Following tumultuous economic times and subsequent
downsizing and economising of companies, many people in the job market have
turned to entrepreneurship as a means of having a more secure source of income
– or at least an income under one’s own control. As influential economist Peter
Drucker stated, innovation is “the specific instrument of entrepreneurship, the
act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.” For many, the
quest for wealth (or simply a reliable income) comes with an increased interest
in entrepreneurship and, inevitably, innovation.
For those who are committed to getting formal training
in the fundamentals of business, a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) can
be an option. However, while both innovation and entrepreneurship continue to
be offered as specialisations within MBA programs, one of the key issues
facing MBA programs and the business schools that offer them is the fervent
academic debate about whether entrepreneurship and innovation can be learnt in
a classroom.
Indeed, with many of the world’s most famous
innovators and leading entrepreneurs (such as Ford, Carnegie, Rockefeller,
Branson, Buffet, Gates and Jobs) being university drop-outs or having quit
school altogether, the question arises as to whether universities can
effectively generate innovators and entrepreneurs. Can one learn how to be an entrepreneur
or an innovator through lessons taught in a classroom?
Learning the Entrepreneurship Mind-Set
Jordi Montserrat, Professor of Entrepreneurship at the
St. Gallen MBA in Switzerland suggested in an interview with TopMBA.com that, instead of attempting to turn students into
entrepreneurs, teachers can “reveal entrepreneurial spirit and gear the
students with the right methods and the right approach to their objectives.
It’s about teaching them the mind-set that animates entrepreneurs”.
Part of teaching this mind-set is to allow students to
learn by discovering – an approach used by many Mastersprograms or MBA programs
that focus especially on entrepreneurship. In teaching entrepreneurship, professors
must challenge students with a wide range of business-related activities. For
example, students can be made to analyse real-world business case studies, and
to suggest avenues for improvement. Or also students can be given the task of
coming up with ideas for a business, forming a team and building their own
company. This practical training enhances students’ ability to address issues
from an entrepreneurial perspective, and exposes them to alternative business
models and the outcomes of them. And, in figuring out the best ways to improve a
company and a business strategy, students start to innovate, almost by default.
Learning Key Skills in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Thus, teaching innovation and entrepreneurship is
about teaching students the necessary skills and sharing the necessary
knowledge required to then become entrepreneurs and innovators. Students can
learn how to share power, collaborate with others, work in a team and learn
from those smarter than them which will benefit their company in the future.
Students can also learn theories surrounding finance, markets, organisation, human
resource management, strategy, technology and intellectual property – all
useful tools to an entrepreneur or innovator.
The best MBA orMasters programs focusing on entrepreneurship combine lectures with
practical, collaborative projects in order to enhance students’ understanding
of entrepreneurship and to develop key skills that could eventually lead to
innovation. These programmes offer a wide range of innovative courses, keep updated
with the latest trends in the industry, integrate entrepreneurial perspectives
across the curriculum and have an interdisciplinary approach to innovation and
entrepreneurship.
Visit QS CourseFinder to find MBA and masters courses in the UK focusing on
entrepreneurship and innovation.
