EIRP Proceedings, Vol 10 (2015)

The Place of Entrepreneurship in Higher Education – Present State and Perspectives

Iga Kott¹, Wioletta Skibińska², Katarzyna Szymczyk³, Izabella Turek⁴

Abstract: Entrepreneurship is one of the main driving forces of the national economies. In Poland, more and more jobs are created in private enterprises, set up and running by entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are characterized as people, which seize the opportunity to act, have higher self-esteem and a greater sense of control over their lives, and they, usually become successful people. This causes a widespread conviction, that the promotion of entrepreneurship, may result in maximizing the success of both, individual and in the scale of the national economy as well. Therefore, it becomes important to develop standards in the field of entrepreneurship education, the greater numbers of people would have been able to achieve a professional success. This article presents the essence of the entrepreneurship and the role of education, in entrepreneurship’s excitation or strengthening. Also a practical example of the implementation of these provisions by one of the Polish Universities - Czestochowa University of Technology, is presented.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; students; education; schools; company

1 Introduction

Entrepreneurship is rather a special feature assigned to the human species, this feature, in a market economy, can be fully developed, enabling the achievement of professional success or achieve the state of complete satisfaction with the work as a self-employed. As an individual characteristic, entrepreneurship is the force uniting various resources, aiming to start running own business, and then, are (resources) are multiplied, bringing significant profits.

As a concept, entrepreneurship is characterized by ambiguity, and the literature on this issue, there are many definitions, that describe entrepreneurship in various ways (Duda & Kukla, 2011):

• as the state of readiness and ability to take and solve any problems in a creative way, and also as the ability to adapt to changes in the environment (Samuelson & Nordhaus, 2006),

• as the human’s attitude facing to decision-making situations, with which he deals,

• as a process of creating something new and valuable, this process is inextricably linked with taking risk, financial, professional, social or psychological,

• as the ability to see and use of new production capacity, service or organization, giving a chance to the relatively large benefits, in uncertain conditions, and when there is no warranty of success,

• as an idea, whose aim is to make significant changes in economic activity,

• as a way of thinking, adopted in the process of solving problems, mainly economic ones, which gives people the power to create and transform the economy, in which they are subject, not only the passive activity but also they are initiators of certain actions,

• as the ability to organize the factors of production and management and launching new activities based on real innovation or creative imitation,

• as a human behavior or organization, consisting in finding and applying new solutions, which require more energy, initiative, creativity, along with the ability to estimate the necessary investment in time, effort and material resources, and the anticipated benefits, as well as a willingness to take action bearing some risk,

• as the willingness and ability to take a variety of tasks, in particular in the field of industry and commerce. Entrepreneur is characterized by features such as resourcefulness, agility and efficiency. It is a certain way of thinking and acting, which is either given in nature or can be acquired in the process of learning (Markowski, 2000).

J.A. Schumpeter is considered as the creator of the theory of entrepreneurship, who defined it as a process of creative destruction as a result, which creates new combinations in the sphere of production, and are the germ of entrepreneurial activities. Entrepreneur creates new economic and institutional solutions, that will bring better results, than the existing ones. So the essence of entrepreneurship lies in breaking the routine and the dismantling of existing structures (Lis & Bajdor & Ładyga, 2014). However, according to Drucker, the essence of entrepreneurship is the creation of new business ventures, based on automatic processes or their creative imitation. He also states, that man is always looking for a chance to change, responds to it and uses as an opportunity (Drucker, 2002).

The universal definition of entrepreneurship, describes it as a way characteristic or behavior, which boils down to the ability and willingness to solve problems in a creative way, the ability to see and seize new opportunities or chances. It is also the use of innovative and original solutions in the process of creating a flexible approach to the rapidly changing situation, e.g. the economy or in the market environment. As mentioned earlier, entrepreneurship is accompanied by features such as resourcefulness, agility and efficiency, but next to them there is also a number of others, which gathered together, capture the full essence of entrepreneurship (Okwiet, 2013):

• Independence in decision making process;

• The desire to further training or skills’ continuous upgrading;

• Creativity and ingenuity;

• The ability to take risks;

• Ability to establish and maintain cooperation;

• Optimism and self-confidence;

• The ability to work self-organization;

• The ability to adapt.

