Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1692728

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Teaching entrepreneurship in tourism and hospitality undergraduate programmes

by Stanislav Ivanov, Miroslava Dimitrova and Maya Ivanova

Contact details:

Stanislav Ivanov, Ph. D., Academic director, International University College, 3 Bulgaria str.,

9300 Dobrich, Bulgaria; email: stanislav.ivanov@vumk.eu

Miroslava Dimitrova, Ph. D., Assistant Professor in tourism and hospitality, International

University College, 3 Bulgaria str., 9300 Dobrich, Bulgaria; email:

miroslava.dimitrova@vumk.eu

Maya Ivanova, Ph. D. student, University of Economics – Varna, 77 Kniaz Boris I Blvd.,

9000 Varna, Bulgaria; e-mail: maya.g.ivanova@gmail.com

Abstract:

The paper analyses entrepreneurship as a module/subject in undergraduate programmes and

its educational aspects. The paper presents the results from a survey among students in

undergraduate programmes in tourism and hospitality and discusses the experience of

International University College, Bulgaria. Practical issues in teaching entrepreneurship in

tourism and hospitality are also discussed.

Key words: teaching, entrepreneurship, tourism, hospitality, curriculum, undergraduate

programme

Introduction

Current turbulent economic times require companies to find alternative approaches for

sustainable competitive advantage to price cutting and severe price competition – they focus

more on entrepreneurship and innovations in order to survive. Achieving this goal is

impossible without competent employees who perceive words like initiative, activity, and

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1692728

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entrepreneurship not only as terms from textbooks but as an attitude to work. Employees that

are used to fulfill their duties, according to given technology or instructions, collapse when

they find themselves in a situation requiring decision-making and creativity. Studying

entrepreneurship in undergraduate classes assists students to develop an internal positive

attitude towards initiative and risk taking, additional to the basic knowledge and operational

skills gained. It is highly recognized in starting a new business that the investor does not miss

capital or time, but competence of specific actions and procedures he/she should undertake at

the very beginning of the business venture. It is not surprising, therefore, that more and more

higher education institutions include Entrepreneurship in their study curricula (Anon., 2008).

Tourism is a service industry – it is impossible to predict all details of service delivery

and follow strict directions. Entrepreneurship in tourism at lower managerial levels is

understood mainly as adequate reactions in varied situations or personalized attention to

different guests. Future hospitality employees are required to be resourceful, creative, and

prompt – abilities that could be cultivated in undergraduate classes by studying

entrepreneurship. Therefore, current paper aims at analyzing entrepreneurship as an

educational concept and the tourism/hospitality students’ expectations and perception to

Entrepreneurship as a module/subject in the study curricula.

Entrepreneurship as an educational concept

The place of entrepreneurship as a field of study in the undergraduate programmes

Entrepreneurship has long been recognised an important element in undergraduate

programmes curricula (Fayoll and Gailly, 2008; Hampden-Turner, 2010; Mars and Garrison,

2009; Schwartz and Malach-Pines, 2009; Silva, Henriques, Carvalho, 2009) including in

tourism and hospitality (Ball, 2005; Fidgeon, 2010; Morgan, 2004; Okumus and Wong,

2005). The academic literature in entrepreneurship, starting a new company or new venture

creation is abundant as well (e.g. Barringer and Ireland, 2007).

Practically, entrepreneurship usually finds its way to the programmes curricula in two

different ways: entrepreneurship as a separate subject/module and entrepreneurship as a

concept permeating several modules and subjects.

The first approach holds that entrepreneurship is a field of study that deserves a

separate subject/module. The advantage of this approach is that students can have a general

picture of entrepreneurship as an academic field of study, know the different theories of

entrepreneurship and develop their own plan for a start-up business. As a disadvantage one

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can mention the false perception that the separate entrepreneurship module creates among

students and lecturers – that one can learn to be an entrepreneur by studying one subject and

writing one report. Furthermore, the introduction of a separate course in entrepreneurship

might give reasons to lecturers in other modules to eliminate topics related to it from their

modules (similar to the case when a small company establishes a separate marketing

department and the employees start perceiving the marketing as responsibility of the newly

created department rather than of everybody in the company). This might cut the links

between the modules and entrepreneurship could be perceived as a subject/module per se.

The second approach recognizes the fact that the body of knowledge in

entrepreneurship cannot be taught in one module only but should permeate several modules

and subjects in the curriculum, which provides integrity and cohesion within the study

programme. The syllabi of the modules/subjects are coordinated so that students gain

knowledge in different aspects of new venture creation (management, marketing, finance,

planning, human resources, accounting, business law, etc.). The advantage is the in-depth

understanding of these aspects by students. However, the lack of separate entrepreneurship

module underestimates the importance of the theoretical advancements in the academic field

of entrepreneurship as they are considered peripheral within other modules.

