infonet-economy

Ajzen's model of planned behaviour was used to measure the impact of specific entrepreneurship course characteristics on entrepreneurial intention. Course characteristics with a hypothesised positive influence on entrepreneurial intention were identified through literature research and an exploratory study. The hypotheses were tested with a quantitative study which was designed as an ex ante/ex post measurement. Course elements such as business planning activities, role models, student-oriented teaching and feedback processes are efficient components to increase entrepreneurial intention through its antecedents

This paper introduces a classification scheme of reasons for preferring social versus traditional entrepreneurship. Our research uncovers significant drivers of social and traditional start-up entrepreneurship and contributes on two levels. First, we offer empirical evidence that the two types of entrepreneurship are clearly differentiated by motivation to act. Second, we initiate a discourse on social entrepreneurship education and suggest that entrepreneurship education, in general, is disconnected from the current student generation's need for making a social impact, acting according to personal values, and balancing social and economic aspects of business.

Editorial to the special issue "The future of social entrepreneurship"

Entrepreneurship education in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) has grown exponentially since the first entrepreneurship course was taught by Miles Mace at Harvard Business School in 1947 (Katz, 2003). By 1970, 16 universities were offering entrepreneurship courses. From this base, the number grew to over 400 schools in 1995 (Vesper & Gartner, 1997) and to over 1,600 in 2005 (Kuratko, 2005). Today, entrepreneurship education is widely spread in the US (Katz, 2003) and Europe.

Entrepreneurship courses can influence the entrepreneurial intention of the participants. However, if we want to design entrepreneurship courses responsibly and effectively, simply knowing that we can change entrepreneurial intention is not sufficient. We also need to understand why the change occurs: Which educational characteristics are more influential than others? How do they influence entrepreneurial intention through antecedent cognitive structures? Such insights can then be used for curriculum development.

The present study combines exploratory and quantitative research methods. The exploratory part of the study consisted of semi-structured interviews, written learning reflections, and complementary interviews with experts in pedagogy. The objective was to derive hypotheses about course characteristics with a positive influence on the antecedents of entrepreneurial intention.

The hypotheses were tested with a quantitative study which was designed as an ex ante/ex post measurement. 465 valid pairs of ex ante/ex post questionnaires were filled out by students participating in entrepreneurship courses at 17 German-speaking universities. Ajzen's model of planned behaviour served as the underlying theoretical model.

The validity of Ajzen's model was successfully tested using multivariate regressions. The hypotheses regarding the influence of course characteristics on attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control were tested by calculating bivariate correlations. Seven educational variables have been identified which can positively influence the antecedents of entrepreneurial intention: conveying practical knowledge, business planning activities, the integration of role models, options for building up networks, student-oriented teaching, explorative elements, and the integration of feedback processes.

Most of the effective identified course elements require actions on the part of the students and are hence linked to experiential learning.

Over the last months Hubertus Bessau and his two fellow students had gained quite a good knowledge about the German cereal market. In April 2006, sitting together in a beer garden in Passau, Hubertus and his two friends were considering alternative business models to tap into the possible market gap of custom cereals.

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Es war im August 2007, als Marc Mielmann, Student an der Universität St. Gallen, darüber nachdachte, wie die Zukunft seines Start-ups aussehen sollte.

Im Mai 2007 hatte er mit drei Freunden das Unternehmen CLASEO gegründet, eine Mischung aus Community und Modelabel. In die Community aufgenommen wurde, wer eine Einladung erhalten hatte und ein Shirt von CLASEO kaufte. Die Webseite war Mitte Juli 2007 online gegangen, und die ersten Nutzer hatten sich bereits registriert, kauften CLASEO-Kleidung, kommunizierten miteinander und beeinflussten mit ihren Bewertungen zukünftige Kollektionen.

Die Situation war jedoch nicht einfach: Marc stand kurz vor seinem Studienabschluss. Es fehlte lediglich die Diplomarbeit. Er musste sich in den nächsten Wochen entscheiden, ob er nun Bewerbungen schreiben sollte, um eine Stelle mit kalkulierbarem Einkommen und einer gewissen Sicherheit zu suchen, oder ob er Unternehmer sein wollte mit allen damit verbundenen Risiken und Erfolgschancen.