Reimagining Entrepreneurship Education in the Business Curriculum

Education should prepare students not only to enter the economy, but to understand, question and shape it. It is important to ask what impact the teaching of business has on students’ ability to create value. There is a difference between having students learn business and helping them to interpret and influence the ways in which value is created. Graduates may be able to state what constitutes competitive advantage, market segmentation, working capital, leadership and return on investment. They may write excellent assignments and analyse sophisticated case studies. However, when students are faced with the real world (where situations are largely uncertain and without the comfort of a textbook answer) they may lack the ability to act in world of business and create value for themselves. This is why entrepreneurship education deserves a more prominent place in the business curriculum. Entrepreneurship should not be treated merely as another specialist subject in the business curriculum, reserved for students who imagine themselves launching start-ups. Properly conceived, entrepreneurship education can become a bridge between knowledge and action, between financial literacy and value creation. Between the protected environment of the classroom and the uncertainty of the real world. Its core purpose is not to manufacture entrepreneurs. It is to develop enterprising human beings.

Many would argue that schools do not adequately teach the financial skills required for successful management of finance. Many adults, despite many years of education, struggle to understand some of the fundamental elements of finance. This includes how to properly save and spend money, how to manage risk, how taxes affect money, the concept of cash flow, basic financial terminology, how to make smart financial decisions and so on. A business student may even understand the definition of profit without fully appreciating why a profitable company can run out of cash. These are not minor gaps. Financial decisions shape businesses, careers, families and lives. But the solution is not to replace academic education with lessons on how to become rich. Education has a much greater purpose . It is essential to enhance critical thinking to help individuals evaluate situations and ethically decide the best course of action to reach a desired outcome. While critical thinking and entrepreneurship have many shared characteristics, they are not necessarily synonymous. Therefore, the integration of academic learning, finance and entrepreneurship is critical. This would provide students the opportunity to gain the skills necessary to effectively research and evaluate the merits of their solutions.

Marketers need to know their customers. Accountants need to price their solutions. Finance people have to raise money and manage it. Students have to learn about risks and returns. The strategy has to be prioritised. Sometimes the answer to a complex financial or business model has to be simplified and explained to a lending institution. Unfortunately, the answer to a complex business project is not always eloquently expressed in a spreadsheet.  Often times the issues education presents to students require a solution using known constraints. Often, there is a definitive and correct answer. The answer to problems in the real world, especially problems involving business, are rarely definitive. Fortunately, the anatomy of a business problem can be similar to other problems in education. There are many constraints in the world. Entrepreneurs have to function with many of these constraints. Not everything in business works the way you want it to. Many factors are outside of your control and you may lose money. Uncertainty is a part of entrepreneurship. People can learn from their past failures. There are better ways to encourage this behaviours than glorifying failure.

Phrases like “fail fast” and “celebrate failure” have become popular with the rise of the entrepreneurship culture. But reality shows failure can lead to financial ruin, destroying interpersonal relationships and having negative legal and social consequences for employees, business associates and customers. Therefore, children should not be encouraged to celebrate failure. Instead, they should be encouraged to learn and behave in a responsible manner and be educated on the limits of their failure. Judgement should be encouraged so that children are able to evaluate when failure should be encouraged. Examples should be given to encourage children to evaluate what would happen if they were wrong. Children should learn to evaluate if their action will protect the interests of others (customers and employees) and take into consideration the consequences of their action on others. Incorporating ethics in entrepreneurship education will answer some of these questions.

There are many unethical ways to make a profit. Some businesses can be profitable while endangering the wellbeing of others. For example, some businesses can violate customers’ privacy and still be successful. Certain financial services can lead customers to make poor financial decisions and still be successful. Some products can be profitable while having a negative impact on the environment or other people. Just because something is profitable, it doesn’t mean we should teach or encourage others to create that thing. Sometimes it is best to ask “should we” in addition to “can we” when determining if something is acceptable to create and sell. As part of this analysis, the course should address whether a business poses a threat to society. In a class on entrepreneurship, students may learn to identify the benefits of a business. However, the existence of benefits does not mean that the business should be created. For a student to learn the ethics of starting a business, he or she should consider the probable effects a business may have on the community. The ideal entrepreneur is one who can recognise opportunities and promote the interests of the community while benefiting others as well. Because of this, teaching entrepreneurship should not be restricted to students interested in starting businesses.

Of course, the great majority of graduates from business schools will not start their own businesses. Fortunately, most organisations, including family businesses, require employees who see opportunities rather than simply following orders. Most organisations need workers who can identify and address problems. Those who can accomplish the most with the least are the best suited to work for social and revenue-producing enterprises. Education for opportunity recognition and entrepreneurship can provide the understanding and belief in one’s capacity to create and provide solutions and organise efforts for making things happen. This changes the function of an educator. If a student says, “Customers will buy this,” the question should not be “are you sure?” rather “how do you know?” or “how can you find out?”  Instead of speculative confidence, we must promote the understanding and use of evidence. When students say their idea will be profitable, ask them why they believe that?

Teaching entrepreneurship, especially in the context of a liberal arts education, enables students to use their knowledge in accounting to make financial decisions. It encourages students to find customers and test their assumptions about business opportunities. For too long we have taught the benefits of taking risks, innovation, and showing students how to leverage finance to their advantage. Rather, students should be shown the potential pitfalls of taking risks. Do students know the consequences of their actions when they borrow money? Do students consider whether their innovations create positive, meaningful, and valuable change? We also need to teach students about situations and decisions in which they must do the right and ethical thing, even if it costs them. Students need to understand that creating commercial value is not necessarily the same as creating positive social value. Students must be able to take ethical actions if they are faced with situations in which their assumptions prove false.

Most importantly, entrepreneurship education should encourage students to combine knowledge with creativity, judgement and responsibility. They should learn not simply to pursue opportunities, but to ask whether those opportunities create genuine value for customers, communities and society. They should understand risk without romanticising failure, develop the resilience to adapt when assumptions prove wrong. They should recognise that commercial success does not excuse unethical behaviour. Business education must therefore go beyond preparing students to operate within organisations that already exist. It should give them the confidence and capability to improve those organisations, create new ones and turn ideas into responsible action. The purpose is not to persuade every student to become an entrepreneur. It is to ensure that every student has the opportunity to become enterprising.