Discussion: View Thread

  • 1.  Entrepreneurship - HOW do we teach it? WHAT are our goals?

    Posted 06-10-2015 20:54

    WOW lots of discussion about this important topic.. all starting with an innocent call for help from a colleague...

     

    Perhaps is it time to tone down the rhetoric and remember to respect each other..

     

    I think business plans serve a purpose.  Knowing how to write one is, in fact, useful.

     

    I think that the goals of an introductory entrepreneurship class that is a general requirement for a business major, at the undergraduate OR graduate level may not, in fact, be to turn everyone into an entrepreneur.  Remember, Intro accounting classes do not turn everyone who take them into an accountant, HR classes do not make all students certified HR professionals, etc. etc.

     

    Even so, I have run across something that I think I would like some information about...

     

    Recently I received an offer for the HBR's enhanced package on how to write a BUSINESS CASE for a project, NOT a Business plan, but a business case.   This package supposedly includes Excel worksheets, case examples, etc. that are not in the original book.   Two questions...  IS the package worth the more than double price tag ($40 bucks) when compared to the actual book... and  IS the IDEA of a BUSINESS CASE rather than a BUSINESS PLAN valuable for entrepreneurs and teaching entrepreneurship.   Is it different enough?   Does it avoid all the baggage we now attach to the Business plan model? 

     

    J  Entrepreneurship HO

    JB  

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!


  • 2.  Entrepreneurship - HOW do we teach it? WHAT are our goals?

    Posted 06-10-2015 21:55
    Hi John and all,

    Good reminders, John, that we're all part of a community and it's important to have civil and professional dialogue and debate. Sometimes with e-mail we forget that there's a person on the other end. I occasionally pull up a picture of the person to whom I'm writing because it can help me to more carefully frame my comments. Even if someone chooses to be provocative with his/her comments (e.g., Norris), we need to focus on the underlying ideas and debate those.

    I like your question, John and I can't speak to the HBR package but I am experimenting this coming semester with using Bill Aulet's book, Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup in my undergraduate entrepreneurship course. It used to use a standard textbook and not surprisingly, I discovered that students were quite unhappy with that approach. Aulet's book is worth looking at since it requires students to go out and talk with customers/end users in their potential target market and helps them keep focusing more narrowly on a specific group of customers (vs trying to be all things to a large market). Aulet also has an online course through MIT where he's based so you can see how he set up his syllabus, the assignments he created, and even have students watch some of his lectures. I'm picking and choosing from among these materials and trying to make the classroom time hands-on but I'm e-mailing about this because it represents another resource that's reasonably consistent with some of the comments voiced on here and worth taking a look at if you want to try something different.

    One of the really good things about Aulet's book is that it's pretty inexpensive, especially if students buy the e-book. If anyone's interested, you can e-mail me in November and find out how second semester went with my experiment. Just a reminder that it's winter down here at the bottom of the globe.

    Melissa

    P.S. Thanks, Norris, for always provoking me to think about whether I agree with you, which parts of your statements I agree with and which parts represents assumptions I may want to test in the classroom.

    Dr. Melissa Baucus, Dunedin City Chair and Professor
       of Entrepreneurship
    Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship
    Otago Business School, P.O. Box 56
    University of Otago
    Dunedin, New Zealand 9054
    Phone: 64-3-479 5322

    From: John Bunch <jbunch@BENEDICTINE.EDU>
    Reply-To: John Bunch <jbunch@BENEDICTINE.EDU>
    Date: Thursday, 11 June 2015 12:54 PM
    To: "ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU" <ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU>
    Subject: [ENTREP] Entrepreneurship - HOW do we teach it? WHAT are our goals?

    WOW lots of discussion about this important topic.. all starting with an innocent call for help from a colleague...

     

    Perhaps is it time to tone down the rhetoric and remember to respect each other..

     

    I think business plans serve a purpose.  Knowing how to write one is, in fact, useful.

