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Purpose: Business graduates' enterprising capability augments their work readiness, transforming them into professionals capable of driving successful outcomes. At the core lie self-confidence and negotiating competence. However, embedding enterprise education and developing assessments to evidence learning is challenging. This study aims to offer a blueprint for establishing enterprise learning in the classroom and investigating the effectiveness of cultivating negotiating competence and self-confidence. Design/methodology/approach: Modelled on Kolb's experiential learning cycle, students engage in in-class and real-life negotiations, assessing self-confidence using a scale founded in Bandura's self-efficacy theory. Open-ended reflections are also submitted. Quantitative data is analysed through multiple linear regression, while quantitative and qualitative data triangulation substantiates enterprise learning in negotiating competence and self-confidence. Findings: Students' reflections show that low self-confidence poses an initial barrier in negotiations, overcome with successive engagements. Quantitative analysis uncovers response-shift biases, with female and male students overestimating initial self-confidence levels. The gender and difference score type interaction reveals a more pronounced bias among female students starting from a lower baseline than male students, implying a more substantial self-confidence improvement for female students. These findings challenge traditional assumptions about gender differences in negotiations and emphasize the need for nuanced perspectives. Originality/value: Enterprising capability is pivotal for business professionals. This study highlights the advancement of negotiating competence and self-confidence. It contributes uniquely to the development of enterprise education pedagogy. Focusing on nuanced gender differences challenges prevailing assumptions, providing a perspective to the discourse on negotiating competence and self-confidence in management training. [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]

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]