On the basis of these characteristics, it can be assumed that entrepreneurship can be regarded as a personality trait, the capacity for initiative and resourcefulness of the spirit, and the process in which a wide range of activities, associated with adapting to the rules and requirements of the market economy, are undertaken.

Quite often, entrepreneurship is recognized as an innovation, implementation of new technologies or processes, products, identifying new forms of organization and production. Entrepreneurship can now be understood as an initiative and ingenuity, thanks to which the company achieves success on the market, expressing a general increase in manufactured and sold products and services, resource efficiency, profits and creditworthiness (Sztucki, 2002).

With the concept of entrepreneurship a term of an entrepreneur⁵ is inextricably linked, a person who set up’s its own business, has success-oriented attitude, and thus, to develop the highest possible profit. In addition, the entrepreneur seeks and implements innovative solutions, and the main purpose of his action, is to change the world around him, using his available resources and methods (Tołoczko & Kuchlewski & Sadowski & Świderski, 2008). The effect of this is to increase the effectiveness. Starting any project is inextricably linked with taking the risk, but also with satisfaction in the form of profit incurred as a compensation for the effort. In a narrow sense entrepreneur is a person, who first thought in a creative way and then effectively work.

Entrepreneurship creates opportunities for better use of existing resources, adapts changes in the market’s offer to changes in demand, determines the directions under which follows the market. Entrepreneurship is conducive to more flexible rigid structures of large enterprises. It also plays a large role in shaping the market balance, and is a continuous search for new factors or opportunities.

2 The Role of Education in Entrepreneurship

As mentioned above, entrepreneurship may be an innate feature of character, some people simply born with a “gene” of entrepreneurship, and from an early age exhibit typical entrepreneurship’s features. This does not mean, however, that people, without this “gene”, cannot be entrepreneur, conducting their own business. In such cases a education plays an invaluable role. On the one hand, entrepreneurship cannot be taught, but through proper education, this can be instilled in students, to wake up its activity or inspire them to take independent actions. Education, by introducing the basics of entrepreneurship, may play a significant role in shaping the attitude of entrepreneur. Schools have the option of a planned and systematic recognizing, or fostering and developing and directing the students, in such a way that their interests, talents or abilities are developed, resulting in the shaping man, who is active, initiative, able to think creatively and outside the box, and realize the examinee with effects, that can bring decisions taken by him. The school may, in many ways, motivate entrepreneurship, including as follows (Kantorowicz & Żuk, 2013):

• Promoting creativity and innovation among students, overcome passivity and encouraging to creative thinking outside the box;

• Arranging meetings with the people who conduct their own business, it is best to invite young people to participate in the meeting. It is worth to aim for the closest contact between the business environment and the students;

• Putting the emphasis on the practical dimension of classes, rather than focusing only on the “dry” theory. Students should be able to write a good business plan, know the tools for business planning, know and keep records of company. Here, a good solution would be to bring the practitioners to school and to allow for consultation conducted by them. On the classes such methods of science, which in a practical way will show the potential of entrepreneurship, should be introduced.

Despite the fact, that for many years, talked about the need to introduce entrepreneurship to schools, whether in the form of courses, degree courses or subjects, finally in the year 2002, the subject “Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship” for all types of secondary schools, was introduced. According to the assumptions of the subject, the student will not only have knowledge of the functioning of the economy (particularly in the context of increasing globalization and European integration), but also will develop skills useful in his adult life. But is does not mean, that student will be forced to set up and run its own business. The main aim and objective of this course, is to awake creativity and willingness to work for their own development, activity or satisfaction. At the core curriculum set forth in detail the objectives of educational basics of entrepreneurship (Dziennik Ustaw 2002):

• Preparation for the active and conscious participation in economic life;

• Developing attitudes of hard work and entrepreneurship;

• Developing skills of teamwork and effective communication;

• Developing skills of active job search and conscious of her choice;

• Understanding the mechanisms of market economy;

• Develop interest in starting and running business;

• Gaining knowledge of the basic principles of making and doing business in a variety of forms;

• Understanding the role of the state and the law in a market economy;

• Gaining knowledge of principles of functioning of the European and global economy.