Within this context, a combination between the two common approaches seems to best

fit business schools – providing the theoretical knowledge and planning skills in a separate

entrepreneurship module/subject and reinforcing these in other related modules. Additionally

to the entrepreneurial knowledge students gain and the business planning skills they develop,

this combined approach cultivates entrepreneurial spirit that cannot be achieved by one

focused module/subject. Intuitively, this is the best approach. However, it raises the question

about the modules prerequisites – should students first study entrepreneurship and then

upgrade knowledge and skill in related modules or first study the related modules

(management, marketing, finance, planning, human resources, accounting, business law) and

then integrate the individual pieces of knowledge into the entrepreneurship module/subject.

The answer to the above question is not unambiguous.

IUC’s experience

For two academic years (2006/07 and 2007/08) International University College

experimented by introducing “Business plan” as a first module for first year students. They

were required to prepare a business plan for a new start-up company having been provided

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only the basic knowledge needed to implement the task. The goal was that students

understand the principles of business planning and entrepreneurship by themselves, identify

their own weaknesses and gaps in knowledge and skill, and, eventually, be more motivated to

study the other modules. The experiment was considered only partially successful by the IUC

management team due to several reasons:

- Cultural factors – students were used in high schools to absorbing knowledge and be

examined on how well they have understood it – an innovative approach in which they were

asked to prepare be examined on a project without being given the full knowledge for that

was not fully embraced by them;

- Organisational factors – the learning outcomes and the goal of the module were

probably not communicated well to the students. Additionally, the introduction of business

planning as a first module at Year one required that students prepare the same business plan in

Year two, compare the two plans and see their own progress. This requirement was not

implemented and the first business plan stood alone without a follow-up.

Currently IUC adopts the alternative viewpoint that the entrepreneurship is an

integrative module and it is a follow-up not a prerequisite to the related modules

(management, marketing, finance, planning, human resources, accounting, business law). As a

consequence of this pedagogic viewpoint students first study the general modules/subject and

finish the second year of study by preparing an entrepreneurship plan that summarises the

knowledge and skills gained during the first and second year.

Student’s perspective

In the beginning of the academic year 2010/2011 a survey with second and third grade

students in Tourism Management and Hotel management programmes at UIC was conducted.

Its primary goal is to study the attitude of the students towards Entrepreneurship module,

which is included in their teaching plan. For this purpose two major group of students were

questioned: students who didn’t participate in Entrepreneurship classes yet (mainly second

year students) and those who have already studied Entrepreneurship as a separate module

(mostly third year students). Two different questionnaires were elaborated. The one given to

the first group was aiming at discovering whether the students were familiar with this subject,

what their expectations are, if they consider it important and valuable for their future career.

The second questionnaire attempted to reveal the overall impressions of those who have

already participated in Entrepreneurship classes, the outcomes according to their opinion and

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their general satisfaction about the course (i.e. whether the outcomes correspond to their

expectations).

The representative sampling consisted of 64 students. The results of the survey showed

that students realize the importance of Entrepreneurship module. 82% of them sustain that it

should be included in the Hospitality and Tourism Management programmes. During this

course students expect to learn how to start a new business (80%), how to write business plan

(48%), as well as to study some basic economic concepts (35%). Majority of students (55%)

prefer to study Entrepreneurship as a separate module without being incorporated in other

courses, while 9% believe that it should not be studied at all. Student’s preferences about ratio

between theory and practical implications in the module are splitted between “a combination

of both” (52%) and “practice only” (44%). Unfortunately most of the students who have

already participated in this course are not satisfied with the outcomes (56%) and claim that the

course was insufficient to provide them with necessary knowledge and skills (71%).

The survey shows that students are aware of the utility of entrepreneurial skills for their

future careers. They are definitely searching for programme which provides them not only

with theoretical background, but is mainly involved with the real life practice.

Practical issues in teaching entrepreneurship in tourism and hospitality

Integrated entrepreneurship in hospitality and tourism programmes is important, but

challenging task. Finding the right combination between theory and practice and involving

students and industry persons in teaching process is vital for its successful implementation.

One of the major outcomes of the Entrepreneurship module should be to teach students how

to prepare an entrepreneurship plan, usually referred to as “business plan”. For training

purposes we recommend a small company to be chosen in order to encompass easily all

aspects of its management, organizational structure, cycles of supply, production and

distribution etc. The students should be given a concise, clear and understandable assignment

which is feasible and consistent with their aptitudes. That is to say, lecturers should be able to

modify the requirements and level of difficulty of the task in accordance to the general level

of the groups and even to the individual students. Hence entrepreneurship teaching should

encourage team work and communication skills, it is advisable that the business plan is

prepared by several students working as a team instead of being an individual endeavour.