     

    I think that the goals of an introductory entrepreneurship class that is a general requirement for a business major, at the undergraduate OR graduate level may not, in fact, be to turn everyone into an entrepreneur.  Remember, Intro accounting classes do not turn everyone who take them into an accountant, HR classes do not make all students certified HR professionals, etc. etc.

     

    Even so, I have run across something that I think I would like some information about...

     

    Recently I received an offer for the HBR's enhanced package on how to write a BUSINESS CASE for a project, NOT a Business plan, but a business case.   This package supposedly includes Excel worksheets, case examples, etc. that are not in the original book.   Two questions...  IS the package worth the more than double price tag ($40 bucks) when compared to the actual book... and  IS the IDEA of a BUSINESS CASE rather than a BUSINESS PLAN valuable for entrepreneurs and teaching entrepreneurship.   Is it different enough?   Does it avoid all the baggage we now attach to the Business plan model? 

     

    J  Entrepreneurship HO

    JB  

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!
    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!


  • 3.  Entrepreneurship - HOW do we teach it? WHAT are our goals?

    Posted 06-10-2015 22:03
    Melissa! 
    This is kismet!  I am also using Bill's book for as an experiment in the fall. Thanks for suggesting the resources and ideas:)

    Sent from my iPhone

    On Jun 10, 2015, at 8:55 PM, "Melissa Baucus" <melissa.baucus@otago.ac.nz> wrote:

    Hi John and all,

    Good reminders, John, that we're all part of a community and it's important to have civil and professional dialogue and debate. Sometimes with e-mail we forget that there's a person on the other end. I occasionally pull up a picture of the person to whom I'm writing because it can help me to more carefully frame my comments. Even if someone chooses to be provocative with his/her comments (e.g., Norris), we need to focus on the underlying ideas and debate those.

    I like your question, John and I can't speak to the HBR package but I am experimenting this coming semester with using Bill Aulet's book, Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup in my undergraduate entrepreneurship course. It used to use a standard textbook and not surprisingly, I discovered that students were quite unhappy with that approach. Aulet's book is worth looking at since it requires students to go out and talk with customers/end users in their potential target market and helps them keep focusing more narrowly on a specific group of customers (vs trying to be all things to a large market). Aulet also has an online course through MIT where he's based so you can see how he set up his syllabus, the assignments he created, and even have students watch some of his lectures. I'm picking and choosing from among these materials and trying to make the classroom time hands-on but I'm e-mailing about this because it represents another resource that's reasonably consistent with some of the comments voiced on here and worth taking a look at if you want to try something different.

    One of the really good things about Aulet's book is that it's pretty inexpensive, especially if students buy the e-book. If anyone's interested, you can e-mail me in November and find out how second semester went with my experiment. Just a reminder that it's winter down here at the bottom of the globe.

    Melissa

    P.S. Thanks, Norris, for always provoking me to think about whether I agree with you, which parts of your statements I agree with and which parts represents assumptions I may want to test in the classroom.

    Dr. Melissa Baucus, Dunedin City Chair and Professor
       of Entrepreneurship
    Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship
    Otago Business School, P.O. Box 56
    University of Otago
    Dunedin, New Zealand 9054
    Phone: 64-3-479 5322

    From: John Bunch <jbunch@BENEDICTINE.EDU>
    Reply-To: John Bunch <jbunch@BENEDICTINE.EDU>
    Date: Thursday, 11 June 2015 12:54 PM
    To: "ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU" <ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU>
    Subject: [ENTREP] Entrepreneurship - HOW do we teach it? WHAT are our goals?

    WOW lots of discussion about this important topic.. all starting with an innocent call for help from a colleague...

     

    Perhaps is it time to tone down the rhetoric and remember to respect each other..

     

    I think business plans serve a purpose.  Knowing how to write one is, in fact, useful.

