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Towards the
Entrepreneurial University
ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION AS A LEVER FOR CHANGE

A National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) report presenting and

shaping the environment for graduate entrepreneurship in higher education

By Emeritus Professor Allan Gibb OBE

Academic Adviser, NCGE

The National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) is an independent organisation

whose aim is to raise the profile of graduate entrepreneurship and increase the number of students and
graduates (within five years of graduation) seriously engaging in business start-up in all its forms, including
self employment.
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Towards the Entrepreneurial University

Foreword 1. Introduction
The 'Entrepreneurial University' is an exciting This summary paper focuses upon key issues central to the
concept which defines those universities providing development of effective policies for the promotion of
entrepreneurship in the UK Higher Education (HE) sector.
opportunities, practices, cultures and environments
conducive to actively encouraging and embracing Its central argument is that a ‘new’ paradigm for
student and graduate entrepreneurship. They are entrepreneurship is needed if an approach appropriate to
places where entrepreneurship is part of the fabric the university as a whole is to be found1. After an initial
of the institution. summary of some of the key challenges facing the
acceptance of entrepreneurship across the university, the
paper presents two caricatures of the ‘entrepreneurial
Many universities already offer an impressive and
person’. The first is drawn from a revealed preference
sophisticated array of entrepreneurship development analysis of what is taught under this label in North
activities, but it is not always clear which institutional America and European business schools. It might be
models and approaches really provide a sound labelled the ‘traditional business model’. This model is
platform for creating and sustaining the considerably influenced by its conceptual origin within the
'Entrepreneurial University'. economics profession and its nurturing in Business Schools.
This model is deemed unsatisfactory as a basis for wider
embedment in HE.
This paper, commissioned by NCGE from Emeritus
Professor Allan Gibb OBE, NCGE's Academic An ‘alternative’ model is proposed which, it is argued, not
Adviser, presents an argument for adopting only reflects more accurately the essences of the
alternative models more acceptable within a entrepreneurial culture in society, but fits much more
broad higher education context. Professor Gibb's appropriately with the traditional ‘idea’ of a university.
After discussion of the concept, the paper then explores in
stimulating and challenging propositions offer a
more detail what capacities will need to be developed,
way forward for all universities by providing a what changes will need to be made and how they may
range of practical steps to engage higher education be best facilitated if the impact of current initiatives is to
in delivering clear, explicit and desirable be sustainable.
entrepreneurship outcomes.

We anticipate dramatic growth in the development

of graduate entrepreneurship in the UK during the
next few years, driven by our higher education
institutions. NCGE is very active in identifying the
practices that support effective entrepreneurship
development and in encouraging institutional
capacity building and professional educator
development. Recognition and development of the
'Entrepreneurial University' is a further major step in
this direction.
The views expressed in this paper are those of the author
Ian Robertson, CEO, NCGE and do not necessarily represent NCGE policy.

1
For a wider academic review see Gibb, A.A. (2002) ‘In pursuit of a new ‘enterprise’ and ‘entrepreneurship’ paradigm for learning: creative
destruction, new values, new ways of doing things and new combinations of knowledge’. International Journal of Management Reviews. Volume
4 Number 3, pp 213 –233.

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2. Entrepreneurship and the Extrapolating from US, Asian and indeed European
University experience it can be argued that Universities are
entrepreneurial when they:
The current imperative to develop entrepreneurial capacity
in Higher Education derives from the sector’s potential - are bold in creating their own autonomy, accepting
impact on the UK’s ability to compete internationally and the notion that less and less of their funding will be by
respond entrepreneurially (socially and economically) to the state;
the pressures of uncertainty and complexity induced by
globalisation. - accept the ‘idea’ of a university which embraces
the scholarship of relevance and integration of
To date the pressure has been for HE to serve the wider knowledge and a sharing with, and learning from,
aims of society in this context in three ways: the wider community;

