Addressing the Unemployed Graduate Challenge Through Student Entrepreneurship and Innovation in South Africa's Higher Education

This chapter addresses graduate unemployment through student entrepreneurship in the context of South African higher education. The graduate unemployment rate of South Africa is estimated at 33.5% for the youth (15-24) and 10.2% for those aged 25-34. Unemployed graduate phenomenon as depicted by the FeesMustFall campaign is exacerbated by untransformed curriculum which does not provide students with relevant skills matching the labour demands. In this regard, the chapter argues that student entrepreneurship remains one of the strategies university-based youth or students could not only a space to gain business skills and experience, but also a forum where they can put their creative ideas into income generating projects. The chapter first looks at student entrepreneurship and the challenges faced by tertiary students. Second, it explores the opportunities created through entrepreneurship, the challenges faced by student entrepreneurs, and finally, the support needed to run successful student entrepreneurship.

Behavioural Determinants of Functionality of Farmer Producer Organisations in Punjab

Small and marginal farming communities of Indian agriculture account for more than 85%of the total farming households. They face the challenges of land fragmentation, high costof inputs and inability to market their produce efficiently. To tackle these challenges, policymakers came up with the model of farmers’ mutual cooperation through Farmer ProducerOrganisations (FPOs). This study conducted in Punjab analyses the behavioural factorsresponsible for functionality of FPOs. A random selection of 150 members from 5 functionaland 5 non-functional FPOs (i.e., 15 respondents from each selected FPO) was made andthe respondents were interviewed personally. The findings revealed that the members(including management) of the functional FPOs had higher risk bearing capacity, greatereconomic motivation and more innovativeness as compared to the respondents from non-functional FPOs. Similarly, respondents from functional FPOs were socially, economicallyand managerially more empowered than the non-functional FPOs. Business skills of themembers, including the managerial members, of functional FPOs were also better ascompared to those from the non-functional FPOs. Regression estimates revealed that thefunctionality, better academic qualification, bigger land holding and joint family systemwere responsible for the higher net annual income of the respondents.

Animal industry survey: The importance of technical and soft skills, coursework, and extracurricular activities on the success of undergraduates entering animal industries

A survey instrument was developed to inquire about the skills and experiences needed to be successful in an entry-level position within an animal industry. The instrument called upon industry representatives to rank the importance of skills, experiences, and coursework as they relate to success. A five-point scale was used for ranking (1=not important, 2=somewhat important, 3=moderately important, 4=very important, 5=extremely important). Industry representatives ranked personal and team-based soft skills as the most important skills related to success. Animal science coursework and hands-on animal handling and welfare experiences also ranked very high. Non-animal science coursework, agricultural business skills, collegiate experiences, and scientific/laboratory skills were ranked the lowest in terms of importance, but rankings of these categories still fell in the moderately important range. These rankings indicate the need for well-rounded students that have gained technical and personal skills throughout their collegiate education. This also signals a need for projects, writing assignments, and hands-on animal-related activities that promote development of soft skills within the animal science curriculum.

DOES BOARD USAGE OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS AFFECT INTERNATIONALIZATION PERFORMANCE OF SMES? A CASE OF LITHUANIA

Internationalization of SMEs is encouraged by the advantages of new environmental conditions and appealing business opportunities, but remains a challenging process. Top management teams and more specifically board of directors appear to be a critical determinant in addressing internationalization issues. In recent years, investigation of boards in small firms’ context has been an interest of scholars, however few investigated characteristics of human capital. This study aims to investigate whether board usage of knowledge and skills is a mediator linking characteristics of human capital of board and internationalization performance of SMEs in Lithuania. The results revealed that usage of knowledge and skills mediates the relationships between international business skills and internationalization performance. Obtained results contribute to international entrepreneurship and upper-echelons theories by highlighting the role of the board in SMEs and linking it to higher internationalization performance through their usage of knowledge and skills. This study fills the research gap and extends the extant studies in internationalization of SMEs. First, the study responds to the need to investigate how board’s capital affect internationalization. Secondly, the study responds to the need to go beyond input-output models.

