FEATURE
PAPER
Entrepreneurship
Among Graduates: Reality and Prospects in Tertiary Education
The
following paper was presented at the 2007 Allied Academies
International Conference - Jacksonville. It was written by
Anastasios Vasiliadis of University of Aegean and
Thomas Poulios of TEI of Larissa.
Abstract
During the past decade, entrepreneurship has
become a commonly taught issue in universities
all over the world. More specifically, the question addressed
is whether graduates are seriously
interested in establishing their own businesses.The present
article focuses on a study of the
entrepreneurial activities of the Higher Educational Institute
graduates in Greece. Five issues were
investigated:
- the relationship of one’s studies with the economic
activity of his/her business
- the usefulness of knowledge/skills attained during the course
of studies
- the span of time between graduation and the start up of the
enterprise
- the source(s) of financing used to startup a business
- the degree of satisfaction with one’s career and the
financial performance of his/her
business.
A random proportional stratified sampling of 249 graduates
-from two different years- was
selected. Preliminary findings are presented in this paper
showing the current situation in the areas
mentioned above. The conclusions can be used both in the
evaluation of the current system
concerning entrepreneurship as well as in the formation of
new strategies in the entrepreneurship
in tertiary education. Key Words: Entrepreneurship, Tertiary Education,
Intentions
Entrepreneurship
as a research field attracts the interest of many researchers
because it is a tool
of development for many economies in the world. The investigation
of the factors that leads
particular people to become entrepreneurs instead of others
has been a question of many researches.
So, many researchers have tried to understand the reasons
leading those people to entrepreneurship.
Toward that direction theories (Ajzen, 1991) and models
(Shapero & Sokol,
1982; Krueger &
Brazeal, 1994; Linan, 2005) were developed, and focused on
the intentions that make people
undertake entrepreneurship action, because the intentions
are the best predictor factor for the future
behavior of a person, such as the foundation of an enterprise
(Ajzen, 1991; Krueger, 2005). So it is
supported, that by formulating fundamental theories for the
entrepreneurial intentions, we can
explain a basic peace of the field of entrepreneurship. Of course there are some factors
that contribute to the prediction of the entrepreneurial
intentions such as the attitude and the degree of desirability
toward that behavior and the level of
the feasibility (Krueger, 2005). As other factors defining
the intentions of entrepreneurship are
mentioned such as propensity to action, personal convictions
and other “demographic” variables
such as gender, age, educational level and economic environment
(Davidsson, 1995).
The study of entrepreneurship
among graduates of tertiary education is a research field
that
attracts the interest of many researchers worldwide (Bevan
et all., 1989; Roberts, 1995; Blackburn,
1997; La Valle et all., 1997; Gibb, 1997). These researches
focus on the relation between education
and entrepreneurship and also on the degree that education
can influence the decision of the students– graduates to
start their own entrepreneurial activity. In recent years the
interest towards youth
entrepreneurship has been increased as it is an important alternative
of professional occupation,
especially for the graduates of the tertiary education (Brenner
et all., 1991; Hart and Harrison, 1992;
Fleming, 1994; Kolvereid, 1996). But despite all these, there
are few research efforts that focused
on the relationship between the entrepreneurial activity of the
graduates and the degree of necessary
supplies, with which education provides to young, to establish
and run their own business and the
graduates’ opinion about the usefulness of knowledge gained
during their studies, is quite
interesting. Moreover it is important to study the interval time
that intervenes between graduation
and companies’ start up process and of course in relation
with the financial resources that they use
for the establishment. Finally our knowledge about the degree
of satisfaction among graduates from
their entrepreneurial activity is quite limited.
Read
the Entire Paper...
TIP
OF THE WEEK
Process-Oriented
Management
Companies have been organized and managed by
functional area for much of the 20th century, and significant
progress has been made in improving the efficiency and effectiveness
of business by improving the performance of the different business
functions. But optimizing a business function does not mean
that a company's business processes are being managed efficiently.
For example, a company's purchasing department might reduce
the costs to purchase new materials by buying larger quantities.
In isolation, it appears that purchasing is being very efficient.
But the money saved by buying in large quantities may be more
than offset by the cost of the capital required the make the
large purchase, as well as the costs to store the material
and the risk that the material become damaged, lost, stolen,
or outdated before it can be used. If the purchasing department
continually buys raw materials in large quantities, the company
might have to invest in additional warehouse space.
