1. COEUR (Competence in Europreneurship) Business Creativity: A New Educational Challenge for European Students Presentation at the XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education Andrew Turnbull The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland Prof. Dr. Matthias Eickhoff Institute for Entrepreneurial Behaviour IUH Fachhochschule Mainz University of Applied Sciences, Germany
The presentation gives a general survey about fundamental aspects of COEUR BCM, its origin, rationale and conceptual basis.
It does not cover organisational aspects as criteria and methods of teambuilding or evaluation criteria and material which are compiled separately.

2. Entrepreneurship Theory
Entrepreneurship needs to be considered more as an European, not just an US, phenomenon, with local adaptation of the entrepreneurial mindset
All European societies need to be entrepreneurial with focus on the entrepreneur, developing entrepreneurial people and profitable business opportunities
XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education
COEUR Business Creativity Module

3. Europreneurship
“Encouragingly, a new business generation is emerging in Europe, with shared aspirations, values and outlooks. The common features among Europe’s 20 and 30-something entrepreneurs are far more striking than the differences” (Leadbeater and Ussher 1999)
XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education
COEUR Business Creativity Module

4. Europreneurship Europe needs new entrepreneurs, more now than ever!
Entrepreneurship education is on the increase but the creative/innovation stage lacks focus
Cross border collaboration and exchange is also desirable – less than 20% of faculty teach internationally
Sharing of good practice needed, supported by joint research and new materials
XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education
COEUR Business Creativity Module

5. European Entrepreneurship
COEUR
COEUR offers a platform for a variety of activities, benefits and services for numerous stakeholders:
Conferences
Publications
Benchmarking
Networking
Idea Generation
Research
and many more…
Competence in
European Entrepreneurship
…Idea Generation. It has exclusively been used in this context up to now.
The plattform is open for further developments in the other fields later.
Idea Generation
XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education
COEUR Business Creativity Module

6. The Initial Idea 1996
”We want to organise a conference, where students from different universities meet in an open atmosphere of initiative, creativity and responsibility to learn with experienced entrepreneurs and to establish a common basis for the entrepreneurial future in a Europe of regions, forming a nucleus for development and change, a junction in a quickly developing European business-culture.“
Matthias Eickhoff FH Mainz – University of Applied Sciences
Andrew Turnbull Robert-Gordon University, Aberdeen
XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education
COEUR Business Creativity Module

7. COEUR (5 day) Workshops
First held in 2004 in Mainz, Germany and since in 4 other European countries. Also in China and Brazil! 10th conference just completed in Wroclaw, Poland. Now an accredited source of ECTS for participating students.
XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education
COEUR Business Creativity Module

8. Recognising the role and importance of an entrepreneurial perspective
Workshop Focus
Recognising the role and importance of an entrepreneurial perspective
Social skills
Presentation skills
Intercultural competences
Language exercise
Supported by key note speeches, creativity training and idea check ups
XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education
COEUR Business Creativity Module

9. The COEUR Business Creativity Module
‘Business Creativity’ is a one semester interdisciplinary module focused on problem definition and solution development
Initially EU sponsored
Jointly delivered, starting 2007, at 8 European universities (Pol,CZ, F, UK, Por, D and Est)
Students form intercultural Creative Venture Teams (CVT) to develop entrepreneurial ideas with European dimension
XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education
COEUR Business Creativity Module

10. The Business Evolution Process (Eickhoff & Jakob, 2004)
This chart takes up the idea that the process needs a feedback loop. A company – in a changing world – cannot just go on ‘being successful’, as the prerequisites, the success factors, resources etc. might change quickly. For that reason companies which want to stay successful have to reinvent themselves permanently to check whether the business model still is viable of whether it has to be modified.
The idea to continue a successful business (“Never change a winning team”) can only be applied in static or relatively stable surroundings which are not the predominant phenomenon of our time.
XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education
COEUR Business Creativity Module

11. The COEUR-Basis Euro-Preneurship Process orientation
Business Creativity
Experience creativity and entrepreneurial learning in intercultural teams
Taking all these arguments together the 3 drivers of COEUR – process orientation, business creativity and EuroPreneurship – melt together and help to experience creativity and entrepreneurial learning in intercultural teams.
This is in the opinion of the partners of the first COEUR network one of the most important drivers of sustainable success in our future.
XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education
COEUR Business Creativity Module

12. Entrepreneurship Education
Business planning already integrated into teaching programmes
Business creativity and business development remain less well catered for
Different tasks require different approaches and tools and all stages of new business evolution should be covered
Innovation and creativity increasingly important in terms of responsiveness to unpredictable change
Marketing mostly refers to deterministic or (based on Marketing Research) stochastic change
XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education
COEUR Business Creativity Module

13. Delivery and Feedback
The module is now well established via e-learning platforms (Wimba/Skype) and real life classes
Virtual groups complete the assignments
76% of (UK) students rated the module ‘very good’
Less than 5% rated it poor overall, but some concerns were expressed about liaison and contact with students in other countries
Assessment mechanisms combine practice and theory, with written and verbal elements
Underlying concept and principles are understood and welcomed
XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education
COEUR Business Creativity Module

14. Delivery and Feedback
“A really enjoyable module ... I would thoroughly recommend the whole experience to other students” ... although: “The module is a brilliant idea but students in different countries were often difficult to get hold of and had different priorities”
XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education
COEUR Business Creativity Module

15. European Growth
A ‚leverage-effect‘ should serve to spread the COEUR-idea in Europe:
European coverage is not expected by growth of the network but by multiplication of university networks !
Competition and cooperation have been experienced
XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education
COEUR Business Creativity Module

16. Thank you for your attention! Thank you VSFS!
For further information please contact or
XV International Scientific Conference: Human Capital and Investment in Education
COEUR Business Creativity Module