I teach Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program for MBA students and published many papers on the subject since more than 10 years. The reasons can are clear to me: 1- The teachers are not a role model, 2- The case studies used in class are not local, 3- The evaluation system doesn't encourage them to contribute to the field, thus they focus to contribute in class, 4- No real problem solving culture.

My past experiences - The funds made available by the government are not adequately channeled in the way it says on the fiscal policies. The experiences are out there but many entrepreneurs do not have the necessary resources to start up these interventions and the bank is of no help since we cannot provide the necessary guarantees required for the loan we need to assist us. There are so-called government institutions to assist previously dis-advantage individuals but they just the same

I teach Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program for MBA students and published many papers on the subject since more than 10 years. The reasons can are clear to me: 1- The teachers are not a role model, 2- The case studies used in class are not local, 3- The evaluation system doesn't encourage them to contribute to the field, thus they focus to contribute in class, 4- No real problem solving culture.

Based in my own experience, most of the teacher in M&A programs are theoreticians and not practitioners. In other words, they are theory researchers and not entrepreneurs neither involved in any business. Therefore there is a gap ( wide ) between the model teach ( theory) and the reality. Ex. when an entrepreneur is invited to do some lectures in Business School there is a "huge" difference with the approach to same topic compared to a professor. The former is focussed in making business while the later is focussed to understand how is done.

Yes definitely - there is certainly a huge difference between the two I am not a theoretician but certainly a practitioner. And with my past experiences, there can be so much more successful graduate entrepreneurs, governments can have fiscal policies in place but if no one ensures that these are successfully implemented - resources are channel somewhere else and that's the case in South Africa and the reason why we are having the Zondo Commission currently taking place, and when M&A programs invite graduate to do a lecture because - my advise give him or her a bridging course especially if their field of operations is not in the teaching environment on which he or she had to conduct the lecture.

The challenge of creating entrepreneurs is great. I see that schools with business incubators and accelerators have higher results.

Mohamed Buheji and Alvar Castello I totally agree with both of you. However, talking about practitioners teaching entrepreneurship, its very rare to find a successful entrepreneur who could spare some time to give lectures at business school. Successful entrepreneurs are mostly busy in their ventures and their time worth more than a business school could pay to them. So, in such scenario, what to do?

Dear Tayyab Amjad I am emphasising that a full-time professor should not teach the subject if he/she never tried to be an entrepreneur or support entrepreneurs in the field.

I'm currently studying for an MBA and had my own company already, now found the next one. How you want to teach someone to drive a bike when you never used it before, but you know how it works? The same situation we have at the Universities. I see it and talked with other students who are in high positions or have their own company. The result: A full-time teacher has no clue about real business. They know the books entirely, but they tell you how the world outside really works. Students should get teached to create jobs, find solutions, be independent, and find their skills. Tayyab Amjad I support the idea of Mohamed Buheji . We have teacher who are endrepeneurs and you see two different worlds. This example is not only for universities but also for business schools, especially business schols.

Good conversation. I took on an MBA prior to my current business experience some 10 years ago. At my current job, I had opportunities to apply some of the tools learned at the MBA to build up new programs and services (I work in adult education). I would give the MBA some credit to my success in starting up concepts within the company, i.e. it makes me though an INTRApreneur. At least I was able to communicate on the broader ground to various stakeholders with the understanding taken from the MBA.

Los emprendedores exitosos han nacido después de crisis, despidos, y la pobreza y sus trabajos han sido duros, prácticos, manejos del factor tiempo de trabajo más de 14 horas de trabajo, el ahorro, inversión, rotación, aprovechamiento de las oportunidades con creatividad, crecimiento de sus empresas, y ahora en las universidades se presentan alumnos que quieren ser emprendedor, muchas veces no le nacen y muchas universidades no están conectados con las empresas, profesores teóricos, entonces es una producción de emprendedores titulados, bajo nivel de seguimiento de sus emprendedores.