Influence of Entrepreneurial Psychology and Spirit on the Cultivation of Students’ Entrepreneurial Values and Ability Under the New Media

This paper studies the influence of entrepreneurial spirit on college students’ entrepreneurial ability and entrepreneurial values. Firstly, the impact of entrepreneurial psychology and entrepreneurial spirit on entrepreneurial values is analyzed. Secondly, the role of entrepreneurial values in Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education (IEE) is analyzed and summarized under new media. Then, based on entrepreneurial psychology and entrepreneurial spirit, a Questionnaire Survey (QS) is designed to investigate the entrepreneurial values of students in one university in Shaanxi Province, China. The QS analysis suggests that most respondents hold a positive attitude, and their attitude is on the rise. The QS results of “Reasons for entrepreneurial failure” show that 40.37, 31.9, 25.98, and 11.75% of respondents think they lack financial support, business skills, ability, and understanding of policies and laws, respectively. The QS results of “What factors influence entrepreneurial values?” reveal that 39.43% of the respondents chose the “Models of successful entrepreneurs,” successful entrepreneur models can effectively encourage students to receive IEE, followed by 28.94% who choose “Achieve their own life goals.”. In terms of “Solutions against entrepreneurial risks,” nearly 70% of the students have chosen the negative options. In terms of “Which is the most important entrepreneurial quality?”, more students choose entrepreneurial values rather than entrepreneurial quality, proving that students generally lack entrepreneurial values. Given these problems, corresponding countermeasures are put forward to strengthen entrepreneurial psychology and IEE, in an attempt to cultivate college students’ entrepreneurial values and entrepreneurial ability under the new media. The results provide some data support for the impact of college students’ entrepreneurial values and entrepreneurial ability.

Basics of Good Business Plan for Small-Scale Agribusiness Investors in Nigeria

This chapter provides a synthesis of planning small-scale entrepreneurial skills to guide the current and prospective micro investors to harness wide ranges of agribusiness value chains in Nigeria. This initiative considered alternatives in business strategic options to harness the potentials therein, which involve production, distribution, processing of agricultural products and services integration for converting agricultural outputs for regular and timely supply of domestic and international needs. The current outcry for economic diversification couple with high rate of unemployment in Nigeria requires concerted efforts to boost the agriculture sector as a viable alternative for growth and development. Suffices to say, most agribusiness investors more often than not, experience failure because of the dearth of requisite business skills for planning the survival and growth of small-scale agribusinesses in the face of modern realities. In this wise, the chapter brings the benefits such as risk mitigation, cost savings, and income generation through combination of known production planning and business management skills. The chapter adopts discursive taxonomy, interpolating elicited facts from available literature plus the knowledge of ‘on-the-job-experience’ to promote and support the development of agribusinesses strategy for the transformation of the agriculture sector to generate employment, income, and promote food security, and competitiveness in the marketplaces.

Business skills development for a successful fashion business in peri-urban communities, South Africa

Background: Entrepreneurs from disadvantaged backgrounds often possess low levels of education, limited qualifications and training. This also applies to survivalist fashion entrepreneurs in the Sedibeng District Municipality (SDM), Gauteng. Over a third of these entrepreneurs are not formally educated in business skills and may not possess the adequate knowledge to operate their fashion business successfully.Aim: The aim of this research was to investigate the uses and challenges pertaining to business skills amongst fashion entrepreneurs without formal, fashion-related education or training, in order to determine their business skills’ training needs.Setting: The sample population included 105 black, adult fashion entrepreneurs, operating micro, survivalist fashion enterprises within peri-urban, resource-poor communities in the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) of the Sedibeng district. Data for this study were collected from the respondents whilst shopping at fabric and haberdashery stores or from their home-business environments.Methods: A quantitative study applying non-probability, purposive and snowball sampling was performed. Data were collected by means of interviewer-administered questionnaires by trained fieldworkers.Results: The results indicated that the respondents lacked skills in developing business plans and possessed only moderate skills in finance and marketing. The respondents indicated training needs for fashion business skills in all areas of investigation, including developing a business plan, conducting basic bookkeeping, determining correct product pricing, drafting quotations and invoices, developing a budget, conducting basic market research and advertising their products and services.Conclusion: Fashion business skill training programmes should be developed to target and train fashion entrepreneurs without formal fashion-related education or training, contributing to the long-term sustainability of local fashion businesses in South Africa (SA).

