Achieving enterprise

Entrepreneurship was established as a separate discipline in the US in 1987 and in 2000 in the UK. Today, in the US alone, more than 1,500 colleges and universities offer some form of entrepreneurship training. Growth in the UK has been even more explosive, with over 300 courses being offered at the 160 UK universities and interest in entrepreneurship education has spread to non-business disciplines, where students in engineering, life sciences and liberal arts are interested in becoming entrepreneurs. Thus there is a huge demand for teachers of entrepreneurship, but there are actually very few persons who possess higher academic qualifications in the field. Indeed, many teachers of entrepreneurship today are either very practical people, perhaps consultants teaching the elements of a business plan, or have been educated in a different field, and later „hi-jacked“ into teaching entrepreneurship. Despite this, there is no book available to help teachers of entrepreneurship. Since 2000 there have world-wide been published 682 books on entrepreneurship and Innovation, but amongst them are absolutely none on the educational tactics and practice involved. This book therefore details which methods and strategies work, it is a handbook of teaching methods in this area. Aimed at teachers, consultants and decision-makers, it is based firmly on the academic literature, research results and practical experience. It is not a decided „how to“ book, but rather interspaces theory (why) and practice (how) with strategy. The book starts by defining the relationships between entrepreneurship, enterprise and innovation, including innovation as a tool for entrepreneurs, different types of innovation, how innovation occurs and how it spreads. It goes on to reveal teaching tools and course structures for tertiary education, both for students and for staff. Chapter 3 explores the logical extension of this by considering technology exchange and measures for fledgling companies. Chapter 4 discusses strategies for introducing innovation into gazelles and other established companies. The summary rounds up the subject and stresses that teaching innovation, like innovation itself, flourishes on discontinuities (whether they be e. g. in the life of an undergraduate, or in an established company). Thus the innovative teacher must behave analogously to an entrepreneur by exploiting these opportunities.