Tayyad Amjad, this has not been my experience. In most cases Entrepreneurs are happy to give their time the fee is irrelevant.

Once again I agree with you Mohamed Buheji

Dear Tayyab,

We need to see if your claim is itself substantiated by numbers or not.

Unfortunately I do not have the numbers myself, however I know many entrepreneurs who were either inspired during the course of MBA or they were already running or starting a business and started an MBAs to get more knowledge on how to run their business.

So to re-iterate I think you need to do some real math about it first.

I am an adjunct faculty and teach marketing and management courses to our undergraduate students in a local college. We have started an entrepreneurship club and we could see some momentum with our students. We help them in design thinking, writing business plans, and connect them with the Silicon Valley entrepreneur ecosystems.

There are two major factors: one, institutional factors such as; wrong approach to teaching of entrepreneurship; infrastructure deficits; inadequate funding defective curriculum. Second, students' factors such as; low level of risk taking behaviour; lack of creativity and low self efficacy

because entrepreneurs shouldn't come from business school, this is the wrong mindset... entrepreneurs should be taught & integrated in other schools

Jan Beklen True and well said. I agree with you.

Juan Carlos Apaza Paucara Could you please translate in English? Thanks!

Abdul Aziz Khan Well, fortunately I'm researching in this area from a few years. Statistically, the numbers of graduate entrepreneurial failure are alarmingly high worldwide.

Swapan Ghosh The question is how you connect them? Are the students doing something practically? Are the students getting experiential learning?

David Oluseyi Oyerinde I agree with you on the first factor. Regarding second factor, don't you think business schools should train the students on those skills? I mean what is the purpose of a business school if they cannot change the mindset of students?

Dunya Ahmed Abdullah Ahmed I partially agree with you that entrepreneurs (by nature) don't really need business schools. However, if someone needs some entrepreneurial training from school, then what would you name those schools if not 'business school'?

Tayyab, this a great question. I am so glad you asked good sir.

I see a big disconnect in most business school curriculum and the practice of innovation and entrepreneurship and what is taught. Most business schools prepare students for JOBS more than they prepare them for entrepreneurship outside of the established business. Know let us also acknowledge that entrepreneurship can be practised within an established business and or outside of it (start something from scratch or improve on what exists - creativity and innovation)

That said, may I also add that it is not the responsibility of business schools to produce successful entrepreneurs, it is more about the person ( self) and their readiness to take what has been taught, mentored and or coached and turn it into practical knowledge.

The graduates also have a bigger responsibility to represent themselves and their businesses schools well.

In closing, I also argue that it is impossible to teach entrepreneurship without the practice of it. The only way to teach and doctor success of students within the domain of business/entrepreneurship put to practice and novel out-put generation at the centre of the instructional process in a business school.

To drive a car you do not need to read about it you need to get into it and try and drive. Let's get doing!

That's a big observation and its happening across the globe.

The main reason is that this business school teach theory more and less practical. When you feed learners with theory you are training them for a white cola job not for them to go out there and create employment. Learners should be out there in the field seeing what's happening, meet investors, research for themselves in the feed, see opportunities with doing all this while studying.

Chilumba Kamfwa Bwalya I agree with you. However, I would like to clarify that although being successful at entrepreneurship is not in the control of business schools, but it is the responsibility of business schools to teach students the entrepreneurial skills through experiential learning.

Lesedi Leslie Office That's right.

Risk and uncertainty are faced by entrepreneurs . Strategic skills in managing enterprises through ups and downs are not adequately taught in business schools . Support in difficult situations/ business cycles is to be provided by close relatives/friends of entrepreneurs to withstand them and rise again to success .

I agree with Alvar Castello that the main prpoblem in teaching effective entrepreneurs is that the majority of teachers are theoreticals. But to teach entrepreneurship you need to be entrepreneu on practice. Another thing is that to learn to be entrepreneur you can only on practice. From this point of view organization of enterprenerial education in the form of entrepreneural academies in Universities of Applied Sciences is very good experience.