- by enhancing its capacity to commercialise, and make - are unafraid to maximise the potential for
more widely accessible, its intellectual property. Overall, commercialisation of their ideas to create value in
there is growing pressure to give greater weight to the society and do not see this as a significant threat
scholarship of relevance and integration2. The former to academic values;
creates impetus for working in partnership with external
stakeholders with a stronger focus upon development - internally organise to provide a stronger central steer to
out of research rather than just publication. The latter entrepreneurial endeavour while building on the natural
demands a greater emphasis upon interdisciplinary autonomy of individual academics;
research and teaching;
- engage actively with the wider stakeholder community
- by contributing more substantially to processes of as part of an ‘organisational learning’ strategy;
regional and local economic and social development
and in general strengthen its links with a wider range of - promote the creation of science parks, incubators,
stakeholders in society; technology transfer offices and patent protection
arrangements, not as ends in themselves but as
- by seeking to equip its students for a ‘life world’ of powerful means to opening up and integrating into
much greater uncertainty and complexity involving: the university activity-based relationships with the
frequent occupational, job and contract status change; relevant stakeholders in both a formal and informal
global mobility; adaptation to different cultures; institutional manner;
working in a world of fluid organisational structures;
greater probability of self-employment; and wider - encourage a wide range of inter-disciplinary activity
responsibilities in family and social life. This is with the creation of interdisciplinary departments and
associated with a need to prepare students for a R and D centres;
world of life long learning.
- accept wider responsibility for the personal development
This scenario challenges the HE sector in several ways. of students and staff, particularly with respect to future
In the world of global corporations and information social, career and life long learning experiences;
technology, universities can no longer claim to be the sole,
or possibly even the main, source of intellectual property. - recruit entrepreneurial staff and appoint entrepreneurial
To retain their status will require partnerships with other leaders as change agents including the opening up of
stakeholders in society. Nor can they expect to be academic posts to a wider constituency via adjunct and
insulated from the demands of society by the public purse. visiting appointments;
In the USA for example, in most public universities, direct
funding from the state has fallen to as little as twenty per - build rewards systems well beyond those relating to
cent. Traditionally, UK universities have been guaranteed research, publication and teaching criteria;
their autonomy by public funding. Increasingly they will
need to earn this autonomy by other means. There is - overall, ensure that the concept of entrepreneurship
therefore a push for an entrepreneurial response. education is embedded in all the faculties, owned by
key staff and integrated into the curriculum.

2
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; (1990) ‘Scholarship Reconsidered. Priorities of the Professoriate’. Washington USA.

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- Its association with high levels of innovation,

3. Choosing an appropriate
entrepreneurial model technology, scale and growth
This results in denial of the fact that many self-employed
The process of responding to the above challenge persons and independent small and medium
demands reflection on the kind of entrepreneurship model businesses exhibit high levels of entrepreneurial
best suited to both teaching and organisational design and behaviour but do not wish to grow. Moreover, it creates
outreach. an image that entrepreneurship is difficult to attain and
therefore is only for an exceptional few – the heroic
3.1 The traditional business model view of the entrepreneur.
The conventional model, derived from observation of
what is taught, is considerably influenced by the - The centrality given to the business plan
economist’s tradition and the largely corporate business This is the wrong metaphor for entrepreneurship. Business
school approach and is almost exclusively business plans were not invented by entrepreneurs but by banks,
management focused. accountants and other professional service providers and
reflect the culture of their world. There is little evidence to
This is largely, but not wholly, an inappropriate model to indicate a strong relationship between business planning
meet the above challenges for a number of reasons: of this kind and success. A growing body of evidence

The dominant model of the entrepreneur being taught

Rational, Reductive, Sprinkling of

Objective, Corporate, Behaviour Support
Information Processing
Brain

Instructional Explicit
Business (Myopia)
Knowledge Ingestion
Focus
Heroic
Heart New Venture
Functional
and Growth
Arms
Business Plan Arms
Gut

