Perspectives of the Entrepreneurial Education in the European and National Contexts

The following chapter presents the views of students who participated in the International Project Entrepreneurship and Communication in Multicultural Teams (ECMT+) within Erasmus+. The chapter focuses on the comparison of outcomes related to participants' self-reflective evaluation in the form of a self-reflective diary and an interview in two rounds of the ECMT Intensive Programs held in Wildau, Germany, in 2018 and in Roanne, France, in 2019. The goal of the chapter is to make contributions to university curricula development in terms of introducing “learning by doing” related to the selected topics identified by the Intensive Programs participants within the post-evaluation of the project. Comparing the reflection expressed in self-reflective diaries in 2018 and 2019, in the latter, it can be observed that the students are able to analyze their attitudes and reflections in a more complex way than in the former one.

Exploring the Income of the Czech Entrepreneurs

Although individuals mostly pursue an entrepreneurial career from non-economic reasons, it is also interesting to see how well they perform in their business financially. This book chapter exploits two recent waves (2010, 2015) of the European Survey on Working Conditions (EWCS) and compares earnings of the Czech self-employed, concerning characteristics including job creation, gender, age, education, and number of working hours. The obtained findings from paired t-tests and correlations show that Czech self-employed with employees (job creators) earn on average by 14.6% more when compared to solo self-employed. Gender-differences in earnings have also been found in the case of the Czech entrepreneurs. Solo self-employed women earn on average less when compared to males. The highest earnings were observed in the age group of 31-40 years, and self-employed with higher levels of education also earn, on average more. This book chapter contributes to the regional knowledge on entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic.

Developing a Model for Entrepreneurship Competencies

These days, there is little doubt that entrepreneurial competencies—such as, taking initiative and being creative, planning and managing organizations' activities, showing persistence in problem solving processes as well as realizing the goals for which companies were established—are one of businesses' most important tools. Consequently, the following questions come naturally into the discussion: What is it that most of the successful entrepreneurs have in common? Is it education, risk affinity, experience, networks, family money, race, gender or, simply put, pure luck? Starting from the assumption that the vast majority of these people have, as common denominator, a cross-section of attributes and skills: firstly, this scientific study has the purpose of developing a model for entrepreneurship competencies, focusing on: innovation, knowledge management and intellectual capital; and secondly, this complex research has the aim of building an inclusive entrepreneurship model, tackling three main organizational targets: efficiency, productivity and performance.

Developing Entrepreneurial Competencies for Secondary Schools as Social Enterprises

The chapter is written from an Afrocentric perspective with a focus on South Africa and aims to investigate the potential of developing a school as a social enterprise while developing entrepreneurial competencies of the school's internal and external environments. Research objectives were set to determine perceptions of educators on learners' and their own involvement in the school's strategic management process, to explore critical organisational aspects that can engage educators in active decision making and educators' view of the current role they play within the decision-making process. It was found that secondary schools within a South African context, as mostly not viewed as a potential social enterprise and that educators have limited entrepreneurial competencies, which can contribute to strategic development of the school. It is recommended that the school's internal and external environment should be included to develop the school as a social enterprise with strategies to alleviate poverty and instill a mindset of entrepreneurial competence among youth and the community alike.

Financial Sources for Company Scale-Up

This chapter deals with the reinvestment activity of enterprises. Reinvestments are commonly discussed in connection with public limited liability companies, where the general meeting of shareholders decides how much of the profit, they will redistribute among themselves and how many per cents they will return by reinvesting in the company. However, this chapter often deals with smaller companies, but for many companies these decisions are of an existential nature. These dilemmas are crucial for the company in terms of the direction of the company and determining its own character and focus. In these companies, the direction of funds is decided by the company managers or their owners. Each company is specific, both in its area of business, its strategy or its nature of development, this and many other factors influence what companies invest in or, as in this case, reinvest their funds.

Business Competencies Within Unstable Business Environments

Entrepreneurial competencies and reaction to solve business problems coming from the external macroenvironment are closely linked together. Here, we explored the individual business competencies that support export activities within a business cycle context. The aim of the chapter is to present a model, which covers a mixture of competencies and factors, which has an influence on entrepreneurial reactions. The results are based on primary research (210 respondents) in the Czech Republic. Those findings are presented in the form of “entrepreneurial” prototype models. Moreover, the study confirmed a negative relationship related to business age, business cycle and company branch. Based on these results, implications for further research on this topic, as well as implications for practitioners in the form of the competency model, are discussed.

ReSTART

The primary aim of this chapter is to review the literature on entrepreneurial influences and competencies. We do this to develop an understanding of the needs of a specific sub-group of entrepreneurs: second chance entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial learning theory suggests that the failure an entrepreneur experiences serves as a reservoir of knowledge which is important to future success. This chapter highlights the significance of experiential learning as entrepreneurs recover and re-emerge into new venture creation. Due to the high uncertainty of pursuing new opportunities and embarking on an entrepreneurial career involves risk, which can sometimes lead to failure. In this chapter we review the literature on entrepreneurial failure and provide recommendations for customizing entrepreneurial supports to maximize the success of (re)starting entrepreneurs.

The Importance of the Impact-Driven Business Model (IDBM) for Social Enterprises

This chapter presents a model that is suitable for government and practitioners and education practitioners as an alternative to the Business Canvas Model. The purpose of the IBDM model is to offer an alternative to the stakeholders who have no business educational background. This chapter first describes the model. This chapter makes a comparison with the Business Model Canvas BMC. From a value point of view the BCM is “value” free model. The main purpose is to create interest or added value for the customer. The underlying, tacit assumption however is the assumption that the invisible hand of the free market will regulate for the best of worlds. The impact driven business model puts the impact on the society on the forefront.

Competencies, Skills, and Goals Needed for Social Enterprises

Competencies, skills, and goals are a significant part of social enterprises. They carry out the social mission, but the founders and providers need a set of skills which could help them to be successful in those beneficial projects. The aim of this chapter is to define the rightest competence of the founders of social enterprises in the case of the Czech Republic. These competencies will be a combination of competencies suitable for the profit and non-profit sectors. Finally, the evaluation model of triple benefits is suggested and evaluated. This model is based on the primary research evaluation, and on the social return of investment ratio (SROI). There is a place to improve this situation and evaluate the efficiency of triple benefit by the real societal impact in the region as was proposed in this chapter; on the other hand, effectiveness is built on significant factors based on field study, which support networking, willingness to make social innovations and other activities.

Social Enterprise in Developing Countries

The chapter is intended to share the author's experience with social enterprise and start-ups gained in the developing countries of Africa. Relying on her ample professional practice, the author believes that many a good idea can be translated into a successful social enterprise project. The chapter will therefore provide an example of good practice. Supported by an already accomplished qualitative research and many years of relevant practice, the author argues that social enterprise and start-up may lay the groundwork for social recognition, self-determination and improved living generally. The persons involved in such enterprise will also enhance their social status and become fully or partially independent of foreign developmental assistance.