entrepreneurial learning and workforce development · 2016-03-29 · entrepreneurial learning and...
TRANSCRIPT
Entrepreneurial learning
and workforce development
Implementing SME Policy Tools Capacity Building Seminar
Trento Italy 25-28 October 2011
Outline
SKILLS FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
• Concept
• Delivery framework – example university
TRAINING, LEARNING AND INNOVATION
• Concepts
• Results from a firm survey in the Western Balkans
Skills and competences for entrepreneurship
• Concepts
• University entrepreneurship support
• Common findings from ongoing research in OECD member and non-member countries
The Learning Journey:
From developing entrepreneurial attitudes to promoting
skills and competences for successful entrepreneurship
4
5
Skills and Competences for entrepreneurship
(Man et al. 2002)
OECD LEED
assessment framework
Strategy
Financial and human resources
Support infrastructure
Entrepreneurship education
Start-up support
Evaluation
Principles of good practice - Strategy
1. Promoting entrepreneurship (technology transfer and venture creation) is a strategic objective for university management.
2. There are clear incentives and rewards for staff, who actively support entrepreneurship.
3. Recruitment and career development take into account prior entrepreneurial activities of staff as well as actual engagement in entrepreneurship support.
Questions - Strategy
1. Mentioning of entrepreneurship support activities and results in your Annual Report and since when
2. „Number of Clicks‟
3. Whether and how staff (profs, researchers, admin) are rewarded for engaging in entrepreneurship support (set of Qs)
4. Consideration of prior private sector experience in recruitment
5. Consideration of engagement in entrepreneurship support for promotions (KPI)
Common findings from cross-country
research (1/3)
Need for top-management support
• Clear links to core missions (education & research)
• Student-friendly advertisement of support: website, Twitter, Facebook etc.
• Removal of administrative barriers (openness to Alumni)
• Strategic allocation of resources
• Functional incentives and rewards (time & royalties & connections), learning, training and exchange opportunities for staff
Common findings from cross-country
research (1/3)
Content and organisation of EE
• Curricular integration, interdisciplinary courses , clear links with start-up support
• Dedicated research – competences and skills (pedagogies) local development (opportunity creation)
• Evaluation (2-fold objective)
• Organise EE in a dynamic way – involve entrepreneurs, engage students, alumni
Common findings from cross-country
research (1/3)
Provision of start-up support
• Relevance of university internal incubation space for team-start-ups, and EE-start-up links as well as tech transfer
• University as ‚magnet„ for VC and Bas, also in regions economically lacking behind
• Role of university in wider local entrepreneurship support systems (LIS)
Training, learning and innovation
• Concepts
• Key issues
• Firm survey results in the Western Balkans
Concepts
• Absorptive capacity (Cohen and Levinthal 1990 and Lane, Koka and Pathak 2006 ):
– Crucial importance of new (often firm external) knowledge for innovation
“...firm‟s ability to utilise externally held knowledge through 3 sequential processes:
1. recognizing and understanding potentially valuable new knowledge outside the firm through exploratory learning
2. assimilating valuable new knowledge through transformative learning
3. using the assimilated knowledge to create new knowledge and commercial outputs through exploitative learning …”
Absorptive capacity and firm-level
learning processes
Explorative learning
Transformative learning
Exploitative learning
Growing evidence of ….
Relevance of strategic human resource management practices on firm-level innovation activity:
– Employee training
– Incentives and rewards
– Workplace environment (including decision-making)
– Internal communication and information flows
Direct link (?) between the entrepreneur‟s predisposition to learn (and prior learning experience) and learning outcomes and firm-level innovation activity
The role of public policy
Public policy
Accreditation
Easy access
Campaigns
Vouchers, …
Training providers
Co-design
In-firm and on-the job training, …
Firms
School, univ collaborations
Strategic HRM, …
• We’ve asked 224 firms in the Western Balkans …
About their business priorities…
74%
68%
48%
65%
48%
65%
48%
62%
26%
31%
52%
34%
52%
34%
47%
38%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Expanding the general market for products and services?
Knowing your customers better?
Increasing production?
Diversifying your products and or services?
Changing the internal organisation of your firm?
Training and hiring staff?
Expanding in-house research and development activities?
Buying new technology (eg. machinery, production …
Yes
No
What happened in the last 12 months?
35%
35%
32%
28%
46%
33%
45%
45%
17%
7%
7%
6%
1%
25%
16%
20%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Total number of staff employed in your firm
Total number of new employees 24 and under working for the
first time
Number of staff with university degree
Number of employees who received some form of professional training
Increased
Kept the same
Reduced
DK
Does your firm provide professional
training for your employees?
• Half of the firms (88) collaborated with local training providers and found this useful.
79%
19%
2%
Yes
No
DK
Is your firm in contact with schools and
University faculties in your municipality
or region?
45%
54%
1%
Yes
No
DK
With which education providers are you
in contact?
30%
26%
36%
8% General secondary schools
Technical schools
University
Other
What has been the purpose of these
contacts...?
20%
40%
15%
25%
Groups of students and teachers visit the firm for educational purposes
Firm offers internships to students
Firm recruits graduates from these schools
Other
• Questions?
• Thank you!