Nothing beats practical experience particularly being tutored mentored and learning from a Master.

As I shared with a cocky young go getter last week who said to me "I want to be as successful as you,quick!" I replied and smiled (I am unsure what success equates to and we all have our own version of what that means)...."excellent come back in twenty five years"

There is no doubt there are great minds in every single educational institution and great pupils who are eager to uncover a new world full of knowledge. There are many factors to take into account when analyzing your question. However, we could infer that communication, interaction, engagement, practicality, and real-world skills application are some of the factors educators and institutions are neglecting to ensure successful graduate students.

Communication is a skill educators must have and master, no matter their field. An instructor may be a great scientist and a great mind but are his/her ideas transmitted and perceived by the receptors.

Interaction, most instructors lack keeping active contact with their audience to ensure there is a flow of information from them to the audience. Some audiences may be challenging more than others, but adaptability is a skill any instructor must master.

Engagement is related to interaction; often, instructors fail to ensure that their audience is involved in their story. Commonly, instructors interact with the audience but fail to submerge the audience into their thoughts.

Practicality, science is everything we do, but it doesn’t need to be bombastic or used complex terminology to be understood. Instructors occasionally fail on transmitting information in a simple, useful, and applicable language. For information to be perceived perceived, a simple context that allows its translation into any professional field has to be employed.

Real-world application skills application. The receptibility of the encoded information in the transmitted message is one of the fundamental skills an instructor should have. It is also imperative to use vocabulary and techniques that can be applied back into the labor market. Today the labor market has become a challenging playground with high demand and expectations. Therefore, instructors and institutions should be able to identify and equip their pupils with the current and future market demands.

The bottom line is, an educational institution is not different from any other enterprise, except that its target audience and best asset is there, sitting next to them. Instructors and institutions should be able to develop and update their curriculum based on current and future market demands to ensure successful graduate entrepreneurs alumnus.

Good business schools do a lot to foster entrepreneurship: Case Studies, practical classes and business incubators supported by accelerators or other forms of financing.

Dear Tayyab Amjad Today the education system at the Business Schools are based on only in the idea of founders and professionals orientated to way of do business that is not sustainable anymore, considering the pressing issues that we are living and the need of a call to the markets in delivering solutions to theses social and environmental problems. As educators, it is our duty to open the students' mind to what is really happening in the contemporary society and convert impact in a norm in the business landscape. Kind regards, Ernani

Great entrepreneurs have been born in economic crises, layoffs from their jobs, natural phenomena in their places, many times they have not finished their careers in universities. On the other hand, universities train highly publicized entrepreneurs as well as "entrepreneur incubators", when the teachers are theoretical, they have never undertaken anything, and incidentally in developing countries they are not connected with companies. I think that policies and connection from the state with the ministry of education, universities and society should be considered, motivated so that young people enter and like to undertake, or it is discovered that it was born to be an entrepreneur, because a good percentage of students cultivate other type profiles.

I think education does not really produce any entrepreneur. But it equips entrepreneurs with the right tools, theories and frameworks to understand and navigate the entrepreneural pathway. This presuppose that one must be an entrepreneur before the business school, this has to do with mindset and right attitude that is entrepreneurally oriented or should I say entrepreneural spirit. I think some of the most succesful entrepreneurs did not become entrepreneurs by attending business schools. However, business schools are an indispensable source of knowledge. I disagree with the fact that lecturers at business schools should be practitioners themselves. Their focus should be research, teaching and creation of knowledge.

Siyabonga Khumalo great contribution! Whilst I do agree that there is some benefit for lecturers to have had some entrepreneurial experience to some extent. The creation of knowledge via detailed research is paramount to equipping entrepreneurs.

What I have experienced are as follows.

1. Developing countries like Nepal are facing the challenges of globalization. Students normally go beyond the business context of locality. They start to think globally rather than thinking to use internal resources.