Using a process-oriented view, the purchasing of raw materials is one
part or function in the in-bound logistics, which is the process of providing
raw materials to the productions line with the required quantity when
needed. Deciding the quantity and timing of raw material purchases is
just one part of this process, and this decision cannot be considered
in isolation.
According to John Wheeler,
CIO of Nova Chemicals, the change from function-oriented management
to process-oriented management is itself a process - and a
complicated one at that. "Business processes are more than a set
of tasks or a workflow. They involve people with particular skill sets,
information, and tools. To be successful, they require the correct organizational
culture," says Wheeler. He would characterize the transition of Nova
Chemicals to a process orientation as being in a medium
stage of maturity.
Some companies have moved almost completely to a process organizational
structure. Instead of having departments with titles like Finance, Accounting,
or Human Resources, they are organized around processes such as Order
to Cash or Procurement to Payment.
While functional departments
still exist at Nova, the company has a process organizational structure
as well, which consists of three core process:
Demand Chain Management, Supply Chain Management, and Manufacturing
Management. These three processes are responsible for taking raw materials
from suppliers
and transforming them into products that are delivered
to the customer in addition to the three core processes, Nova has identified
three enabling
business process: Human Resources (which includes corporate
communications and investor relations), Treasury, and Information Technology.
Nova has
created process boards, consisting of manager from various
functional areas, to manage the business processes. The boards determine
best practices,
which are guidelines that define how the processes are
to operate. The process boards also define process metrics, which Nova
defines as "clear
measurements to manage process success." The process metrics are
now driving in financial rewards (including raises and
bonuses) to motivate employees to work in support of the process goals.
Having both a functional organization
structure and a process structure can create the perception by employees
that they have more than one manager.
But according to Wheeler, "When people look at their daily tasks
and ask the question, 'Who do I work for?', they start
to realize that they work for many 'masters.' With well documented and
managed business
processes, employees can more clearly understand their
place in the organization.
Ellen
F. Monk and Bret J. Wagner. Concepts
in Enterprise - Resource Planning, Second Edition.
2006. Thomson Course Technology. pg 5-6.
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Request for
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CONFERENCES
SBDC
|
| Who: |
Center for Urban
Business/SBDC
|
| What: |
Profit
Mastery Workshop
|
| Where: |
Levine Hillel Center at
Chicago, IL |
| When: |
June 7, 2007
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USM
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University
of Southern Maine Institute for Family-Owned
Business
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Governance for Families in Business
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Freeport, Maine, USA |
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June 19-22, 2007 |
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ICSB
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| Who: |
International
Council for Small Business
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World
Conference
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| Where: |
Turku,
Finland |
| When: |
June
13-15, 2007 |
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E-nnovations
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| Who: |
E-nnovations
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| What: |
E-nnovations 2007: Mid-Atlantic
Entrepreneurship Conference
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| Where: |
Anne Arundel Community College -
Arnold, Maryland, USA |
| When: |
October
13, 2007 |
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AGB
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| Who: |
Association for Global Business
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| What: |
Nineteenth
International Conference
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| Where: |
Marriott Key Bridge, Washington D.C.,
USA |
| When: |
November 15 - 18, 2007 |
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CALLS FOR PAPERS
ISBE
|
| Who: |
Institute
for Small Business and Entrepreneurship |
| What: |
30th
Annual ISBE Conference
|
| Where: |
Heriot-Watt University, Glasgow, Scotland |
| When: |
November
7-9, 2007 |
Submission
Deadline:
June 30, 2007
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AEBAI
|
| Who: |
Applied
Business and Entrepreneurship Association International
|
| What: |
4th
Annual Meeting
|
| Where: |
Marriott Wailea Beach Resort, Maui,
Hawaii |
| When: |
November 16-20, 2007 |
Submission
Deadline:
August 15, 2007
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USASBE
|
| Who: |
United
States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship
|
| What: |
USASBE
2008 Annual Conference
|
| Where: |
The
Westin La Cantera Resort - San Antonio, Texas |
| When: |
January
10-13, 2008 |
Submission
Deadline:
August 15, 2007
|
|
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SBI
|
| Who: |
Small
Business Institute
|
| What: |
2008 SBI Conference
|
| Where: |
Handlery
Hotel – San Diego, CA |
| When: |
Feb.
14-16, 2008 |
Submission
Deadline:
October 1, 2007
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