Small (independent)
Corporate Venturing Leg
Business Leg

Market
Add -ons
Add-ons Project Mgt. Economy
Dependent

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demonstrates that it is the capacity to get into the - The limited focus upon stimulating and practicing a
marketplace and adjust flexibly to what is learned there wide range of entrepreneurial behaviours and
and in particular to customer needs, while thinking inculcating entrepreneurial values
strategically, that is of paramount importance. Only a very limited set of pedagogical tools are
currently widely applied, mainly cases, lectures, projects
- The business management focus and visits, with some skills training (for example
This considerably weakens the potential of the presentations). Yet entrepreneurial behaviours, skills and
entrepreneurship model being valued in a non-business attributes, nurtured by well designed pedagogies and
context, for example in public services such as health, exposure to experience are essential components of
education, social services, local government and police. being able to ‘feel’ what it is like to be entrepreneurial
When it is applied to these contexts it is dominated by and are key to the creation of entrepreneurial values.
business management functional teaching.
- The corporate culture of the delivery organisations
- The compartmentalistion of management knowledge Business schools are largely organised around a
into functional management boxes (such as corporate model which values order, formality,
marketing, finance, operations, HRD) transparency, control, accountability, information
Business schools, which currently dominate processing, planning, rational decision making, clear
entrepreneurship teaching and research, are greatly demarcation, responsibilities and definitions. This contrasts
responsible for this. These boxes dictate the organisation substantially with the informal, personal relationship, trust
of the schools, their research and publication agenda and building, intuitive decision making, somewhat overlapping
consequently the delivery of knowledge and the value and chaotic ‘feeling’ world of the entrepreneur.
they give to it. The essence of entrepreneurship is, in
contrast, holistic management and the constant capacity - The focus upon new venture creation as the key
to ‘feel’ the organisation as an integrated whole. entrepreneurial experience
This focus, often involving the use of projects, is of high
- The organisation of learning around business value when it attaches learning closely to the processes
‘disciplines’ of the venture development. If it is taught within a set of
Entrepreneurial learning, in contrast, is acquired on functional disciplines around a business plan the
a ‘how to’ and ‘need to know’ basis dominated by entrepreneurial impact can be limited. New venture
processes of ‘doing’, solving problems, grasping creation, however, is not the only approach to
opportunities, copying from others, mistake making and entrepreneurship.
experiment. Most of the learning derives from
developing the organisation and managing relationships - The context is most often solely that of the
with stakeholders (customers, suppliers, banks, ‘market model’
accountants, competitors, regulators and so on). This excludes understanding of entrepreneurial
behaviour in a wide variety of very different contexts
- The absence of a focus upon ‘know-who’ and dangerously can lead to the assumption that it is
Existing models, in the main, do not teach how to only market conditions that stimulate entrepreneurship.
learn from stakeholders and also skate over the
management of relationships on the basis of trust, Notwithstanding its weaknesses, the above model, with its
personal judgment and ‘know-who’ - all of which are dominant emphasis upon business, will find difficulty in
major entrepreneurial ingredients. The entrepreneurial gaining wide acceptance in Higher Education. It may
firm is a highly porous learning organisation capable of exacerbate fears of ‘selling out’ traditional academic values,
harvesting knowledge from all stakeholders external to, in particular that of valuing knowledge for its own sake, via
and within, the organisation. the channeling of research monies into commercial projects
and the threat to publication and IP rights on concepts. An
- The lack of exposure to tacit knowledge and the alternative model is therefore proposed.
insights into the community of practice that this
brings (how things are really done)
The world of the entrepreneur is one that values tacit
knowledge and the heuristics (mental maps) of judgment
and intuitive decision making.

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3.2 An Alternative Model for Higher widely different contexts. Entrepreneurship can thus be
Education portrayed as open to all and not exclusively the domain of
the high-flying growth-seeking businessperson. Business is
This is based upon a view that the role of nevertheless one highly important context.
entrepreneurship in society, and perhaps the major reason
for its current political popularity, is that it provides an It is implicit in the model that the propensity to behave
opportunity for individuals and organisations of all kinds entrepreneurially is also not exclusive to certain individuals
and in all walks of life to cope with, provoke, and but may be more dominantly displayed by some rather than
perhaps enjoy, an increasingly complex and uncertain others. Different individuals will have a different mix of
world. The need arises largely from the complexities and capacities for demonstrating and acquiring entrepreneurial
uncertainties created by globalisation, impacting upon behaviours, skills and attributes. These behaviours can be
organisations and individuals of all kinds and in all practiced, developed and learned to some degree and
contexts - in work, family, community and consumer life. certain environments, particularly that of running one’s own
Entrepreneurship education should therefore focus upon business, and working within entrepreneurially designed
developing understanding, and capacity for pursuit, of organisations, will stimulate them.
entrepreneurial behaviours, skills and attributes in these