Basics of entrepreneurship therefore develop student to become a participant in the social life - employee, employer, entrepreneur, and give voters the opportunity to acquire specific skills and knowledge, necessary for the proper functioning of the labor market or the economy.

The research conducted by Millward Brown SMG/KRC, shows that one in three people, between age 15-25, participated in the activities of the enterprise, but in terms of the issues associated with setting up and running their own businesses.

Figure 1. Participating in entrepreneurship classes and assessment of its usefulness

Most of the respondents assessed these classes as interesting, and not the whole 30% of respondents said that these activities did not arouse their interest. Interestingly, over 80% of people said, they desired to start their own business, but only 1% of people actually opened their own business. This shows how big is a discrepancy between the declarations and actual status.

3 Entrepreneurship in Polish Higher Education

While in secondary schools, subject related to the issue of entrepreneurship is mandatory, but at the universities, is a matter of running a special field of study at the Faculty or introduction of such a subject into a study program. Universities, knowing its role in education and training, not just try to prepare their students well, for the start of their professional life, but also try to meet the new requirements and situations in which the national economy is located currently (Sołtysiak, 2014). They try to fully prepare their graduates to relatively easy find their place in the labor market and achieved professional success. Toward this end, universities establish cooperation with business, improve their programs or create new fields of study. However, in the case of entrepreneurship, still just few universities, offer an opportunity for education in this area. Among the universities, from the first 50 of the best schools in Poland, (among them was 9 medical schools), only 4 universities offer education in the subject of Entrepreneurship:

• Czestochowa University of Technology, field of study “Entrepreneurship in the Internet”;

• University of Economics in Katowice, field of study “Entrepreneurship and Finance”;

• Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, field of study “Communication and Entrepreneurship in Modern Media”;

• University of Silesia in Katowice, field of study “Entrepreneurship”.

And 6 universities offers studies about entrepreneurship in the context of a given field of specialization:

• University of Warsaw, field of study “Management”, specialization “Entrepreneurship of Economy”;

• Poznań University of Economics, field of study “Management”, specialization “Entrepreneurship in a small and medium company”;

• University of Łódź, field of study “Management”, specialization “Entrepreneurship and Management of Innovations”;

• University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, field of study “Pedagogics”, specialization “School education with entrepreneurship”;

• Wrocław University of Economics, field of study “Management and Engineering Production”, specialization “Entrepreneurship and Innovation”, “Entrepreneurship in SME sector”.

Czestochowa University of Technology, in recent years, has launched two fields of study about entrepreneurship, one is the undergraduate degree “Entrepreneurship in the Internet”, and the other studies are postgraduate “Entrepreneurship and Company Management”.

Launching the “Entrepreneurship in the Internet” at the University was due to the dynamic development of electronic commerce and the rapid development of the technologies, used in the modern economy. These two reasons cause an increase in the demand for managers proficient moving in a virtual space, having skills in business and got the ability to create and make effective use of tools based on the Internet, as well. Student will possess the general knowledge of economic processes taking place in the electronic economy. Will know basis for use of the Internet and information systems to implement business processes and management. Will gain knowledge about modern solutions, used in the field of information and communication technologies. It will also be able to organize the operators in the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises. Will have awareness of information and will be able to use and share information resources available on the Internet. Graduate will gain skills for creating and attaching themselves to the business ventures, available on the internet and search for business partners including small-and medium-sized enterprises. Student of this course will be using foreign languages, including one specialist in the field of study, will be able to gain access to relevant, global information resources and use them in his work with the principles of law and ethics.

The program of studies is prepared primarily for the Polish labor market requirements. This applies particularly to the market SMEs (small and medium-sized companies - creating an overwhelming number of jobs). Graduates will also be prepared to work in specialist positions related to the design, analysis and management of information technology in large enterprises.