Based on our experience, we suggest that three to four persons in a group is the optimum.

Student should learn how to delegate tasks between each other and bare collective

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responsibility concerning the quality of their work. That is why they should not be marked

separately, expect for their individual presentation skills (in case that the business plan is

defended before a jury).

The teaching process itself should represent a combination between lectures and

workshops. Lectures are held before bigger audience, while during the workshops students

are divided into smaller groups (up to 10-20 persons) in order to secure the individual’s

involvement in the discussions and problem solving. Workshops should be based on various

heuristic methods such as brainstorming, Delphi, scenario playing etc.

The assessment criteria should reveal objectively the outcome of the teaching process.

On one hand a theoretical knowledge acquired during the course should be measured, on the

other skills to apply this knowledge in practice should be demonstrated. That is why a two-

fold examination is most suitable as a combination between written exam (test) and business

plan prepared during the course. The weight of the two components in the overall mark is at

the course leader’s discretion, but more importance should be given to the practical

implementation, that is – the business plan.

The practical implication of the entrepreneurial course could be supported by field visits

in hotel, restaurants, travel agencies, congress centres and other tourist enterprises. These

visits should be arranged by the lecturers or administration of the educational institution. The

benefits could be various: students and lecturers could receive adequate and up to date

information about the latest trends in the travel and hospitality industry, on the other hand

students are provided with valuable first-hand information concerning specific businesses,

which they can use while preparing their business plans. Another advantage of the field visits

is that they encourage the liaison between education and industry and are an opportunity for

feedback from the business stakeholders about how the teaching programme should be

adjusted in order to correspond to the industry needs). The field visits could be successfully

complemented with guest lecturers. In the first case the students go on place and get idea of

the working environment, but a drawback could be the possibility of interrupting and

disturbing the working process. Guest lecturers on the other hand could reach greater

audience and spend more time on explaining and answering students’ questions in details. In

both cases students have chance to contact industry representative and receive future

employment opportunities

The internship is another valuable tool to assist the entrepreneurial study process.

During the internship the students are put in a real-life working environment and could

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develop skill such as team working, discipline, diligence etc. The impressions gained during

their work could assist in writing the business plan.

In order to encourage utmost performance, the best entrepreneurship plans could be

awarded at the end of each academic year. The award event could be turned into ceremony

that brings together students, lecturers, friends, relatives and industry representatives. That is

to say it could be used successfully as a marketing tool promoting the quality of the education

in Tourism and Hospitality programmes.

Conclusion

Entrepreneurship is a necessary study element is undergraduate programmes. It can

find place either as a separate module or as a part in different basic disciplines – management,

marketing, finance, planning, human resources, accounting, business law, etc. but certain

practices show that a reasonable combination of both, with emphasis on practical issues, fits

best to most of the students.

Practical experience of IUC and the results of the survey, conducted among students,

support the idea of studying entrepreneurship in a more practical aspect. Undergraduates

adopt it as a way to implement first steps of starting-up a new company, as well as developing

personal qualities and attitude in their future work, especially in the field of tourism and

hospitality services.

When teaching entrepreneurship is essential to combine theory with appropriate

workshops, choose feasible cases and take into account students’ aptitude. Most important is

to involve students in real situation, showing them genuine practical questions, or meet them

with guest lecturers from business. In this way, students can develop their initiative,

creativeness and positive attitude toward risk-taking which will improve employability and

competitiveness.

References:

Anon. (2008) More schools teaching entrepreneurship. Research – Technology Management,

March-April 2008, 6-7

Ball, S. (2005) The importance of entrepreneurship to hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism.

URL: http://hca.ltsn.ac.uk/assets/hlst/documents/projects/Entrepreneurship/ball.pdf

(10.10.2010)

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Barringer, Bruce R., and R. Duane Ireland (2007) Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching

New Ventures. Pearson Prentice-Hall

Fayolle, A., B. Gailly (2008) From craft to science: Teaching models and learning processes

in entrepreneurship education. Journal of European Industrial Training, 32 (7), 569-

593

Fidgeon, P. R. (2010) Tourism education and curriculum design: A time for consolidation and

review? Tourism Management, 31(6), 699-723

Hampden-Turner, C. (2010) Teaching innovation and entrepreneurship. The Singapore

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Mars, M. M., S. Garrison (2009) Socially-oriented ventures and traditional entrepreneurship

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Morgan, M. (2004) From production line to drama school: higher education for the future of

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management in tourism and hospitality schools. International Journal of Hospitality

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