Entrepreneurship and Business Development [ELIEM401]
- 5 credits
- 30h
- 1st quarter
Learning outcomes
The expected learning outcomes of the course are the following ones:
- Knowledge of the relevant literature trends concerning entrepreneurship
- Understanding of the contribution of entrepreneurship to society
- Understanding of the entrepreneurial process
- Comprehensive vision of the different characteristics generally associated with entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs
- Openness to alternative forms of entrepreneurship
- Research capabilities: Writing skills, content analysis, project management, critical thinking
Objectives
The course aims at
- giving students the fundamental knowledge, from the angle of management science, economics and sociology, concerning entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs ;
- accompanying students in the building of a collective research project related to the theory and practices that are studied in the course.
Content
The course is made of three main parts. The first one is dedicated to the study of the various perspectives that scientific literature has produced concerning this field:
- Literature on the persona of the entrepreneur, its traits, its behaviours, its skills and motivations;
- Literature on the context of entrepreneurial processes;
- Entrepreneurial processes themselves.
In the second part, we shall study the different entrepreneurship types, in order to better understand how persons and contexts meet in a given project, but also to open the field to alternative entrepreneurial actions, as social entrepreneurship.
The third part will focus on the development of a new venture.
Additional and mandatory activities will also be offered to students, as conferences, interventions of guest speakers and coaching sessions for their project. If the course had to be organised partially or totally remotely, those activities will be replaced by some Youtube conferences. A list will be provided by the professor.
Table of contents
Table of contents
- Perspectives on Entrepreneurship
- The Entrepreneur: Traits, Behaviours, Skills, Motivations
- The Contexts
- The Process(es)
- A Variety of Entrepreneurship Types
- Necessity and Opportunity Entrepreneurship
- Technological Entrepreneurship ; Academic Entrepreneurship
- Social Entrepreneurship
- Intrapreneurship
- Creating and Developing a New Venture: Tools & Methods
- Recognizing and Evaluating an Opportunity
- Creating a Business Model
- Building a Business Plan
- Financing a New Venture
- Managing the Growth of a Business
- Additional Activities (Mandatory)
Teaching methods
The course will combine ex cathedra teaching and homework. Readings will be asked to students for some sessions. Either the preparatory readings will give rise to an in-class discussion or they will be followed by a small report if the corresponding session is organised remotely. For some sessions, a portfolio of readings will be proposed to students and they will be asked to compile and analyse this portfolio in groups. Small group sessions (in-class or remotely) will be organised on this basis with the professor to discuss the analysis made by the group.
Evaluations
- Course participation
As said in the previous section, students will be asked to read and analyse literature. Their participation in the in-class debate and/or their production of reports and analysis will be graded. //2,5 points//
- Participation in additional activities
As mentioned earlier, additional activities are mandatory. Students are asked to attend at least 3 conferences or workshops related to entrepreneurship during the semester. The purpose of this is to open the perspectives of students through other viewpoints than the one of the professor. Students are asked to report briefly the main lessons they learnt from the activities. This report will be graded. The absence of a report will be graded negatively (malus). //1,5 points or possibly -1,5 points//
- Group project
During this Academic Year, students are invited to work in small groups on the analysis of a piece of classical literature through the lens of entrepreneurship. A standardised questionnaire will be used by all groups to analyse the chosen book. A list of interesting books will be provided by the professor, but students can also come with a proposal that should be validated by the professor. The book can come either from classical Anglo-Saxon literature or from classical French literature. The goal of this project is to test the theory against a "reality", as presented in a piece of literature. The deliverable will be a paper following a template that will be provided by the professor and respecting the standards of scientific writing, especially concerning bibliography. This paper will be graded through a common grade for all group members. //10 points//
- Oral exam
All students will also have to present an individual oral exam that can be held face-to-face or remotely following the constraints. This oral exam will be based on a 3-minutes pitch of the group work, followed by a 10-minutes interaction with the professor discussing the links beteen the course and the group work.
Recommended readings
Acs, Z.J & D.B. Audretsch (Eds.) “Handbook of Entrepreneurship Research: An Interdisciplinary Survey and Introduction.” Springer-Verlag, 2011.
Anderson, A.R. and L. Warren (2011). The entrepreneur as hero and jester: enacting the entrepreneurial discourse. Small Business Journal Vol. 29(6), pp. 589-609.
Baum, J.R. (Ed.) “The Psychology of Entrepreneurship.” Psychology Press, 2012.
Block, J. & M. Wagner (2006). Necessity and Opportunity Entrepreneurs in Germany: Characteristics and Earnings Differentials. Munich Personal RPEc Archive Paper No. 610.
Goss, D. (2005). Schumpeter’s Legacy? Interaction and Emotions in the Sociology of Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, March 2005, pp. 205-218.
Hoang, H. & B. Antoncic (2003). Network-based research in entrepreneurship. A critical review. Journal of Business Venturing Vol. 18, pp. 165-187.
Ireland, R.D. & J.W. Webb (2007). A Cross-Disciplinary Exploration of Entrepreneurship Research. Journal of Management Vol. 33, pp. 891-927.
Lachapelle M. (2018). Business Model Design: Nespresso – Evolution of a $4 Billion Business Model for Coffee. Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada.
Laukkanen, M. (2003). Exploring academic entrepreneurship: drivers and
Mair, J., J. Robinson & K. Hockerts (Eds.) “Social Entrepreneurship.” Palgrave MacMillan, 2006.
Osterwalder, A. & Y. Pigneur. “Business Model Generation.” Wiley & Sons, 2014.
Perren, L. & P.L. Jennings (2005). Government Discourses on Entrepreneurship: Issues of Legitimization, Subjugation, and Power. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, March 2005, pp. 173-183.
Radu, M. & R. Redien-Collot (2008). The Social Representation of Entrepreneurs in the French Press: Desirable and Feasible Models? International Small Business Journal Vol. 26(3), pp. 259-298.
Reynolds, P.D. (1991). Sociology and Entrepreneurship: Concepts and Contributions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Winter 1991, pp. 47-70.
Shane, S. & S. Venkataraman (2000). The Promise of Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research. The Academy of Management Review Vol. 25(1), pp. 217-226.
Shaw, E. & S. Carter (2007). Social entrepreneurship. Theoretical antecedents and empirical analysis of entrepreneurial processes and outcomes. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development Vol. 14(3), pp. 418-434.
Thornton P.H. (1999). The Sociology of Entrepreneurship. Annual Review of Sociology Vol. 25, pp. 19-46.
Thornton P.H., D. Ribeiro-Soriano & D. Urbano (2011). Socio-cultural factors and entrepreneurial activity: An overview. International Small Business Journal Vol. 29(2), pp. 105-118.
Verstraete, T. & A. Fayolle (2005). Paradigmes et entrepreneuriat. Revue de l’Entrepreneuriat, Vol. 4, pp. 33-52.
Voorberg, W.H., V.J.J.M. Bekkers & L.G. Tummers (2015). A Systematic Review of Co-Creation and Co-Production: Embarking on the social innovation journey. Public Management Review, DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2014.930505.
Welter, F. (2011). Contextualizing Entrepreneurship – Conceptual Challenges and Ways Forward. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, January 2011, pp. 165-184.
Williams, N. & C.C. Williams (2014). Beyond necessity versus opportunity entrepreneurship: some lessons from English deprived urban neighbourhoods. International Entrepreneurship Management Journal Vol. 10, pp. 23-40.
Language of instruction
French / FrançaisLocation for course
NAMUROrganizer
Faculté des sciences économiques, sociales et de gestionRue de Bruxelles, 61
5000 NAMUR
