Prof. dr Svetislav Paunović BBA Faculty for Banking, Insurance and Finance Belgrade, Serbia svetislav.paunovic@bba.edu.rs UNIVERSITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION IN SERBIA 5th ERENET Conference Budapest, 20th May 2011 1

Entrepreneurship Is being given increasing emphasis in the economic arena. Key resource for new millennium An action-oriented way of thinking and behaving Very important for market positioning and sustained market competitiveness

The role of entrepreneurship education (EE) The importance of EE derives from the essence of entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship has been recognised as a basic skill in the process of lifelong learning. This is the reason why EE has been promoted and practically implemented in educational system of the EU countries at all levels of formal and informal education.

Strategy for Development of Competitive and Innovative SMEs 2008-2013 in Serbia Better living standard Poverty reduction Job Creation Reduce grey economy More balanced regional development Economic growth More profitable operation of SME More dynamic conversion of micro into small, small into medium Creation of firms and their survival in the market Strengthening competition and growth of export SME Development Policy Pillars Encouraging Business Start-Up Improving management and workforce skills Improving Financing and Taxation Promoting export and innovation Upgrading legislation and the business environment

The National Strategy implements the following Pillar 2 policies grouped in 4 modules: Module 1: Better EE Improved policy framework for EE Integration and constant improvement of EE at all education levels Legislation and financing to foster different forms of formal and informal EE Module 2: More efficient business services to support SMEs Module 3: Improvement of management skills Module 4: Highly qualified labour force for SMEs

Integration and constant improvement of EE at all education levels Integrate programmes of EE in the curriculum of primary school, secondary vocational schools and university programmes Training for teachers and lecturers in the field of entrepreneurship Fostering extra curricular activities at all levels of education Connecting educational institutions with business community to implement business projects

University EE in Serbia Relatively small number of private and public faculties offer their students opportunity to learn more about entrepreneurship. At a few faculties entrepreneurship is studied as a separate (core or elective) course. Some faculties explore only some segments of entrepreneurship within other courses.

University EE in Serbia (2) Almost all faculties undergo the process of curriculum innovation and development. It should be expected that the entrepreneurship will be given more importance. It is very important to specially reveal this subject to students of technical faculties, who by definition present the innovative nucleus which is not sufficiently market and entrepreneurship oriented.

Generally, existing programmes educate «about entrepreneurship» rather than «for entrepreneurship», providing knowledge and information about key elements of entrepreneurship, but fail to create and improve abilities and skills to implement entrepreneurial behaviour in the real business environment.

The key objectives of the EE at BBA To deliver students “know how” in solving business problems To support students in defining their own vision and assist them in identifying new market opportunity which can be used to start and run a business To promote entrepreneurship as a business philosophy and multidisciplinary field that is applicable in many areas.

Curriculum for EE Entrepreneurship theories Entrepreneurship in practice Profile of successful entrepreneur Entrepreneurship process Business idea vs. business opportunity Business plan Marketing aspects Organizational aspects Financial aspects Small business management

EE classroom activities Create “relaxing” atmosphere in which all participants feel free to discuss and to contribute in finding solution. Demonstrate yourself in a “different light” Student are expected not to repeat but to find and create information as well as to use them in order to solve a problem. Always provide different sources of information

EE classroom activities (2) We want our students to be professionally qualified to act internationally The dialog between students and teachers is central to the full range of methods employed: lectures, case-studies, business games, seminars, project teams.

New initiative of BBA (2010) Project “Knowledge” – New initiative of BBA (2010) realized in close cooperation of BBA with secondary schools in Serbia and business sector (banks, insurance companies, corporate and consulting sector).

Project “Knowledge” - objectives Spreading the mission of entrepreneurship in the secondary schools Rising awareness of self-employment and entrepreneurship as a career option Promoting entrepreneurial behaviour of students and teachers Fostering extra curricular activities of students in secondary schools in generating business ideas

Project “Knowledge” content Training of students in identifying business ideas and opportunities and preparing business plans – workshop organized by BBA. It included also mentors in the schools Training in presentation skills organized in close cooperation of BBA and Ernest &Young Writing the business plan Presenting the business plan

Project “Knowledge” – 2010 results 15 schools from Serbia participated with 20 teams. 20 business plans were produced Selection process of the teams to present their business ideas were done by the BBA professors 12 teams presented business plans during the final event.

Project “Knowledge” – 2010 results (2) Evaluation Committee, whose members were the representatives of the banking, insurance and consulting sector, selected the best BP. The best business plans and presentations were awarded by the BBA

What do we need? EE in the time of turbulent changes requires programs and methods that support entrepreneurial spirit, creativity and intuition. Universities are expected to be more entrepreneurial. Teachers and students should turn themselves into entrepreneurs Interaction of the universities with the community (E2E, B2E, B2R) should follow entrepreneurship patterns.

Thank You very much for Your attention svetislav.paunovic@bba.edu.rs