2. There is gap between theoretical study and practice in teaching and learning. College instructor is not a practitioner, he has learnt by studying not by doing.

3. External environmental factors have to be conducive for new entrepreneurs. By seeing the difficulties due to external environment, my graduates don't want to be an employer.

Reason could be different for different states..

If talk about India, Youngsters are more job oriented. They love to go for good annual package rather than bearing a risk of an entrepreneurship. India, with such a huge population, is always a attractive investment zone for multinational giants, which increases the competition in every sector. So, most of the young graduates prefer to go for safe side at the early stage of their career. As far as my observation is concerned, this is a big reason.

Satyam ji, of course, the condition of Nepal and India is similar.

As a lecturer who involved in this field in our context, I have identified following reasons

- Most of the universities are teaching theoretical concepts rather than giving the confidence to create or innovate new concepts. Most of the times, they are not practical oriented.

- Attitude of the people is also one of the barrier. Many of them prefer to be followers than leaders in the business. they are comfortable with that. So many graduates are willing to work in the private or public sector rather than starting their own business.

- Lack of support and guidance from the government and respective authorities are essential to nurture a successful entrepreneur. Therefore, no point of producing graduates from business schools without the initial support. There should be a policy to encourage entrepreneurs.

Svetlana Tereshchenko What exactly the Universities of Applied Sciences are doing?

Roberto - Minadeo None of the things you have mentioned is the part of 'experiential learning' which according to the literature is the only way to enhance the entrepreneurial skills.

Ernani Contipelli Your thoughts are good but opening the students' mind doesn't teach them any skill.

Siyabonga Khumalo Feyisola David Adebola Unfortunately, merely knowledge and theories don't make students learn entrepreneurial skills practically. If you study realist philosophical stance, it says that the real (entrepreneurial) world is independent from academic's research, theories and believes. The academic's research and theories however are dependent on the real world practices.

Dev Raj Rai I agree with your 2nd point. If the business schools fix that issue and make the students well equipped with entrepreneurial skills, the 3rd point could also be resolved.

Satyam Kumar Well, that is a valid reason. However, a skilled entrepreneur doesn't give such excuses. And the business schools are not producing such skilled and confident graduates. So unfortunately an unskilled and low-confident graduate is left with no other choice.

Rangana Sri Shalika Wadippuli Arachchi What kind of support you need from government and authorities?

There should be a programme to support new innovative entreprenures. For ex: Financial support, consultation and monitoring support, favourable policies and regulations to encourage new entreprenures.

Universities of Applied Sciences are Universities that are giving education more connected with business. The students are receiving high education with great practical skills.

My personal idea is that entrepreneurship is more like personal or group recapitalization than a process of making new money. Successful entrepreneurs might be those who successfully convert their existing capitals (e.g. social capital, knowledge capital, money from parents, etc.) into something else. Simply a good idea might be capital but it may depend on the era.

Knowledge from academics may not be sufficient for good capital.

Tayyab Amjad

Thank you for the interesting question. To increase stock of entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial ventures anywhere in the world, you need four (4) key things; 1) people with entrepreneurial capabilities and pedigree; 2) The people with entrepreneurial capabilities and pedigree need to have entrepreneurial motivation and; 3) self belief or self efficacy to convert the motivation into entrepreneurial intention; 4) there has to be some worthwhile entrepreneurial opportunities, where discovered or developed.

Business schools will equip "potential entrepreneurs" with the first variable (see 1 above) and tools and frameworks to "find" and/or develop opportunities. Self belief and motivation has to come from within and of course, one of the critical mediating variables is the context or the environment within which they live, play and work. For more on this, you can look at the GEM Report. You will get a sense of the extent to which social values aid or hinder conversion of entrepreneurial motivation into intention in a particular geography. Lastly, you will also see the extent to which ECF's (Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions) are favourable or not and whether these aid or hinder the conversion from entrepreneurial motivation into intention and from entrepreneurial intention into entrepreneurial action.

