The role of environment in fostering conductive entrepreneurial learning

Caleb C. Y. Kwong; Piers Thompson; Cherry W.-M. Cheung; Humera Manzoor

摘要

The modern globalised economy is prone to periods of change and uncertainty as experienced in the economic downturn following 2007. Others have noted that this has led to the shortening of product life cycles (Tassey, 2000), and the greater importance of innovation in order to retain competitiveness (Smith, 2002; Huggins and Izushi, 2007). These are the environments where entrepreneurs are traditionally felt to thrive, be this in starting their own firms, working within larger corporations, or in their lives in general (Gibb, 2002b; Rae, 2010). This ensures that the need for entrepreneurial skills is greater than ever (Taatila, 2010), with higher education seen as having a key role in providing the necessary entrepreneurial and employability skills (Crayford et a/., 2012; Thompson et a/., 2010; 2012). There is, however, no consensus on the best way to develop these skills, if it is possible at all (Jack and Anderson, 1999). Although the traditional classroom environment may be effective in providing students with basic business skills that constitute the 'science' component of entrepreneurship it is often felt to be unsuitable for teaching the 'art' component associated with innovation and creativity (Jack and Anderson, 1999; Pretorius et o/., 2005). Rae (2006) notes the personal and social emergence of an individual forming their own identity and mindset as an entrepreneur as part of this learning experience. With traits such as self-confidence and willingness to tolerate uncertainty found by studies such as Baron (2000) and van Praag and Cramer (2001) to be positively associated with successful entrepreneurs, authors such as Johannisson (1991) and Jones and English (2004) see the creation of these traits as being the primary purpose of entrepreneurship education. Gibb's (2002a) notion of conductive entrepreneurial environment points to the importance of providing an all-round student entrepreneurship learning experience that meets the rigours of academia, while keeping an experientially-based approach that enhances creativity and innovation (Gibb, 2002a; Porter and McKibbin, 1988). Pretorius et al. (2005) and Lobler (2006), however, suggest that the everyday pressures associated with the classroom environment and behaviourist forms of teaching make it difficult for students to shift into a more creative, less constrained way of thinking. This exploratory study examines the potential benefits of an entrepreneurship boot camp at the end of an academic year aimed at allowing students the opportunity to participate in multidimensional entrepreneurship activities and discussions in a less formal environment. Although all of the students will have been exposed to similar activities as part of their courses and extra curricular activities, without the appropriate environment, it is possible that fewer benefits will be received (Taatila, 2010). Taatila and Vyakarnam (2008) note the important role the mentor plays in creating this environment, but others (e.g. Heap, 1996; West, 2004; Pretorius et al., 2005) note the role played by the physical environment The students' perceptions of the environment created and the evidence of changes in how students think about entrepreneurship as an activity and of themselves within these roles are examined. In thinking about the boot camp experience, the students also reveal some of the limitations of the traditional classroom environment. In order to achieve this, the study takes an in-depth longitudinal approach with interviews held with the participating students at a number of points before, during, and after the boot camp. This enables the study to examine how students' attitudes evolve throughout the learning experience. The results suggest that an informal environment away from campus aids creative thinking, as students expressed an appreciation of the opportunity to discuss their ideas in a more open manner to obtain greater feedback from mentors and peers. The students' responses suggested that the displacement from the campus environment was of great benefit here. Students explicitly noted the way they could consider their business ideas as new ventures rather than being concerned with making comparisons with previous studies for purposes of assessment. In relation to the need to aid students' development of social and psychological skills highlighted by Taatila (2010), being away from the pressures of the educational environment meant students were better able to develop their own identities as entrepreneurs. It appears therefore that the boot camp's multidimensional nature produces different outcomes to those of other experiential-learning approaches, thus providing another piece of the jigsaw to the conductive entrepreneurial environment puzzle. The camps therefore potentially improve the creative entrepreneurial attributes of graduates. Studies such as Taatila (2010) suggest that these skills are expected to increase graduates' value as business owners or employees in other firms. Implications for entrepreneurial learning both within the university and corporate environments may be that whilst entrepreneurial learning may rely on contextual experience (Rae, 2006; Politis, 2008), it appears that there can be considerable benefits where reflection can be undertaken, and development negotiated, away from the front line of assessed academic work or in the case of firms, production. Interviews after completion of the study suggest that although actual activities undertaken after such camps may be coloured by the return of day-today pressures, an entrepreneurial mind-set remains.