     

    I think that the goals of an introductory entrepreneurship class that is a general requirement for a business major, at the undergraduate OR graduate level may not, in fact, be to turn everyone into an entrepreneur.  Remember, Intro accounting classes do not turn everyone who take them into an accountant, HR classes do not make all students certified HR professionals, etc. etc.

     

    Even so, I have run across something that I think I would like some information about...

     

    Recently I received an offer for the HBR's enhanced package on how to write a BUSINESS CASE for a project, NOT a Business plan, but a business case.   This package supposedly includes Excel worksheets, case examples, etc. that are not in the original book.   Two questions...  IS the package worth the more than double price tag ($40 bucks) when compared to the actual book... and  IS the IDEA of a BUSINESS CASE rather than a BUSINESS PLAN valuable for entrepreneurs and teaching entrepreneurship.   Is it different enough?   Does it avoid all the baggage we now attach to the Business plan model? 

     

    J  Entrepreneurship HO

    JB  

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!
    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!


  • 4.  Entrepreneurship - HOW do we teach it? WHAT are our goals?

    Posted 06-10-2015 22:12
    All,

    While I also have some thoughts about how to teach both Entrepreneurship and how
    to write business plans, in this e-mail, I will focus instead on the issue of case
    writing. First, a bit of background. I wrote over 12 business cases while I was
    a Research Assistant at the Harvard Business School, so I do know something about
    the HBS case writing process. Second, and perhaps more importantly, there is a
    unique aspect of case writing at HBS that many may not be familiar with.

    Specifically, HBS tries to write cases about issues and topics about which there
    is no current consensus about what the "correct answers" are. This makes HBS cases
    different from most other business cases. Is it worth $40 for this set of materials?
    Everyone will need to answer this questions for themselves. But I have often thought
    that the writing of a business plan is future very similar to HBS case writing because
    you are trying to describe a solution to a situation to which no one alive currently
    knows the correct answer.

    Having said this, when I teach E-ship, I focus more on business plan development
    than on analyzing E-cases since I have found that my students are far more interested
    in the former than the latter. However, in the basic E-ship course, I also provide
    students with a list of some 10 other types of projects that they can do which I
    have found also have great interest and relevance for most. The E-Division regulations
    will not allow me to attach such a list and set of descriptions to this e-mail, but
    I will be happy to send it to anyone who sends me a request directly.

    Sincerely,
    Chuck Hofer
    HBS MBA 1965
    HBS DBA 1969
    770-757-3575 Cell 1
    770-455-4280 Cell 2

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "John Bunch" <jbunch@BENEDICTINE.EDU>
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2015 8:54:12 PM
    Subject: [ENTREP] Entrepreneurship - HOW do we teach it? WHAT are our goals?

    WOW lots of discussion about this important topic.. all starting with an innocent
    call for help from a colleague…
    Perhaps is it time to tone down the rhetoric and remember to respect each other..
    I think business plans serve a purpose. Knowing how to write one is, in fact, useful.
    I think that the goals of an introductory entrepreneurship class that is a general
    requirement for a business major, at the undergraduate OR graduate level may not,
    do not turn everyone who take them into an accountant, HR classes do not make all
    students certified HR professionals, etc. etc.

    Even so, I have run across something that I think I would like some information about…
    Recently I received an offer for the HBR’s enhanced package on how to write a BUSINESS
    CASE for a project, NOT a Business plan, but a business case. This package supposedly
    includes Excel worksheets, case examples, etc. that are not in the original book.

    Two questions… IS the package worth the more than double price tag ($40 bucks) when
    compared to the actual book… and IS the IDEA of a BUSINESS CASE rather than a BUSINESS
    PLAN valuable for entrepreneurs and teaching entrepreneurship. Is it different enough?
    Does it avoid all the baggage we now attach to the Business plan model?
    ☺ Entrepreneurship HO
    JB

    **************************************
    This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the
    Academy of Management.
    Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages
    are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also
    lead to your removal from the list.
    You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here:
    http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1
    If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu.
    Ventures HO!

    **************************************
    This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management.

    Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list.