Towards an appropriate model for entrepreneurial teaching

Rich Growth Of Entrepreneurial Attributes

Emotional Intelligence Vision and Feel for
‘Way Of Life’
Capacity for Conative
Experiential Ingestion Affective
(Tacit Knowledge) And Cognitive
Entrepreneurship
Values Learning
Holistic Management Arm
(Know How) Strategically Trust Building
Intuitive Relationship
Gut Arm (Know-Who)

Entrepreneurial
Ideas Entrepreneurial
Management
Harvesting Organisation Design
In Different
and and Development
Contexts
Evaluation
Project
You
Management
or
Me? Globalised World of
Uncertainty / Complexity

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The model embraces a number of key characteristics as with different emphasis (a venture capitalist or angel is
follows: looking for different things than a banker or a potential
partner).
- instilling empathy with entrepreneurial values and
associated ‘ways of thinking, doing, feeling, seeing, - Developing understanding of, and building
communicating, organising and learning things’; knowledge around, the processes of organisation
development - from start, through survival to growth
- development of the capacity for strategic thinking and internationalisation. This will demand a focus upon
and scenario planning and the practice of making the dynamics of change, the nature of problems and
intuitive decisions based upon judgement with limited opportunities that arise and how to anticipate and deal
information. with them.

- Creating a vision of, and empathy with, the way of - Focusing upon an holistic approach to the
life of the entrepreneurial person. This implies a strong management of organisations and the integration of
emphasis upon the employment of educational knowledge. The academic approach will be one that
pedagogies stimulating a sense of ownership, control, builds concepts around problems and experience.
independence, responsibility, autonomy of action and
commitment to see things through while living, day by - Creating the capacity to design entrepreneurial
day, with uncertainty and complexity. organisations of all kinds in different contexts and
understand how to operate them successfully.
- Seeing entrepreneurial behaviours practiced in a
wide range of contexts. The relevance of the concept to - Focusing strongly upon processes of opportunity
the musician, artist, doctor, nurse, local government seeking, evaluation and opportunity grasping in
officer, unemployed person and even priest can be different contexts including business.
explored.
- Widening the context beyond the market. Creating
- Stimulating the practice of a wide range of opportunities for participants (students) to explore what
entrepreneurial behaviours. Opportunity seeking and the above means for their own personal and career
grasping, networking, taking initiatives, persuading development.
others and taking intuitive decisions will be key
components. This demands a comprehensive range of This model forms the basis for the NCGE Template for
pedagogical tools. Entrepreneurship Learning Outcomes set out in 6.

- Focusing upon the conative (value in use) and

affective (enjoyable and stimulating) aspects of 4. Implications for Development
learning as well as the cognitive - relevance to in Higher Education
application is of key importance as is instilling
motivation. The alternative model supports the HE sector in building
relationships with stakeholders and it will also sit more
- Maximising the opportunity for experiential learning comfortably alongside traditional university values.
and engagement in the ‘community of practice’. Nevertheless it demands considerable changes in
Of particular importance will be creating space for pedagogy, modes of assessment and accreditation and
learning by doing and re-doing. Projects will need to the appropriate training of staff. More importantly, if the
be designed to stimulate entrepreneurial behaviours model is to achieve its goal of supporting the role of the
and assessed accordingly. university in developing itself and its graduates, many of
the challenges noted earlier will need to be met. In
- Creating the capacity for relationship learning, particular the model implies a re-orientation of the contract
network management, building know-who and with the student to embrace a more clearly defined
managing on the basis of trust-based personal element of personal and career development.
relationships. The Business Plan becomes an important
component of relationship management leading to
understanding that different stakeholders need ‘plans’

