical and practical knowledge, enabling them to be better prepared for a constantly evolving world that requires making informed-choices and entrepreneurial adaptation to build sustainable businesses, and societies, through time. Crucially, they have to be made aware of the risks and the downsides and stresses of business ownership.
Entrepreneurship programmes cannot simply be about ‘selling’ entrepreneurship. Participants considering starting their own business must be made aware that just under 50% of new firms do not trade beyond three years; that these businesses frequently fail for reasons beyond the owners control and that stresses and strains of business ownership are considerable, as reflected in the damage caused by Covid-19. Covid-19 impacts upon not only entrepreneurs but also those that teach them. University funding will be under intense pressure in the years to come.
The uncertain environment
The highly uncertain and hostile Covid-19 environment will clearly require a response by entrepreneurs in its various forms – through leadership, innovation, risk-taking, opportunities identified and collaborations between sectors. Some sectors such as telecom, media and tech, have played a significant role in driving health-tech entrepreneurship, along with supporting national health care systems and public-health measures. They have enabled businesses to continue their operations in the very upturned circumstances we found ourselves, enabling different innovations across sectors such as entertainment, fitness, aviation and education, by reaching customers digitally and offering alternative solutions.
We are called to make big decisions for big challenges, and these should be left for competent and informed individuals, who can visualise and work for a brighter future. MBA entrepreneurship programmes enable individuals to energetically participate in the decision-making that can guide the change that will shape the future, promoting successful careers and organisations through the education and knowledge obtained.
This means that choosing the right MBA programme becomes essential to maximise the value from it. The rigour and entrepreneurial focus of the curriculum structure, the teaching standards and methods of learning, the opportunities for international experience, the depth of network contacts and the school’s reputation are just some of the key elements that comprise a world-standard MBA. In a post-Covid world, MBA programmes, especially those with an entrepreneurial focus, have to demonstrate their value both to students and to the wider community.
What makes Business Schools distinct is a combination of their mission and their research rigour. The mission of the today’s MBA is to raise self-awareness amongst teams, foster cognitive reasoning and enhance knowledge that applies to real world situations. MBAs must encourage decisions and actions that seek more than profit and high-paying career progressions. An Aristotelian approach to business ethics in the decision-making is vital for creating responsible and sustainable businesses and organisational systems that can facilitate and promote growth for our generation without compromising prospects for future ones. The research mission has to be to rigorously demonstrate where this happens and to be brave enough to recognise where it does not.
In the seven days of Global Entrepreneurship Week, we should remember the mission we teach and good that will be brought by these change-makers.
George Saridakis is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Kent Business School
George is interested in the area of small firms and entrepreneurship, with a further interest in the social media, illicit behaviour and supply chain linked to business performance and economic growth. His research typically uses cross-sectional, time-series and panel data approaches.
George’s research has been presented at various international conferences for which he has won four best conference paper’ awards, the Scottish Enterprise award and he has performed the duties of chair and/or discussant at many of these conferences. Currently, he is the Chair of the ‘Business Creation, Early Stage Development and Business Closure‘ track at the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE).
