EXPERIENTIAL APPROACH TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 17, 1990 182 EXPERIENTIAL APPROACH TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP Newell E. Chiesl Jr., Indiana State University ABSTRACT This paper discusses the importance of entrepreneurship and presents a teaching procedure utilized in a School of Business New Product course. The paper is intended to offer pedagogical insights for School of Business faculty. The procedure encompasses experiential and case-method teaching techniques. The four stages of this procedure are: 1) product ideation, 2) environment, 3) case analysis and 4) product development. INTRODUCTION Entrepreneurship is one of the hottest topics in today’s literature. The reasons for this are as near as your imported Japanese VCR and television. Seriously, the United States is experiencing record trade deficits. Approximately 25,000 U.S. jobs are lost for every billion dollars of trade deficit. Because of these alarming figures, many types of government agencies are promoting entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to disseminate information on the procedure utilized in the teaching of entrepreneurship in a senior level School of Business marketing class. The New Product class contains 20-30 students and is broken down into groups of 3-4 students. A required written project consists of a thirty page double space typed paper with thirty references worth 30% of the student’s final grad. The importance of this paper, as noted earlier, is that business schools, industry leaders and the government system realize the growing emergence of entrepreneurship and its necessary promotion and development. THE PROCEDURE The actual entrepreneurship procedure is composed of many types of interactive and related components rooted in experiential learning: the illustrative exercise, the practice- feedback exercise, and the vicarious learning exercise. Throughout the semester students are exposed to these three categories of experiential exercises. Therefore, the objective of the course, is to place the students in a continuing hands on entrepreneurial experience. ENTREPRENEURSHIP TEACHING PROCEDURE: THE FOUR STAGES I. Product Ideation A. Brainstorming B. Forced Relationships C. Scenario Writing D. Creativity II. Situational Factors Environment A. Ten Uncontrollable Factors III. Case Analysis A. Demand B. Financial C. Marketing IV. Product Development A. P.C. Paint Program B. Micro-Soft’s Quick Basic C. CAD Program D. Video Tape E. Prototype F. A Scaled Drawing Stage I: Product Ideation A brainstorming session is scheduled and students give as many solutions or new product ideas as possible. New product ideas are not evaluated or criticized. Piggy backing of ideas is encouraged. During the brainstorming session, students envariably select service oriented new business ventures, especially restaurants. After a feedback session, the goal of the project is re-defined to include only a product to be manufactured inside the State of Indiana. Stage II: Situational Analysis In this phase students are made aware of the importance of monitoring the potential business’s environment. The ten uncontrollable or environmental factors for analysis are: 1) competition, 2) demand, 3) economy, 4) the physical environment of location, geographics, climate and pollution, 5) goals and history of the organization, 6) institutions, such as financial, educational, distributors and government, 7) international, 8) political and legal, 9) social and cultural, and 10) technology. Stage III: Case Analysis This entire section utilizes a regular written case-method procedure. Stage IV: Project Development To be more realistic, students in this final stage are to design a work-up of their proposed new product. CONCLUSION Although there currently is no conclusive data, there is strong evidence supporting the effectiveness of the entrepreneurship learning experience discussed in this paper. The first evidence is the observation of the student’ eagerness in their participation during the entire semester long project. The second is obtained from matriculated students who have written, phoned or personally shared their own experiences during the semester. The one common comment gleaned, “Teaching in the types of things I need to know for the rest of my life.” The third evidence is from my peers who have inquired as to the innovative methodology utilized during the class. Table of Contents Volume 17, 1990 The Impact of Decision Support Systems on the Effectiveness of Small Group Decisions - Revisited The Relationship Between Financial Performance and Other Measures of Learning on a Simulation Exercise Use and Effectiveness of an Analogy-Based Expert System Suggestions for Computerized Business Authors Dealing with Power: An Experiential Exercise Using Movie and Personal Diary Analysis Techniques A Model for Developing Student Skills and Assessing Outcomes Through Outdoor Training Computer-Aided Exercises Versus Workbook Exercises as Learning Facilitator in the Principles of Marketing Course An Exposition of Guilford's Si Model as a Means of Diagnosing and Generating Pedagogical Strategies in Collegiate Business Education Formal Planning and Simulation Team Performance: A Cross Sectional Approach Cases: Real Organizations in Real Time in the Classroom An Empirical Investigation of the Internal Validity of Marketing Simulation Game An Empirical Evaluation of the Pedagogical Value of Playing a Simulation Game in a Principles of Marketing Course Factors Affecting Effective Teaching of Strategic Planning: Some Preliminary Evidence An Experiential Exercise for Learning About the Relationship Between Organizational Form & the Project Management Process Accounting Communication Skills can be Taught in the Auditing Course Modeling Cost Functions in Computerized Business