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In this respect it is evident that students see the range of

entrepreneurial behaviours as set out in 6. as central to their Model 2: The Intermediate: University-
future careers and social life, irrespective of whether they Led Model
immediately start businesses or not. They can be viewed as An Intermediate Model, more adjacent to the
part of the preparation of students for life long learning. university, but still led by it, might include:
- A specialist centre, university owned but adjacent to
There will also need to be changes in staff rewards and the university.
status systems to encourage those who engage, and have - Headed by university professor.
high credibility, with the business and wider stakeholder - Programme and pedagogical development.
community. This in turn demands enhanced mechanisms - Development of specialist entrepreneurship
for support of ongoing social interaction between programme offer to all departments – some
academics and students and particularly entrepreneurs. As department staff training.
a basis for the above there will be a need to audit existing - Offers of staff training.
practice and the potential for movement towards the kind - Centre established as stakeholder partnership.
of model the university wishes to explore. - Staff appointments open to external stakeholders.
- Harvesting departmental staff who wish to engage in
In this respect three alternative organisation models for the entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurial University (which can be seen as - Joint ventures and programmes with science park and
developmental) can be suggested. technology transfer processes.
- Engagement with panels of entrepreneurs to
encourage linking with departments to harness
Model 1: The Fully Integrated and technology.
Embedded (Optimum?) Model - Links to business support services and venture
The Optimum Fully Integrated Model, with the capitalists.
following characteristics:
- University-wide application of entrepreneurship
teaching.
Model 3: The External Support Model:
- Joined with office of technology transfer.
Stakeholder Driven
- Innovative pedagogical support for every department.
- Life long learning approach in all departments.
A more External Business Services Support
- All departments and subjects covered.
Model might be a compromise embracing:
- Emphasis upon interdisciplinary teaching, degrees
- A specialist centre, stakeholder owned but with
and centres.
university participation.
- Professorial status for Research and Development
excellence. - Headed by business executive.
- ‘Development’ sabbaticals for staff wishing to - Located alongside technology transfer or science park
commercialise IP. activity.
- Professors of Practice, Adjunct Professors, Visiting - Training programme offers to departments.
Development Fellows. - Counselling and business support services offer to
- Entrepreneur teams invited in to harvest ideas. university staff and students.
- Social integration of entrepreneurs and status - Promotions and other activities.
awarded to them. - Joint ventures with science parks and technology
- Entrepreneurship as an office of the Vice Chancellor. transfer agents.
- All activities academic led but in partnership with - Engagement with the entrepreneurial and stakeholder
external stakeholders. community.
- Research and development activity rewarded in all - Partnerships with interested academic staff.
departments.
- Active stakeholder participation with university staff in
joint ventures.
- Open approach to intellectual property and
investment in university ventures.
- Staff of departments trained to develop and offer
entrepreneurship courses.

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5. Conclusion: Partnerships for Response to the entrepreneurship challenge in the HE