In this field if study, students, in addition to general subjects of general economic profile, carry items closely associated with the concept of entrepreneurship and the Internet, such as:

• Basics of Entrepreneurship;

• Logistics in e-business;

• Modeling of business ventures on the internet;

• Organizations in the e-economy;

• Management of future business;

• Safety on the Internet;

• Business models in the cloud;

• Informatics infrastructure of e-business.

Moreover, from the optional subjects, students can make choice among:

• Consumer on e-market;

• Compatibility support methods and techniques of business management;

• Creativity and innovation;

• E-commerce;

• Customer service e-business activities;

• E-government;

• Fundamentals of knowledge management in the Internet;

• Innovation in the e-economy;

• Virtual shops and warehouses;

• Forecast theory.

The postgraduate studies “Entrepreneurship and Management Company” are aimed at entrepreneurs and employees of companies, who want to broaden their knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship and to all university graduates, who are not afraid of risk, creative, active, who want to create and then run their own business. The purpose of these studies is to familiarize participants with the various stages of the development of independent operators, in particular show:

• current conditions for initiating business in Poland and other countries in the European Union;

• legal forms of business organizations (one–man business, multiplayer activity in the form of commercial companies);

• forms of assistance to entrepreneurs (business support organizations, programs and aid funds);

• tax system;

• social security system;

• negotiating styles and techniques;

• ways to identify the macro and micro-environment;

• ways of obtaining information for decision-making purposes;

• ways to drive organizations - companies;

• ways to communicate the company with the environment.

As part of these studies, the specialization for teachers is also offered, lecturing on subjects “entrepreneurship” and “outline knowledge about economy”, which were introduced to all types of vocational schools. The main advantage of this studies, is the fact that a large number of classes is organized in the form of workshops in the “business simulation”, on practical aspects of entrepreneurship (creative idea, business plan development, economic analysis, simulation of decision-making). All activities are modeled on the behavior occurring in real companies.

As part of these studies, the students perform the following items:

• Management of investment activity,

• Selected issues of economic law

• Management accounting and controlling,

• Management company

• Entrepreneurship and innovation,

• International Marketing,

• Elements of financial engineering,

• Negotiations in business,

• EU funds,

• Consulting,

• Human resource management,

• Criminal liability manager

• Planning and management of the company (simulation games)

In contrast, students of “entrepreneurship” for teachers, the curriculum is implemented through the following items:

• Decision and considerations in decision-making process,

• Ethics entrepreneurship,

• Multimedia techniques in teaching entrepreneurship,

• Methodology of teaching entrepreneurship,

• Methods of active job search

As can be seen from the presented lists of subjects, 1^st grade studies strongly emphasis on the essence of entrepreneurship and the Internet as a medium used today, not only for business purposes, but as a tool that is in constant use. The structure of subjects, clearly indicates, that these are studies for people, that have not contact with this issue before. In contrast, post-graduate studies are directed to people with some knowledge, which they want to enlarge or systematize.

4 Conclusions

Support for entrepreneurship has never been more important than today. Intensification of activities in this area, through schools and universities, will have a positive impact on the growth of entrepreneurship in the Polish economy. Will contribute not only to create new businesses, increase in the number of jobs, but also will training attitudes among young people, that will foster their creativity, activity, simply will wake up an “entrepreneurial gene.” It has been revealed, that students who in the course of their education have to deal with things on entrepreneurship, more often decide to start their own business, than students who did not have classes in this subject. This will help them not only to find a job, but also find their way in today's labor market, and develop their career in business organizations, social, public or private. Therefore, it is important to take measures aimed at greater presence of entrepreneurship in education, especially in higher education. We should keep in mind, also that education in entrepreneurship is a long process, starting from an early age, and should take place at all levels - up to the third degree studies. Waking up only to support entrepreneurial attitudes, may be a key factor in the development of the Polish economy. And so far, any negative aspects of entrepreneurship has not been identified. Only a matter of time should be the introduction of entrepreneurship courses in all universities in Poland.

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