Simulation: An Application of Duality Theory and Sheppard's Lemma A Life Cycle Analysis of Decision Making for a Strategic Management Team What's the Problem? A Dynamic Model for Teaching Problem Solving Skills Experientially International Currency Fluctuations: Money$im, A Simulation Superstores: A Specialized Retailing Simulation Within a Specialized Marketing Curriculum Factors Affecting Student Perceptions of Learning in a Business Policy Game VC + EL = VL The Name Game: An Experiential Exercise in Intergroup Relations The Effects of Experiential Accounting Work Experience on Student Performance in Intermediate Accounting Courses The Results of Using the Experiential Activity Group Performance Evaluation in a Business Policy Setting Using a Legal Database to Describe the Legal Environment of Marketing (and Business) Matching Environmental Uncertainty and Organizational Configuration An Instructional Computer Simulation of Tampering in QC Executive Evaluation of Student Learning in the Looking Glass Simulation Group Personality Composition and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance An Expert System for Selecting Analytical Techniques for Analyzing Marketing Research Data Effects of Cognitive Styles on Responses in an In-Basket Simulation A Psychometric Analysis of Kolb's Revised Learning Style-Inventory Selecting and Developing Experiential Exercises Using Movies Application of a Real-World Strategic Management Model in the Classroom Demand Equations which Include Product Attributes Consumption as the Objective in Computer-Scored Total Enterprise Simulations The Effects of Decision Format and Evaluation on Simulation Performance, Decision Time, and Team Cohesion The Effects of Computer Related Assignments on Student Performance in Business Administration The Money Game: A Dynamic Simulation Including Random Shocks for Money and Banking Courses Methods for Evaluating Performance on Business Simulations: A Survey The Effects of Synergogy on the Policy Course: Significant Improvements in Student Learning and Teacher Evaluation Conditions and Outcomes of Trust in a Two-Person Bargaining Exercise Bankgame Enhancing Computer Business Simulation with the Use of VGA Graphics An Experiential Approach to Entrepreneurship An Advanced Simulation Method (ASM) for Multiple Objective Problems The Influence of Experiential learning Techniques on Student Recognition of Non-Primary Learning Styles Negotiating Mergers and Acquisitions: A Cocktail Napkin Approach Identification of Unintended Effects in Experiential Laboratory Exercises An Experimental Comparison of Paper and Pencil and Computer Aided Decision Support Tools Porting a Simulation from the IBM World to the Macintosh World A Transaction Cost Analysis of Experiential Learning The Development of Experiential Exercises for Courses in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management The Assessment Center as and Experiential Classroom Exercise Pricing Strategy Algorithms for Playing Business Simulations Organizational Structures for International Operations: An Experiential Activity Simulation Emphasis in the Business School Capstone Course An Integrated Approach to Computerizing the Business Curriculum Cross-Cultural Business Negotiations Exercise Organizational Socialization and Gender Differences in Students at Work Understanding Student Work Experience: A Content-Analytic Approach Introducing Executive MBA Programs with Management Games An Analysis of Improvement in Business Decision Outcome with Sequential Use of Two Simulation Games Teaching Business Policy Utilizing Mass Lecture and Individual Case Labs Potholes Along the Road to Evaluating Learning Outcomes: The Case of Outdoor Management Training Experiential Learning for Interior Design Students: Using CADD, Lotus 1-2-3, and Wordperfect Cognitive Learning Using a Computer-Based, Qualitative Interactive Business Simulation Sex Discrimination: Does the Woman get the Job or Does the Best Man Win? A Search for Visual Aids to Support Experiential Learning Through the 1990's An Experimental Analysis fo the Effectiveness of Student Role-Playing in Sales Training How to Have Students Learn from their Term Projects Self-Evaluation Exercise (SEE): An Assessment of Class Contribution A Study of the Influence of Team Formation on Attitudes and Performance in Management Games A Hardware Based CIM Simulation Laboratory Model Test Substance Abuse in Organizations Micro Computer Training Models Teaching Forecasting, Cash Budgeting and Inventory Model Building Using SBTools A Comparison of the Effects of Experiential Learning Activities and Traditional Lecture Classes An Adjunct Writing Instruction Assistant, The Computer; With an Illustration Classroom Software for ABC Analysis Utilizing Information Processing Technology to Enhance the Business Policy Simulation Experience Progressive Cases Realistic Job Previews Vs. Traditional Job Previews: Experiencing the Differences and Understanding the Consequences Investment Analysis Using the Pragmatic Multiplier Approach A Computer Simulation Interface for Competitive and Firm Analysis Self-Assessment of Ethical Decision Making Predispositions Preparing Managers for Overseas Assignments An Inquiry into Japanese Marketing: Workshop on Teaching Japanese Marketing The Performance Appraisal Feedback Interview: A Role Play for Human Resources Management Teaching Counselor Selling techniques Using Experiential Techniques to Teach International Topics International Management Simulation Gaming: Current Status and Future Developments A Realism Comparison of Simulation Technologies/Methodologies A Time-Efficient Game to Illustrate Concepts Taught in Management Courses and Management Development Programs Teaching the Management of Technology The Concept of Face and the Applicability of Experiential Exercises in an Oriental Culture's