Corporate Entrepreneurship courses with Online Business Simulation

The ever-changing economy requires that management must be flexible, adaptable, speedy, innovative and to have an aggressive competitive spirit. In this competitive economic environment the major goal is to discover, obtain and sustain a competitive advantage. An entrepreneurial mind-set is a vital requirement for business success in newly established enterprises.

The definition of corporate entrepreneurship

Corporate entrepreneurship (Shaker A. Zahra) is a set of activities designed to enhance a company’s ability to innovate, take risks, and seize the opportunities that are arising in the market. Corporate entrepreneurship is targeted on new business establishment, opening to new markets or both. Corporate entrepreneurship comes from a combination of the entrepreneurial activities of multiple participants (Robert A. Burgelman).

External entrepreneurship is a line of entrepreneurial activities that combine resources that are dispersed in the environment with resources that are held by the company to create a new unique coalition to achieve financial profit. Internal entrepreneurship is realized in the ability to craft new combinations of the company’s existing internal resources (Michael G. Brizek).

Why is corporate entrepreneurship useful?

An organisation with high corporate entrepreneurship level will have a higher probability than its competitors of identifying market opportunities and of implementing effective solutions to realise those opportunities.

How can we cultivate corporate entrepreneurship?

Individuals are the core elements of corporate entrepreneurship. Corporations need employees who are readily joining efforts at innovation. Individual entrepreneurial capabilities can be developed and boosted through specific trainings. This training – together with establishing a corporate culture of corporate entrepreneurship – will be among the most important tasks during the improvement of corporate entrepreneurship.

The SimTeam simulation platform suits the curriculum of entrepreneurship courses perfectly. Participants practice teamwork, face competition and learn various techniques that will be fundamental for the improvement of their skills.

Course objectives / Learning objectives

• Participants will experience situations where they can understand and practice entrepreneurial approaches.
• Participants’ (virtual) companies will face changing markets, unexpected circumstances and live competition. They will need to work out innovative answers to these challenges, evaluate risks, and co-operate with teammates.
• Participants can learn how to see the bigger picture when making important, complex decisions, and they will need the cooperation and input of every functional area of the company.
• Participants will be forced to think and make decisions for the long run, but they also need to balance short term and long-term goals of the company.

Topics covered

• Establishment and development of a start-up enterprise in an ever-changing external environment.
• Proactive decision making.
• Awareness of a decision’s financial consequences.
• Development of long-term competitive advantage on the market.
• Recognition of opportunities.
• Resource allocation among projects.

Participant Learning Outcomes

During the course the participants will:

• Act in an environment where their innovative approach can be the core element of their team’s success.
• Learn how to evaluate the market environment and to
  adapt to it.
• Understand risk evaluation and practice risk taking.
• Experience the financial consequences of their decisions.
• Practice teamwork.
• Understand the importance of strategic thinking.
• Understand the concept of creating new business within established firms to improve organisational profitability.
• Practice autonomous strategic behaviour.
• Improve their awareness and recognition of opportunities.

Who should attend?

This course is designed for the following types of participants.

• Managers of larger organisations whose entrepreneurial capabilities need to be developed.
  Start-up professionals.
• Start-up professionals.
• Business schools and university students in management courses that emphasize entrepreneurship.

Suggested training outline

The following structure is suggested for the course:

• Introduction to the concept of corporate entrepreneurship (1-2 hours)
• Introduction of the learning environment and explanation of the simulation’s rules - (0,5 - 1 hour)
• Setting the targets for the teams - (0,25 hour)
• Run a simulation to emulate market changes and competition among teams, during which the participants can practice the principles they have learned - (4-6 hours)
• Focused topical exercises (during the simulation): setting strategic goals for the companies, assessing market events, adapting the strategy to both market changes and competitors’ actions
• Evaluation and feedback - (0,5 - 1 hour)

Total time requirement: 1-1,5 days