    You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here:
    http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1

    If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu.

    Ventures HO!


  • 5.  Entrepreneurship - HOW do we teach it? WHAT are our goals?

    Posted 06-11-2015 02:35
    Dear Charles
    Very interesting points. I would appreciate if you can send me directly the list and material.
    Thanks so much
    Yaakov

    Professor Yaakov Weber
    1. Director, Research Unit
    School of Business Administration
    College of Management, Israel
    2. President, EMRBI
    EuroMed Research Business Institute
    www.emrbi.org




    -----Original Message-----
    From: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv [mailto:ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Charles Hofer
    Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2015 5:12 AM
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Re: [ENTREP] Entrepreneurship - HOW do we teach it? WHAT are our goals?

    All,

    While I also have some thoughts about how to teach both Entrepreneurship and how to write business plans, in this e-mail, I will focus instead on the issue of case writing. First, a bit of background. I wrote over 12 business cases while I was a Research Assistant at the Harvard Business School, so I do know something about the HBS case writing process. Second, and perhaps more importantly, there is a unique aspect of case writing at HBS that many may not be familiar with.

    Specifically, HBS tries to write cases about issues and topics about which there is no current consensus about what the "correct answers" are. This makes HBS cases different from most other business cases. Is it worth $40 for this set of materials?
    Everyone will need to answer this questions for themselves. But I have often thought that the writing of a business plan is future very similar to HBS case writing because you are trying to describe a solution to a situation to which no one alive currently knows the correct answer.

    Having said this, when I teach E-ship, I focus more on business plan development than on analyzing E-cases since I have found that my students are far more interested in the former than the latter. However, in the basic E-ship course, I also provide students with a list of some 10 other types of projects that they can do which I have found also have great interest and relevance for most. The E-Division regulations will not allow me to attach such a list and set of descriptions to this e-mail, but I will be happy to send it to anyone who sends me a request directly.

    Sincerely,
    Chuck Hofer
    HBS MBA 1965
    HBS DBA 1969
    770-757-3575 Cell 1
    770-455-4280 Cell 2

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "John Bunch" <jbunch@BENEDICTINE.EDU>
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2015 8:54:12 PM
    Subject: [ENTREP] Entrepreneurship - HOW do we teach it? WHAT are our goals?

    WOW lots of discussion about this important topic.. all starting with an innocent call for help from a colleague… Perhaps is it time to tone down the rhetoric and remember to respect each other..
    I think business plans serve a purpose. Knowing how to write one is, in fact, useful.
    I think that the goals of an introductory entrepreneurship class that is a general requirement for a business major, at the undergraduate OR graduate level may not, do not turn everyone who take them into an accountant, HR classes do not make all students certified HR professionals, etc. etc.

    Even so, I have run across something that I think I would like some information about… Recently I received an offer for the HBR’s enhanced package on how to write a BUSINESS
    CASE for a project, NOT a Business plan, but a business case. This package supposedly
    includes Excel worksheets, case examples, etc. that are not in the original book.

    Two questions… IS the package worth the more than double price tag ($40 bucks) when compared to the actual book… and IS the IDEA of a BUSINESS CASE rather than a BUSINESS
    PLAN valuable for entrepreneurs and teaching entrepreneurship. Is it different enough?
    Does it avoid all the baggage we now attach to the Business plan model?
    ☺ Entrepreneurship HO
    JB

    **************************************
    This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management.
    Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list.
    You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here:
    http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1
    If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu.
    Ventures HO!

    **************************************
    This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management.

    Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list.

    You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here:
    http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1

    If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu.

    Ventures HO!


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    https://www.avast.com/antivirus

    **************************************
    This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management.

    Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list.

    You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here:
    http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1

    If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu.

    Ventures HO!


  • 6.  Entrepreneurship - HOW do we teach it? WHAT are our goals?

    Posted 06-11-2015 01:31
    Dear Charles,

    I would appreciate if you can email me (directly on my email address) the list you mention in your message. 

