Accelerating Entrepreneurship Education in the CEE Region: The Case of Dynamic Entrepreneurship Program 10 July 2007 Prof. Jerzy Cieślik Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship an Management, Warsaw

2 Personal context  until 1989 Professor of the Warsaw School of Economics  1990 left the School and started business career inspired by the radical systemic transformation in Poland  1990 – 2003 – founder, senior partner and CEO of Ernst & Young Poland  2004 retired from business and re-joined academic community as „pracademic”  specialization in entrepreneurship selected as most promising in terms of potential value-added contribution

3 Foundations of the Dynamic Entrepreneurship Program  „Latecomer advantage” (T. Veblen, 1915) is a valid concept particularly under ICT revolution  Access to most innovative solutions  Lower cost of implementation by the followers  Benefiting from the accumulated operating experiences  ICT technologies help to overcome the „liability of newness”  Easier and faster access to best practices  „Open access” trend in leading universities  The Program designed as a social entrepreneurship undertaking = reaching social objectives through proactive, innovative and risk-taking actions  Dynamic approach – aiming at reaching ambitious goals accomplished in relatively short period of time

4 Key lessons from the accumulated experiences in teaching entrepreneurship at the university level  Entrepreneurship can be taught; teaching may contribute to shaping entrepreneurial attitudes and skills  Entrepreneurship is predominantly reflected in launching new businesses  Launching new business is much broader concept than merely registration of new business establishment  Distinct features of the start-up process justify focussing on this phase while teaching entrepreneurship   Dynamic, high-potential entrepreneurship shall be seen as a distinct segment calling for different teaching concepts and methodologies as compared to the traditional small business sector

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6 Key lessons..cont’d  Entrepreneurs are different than managers and shall be trained differently – holistic rather than functional approach  Entrepreneurship is not only for business but also for non-business students (engineering, hard sciences, medical, arts, etc)  Entrepreneurship can and shall be taught not only at the undergraduate but also at the graduate level, phd and executive programs Students who take part in a didactic game where they have to make some decisions or even set up a real business will learn much more than those attending traditional classroom lectures  Mixed methods in teaching entrepreneurship proved to be most effective. Direct contact in the classroom can be combined with the web-based tools and supporting materials. The latter does not eliminate the „paper” textbook

7 Recent European initiatives aimed at catching-up with the U.S.  FGF – German scientific association in entrepreneurship research and education  Oeresund Entrepreneurship Academy – joint Danish-Swedish initiative  Norwegian School of Entrepreneurship – joint initiative of 5 Norwegian universities  EDORO - benchmarking project sponsored by the Romanian Ministry of Education Common features  National and/or international initiatives  Financial support from public sources

8 Dynamic Entrepreneurship Program – basic features  Addressed to university level students and lecturers; downward move to secondary education level may follow  Electronic platform for integrating various initiatives within the framework of entrepreneurship educationwww.cieslik.edu.pl  Modern textbook published in 2006  Creating a sound base – an individual entrepreneurial initiative  Invitation for entrepreneurship lecturers to join  Use available teaching materials, tools, etc  Jointly develop the Program

9 Vortal

10 Electronic platform Dynamic entrepreneurship Vortal Platform for tailored programs Textbook Teaching programs in higher education institutions Dynamic Business Club Support and networking platform for start-ups Promotion Media contacts Additional teaching, materials, tools for students Networking platform for lecturers Technical infrastructure Databases – teaching materials, users, companies, etc.

11 Textbook published in 2006

12 The Textbook – basic features  Academic level – for the basic course on „Dynamic Entrepreneurship”  Focus on dynamic (high-potential) entrepreneurial initiatives  Theory-based but at the same time practical guide written by a practitioner  Content reflecting best international standards but presented within Polish legal, fiscal and institutional context  Numerous examples (minicases) of dynamic initiatives undertaken by young, educated Poles  Addressed to both business and non-business students  Original process and action-oriented methodology with supporting electronic tools on the vortal  Simple language, user-friendly format and style

13 Process, action-oriented methodology

14 Dynamic entrepreneurship at the university level – a broader perspective

15 Most recent projects  „How to start your own business”. Recently completed 18 months training and advisory program for 120 students from 32 higher level institutions in the Mazovia region.  WIPA Project aimed at providing methodological and training support for 20 entrepreneurship lecturers, mostly from technical universities with the aim of introducing and/or upgrading entrepreneurship courses to be offered in non-business academic institutions. This project is being financed by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.  INNOVATOR Project is the training and consultancy program on technology entrepreneurship for 30 phd students from technical universities. The program is sponsored by the Foundation for Polish Science, which will also provide financing for best projects (business plans) presented by the students towards the end of the program. The accumulated experiences will be used to design a course on technology entrepreneurship for technical students at the advanced level.

16 Recent implementation experiences

17 Key success factors identified Entrepreneurial lecturers Using the power of Internet Networking Knowledge management (teaching materials)

18 Perspectives of international collaboration  „Going international” – an obvious extension of national initiatives in teaching entrepreneurship  Contacts established so far  ERENET network  Stanford Technology Venture Program  Delft University of Technology  Technology University Eindhoven  University of Linkoping  New prospects due to forging links with IntEnt and FGF!

19 Contact Prof. Jerzy Cieslik Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management Jagiellonska 59, Warsaw, Poland Tel