Blended learning in entrepreneurship education in the Asia-Pacific : a grounded theory approach to entrepreneurship pedagogy

Using a grounded theory approach, this pedagogical study explores &ldquo;What are the key content areas and pedagogical interventions around which to build a blended learning method for Generation Y (also known as the Net Generation) entrepreneurship students (as opposed to other business students)?&rdquo; The study uses a variety of &ldquo;information-rich cases&rdquo; and presents the argument that entrepreneurs learndifferently from other students. The author develops the Etappe Method of Training Entrepreneurs, a blended learning approach for the technology-savvy generation under the motto &ldquo;Teaching is best done online and learning is best done in the classroom&rdquo;. Drawing upon the theory of experiential learning as concretised by learning styles inventories, this learning method provides entrepreneurs, in their unique teachable moments, with active and concrete pedagogical interventions that can be enhanced through a blended learning environment of online and face-to-face modalities leading them step-by-step through deepening learning in the theory, process and practice of entrepreneurship. In conclusion, the author presents suggestions for further research that can verify this emerging theory in an empirical fashion.<br /

Minimising total survey error when measuring entrepreneurship in Tonga

This study illustrates how the Total Survey Error (TSE) paradigm can identify and help reduce multiple sources of error inherent in survey work in the developing world. Of particular concern are mode errors and coverage errors caused by the \u27theoretical teledensity threshold\u27 of doing phone surveys in developing countries. The study outlines ways to improve response rate and to avoid interviewer and measurement error. It narrates the sampling design and its limitations as well as some of the qualitative aspects of total survey quality such as, translation, ethics and budgeting. The final section discusses implications for further research in statistical auto-correlation and data gathering using PDAs.<br /

Entrepreneurship in Mexico : lessons for stakeholders in New Zealand

A &ldquo;neighbour&rdquo; separated by 6,000 km of Pacific, Mexico is by far New Zealand&rsquo;s largest trading partner in Latin America and its 15th largest overall. With two-way trade worth NZ$584 million in 2002, many Mexicans grow up on New Zealand milk powder and baby formula. Not only is Mexico&rsquo;s population of 100 million a huge potential economic partner in its own right, through its network of free trade agreements, Mexico has preferential access to 860 million consumers in 32 countries covering sixty percent of the world&rsquo;s GDP.Like New Zealand, Mexico is a &ldquo;New World&rdquo; country open to new ideas and innovation. Also like New Zealand, Mexico is known internationally for economic reforms that have created two outward-looking, world-trading, and competitive economies. During the last 50 years, the Mexican economy has shifted away from the once dominant sectors of agriculture and mining toward more industrial activities, especially in the major urban centres of Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, and other regional centres, where entrepreneurs are concentrated. With this shift, a new class of entrepreneurs arose with the support of the government. One of those regional centres is the State of Sinaloa, with its capital city, Culiac&aacute;n. Spearheaded by a visionary government and personified by the Secretary of Economic Development, Heriberto Felix Guerra. Secretary Felix is himself restaurant entrepreneur who owns a growing chain of &ldquo;concept food&rdquo; restaurants in the region. It is no accident that when New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark visited Mexican President Vicente Fox Quesada on 15 November 2001, one of the topics of conversation was the fact that very day their two countries had been benchmarked as two of the world&rsquo;s most entrepreneurial countries in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2001 survey. More germane, both countries have low-aspiration entrepreneurs who generate low levels of wealth and have low potential for growth. Both are dominated by micro-businesses that do not have high-value-added components and are not investment-ready and pre-qualified for risk capita. This leads to the question, what can New Zealanders learn from the experience of Mexican entrepreneurship? <br /

Educating generationE in Australasia : US lessons, New Zealand experience

Australasian countries have huge numbers of young entrepreneurs. Yet the state of entrepreneurship education in this region has yet to come to grips with their needs. Elsewhere in the world, the growth and development in the curricula and programs devoted to raising the level of enterprise and new venture creation has been remarkable. The researcher undertook field study in North America and Europe to examine interdisciplinary initiatives that take the study of entrepreneurship and personal enterprise out of the Business School, integrate it across the campus and make it available to the widest range of students. The paper first describes GenerationE in Australasian countries and in New Zealand. It then classifies and categorises best-practice models of enterprise education, focusing especially on non-business entrepreneurship and university-wide enterprise requirements. The paper summarises these data and formulates &ldquo;models of enterprise education&rdquo; outside the business school environment. It offers generalisations that may prove helpful to educationalists and government policy planners about how to accelerate the development of personal enterprise within individuals and thereby to increase the supply of young people who launch their own businesses and social enterprises. The goal of this paper is to help universities in our region and elsewhere move toward infusing entrepreneurship throughout the curriculum.<br /

Introduction to special issue on indigenous entrepreneurs

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce the content of a special issue of Journal of Enterprising Communities focusing on indigenous entrepreneurs.Design/methodology/approach: The paper provides a brief description of the six contributions to the special issue.Findings: The papers are found to range over New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, Sweden Samoa and Ghana.Originality/value: The papers comprising this special issue are of value in increasing understanding of how uniquely indigenous political, economic and social systems can explain cultural, social and political factors that both inhibit and enhance indigenous economic prosperity.<br /