Sustainable Change? sector is therefore equally a collective as well as individual
one. Collective actions might include:
Embracing some of the arguments in this paper implies in
the first instance a strategic acceptance of the need for - Wider debate on the most appropriate concept of
universities to respond to current pressures but in a manner entrepreneurship and its relevance to HE sector
that ensures their autonomy and carries forward the ‘idea’ development
of a university. In these respects there is some congruence Such a debate needs to involve all key stakeholders:
with the notion of entrepreneurship as remodelled above. relevant government departments, the Learning and
Its essence is the pursuit of independence in thought and Skills Council, the Regional Development Agencies, the
deed. Moreover its focus is upon the imaginative use of Enterprise Insight Consortium, senior University
interdisciplinary knowledge in the pursuit of opportunity. representatives, the Higher Education Funding Council,
NESTA, the Centres of Excellence for Teaching and
There is a growing body of experience in the UK and Learning in Enterprise, and the Higher Education
internationally that is of value in meeting the key Academy. The debate can be led by NCGE.
challenges noted at the beginning of this paper, of:
- Closer examination of the various models for design
- wider exploitation of intellectual property and indeed the of the Entrepreneurial University in the light of
creation of new learning by partnership with external international experience
stakeholders; Such an examination could be undertaken via a process
of high level workshops for senior Academic Staff for the
- the university becoming a hub for regional and local HE sector perhaps prefaced by conference organisation
economic and social development; highlighting international as well as national experience.
In the latter respect there are already initiatives upon
- and the preparation of graduates for entrance into a which to build.
world of uncertainty, complexity but also of greater
opportunity. - Review of how HE performance in the field of
development out of research, and the scholarship of
While selecting and building the appropriate model is a relevance and integration of knowledge might be
strategic development decision it is not altogether one for assessed and enhanced
the individual university. The ‘buying of one’s own Such a Review in the first instance sits firmly with HEFCE
autonomy’ seems increasingly to be an externally induced and relevant ministries.
imperative, demanding an entrepreneurial response. The
growing range of public policy incentives to higher - Creation of an appropriate curriculum for wider
education to engage with both business and the wider application in the HE sector
stakeholder community is creating pressure for change. This seems central to the objectives of NCGE but needs
the engagement of the Higher Education Academy and
While there is no guarantee that these initiatives will be the relevant Centres of Excellence in Teaching and
maintained, in terms of scale of resource or scope, the Learning. This can build upon the mapping exercise of
trend, implicit in policy, underpinning these, is unlikely to existing entrepreneurship programmes currently being
be reversed. Benchmarking HE developments undertaken by the NCGE and will feed into the Template
internationally will reinforce this focus. Coherence in for Entrepreneurship Education developed by NCGE.
public policy cannot, however, be guaranteed over time. The target customers are all those engaged in delivery
Currently there are still anomalies, perhaps the most and sponsorship of graduate entrepreneurship
important of which is the way that the Research education. Such a curriculum will need to have appeal
Assessment Exercise operates against the scholarship of right across the university.
relevance and integration with its emphasis upon
publication, rather than development out of research, and - Development of a range of associated pedagogies
upon performance within a single disciplinary context. The carefully targeted on the agreed entrepreneurial
proposed new metrics system may help in this respect. outcomes
This is inextricably linked with the curriculum development
process but needs to be focused upon creating the
‘feeling’ for the life world of entrepreneurship.

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This means creating the opportunity for practice of key 6. A Template for
entrepreneurial behaviours such as: opportunity
Entrepreneurship Programme
identification and evaluation; relationship management
development and effective networking; intuitive decision
Development in HE
making and risk assessment; The need for a template
initiative taking; commitment to see things through; In the light of the growth of a range of entrepreneurship
and ‘feeling’ ownership and entrepreneurial learning. programmes in the HE sector and indeed elsewhere there
The development of empathy and emotional intelligence is a clear need for a Template for Entrepreneurship. Such
will be a key focus. a template needs to incorporate a definition of what
constitutes entrepreneurship in education and, in
- Creation of mechanisms for staff training and particular, address the key issue of what might be the
development range of desired outcomes from entrepreneurship
Out of the above should emerge a modular programme programmes.
to be offered across the HE sector. After piloting and
amendment it will need ‘teacher training’ programmes With such a base it will be possible to explore:
and possibly associated accreditation. - what are the targeted outcomes of existing programmes
benchmarked against the template;
- Research and development into appropriate forms of - are they really being delivered;
assessment and accreditation for students in the field - how well are they being delivered and where is there
of entrepreneurship scope for improvement;
There will need to be parallel development of - how (well) are the outcomes being assessed.
appropriate forms of assessment for each of the
outcome areas identified in the NCGE Template Such a benchmarking exercise is currently being
6. This is no easy task. Such work clearly is undertaken by NCGE. This process will facilitate the
within the remit of NCGE in partnership in particular effective harnessing of existing offers and will provide the
with the Higher Education Academy and Centres of base for adding value to them. It will also be possible to
Excellence Teaching and Learning for Enterprise. prevent the spread of irrelevant or less effective practice.
Research into the various offers of entrepreneurship
- Agreement as to how progress might be monitored teaching in HE demonstrates for example that much of
over time and international experience constantly what is taught is ‘about’ rather than ‘through’ or ‘for’.
brought to bear
A Development Group, drawn from key stakeholders, A template also provides the basis for:
could provide the basis. Membership ought also to - a focused debate upon the concept of entrepreneurship
include representation from the Kauffman Foundation, a in an educational context;
leader in the field in the USA. A planned timetable will - a dialogue with all key stakeholders, particularly policy
form the basis for monitoring. While there are already a makers and funders;
range of initiatives covering several of the above points - the development of a programme of education and
the timetable would be the focus for a co-ordinating training for policy makers, organisers and deliverers of
mechanism. entrepreneurship education.

