TEACHINGGUIDELINES ENTREPRENEURSHIP101:AnIntroductorycourseonentrepreneurship
SUMMARY Highgrowth entrepreneurship is a new addition to the undergraduate and post graduatecurriculaincollegesandinstitutesacrossIndia. Case studies are effective tools to communicate the issues involved in building and [Link] realtimeanalysesoftheentrepreneursproblemsanddecisionmakingprocess. Teaching style for a case evolves based on the instructors preferences and the background of the audience. Instructors already teaching businessrelated courses mightbemorefamiliarwiththecasebasedtechnique,butfacultyfromotherdisciplines likescienceandengineeringcanalsousethisteachingmethodeffectively. Theguidelinesthatareprovidedherearegeneralandaimtohelpfacultyusethecase methodforteachingentrepreneurshipgenerallyandmorespecificallyfordifferenttarget [Link] [Link] notesdiscussdifferentteachingstrategiesaswell. GENERALGUIDELINESONTEACHINGACASE [Link] studiesallowstudentsandfacultytoactivelyengagewiththematerialandeachotherto [Link] helps students learn how to listen, question and respond in the classroom key elementsofentrepreneurshipeducation. Itneedstobeemphasizedthattheefficacyofthecasemethodislargelydependenton the preparation of the participants as well as the instructor. In the absence of such preparation, this method of teaching is likely to be ineffective. Wherever feasible, institutionsofferingthiscourseshouldorganizeasessiontointroducethecasemethod of teaching so that the participants are able to prepare for the classes in a more [Link],apartfromhighlightingthedecisionfocusofthecase method, should also emphasize the kind of preparation that is expected from participantsbeforecomingtotheclass.
Thecasesaredrawnfromavarietyofsettingsdomesticandinternational,successes andfailures, andstartupsandmaturedenterprises facingearly stageand/orgrowth [Link] needstomake,theauthorprovidesasetofquestionsfordiscussion. Whilemostcasestudiesdrawonaparticularsetofbusinessdecisions,theycanalsobe usedforhighlightingdifferentsituations/[Link] questionswhichtheauthormightnothaveraised. ThecaselistprovidedwithEntrepreneurship101arerecommendationsapplicabletoall target groups ranging from business school students, engineers, scientists and [Link],theinstructormightneedtoprovideadditional conceptualinputthrougharticlesandreadingstobringtheclassuptotherequiredlevel. The instructor can also choose different approaches to initiate and facilitate a case discussion: Groupdiscussions [Link] [Link],thegroupsgettogether [Link] helpsbreakdowninhibitionamongthestudentsandresultsinvibrantclassroom [Link] [Link] withtheirrecommendationsforthedecisionsthatthefirmneedstotakealongwiththe analysis/logicofthoserecommendations. Intheclassroom,theinstructorcanapproachthecaseby: Settingupaframework For agroup unfamiliar with different analytical frameworks for analyzingcase questions, giving an overview of these frameworks may help stimulate discussion. Depending on the background and level of preparation of the audience,theinstructor canchoosetostartwithanintroductiononthecase, provideananalyticaloverviewandthenopenthefloorfordiscussion. Gettingstraighttothecasequestionsandfacts Alternately,he/shecanjumprightintothecasebyaskingspecificquestionson [Link] 2
[Link] instructorcanalsoevolveaframeworkafterdiscussingmorethanonecaseona similar theme when the participants have been exposed to more than one context. In other words, the instructor has a choice to movefrom a generic framework to a specificdecisioncontextorgenerateagenericanalyticalframeworkonthebasisofthe learningfromspecificsituations. Asfaraspossiblecasebasedteachingshouldbesupplementedby: Interactiveclassroomexercises Visitstoenterprises Interactionwithentrepreneurs
Developmentofabusinessplanasapartofthecoursealsoprovidesparticipantswith significantinsightsintostartingandbuildinganenterprise. GUIDELINESFORTEACHINGDIFFERENTAUDIENCES Someguidelinesmightbehelpfulfordifferentsituations,dependingonthebackground andthelevelofpreparationoftheaudience. Scenario1:Science/[Link]/[Link] Theassumptionisthatthisgroupwillhavelimitedknowledgeofdoingbusinessand alsolessfamiliaritywithbusinessconceptsusedincasestudies,suchasfinancial, marketing,[Link] businessschoolstudentswherethereismorefamiliaritywithconcepts. Inordertostimulatethisgroup,theinstructorwillhaveto:
Provideaframeworkgiveanoverviewofthecasewithafewoverarching questionstoinvokeresponses. Encouragestudentstosummarizethecasebyraisingwhattheythinkarethe keyissues/challenges/potentialsolutions. Writedownthepointsonthewhite/blackboard. Pacethepresentationsothateachconceptandpointismadeclearandleave enoughtimeforQ&A.