    Thank You,

    Vishal



    On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 7:41 AM, Charles Hofer <chofer@kennesaw.edu> wrote:
    All,

    While I also have some thoughts about how to teach both Entrepreneurship and how
    to write business plans, in this e-mail, I will focus instead on the issue of case
    writing. First, a bit of background.  I wrote over 12 business cases while I was
    a Research Assistant at the Harvard Business School, so I do know something about
    the HBS case writing process.  Second, and perhaps more importantly, there is a
    unique aspect of case writing at HBS that many may not be familiar with.

    Specifically, HBS tries to write cases about issues and topics about which there
    is no current consensus about what the "correct answers" are. This makes HBS cases
    different from most other business cases. Is it worth $40 for this set of materials?
    Everyone will need to answer this questions for themselves. But I have often thought
    that the writing of a business plan is future very similar to HBS case writing because
    you are trying to describe a solution to a situation to which no one alive currently
    knows the correct answer.

    Having said this, when I teach E-ship, I focus more on business plan development
    than on analyzing E-cases since I have found that my students are far more interested
    in the former than the latter.  However, in the basic E-ship course, I also provide
    students with a list of some 10 other types of projects that they can do which I
    have found also have great interest and relevance for most. The E-Division regulations
    will not allow me to attach such a list and set of descriptions to this e-mail, but
    I will be happy to send it to anyone who sends me a request directly.

    Sincerely,
    Chuck Hofer
    HBS MBA 1965
    HBS DBA 1969
    770-757-3575 Cell 1
    770-455-4280 Cell 2

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "John Bunch" <jbunch@BENEDICTINE.EDU>
    To: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2015 8:54:12 PM
    Subject: [ENTREP] Entrepreneurship - HOW do we teach it? WHAT are our goals?

    WOW lots of discussion about this important topic.. all starting with an innocent
    call for help from a colleague...
    Perhaps is it time to tone down the rhetoric and remember to respect each other..
    I think business plans serve a purpose.  Knowing how to write one is, in fact, useful.
    I think that the goals of an introductory entrepreneurship class that is a general
    requirement for a business major, at the undergraduate OR graduate level may not,
    do not turn everyone who take them into an accountant, HR classes do not make all
    students certified HR professionals, etc. etc.

    Even so, I have run across something that I think I would like some information about...
    Recently I received an offer for the HBR's enhanced package on how to write a BUSINESS
    CASE for a project, NOT a Business plan, but a business case.   This package supposedly
    includes Excel worksheets, case examples, etc. that are not in the original book.

    Two questions...  IS the package worth the more than double price tag ($40 bucks) when
    compared to the actual book... and  IS the IDEA of a BUSINESS CASE rather than a BUSINESS
    PLAN valuable for entrepreneurs and teaching entrepreneurship.  Is it different enough?
    Does it avoid all the baggage we now attach to the Business plan model?
    ☺  Entrepreneurship HO
    JB

    **************************************
    This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the
    Academy of Management.
    Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages
    are not allowed on the list.  The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also
    lead to your removal from the list.
    You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here:
    http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1
    If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch  jbunch@benedictine.edu.
    Ventures HO!

    **************************************
    This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management.

    Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list.  The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list.

    You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here:
    http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1

    If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch  jbunch@benedictine.edu.

    Ventures HO!

    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!


  • 7.  RES: [ENTREP] Entrepreneurship - HOW do we teach it? WHAT are our goals?

    Posted 06-11-2015 08:57

    Norris, together with Alan Casrud and Malin Brannback, was my professor on the Doctoral Consortium I've participated in 2007 in Turku, Finland. Although my limited English do not allow me to understand some of his vocabulary, he was responsible for most of my learning about eship, so I am very grateful to his dedication and knowledge on the field and I am very lucky for that opportunity to know him.

     

    Under my perspective, Bplans are still important. The purpose has changed. It should not be used to verify the feasibility of a business idea, instead, it should be used as a learning tool. Writing a bplan helps the entrepreneur to realize what he/she DOESN'T know about his business. Showing the business concepts to non-business students is particularly of great importance. The way you teach bplan can make the difference. I realized that there are a lot of things students can do together with the bplan writing process along the semester in effectively acting to BUILD the business (prototyping, market test, gather resources, etc), not only collect data for the plan. This makes the plan stronger, but requires the teacher to assume another position, as a consultant or mentor of the students' projects.

     

    This brings me to the subject question: How do we teach it? What are our goals? Since 4 years ago I have changed my personal mission as Entrepreneurship Educator. I do not 'teach' entrepreneurship anymore. I create the conditions for the students to learn what entrepreneurship is by themselves.

     

    This is because teaching entrepreneurship is not the same as teaching accountancy or HR management. The job market needs accountants and HR managers as specialists on their fields. An entrepreneurship specialist is not the same as an entrepreneur. Business students will complement their accountancy and HR skills and knowledge in their jobs, with colleagues, a supervisor and proper structure. The same student, willing to become an entrepreneur, will complement his/her education with his/her own business, combining great responsibility with great immaturity. So, I believe we should not teach, we should facilitate the process that drives the student to the self learning capability.

     

    Besides, there is not much explicit knowledge about entrepreneurship, but much tacit knowledge, so my classes rely less on expositive lectures and more in guest speakers, simulations, teaching cases and delivery of challenging group projects.

     

    Finally, I think the academic environment is appropriate to form students for the job market, but is too restrictive to form generalist entrepreneurs. I have been working to help Universities in Brazil to build their Entrepreneurship Centers as a way to compensate these restrictions and  to help students complement their formation through the several initiatives that can't be reproduced inside the classroom. Together with College incubators and accelerators, ECs help the young entrepreneurs to cross the chasm between the academic and the entrepreneurial worlds.

     

    I hope my thoughts help with this insightful debate.

     

    Marcos Hashimoto

    Faccamp

    Brazil

     

     

     

    De: Entrepreneurship Division Listserv [mailto:ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] Em nome de John Bunch
    Enviada em: quarta-feira, 10 de junho de 2015 21:54
    Para: ENTREP@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Assunto: [ENTREP] Entrepreneurship - HOW do we teach it?     WHAT are our goals?

     

    WOW lots of discussion about this important topic.. all starting with an innocent call for help from a colleague...

     

    Perhaps is it time to tone down the rhetoric and remember to respect each other..

     

    I think business plans serve a purpose.  Knowing how to write one is, in fact, useful.

     

    I think that the goals of an introductory entrepreneurship class that is a general requirement for a business major, at the undergraduate OR graduate level may not, in fact, be to turn everyone into an entrepreneur.  Remember, Intro accounting classes do not turn everyone who take them into an accountant, HR classes do not make all students certified HR professionals, etc. etc.

     

    Even so, I have run across something that I think I would like some information about...

     

    Recently I received an offer for the HBR's enhanced package on how to write a BUSINESS CASE for a project, NOT a Business plan, but a business case.   This package supposedly includes Excel worksheets, case examples, etc. that are not in the original book.   Two questions...  IS the package worth the more than double price tag ($40 bucks) when compared to the actual book... and  IS the IDEA of a BUSINESS CASE rather than a BUSINESS PLAN valuable for entrepreneurs and teaching entrepreneurship.   Is it different enough?   Does it avoid all the baggage we now attach to the Business plan model? 

     

    J  Entrepreneurship HO

    JB  

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    ************************************** This message is from ENTREP which is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management. Please do not post messages with attached files. Commercial messages or spammed messages are not allowed on the list. The use of auto-responder "out-of-office" messages may also lead to your removal from the list. You can manage your subscription options, including joining or leaving the list here: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=entrep&A=1 If you have questions or need help, please contact Dr. John Bunch jbunch@benedictine.edu. Ventures HO!