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Purpose: This paper addresses the significance of training students in entrepreneurship to enable sustained national and international competitiveness in the knowledge-based global marketplace. Entrepreneurial education is varied, ranging from basic to in-depth courses, including customer-focused programs, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program. This program is nationally-renowned with strong academic roots. A full site was launched at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in January 2015 and was the first I-Corps program in the state of Florida. Design/methodology/approach: This paper addresses the importance of entrepreneurship education, reviews the available national training programs in entrepreneurship, presents the design methodology of the NSF I-Corps program, and analyzes the results of the teams who have participated in the NSF I-Corps program. Findings: The results are categorized into innovative areas and show the percentage of teams who participated in the I-Corps program in each area. It also identifies the percentage of teams who engaged in actual startup activities following I-Corps participation. Practical implications: Educators, students, and trainers can use the findings to benchmark the outcomes of training programs in entrepreneurship. Students and innovators interested in participating in I-Corps can use this paper to obtain insights and a broader understanding of what was done in terms of results and implications. Originality/value: This paper contributes a unique analysis of the I-Corps program approach and its outcomes since its launch in 2015 and can be used as a reference for any training program in entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterprise initiatives come in a number of guises but, whether they are grant-funded or a commercial aspect of a university's business, the key driver is output. This usually means numbers - of students, of businesses, of ideas developed and sold, of financial gain and reputations made. A critical element impeding progress to the successful development of enterprise is marketing. This is something of a misnomer within organisations as amorphous as universities. The ability to develop products and services and to market them effectively to what should be a captive audience can prove even more trying than dealing with the mountain of paper work that accompanies most, if not all, enterprise initiatives. This paper describes the difficulties experienced by Business Start-Up@Leeds Met in marketing enterprise at Leeds Metropolitan University, lessons learned and the future direction in terms of marketing approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore: student perceptions of threshold concepts and capabilities in postgraduate business education, and the potential impacts of intensive modes of teaching on student understanding of threshold concepts and development of threshold capabilities. Design/methodology/approach – The student experience of learning was studied in two business units: strategic management, and accounting. The method involved two phases. In the first, students and unit coordinators identified and justified potential threshold concepts and capabilities. In the second, themes were rationalized. Findings – Significantly more so in intensive mode, the opportunity to ask questions was reported by student participants to support their development of the nominated threshold capabilities. This and other factors reported by students to support their learning in intensive mode are consistent with supporting students to traverse the liminal space within the limited time available in intensive mode. Research limitations/implications – Respondents from future cohorts will address the small participant numbers. Studies in only two units are reported. Studies in other disciplines are presented elsewhere. Practical implications – The findings will be important to educators using intensive mode teaching in business, and researchers working within the framework. Originality/value – This is the first study to explore the potential impacts of intensive modes of teaching on student understanding of threshold concepts and development of threshold capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The ability to working effectively with others (WEWO) is critical yet industry continues to lament deficiencies in new graduates. Progress in developing this highly valued skill in undergraduates is impeded by a lack of conceptual clarity and evidence of how best to measure it, and a tendency to adopt an outcomes-focused, rather than process-oriented, approach. This paper aims to investigate undergraduate perceptions of how well a stand-alone employability skill development programme, operating in an Australian Business Faculty, is fostering the WEWO skill set and which pedagogical practices are considered to add most value. Design/methodology/approach – The study examines undergraduate perceptions using data gathered from a skills audit of 799 business undergraduates from all four sequential units within the skills programme. Undergraduates rated and described their development against an established framework of WEWO behaviours. Findings – Findings indicate that, overall, skill development is rated highly among the undergraduates although the behaviours of conflict resolution, social intelligence and influencing others were rated less highly than others within the skill set. The importance of class activities and assessment items, including the use of virtual learning tools were identified by students as critical to the development of WEWO behaviours. Originality/value – The study highlights the important role of constructive alignment, sequential skill development, consistency of delivery and ensuring student “buy-in” to education practitioners in their efforts to meet industry expectations of graduates who can WEWO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper seeks to demonstrate the characteristics of group work that are required to teach the attributes of real world venture teamwork in tertiary entrepreneurship programmes. Design/methodology/approach - One-tailed Spearman correlation analysis is used to assess the associations between students' grades in four group assessment tasks involving different levels of complexity and collaboration and the attributes of teamwork. Findings - The results indicate that students learn more of the attributes of venture teamwork, the more complex the group task, and the more collaboration required to complete it. Research limitations/implications - The results cannot be generalised due to the small sample size and restriction of the sample to one course in entrepreneurship. However, the findings are valid conceptually; thus the study makes important contributions to knowledge. Practical implications - The findings should help tertiary educators to improve the design and implementation of their group assessment tasks to reflect the attributes of real world venture teamwork. Originality/value - While considerable work has been carried out on entrepreneurship education at the tertiary level, limited attention has been paid to teaching venture teamwork as part of entrepreneurship programmes. Academics often claim that their courses cover the attributes of venture teamwork when students work co-operatively rather than collaboratively on assessment tasks. The study identifies attributes of group work in the classroom that are consistent with real world venture teamwork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The Technology Enhanced Enterprise Education project (TE3) promotes the use of learning technologies to enhance enterprise and entrepreneurship education in the 12 HEI partners of the Mercia Institute of Enterprise (MIE). This paper describes the formal processes and procedures underpinning TE3, describes issues around material development and use, and comments on the lessons learned and added value outcomes experienced by community members. Design/methodology/approach - TE3 works as a community of practice with regular events and online support for the sharing of materials and experience. Materials developed with TE3 funds are made available to all partners to download, adapt, and use for educational or research purposes. Community learning is captured via quarterly progress and end-of-project forms which ask educators to reflect on the lessons they have learned, and to note any added-value benefits that have emerged as a result of material development. Findings - Since its creation in August 2003, over 13,000 students have been registered to learn about enterprise using TE3 developed materials, and over 500 members of staff have been involved with TE3 through projects or training events. Educators have reported that TE3 has led to increased skills and knowledge for both themselves and their students, and increased the pool of resources available. Added-value outcomes include increased research output, increased links with small firms, and links between academics and educators from different institutions that may not otherwise have arisen. Practical implications - TE3 demonstrates how enterprise educators can work together to share resources and expertise, whilst embedding enterprise education within a sustainable local context, either as a dedicated module, or within a student''s normal programme of study. The lessons learned by TE3 as a whole will be of use to those supporting enterprise educators, and those learned by individual TE3 projects can inform good practice in the use of e-learning to support enterprise students. Originality/value - TE3 has successfully supported educators and facilitated the spread of enterprise education to students in West Midlands HEIs across all subject disciplines. It is now moving into a second phase which will concentrate on dissemination of the materials produced and in supporting the community of educators that has emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Self-directed work teams are seen as an important mechanism for dealing with today's complex and rapidly changing business environment. Team learning is an attempt to prepare students to real-world experiences. But, not all teamwork is effective. This paper aims to examine the influence of learning style preferences on team learning performance. Design/methodology/approach - The Grasha-Riechmann Student Learning Style Scales (GRSLSS) is used to assess the learning style preferences of business students enrolled in an operations management class. Findings - Students were found to be collaborative learners. Students' collaborative orientation complements participation and helps students to compete, which in turn increases team performance. In addition, influence of learning style varies with educational experience, gender and major. Graduate students showed to be collaborative and independent learners. As such, while personal model and formal authority teaching styles fit best undergraduates' learning preferences, at the graduate level, instructor' role changes to facilitator and delegator. Originality/value - Provides evidence that learning style preferences are valuable for engaging learners in various collaborative activities and for designing successful diverse teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All too often discussion of Capability proceeds as if it is clear what `Capability' is: and that all that is required is the ascertaining of means for developing it. This paper seeks to explore the meanings of Capability. It provides two broad meanings, and discusses the paradoxes inherent in the application of these to the real world of management and business. On the one hand, Capability is defined as Potential, what the individual could achieve. Potential is an endowment, which is realised by the acquisition of skills and knowledge, i.e. the acquisition of Content. On the other hand, Capability is defined as Content: what the individual can (or has learned to) do. This Content has been acquired by, or input into, the individual, who then has the Potential to develop further. So there are different routes to Capability, depending on the definition of Capability one chooses. All of this impinges on the development of Capability. This leads us on to a consideration of whether the `Development of Capability' is a meaningful concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of new business start-ups cannot be over-emphasised. The UK government has taken actions designed to stimulate the growth of new businesses and aid their survival. The identification of barriers to entry is important, together with strategies to minimise their impact. The UK continues to lag behind the USA in its levels of entrepreneurship. The removal of barriers to start-up is key to rectifying this situation and stimulating the new business aspect of the economy. The paper highlights the government's position in furthering entrepreneurship, draws on initial primary research into student barriers to start-up and makes recommendations for how higher education institutions can assist in breaking down the barriers identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the findings from a study of 48 Colleges of Further Education (FE) who have participated in a diagnostic benchmarking exercise using the learning probe methodology. Learning probe has been developed from the established service probe tool (developed originally by London Business School and IBM Consulting) to support colleges of FE in their pursuit of excellence. Examines five main areas of business practice and performance consisting of business leadership; service processes; people; performance management and business results. Goes on to highlight the key strengths of the FE sector and their main areas for improvement (as defined by the sample of participating colleges). Although there are a number of practice and performance areas that need attention in particular practices relating to service processes, the sample also identifies that a number of colleges demonstrate strengths in these same areas. These issues are discussed and compared with experiences and anecdotal evidence collated from working with the FE sector over a number of years. Additionally, a comparison is made with a separate, regional benchmarking exercise that considered a number of educational organisations. Using the findings, the paper suggests a way forward for colleges to use the information which has grown out of this research. It is intended that the database will continue to grow as an information resource as learning probe becomes more widely adopted within the FE sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]