Toensurethattheparticipantsarefullyabletounderstandthecase,theinstructormight [Link],provide readings/articlesonhowtoreadabalancesheet,definemarketingterms,orhighlight [Link] exactlywhattheyarereadingandbetterpreparethemtodiscusstheproblemsoutlined inthecase. Scenario2:Businessschool/managementstudents Theassumptionisthatthisgroupisveryfamiliarwithbusinessconceptsandmore [Link] inthisgroupwillhavehadsomeworkexperience,theemphasisshouldbetoencourage themtobepracticalandproblemorientedratherthanconceptual. Theinstructorcanapproachthediscussionintwoways: First,he/shecanprovideaframeworkintroducethecase,provideasetof [Link] situationswherestudentsarenotexposedtocasebasedteaching. Alternately,theinstructorcanjumpdirectlyintothecaseandopenthefloorfor [Link] randompointsmadebythestudents,writingthemonthewhite/blackboardand [Link] preferableinsituationswhereparticipantshavebeenexposedtothecase methodofteaching. Sincetimingisessential,theinstructorwillhavetoensurethatusingeithermethod thereisenoughtimeforQ&[Link] eachcaseprovideguidelinesfortheamountoftimetheinstructorshoulddevotetothe [Link],like otherelementsoftheteachingnote,theinstructorshouldadapttheseguidelinesto his/herspecificcontext.
Scenario3:Executives&Professionals
Entrepreneurship101attheexecutiveeducationlevelwillhaveamixofpeoplesome veryfamiliarwithbusinessconceptsandotherswhomightbeengineers,scientistsetc. Sincetheywillbeexecutivesandprofessionalswithdifferentknowledgebases,the importantthingwillbetoleveragetheirexperiencetoenhancetheclassdiscussion. Theinstructorwillhavetofigureoutifanyparticipantshavedealtwithsimilarissues referredtointhecaseandencouragethemtosharetheirexperiencetoaddtothe diversity. Inordertobringthediverseaudienceuptothesamelevel,theinstructormightneedto provideadditionalreadingsandconceptualinputforcertaintopics. Todiscussthecase,thefacultycan:
Provideananalyticalframeworkintroducethecaseandprovideasetof questionsfordiscussion Provideotherconceptualinputsifnecessaryforunderstandingthecase Getsuggestions/feedbackfromtheparticipants Notethemdownonthewhite/blackboard Balancethediscussionbecausesomepeoplemighthavealotofpractical experiencetoshareandothersmightnotbeabletokeeppaceifconceptsare justskimmedover
GENERALGUIDELINESTOHELPPREPAREFORTHECLASS
[Link]. Askafellowfacultymembertoauditorsitinduringyourfirstorsecondclassto [Link],youcanrecord theclassproceedingsandusethatasatooltoenhancefurtherdiscussionsand alsocreatecontentfortrainingotherfacultymembers.
Instructorsteachingnonresidentstudentsorshorttermcoursesshould encourageparticipantstosendthemselvesanemailsummarizingthekeypoints [Link] pointsoncethecourseisoverandtheygetbacktowork.
[Link],jotdownnotesaboutthe [Link] 5
contentandstyleofdelivery,chartthecourseforfuturediscussion,andalso figureoutthetimerequiredtodiscusseachsegment.