THE NEED FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARENESS TO BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR! A CASE STUDY ON EMPOWERMENT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ATTRIBUTES OF STUDENTS FROM A PRIVATE INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING

The entrepreneurial element has now emerged as one of the important pillars in designing appropriate attributes and structures of the academic curriculum covering varied disciplines in all fields of studies in Malaysia’s higher education institutions. This study was conducted in Perlis’s Islamic University College (KUIPs) campus aimed at understanding these attributes and the entrepreneurship cultural awareness of students’ in initiating and identifying appropriate entrepreneurial activities before completing their studies. The study was qualitative in nature involving a group of 20 students randomly chosen from four (4) faculties in KUIPs. Students were interviewed using instant message routes because of the restrictions imposed by authorities in addressing concerns a rising from the COVID 19 pandemic, where face-to-face interviews were disallowed due to health and security factors. The objectives of this study were 1) What are the factors that encourage students to become entrepreneurs on campus? and 2) What are the constraints facing students in becoming entrepreneurs on campus? The results of the study found that there were 3 main factors attributing to students’ keen interest to venture into entrepreneurial activities in KUIPs, namely a) keen interest to initiate own business and aspiring to be an entrepreneur after graduation, b) meeting students’ basic needs (social entrepreneurship), and c) able to earn extra income to defray living and study expenses. There were 3 constraints discovered in becoming entrepreneurs, namely a) Capital, b) Suitable Location, and c) Business Skills to start entrepreneurial activities (entrepreneurial knowledge/skills). The results of this study are most beneficial to those involved in the management of entrepreneurial affairs of students, students themselves, and lastly for the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences in KUIPs (in understanding the current attributes and constraints), there by enabling the faculty to design appropriate entrepreneurship programs and activities in order to nurture and create entrepreneurship cultural awareness for future students.

Peningkatan Jiwa Entrepreneur Karang Taruna Melalui Penyuluhan Diversifikasi Olahan Jamur Tiram

Karang Taruna Sukokerto Pajarakan Village Probolinggo Business skills owned by youth Karang Taruna Sukokerto Village Pajarakan District is still relatively limited, because it has never obtained assistance from competent parties in the field of entrepreneurship. In fact, when viewed from their relatively productive age, they have the potential to develop in creative entrepreneurial activities according to young souls for cadet corals. Karang Taruna organization that participated in this activity amounted to 20 people. The purpose of community service carried out by lecturers of Panca Marga Probolinggo University is to improve the soul of enterprenuer Karang Taruna Sukokerto subdistrict Pajarakan held extension of diversity of processed diversity made from tiram mushrooms. In this activity, counseling is able to foster intentions for cadet corals in Sukokerto Village, Pajarakan Subdistrict for entrepreneurship because the process of diversifying processing made from oyster mushrooms is easy to remember and easy to do so that after this extension activity ends up participants have the most advanced knowledge and skills[at diversification of product processing itself and can sell products online simply which can later grow entrepreneurial spirit. The resulting products are krispy mushrooms, mushroom satay and mushroom grilled rice. In addition to making various processed, also given skills in marketing online. Keywords: diversification of oyster mushrooms, Karang Taruna

Designing an Experiential Learning with Simulations and Games to Improve Education in an Undergraduate Engineering Major

This paper illustrates an experiential learning exercise that is designed to be played in an engineering undergraduate program. The author uses simulation that creates an active and experiential learning environment in which individual teams make decisions based on imperfect information and conflicting goals. The simulation allows players to control certain aspects of the information flow relevant to the market, to develop relevant business strategies and communication skills, and to establish understanding of ethical values that are relevant to business environment. The simulation was designed to allow engineering students to advance and practice business skills that are essential for engineers to stay successful in an increasingly competitive business environment. The objective is to extract maximum learning from the experience using an experiential learning model. This paper contributes to the literature on designing active learning with the use of games and simulations while utilizing the Kolb experiential learning model.