Svetlana Tereshchenko Could you please elaborate on how universities are connected with businesses? Thanks!

Many want executive positions or public positions, rather than being entrepreneurs. Thus, it cannot be said that there were failures of such schools.

I don't think universities have a problem with that, if there are many students studying entrepreneurship, there are interests, plans and career goals that may differ from one to the next. Many alumni have offered distinct forms of entrepreneurship for decades even though they have not taught the subject for this purpose. It all depends on the student's preferences, desires, career plans, and goals.

It really is a mixed bag. In India a large number of Entrepreneurs do emerge from Business Schools!

Sascha Kraus If a business school claims entrepreneurship expertise, then why not measure their output in terms of entrepreneurial success in the field?

Your second point is true that business schools are to facilitate an 'entrepreneurial mindset', but they're clearly seen unable to achieve that as yet. Last, but not least, an 'entrepreneurial mindset' eventually starts a self-owned venture. It can't stay as 'employee' for longer, as this itself is contradictory to the 'entrepreneurial mindset'. So, in my opinion, counting the newly developed entrepreneurial firms owned/operated by the graduates is the most effective and concrete way to evaluate business schools' entrepreneurship programs.

There must be practical training in business courses.

Because business is only partly a science, more it is as a spirit, and not everyone studying business has such spirit. I am writing about the spirit in a wide meaning - in other fields having the spirit means the same for success too.

There are many reasons, including the lack of modernization of the curriculum to suit the needs of the market, as well as the poor quality of teaching in inculcating creative ideas that students can start from, as well as the absence of an effective role for colleges management in coordination with leading companies in this aspect for the purpose of a field visit by teachers and students to discuss what are the reasons in The success of those companies @ Tayyab Amjad

ببساطة شديدة ، لان الجامعات لاتهيأ الطلبة لسوق العمل منذ البداية ، وعليه تكون مخرجات التعليم العالي فاشلة تماما لانها لاتعتمد مبدأ الجودة القائم على ( افعل صحيحا منذ البدء)

It is not subscription or enrolement learning or the modern way where the expectation and naievety is you press a button and you somehow miss out 10-15 years of learning.

It is working for “Masters” and being physically and mentally tutored mentored, influenced and indoctrinated in the process of learning and understanding.

An entrepreneur is a person who sees an opportunity and exploits it right away. This kind of approach is not taught in class as what is taught in class is experience but entrepreneurship is evolving day and night. So graduates may not be fast enough in risk taking.

There is a schism between theory and practice. This is part of my dissertation. Although there is some agreement on what makes a business sustainable, entrepreneurs/practitioners tend to be more economic focused. Also, practitioners are adaptable, flexible, and experimental with ideas. Academia (traditionally) provides a rigid framework or structure to follow. The real world is a continually changing, unhospitable, over-regulated, and costly environment. Also, academics tend to be focused on large businesses. 99% of U.S. businesses are considered small to medium (< 500 employees). The small business is struggling to survive and is not thinking about theory or the triple bottom line. I am working on a unified theory and education program to bring the best of both worlds together. There are exceptions to these comments, but in general, they represent our population. There are also many academics that have no professional experience. This can be problematic. What other solutions are there? If you are interested in my survey, it can be found here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/D7Y8W3V

In order for a graduate to become an entrepreneur or manager, he or she must go through the process of becoming an entrepreneur or a manager. This process is associated with both the experience of success and the experience of failure and personal crisis. Qualitative research focused on lived experience in business practice deals with this in more detail. Existential perspectives in the philosophy of management and business claim that no one is just on the top, but sometimes experiences these crises as well. Successful entrepreneurs are able to use these failures for their own development, they become stronger and see new opportunities. Less successful ends up doing business. It is not possible to learn the experience of a crisis at university, but it is possible to stimulate creativity, originality and ways of thinking that will enable students to respond to the challenges of today's world.