Key areas for outcome setting and measurement are

set out below. They are not meant to represent the
definitive article, nor are they a template against which to
assess the worthiness of programmes (many worthwhile
programmes would fail to match these criteria).

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A Benchmarking Template of Potential Key Outcomes

A Entrepreneurial behaviour, attitude and skill development

Key entrepreneurial To what degree does a programme have activities that seek clearly to develop:
behaviours, skills and - opportunity seeking
attitudes have been - initiative taking
developed (these will - ownership of a development
need to be agreed and - commitment to see things through
clearly set out) - personal locus of control (autonomy)
- intuitive decision making with limited information
- networking capacity
- strategic thinking
- negotiation capacity
- selling/persuasive capacity
- achievement orientation
- incremental risk taking

B Creating empathy with the entrepreneurial life world

Students clearly empathise To what degree does the programme help students to ‘feel’ the world of:
with, understand and ‘feel’ - living with uncertainty and complexity
the life world of the - having to do everything under pressure
entrepreneur - coping with loneliness
- holistic management
- no sell, no income
- no cash in hand, no income
- building know-who and trust relationships
- learning by doing, copying, making things up, problem solving
- managing interdependencies
- working flexibly and long hours

C Key entrepreneurial values

Key entrepreneurial values To what degree does the programme seek to inculcate and create empathy with key
have been inculcated entrepreneurial values:
- strong sense of independence
- distrust of bureaucracy and its values
- self made/self belief
- strong sense of ownership
- belief that rewards come with own effort
- hard work brings its rewards
- belief that can make things happen
- strong action orientation
- belief in informal arrangements
- strong belief in the value of know-who and trust
- strong belief in freedom to take action
- belief in the individual and community not the state

D Motivation to Entrepreneurship career

Motivation towards a career To what degree does the programme help students to:
in entrepreneurship has been - understand the benefits from an entrepreneurship career
built and students clearly - compare with career as an employee
understand the comparative - have some entrepreneurial ‘heroes as friends’ acquaintances
benefits - have images of entrepreneurial people ‘just like them’

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E Understanding of processes of business entry and tasks

Students understand the To what degree does the programme take students through:
process (stages) of setting up - the total process of setting up an organisation from idea to survival and provide
an organisation, the understanding of what challenges will arise at each stage
associated tasks and learning - how to handle these challenges
needs

F Generic Entrepreneurship competencies

Students have the key To what degree does the programme build the capacity to:
generic competencies - find an idea
associated with - appraise an idea
entrepreneurship - see problems as opportunities
(generic how to’s) - identify the key people to be influenced in any development
- build the know-who
- learn from relationships
- assess business development needs
- know where to look for answers
- improve emotional self awareness, manage and read emotions and handle
relationships
- constantly see yourself and the business through the eyes of stakeholders and
particularly customers

G Key Minimum Business how to’s

Students have a grasp of To what degree does the programme help students to:
key business how to’s - see products and services as combinations of benefits
associated with the start - develop a total service package
up process - price a product service
- identify and approach good customers
- appraise and learn from competition
- monitor the environment with limited resource
- choose appropriate sales strategy and manage it
- identify the appropriate scale of a business to make a living
- set standards for operations performance and manage them
- finance the business appropriately from different sources
- develop a business plan as a relationship communication instrument
- acquire appropriate systems to manage cash, payments, collections,
profits and costs
- select a good accountant
- manage, with minimum fuss, statutory requirements

H Managing relationships
Students understand the How does the programme help students to:
nature of the relationships - identify all key stakeholders impacting upon any venture
they need to develop with - understand the needs of all key stakeholders at the start–up and survival stage
key stakeholders and are - know how to educate stakeholders
familiarised with them - know how to learn from them
- know how best to build and manage the relationship

National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE)

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A Benchmarking Template of Potential Key Outcomes

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National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship, 3 Priestley Wharf, Holt Street, Birmingham B7 4BN
Tel: 0121 380 3545 Fax: 0121 380 3581 www.ncge.org.uk