机译：现代全球化的经济很容易出现变化和不确定性时期，就像2007年之后的经济衰退所经历的那样。其他人指出，这导致产品生命周期的缩短（Tassey，2000年），而创新对于保持竞争力（Smith，2002； Huggins和Izushi，2007）。在传统上，企业家通常会在这些环境中蓬勃发展，无论是在创办自己的公司，在较大的公司中工作还是在他们的整个生活中（Gibb，2002b； Rae，2010）。这确保了对企业家技能的需求比以往任何时候都更加重要（Taatila，2010年），而高等教育被认为在提供必要的企业家和就业技能方面起着关键作用（Crayford等人，2012； Thompson等人， 2010年； 2012年）。但是，如果有可能，就发展这些技能的最佳方法尚无共识（Jack and Anderson，1999）。尽管传统的课堂环境可以有效地为学生提供构成企业家精神的“科学”组成部分的基本业务技能，但通常认为它不适合教授与创新和创造力相关的“艺术”组成部分（杰克和安德森，1999； Pretorius等人，2005年）。 Rae（2006）指出，作为学习经历的一部分，个人形成了自己的企业家身份和思维方式，形成了个人和社会。诸如Baron（2000）以及van Praag和Cramer（2001）等研究发现，自信和愿意容忍不确定性等特征与成功的企业家有着积极的联系，Johannisson（1991）和Jones and English（2004）等作家）将这些特征的创造视为创业教育的主要目的。吉布（Gibb，2002a）的引导型创业环境的概念指出了提供全面的学生创业学习经验以满足学术界的严苛要求，同时保持以经验为基础的方法来增强创造力和创新的重要性（Gibb，2002a； Porter和McKibbin （1988年）。 Pretorius等。（2005年）和洛伯勒（2006年），但是，与课堂环境和行为主义教学形式相关的日常压力使学生难以转变为更具创造性，更少约束的思维方式。这项探索性研究考察了一个学年结束时创业新手训练营的潜在好处，旨在使学生有机会在较不正式的环境中参加多维创业活动和讨论。尽管所有学生在他们的课程和课外活动中都会参加类似的活动，但如果没有适当的环境，则可能会收到较少的收益（Taatila，2010年）。 Taatila和Vyakarnam（2008）注意到导师在创造这种环境中的重要作用，但是其他人（例如Heap，1996； West，2004； Pretorius等，2005）则注意到了物理环境的作用。考察了所创造的环境以及学生对企业家精神作为一种活动以及自己在这些角色中的看法的变化的证据。在思考新兵训练营的经历时，学生们还揭示了传统教室环境的一些局限性。为了实现这一目标，本研究采用了深度纵向方法，在新兵训练营之前，之中和之后，与参与学生进行了多次访谈。这使研究能够检查学生的态度在整个学习过程中如何演变。结果表明，远离校园的非正式环境有助于创造性思维，因为学生表示赞赏有机会以更加开放的方式讨论他们的想法，以获取来自导师和同龄人的更多反馈。学生们的回答表明，远离校园环境在这里非常有益。学生明确指出了他们将自己的商业想法视为新企业的方式，而不是担心与以前的研究进行比较以进行评估。关于需要帮助学生发展社交和心理技能的需求，Taatila（2010）强调，摆脱教育环境的压力意味着学生能够更好地发展自己作为企业家的身份。因此，新手训练营的多维性质似乎与其他体验式学习方法产生不同的结果。，从而为创业环境中的难题提供了另一块拼图。因此，这些营地潜在地改善了毕业生的创新创业属性。 Taatila（2010）等研究表明，这些技能有望提高毕业生作为企业主或其他公司员工的价值。在大学和公司环境中，对企业家学习的影响可能是，尽管企业家学习可能依赖于上下文经验（Rae，2006； Politis，2008），但在进行反思和谈判发展方面可能会产生可观的收益，远离评估的学术工作的第一线，或者对于公司而言，则远离生产。研究结束后的访谈表明，尽管在此类营地之后进行的实际活动可能会因日常压力的回升而显得色彩斑,，但企业家的心态仍然存在。

The role of environment in fostering conductive entrepreneurial learning

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