Creating a New Program in Entrepreneurship Education: A Case Study in Colombia

Entrepreneurship has been widely recognized as having greatly influenced the United States. Its influence has especially been documented over the past 20 years. Paralleling our societal interest in entrepreneurship has been increasing interest in entrepreneurship education. While our interest in entrepreneurship education has grown considerably over the past two decades, this field of study continues to have critics both within and outside of schools and colleges of business (Kuratko 2004). In spite of these criticisms, some researchers suggest that the United States is still far ahead of other regions of the world in terms of entrepreneurial education (Solomon et al. 1998). Using entrepreneurship education in the United States as a point of departure, this article uses a case study to analyze the efforts of a private university in Bogota, Colombia, to create a new program in entrepreneurship. The Colombian Legislature passed Law 590 in July 2000 as a means to promote and develop entrepreneurship in the nation. Shortly thereafter a private university in Bogota started a new program in entrepreneurship. At the university’s invitation, a small number of faculty from U.S. universities participated in the school’s “kick-off” efforts. The paper offers analysis and recommendations based on five criteria: 1) What is taught, 2) Why it is taught, 3) How it is taught, 4) How well it works, and 5) Leadership support. In addition, rather than simply adopting a U.S. or European model of entrepreneurship education, the authors propose that they should develop a center that integrates lessons from other models with elements that are relevant to the local situation

Starting New Small Business Institute Programs: A Survey of New Programs Begun Since 1996

In   1996  the  U S   government   eliminated  federal  funding  for   Small  Business  Institutes, resulting  in a significant  loss of formal  SBI membership.   A poll  of Small  Business  Institute Directors Association members identified five schools that had started new SBI programs since 1996, despite the lack of federal funding. The authors conducted a survey of these five new SBI programs. The authors conclude that starting new SBI programs is a viable means of offering students hands-on business experience despite the lack of federal funding

Forecasting Demand: Sensitivity Analysis of Financial Assumptions Using MS Excel

According to research on entrepreneurship education, the creation of a business plan is the most popular teaching method (Solomon, 2007). Textbooks in the field will often have a chapter devoted to the contents of the business plan and separate chapters about important elements of a business plan such as marketing, finance, and operations. Instructors must prepare their students for arduous task of writing all of the parts of the business plan within a team. One of the most challenging aspects of a business plan is the financial projections. Clearly, if an entrepreneurial team intends to present their plan to a group of investors or to compete in the many business plan competitions in the country, they must be able to explain the numbers. The challenge of creating financial projections is compounded by the fact that many non-business students are enrolling in entrepreneurship courses (Katz, 2003). What should they learn about forecasting? A sales forecasts must be developed as part of the market analysis. The sales forecast becomes the basis for financial projections in the finance section of the business plan. There are different ways to estimate sales, but regardless of which one is used, the entrepreneur must be able to justify the basis for their forecasts. Thus, the sales forecast is subject to the assumptions that were made when estimating sales for the new venture. These assumptions are critical because investors typically study assumption sheets (Barringer and Ireland, 2011). This study describes an unique cash budget exercise that requires students to conduct sensitivity analysis of the assumptions in their sales forecast. The focus of the exercise is not on how to convert credit sales estimates to cash receipts as is typical in many textbooks. It requires the students to make a connection between their sales estimates and the financial statements they create. The Smoothie Doozie exercise described in this study pushes the learning down to the individual student level and provides a fast track approach to grading the exercise in large class sections that does not overwhelm the teaching faculty member

Starting a Small Business Outreach Program: The Experience of a Small Southeastern University

When the Federal government decided not to fund the Small Business Institute through the U.S. Small Business Administration, many business schools eliminated or severely curtailed their SBI activities. Despite lacking federal funds, a southeastern rural university founded a new Small Business Institute program in 1999. Since inception it has assisted forty-five small businesses in a five county area. This paper describes starting a new business outreach program without Federal funds. It concludes with observations and implications relating to other schools starting or renewing an SBI program

Re-Examining Firm Size and Exporting: An Empirical Analysis of South Carolina Firms

Mittlelstaedt, Harben, and Ward (2003) and Wolff and Pett (2000) offer contradictory evidence on the impact of firm size (by employment) and the propensity to export. Using a data set very similar to that of Mittelstaedt et al., we re-examine the issue. Although we find that firm size has a significant impact on export propensity, we fail to find a threshold at twenty employees, as Mittelsteadt, et al., did. Our findings are more supportive of Wolff and Pett, who argue very small firms are capable of exporting. This paper concludes by considering the implications for researchers and policymakers

Omitted Variable Bias in the Link Between Planning and Performance

This article argues that existing research poorly specifies the link between planning and performance because of omitted variable bias. Researchers agree planning is a critical part of creating any new venture. Many researchers assess planning by whether a small firm has a written business plan. Unfortunately, efforts empirically to validate this relationship have been inconclusive. This article proposes that researchers should assess business plans both on the quality of the plan (and the planning process that produced it), and on the quality of the underlying business opportunity. Failure to account for both aspects of a business plan amounts to omitted variable bias, frustrating attempts to accurately estimate the true relationship

The Black Box: Unraveling Family Business Succession

Using the family business succession, resource-based view of firms, familiness, and organizational clan literatures, this article develops a model based on the ability of the family business to use familiness, a specific bundle of attributes deriving from a family’s culture, as a competitive advantage for the family firm. In particular, this resource-based framework of family business shows how familiness can distinguish between family firms that succeed beyond the second generation and those that do not. Implications for future research are discussed

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries