DOCUMENT DE TRAVAIL THE ENTREPRENEURIAL APPROACH MODEL AT UNIVERSITÉ LAVAL. Yvon GASSE

Transcription

1 Publié par : Published by: Publicación de la: Édition électronique : Electronic publishing: Edición electrónica: Disponible sur Internet : Available on Internet Disponible por Internet : Faculté des sciences de l administration Université Laval Québec (Québec) Canada G1K 7P4 Tél. Ph. Tel. : (418) Télec. Fax : (418) Aline Guimont Vice-décanat - Recherche et affaires académiques Faculté des sciences de l administration rd@fsa.ulaval.ca DOCUMENT DE TRAVAIL THE ENTREPRENEURIAL APPROACH MODEL AT UNIVERSITÉ LAVAL Yvon GASSE Version originale : Original manuscript: Version original: Série électronique mise à jour : On-line publication updated : Seria electrónica, puesta al dia ISBN

2 The entrepreneurial approach model at Université Laval Yvon Gasse, PhD, Director Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre for Entrepreneurship and SME Faculty of Business Administration Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada SUMMARY Over the last 40 years, Université Laval has pioneered what has been called the useful university, particularly in the field of entrepreneurship. Activities related to entrepreneurship, mainly located at the Faculty of Administration [Faculté des sciences de l administration, or FSA], have primarily been aimed at the training and professional initiation of young entrepreneurs and managers. This paper presents a brief review of Université Laval s main achievements in the field of entrepreneurship, highlighting its efforts to assemble training, research and services appealing to professors and students from all disciplines on campus and promoting collaboration with community ventures and organizations. INTRODUCTION The traditional mission of a university is currently in question, at least as far as its practices, and to some extent its purposes, are concerned. Instead of basic research, the trend is towards applied research; instead of general education, job training; and instead of ivory towers, a university accessible and useful to all. Over the last few decades most universities have learned how to adapt their roles to meet society s new expectations. One area in particular that has served as a model in this transformation is entrepreneurship. A new discipline, entrepreneurship mainly focuses on training people who can show initiative, creativity, tenacity and action. Everyone knows about entrepreneurs who launch business ventures, but there are also social, community and cooperative entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and all those independent workers, craftsmen, professional artists and technicians who work for themselves. So how can a university make entrepreneurship a discipline like any other, while meeting the imperatives of civil society? Université Laval has tried to rise to the challenge as it continues to strengthen its position on the local, regional, national and even global fronts.

3 THE EVOLUTION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT THE FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (FSA) It was early in the 1970s that FSA professors began to take an interest in research on Quebec businesses and entrepreneurs. Before then, some projects had been launched to write up cases, there were continuing education courses on the setting up and management of small and medium-sized businesses, and there was collaboration with the business community, but research on SME and entrepreneurship really took off with the arrival of a number of new faculty members with doctorates. Around 1975, an optional course was created in the Baccalaureate [Licence] in Business Administration (BAA) and Master s of Business Administration (MBA) that dealt with the management of SMEs. A continuing education department course dealt with creating a business. The PhD program also welcomed the first students who wanted to extend their research in these areas. It was in research, however, that the FSA distinguished itself most during this period. About 20 major projects were conducted, ranging from the study of SME managerial issues through women s entrepreneurship and succession issues in family businesses to instruments for assessing entrepreneurial potential. In 1982, Canada s Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) decided to establish a new research program on SMEs at the FSA. Ten years later, under the direction of professors Gérald D Amboise and Yvon Gasse, more than 30 research projects had been conducted, mostly by FSA professors. Moreover, in 1984 the FSA s research laboratory set up a research group on SME and entrepreneurship (GRPME), directed by Gérald d Amboise, to take advantage of the synergy of researchers and students and create a development centre for these disciplines. Other achievements among the FSA highlights during this period included the organization, in collaboration with the Fondation de l Entrepreneurship du Québec, of three provincial symposiums on business incubators, start-up capital and Quebec-Africa entrepreneurship. In the fall of 1985, the FSA and Le Soleil published a series of 16 courses coordinated by guest professor Paul-Arthur Fortin and entitled Devenez Entrepreneur ; more than 500 people registered and about 50 of them submitted projects to the Business Plan Competition at the end of the activities. In addition, the series was taken up by 12 other daily papers in Quebec and elsewhere. After evaluating this experiment, Professor Yvon Gasse and his colleagues in 1988 launched a TV series, Posséder Mon Entreprise [owning my own business]; this was followed by three new televised courses on setting up a business and managing an SME. In January 1993, the FSA established a Centre for Entrepreneurship and SME to coordinate activities in these areas. Among other things, the Centre s team organized three national and international conventions, including the Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, the International Council for Small Business in 1989, and the first Forum Canadien sur l Entrepreneuriat. From 1992 to 1997, the Centre successfully organized university summer schools to train instructors and counsellors in entrepreneurship. A number of international cooperation projects asked the Centre s team to intervene in virtually every part of the world. In September 1993, under the direction of Yvon Gasse, the Centre created Entrepreneurship Laval Inc., with a mandate to coach students from the university campus in their business creation activities. After 14 years, Entrepreneurship Laval had promoted the creation of 360 new businesses and over 650 jobs, with approximately 24% coming from the 2

4 FSA. The contribution of the FSA to the development of knowledge and training in entrepreneurship and SMEs is now nationally and internationally recognized; the expertise and experience of its professors and students are called on, not just in Quebec and the rest of Canada but also in many other countries, including France in particular. AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITIES AT UNIVERSITÉ LAVAL Université Laval With a student body of over 38,000, Université Laval is among the most active of the 10 Canadian universities in research. Its involvement in the community reflects its commitment to developing the surrounding region, and the importance it assigns to relations with businesses. In this way Laval promotes technology transfer and partnerships with the private sector. It enables active interfacing among researchers, businesses and regional and national economic development organizations, and has collaborated in launching a number of businesses in the region and creating many quality jobs. The philosophy behind Université Laval s approach to entrepreneurship The integrated approach to entrepreneurship seeks to: - convey the entrepreneurial spirit and the values associated with it to its students; - consolidate and develop entrepreneurship training, research and services; - support all types of entrepreneurship; - institute a personalized coaching approach from project idea to project achievement; and build strong ties with the communities. The first task is to train students who can become: - entrepreneurs capable of recognizing and seizing new business opportunities and; - agents of change who can work in existing organizations and contribute to renewing them. The component of the approach are therefore increased student awareness, training and research programs, counselling and coaching services, support organizations and bridges to services, and concrete and realistic action plans. Awareness should be focused primarily on promoting the values of creativity, innovation, leadership, commitment and a taste for action. Activities for the university community with this approach The approach is supported by the training and research programs: Courses in entrepreneurship to undergraduate and Master s programs at the FSA: - Concentration in entrepreneurship and SMEs in the undergraduate business administration program (BAA), micro-programs in entrepreneurship and SMEs; An entrepreneurial profile for all disciplines: - Portfolio of entrepreneurial skills; 3

5 A Centre for entrepreneurship and SMEs and a Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the FSA. Integrated counselling services for creating a business project: - Entrepreneurship Laval (pre-incubator); - personalized coaching approach (entrepreneurial portfolio) and; - monitoring by professors and specialist professionals. Access to several support organizations internally and off campus: - Research Development Application Group [Société de valorisation des applications de la recherché, or SOVAR]; - risk capital, patents, financial arrangements; - bridge to services; - business resources (mentoring and advice); - Fondation de l entrepreneurship (observatory, publications); - Centre local de développement de Québec (grants, networks, specific aid); - Facto (training enterprise) and RÉEL (group of student entrepreneurs). Figure 1 Approach Structure ACADEMIC FUNCTIONS ENTREPRENEURIAL TRANSFER PROCESS CIVIL SOCIETY Training Awareness Resources in development Appreciation Research Support Community and group RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP Aware that business creation is a powerful tool in the fight against poverty and an essential element for community development, more and more governments have developed specific policies on entrepreneurship and businesses. 4

6 Entrepreneurship policies essentially target individuals, potential and future entrepreneurs, which require action in the medium term resulting in cultural changes. Business policies target businesses and various aspects affecting their development, including taxation, market development, competitivity, research and development, specialist labour, exporting, and so on. Furthermore, over the next few years, several thousand business executives are going to be retiring. It is thus vital to make them aware of the succession process, enable them to identify potential successors and support them at every stage of this complex and sensitive activity. If we want to meet these challenges, it is important not only to correctly analyse and describe the realities of the entrepreneurial world but also to ensure that concrete measures will be put forward. Here are a few examples: - Better inform potential entrepreneurs about the characteristics of the process of launching a solo or group undertaking; - promote the transfer of experience and alert managers to succession problems; - increase and stimulate training opportunities for advisors and counsellors as well as the entrepreneurs themselves; - propose initiation and awareness activities for business creation. Target young people as soon as they enter secondary school; - prepare future entrepreneurs for the pre-start-up and start-up phases and be attentive to their specific needs during this period; - establish mechanisms for developing business ideas and provide an environment favourable to realizing business ideas. A centre of influence in research and development Launched in 2005, the Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation has three main focuses: empirical research, educational innovation and transfer and services to the community. An observatory of entrepreneurial culture Leading-edge research is conducted on the new generation of entrepreneurs, their characteristics, needs, plans, innovations and models. This research, empirical in nature, makes it possible among other things to better understand and master the concept of entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship for independent workers, the social economy, and private and public organizations. The new business models are also studied in terms of the new and traditional economies and new fields of application. Because they want their work to have a practical application, the members of the research group primarily target two types of users: instructors and the entrepreneurs themselves. An innovative and original educational component The Chair s training role primarily involves conducting studies to develop innovative methods, tools and materials in support of existing and future training and intervention programs. Special effort is devoted to methods using distance education technologies and those focused on the development of entrepreneurial skills. Although all clienteles are targeted, the training of 5

7 instructors and counsellors in entrepreneurship and SMEs is emphasized by the introduction of an experimental program specialized in intervention practices. A laboratory for the incubation of businesses that helps them succeed In order for practitioners and stakeholders to benefit from its spin-offs, the Chair works closely with institutions and social and economic organizations compatible with its goals. For example, it acts in partnership with Entrepreneurship Laval Inc. and is developing an incubation laboratory for students and researchers. Future entrepreneurs and training interveners can work together to develop incubation and coaching approaches suited to various activity sectors, such as agri-food, new technologies, aeronautics, and so on. Entrepreneurial potential, a priceless resource It is becoming increasingly clear that western countries will have to adopt new economic strategies if their growth is to continue. With the emergence of the new powers, governments and business leaders are facing new challenges that they will have to solve. The responses will have to include fostering and valuing all forms of entrepreneurship. It has been noted that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and new businesses in particular, make communities more dynamic through job creation, the use of individual talents and creativity, and emulation by the public, especially young people: the development of entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial culture transcends the activities of the SMEs and extends to the rest of society. In Quebec, for example, between 1985 and 2005, 90% of new jobs were created by businesses with fewer than 100 employees. In addition, to make their mark, managers and directors will have to invest more effort in the search for new products and procedures. Innovation has now become a necessary condition for success. It is in this context that the Chair of Entrepreneurship and Innovation analyses the environment in which businesses are created and evolve, its ultimate objective being to better identify the conditions favourable to the development of communities. The results of its work also contribute to developing teaching counselling strategies not just for new entrepreneurs, but also for specialized interveners. INITIAL, CONTINUING AND SPECIALIZED TRAINING IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP Accessible and diversified undergraduate and master s level programs Training in entrepreneurship and management of SMEs is now provided at all Canadian universities 1 and in most community colleges; there are also increasing numbers of secondary schools that offer activities in these disciplines. The most serious and credible training is based on research, as regards both content and teaching approaches and methodologies. This is extremely important given the innovative and complex nature of the discipline and its empirical aspects. 1 Teresa V. Menzies, Entrepreneurship and the Canadian Universities : Report of a National Study of Entrepreneurship Centres, Faculty of Business, Brock University,

8 At Université Laval, as indicated above, teaching in entrepreneurship and SME management has been offered since the 60s. Laval pioneered in a number of training programs, such as televised distance learning in entrepreneurship and SME management, newspaper training courses for the creation of businesses, summer seminars for interveners, technology planning workshops for SME executives, a Master s program in technology entrepreneurship, micro-programs in entrepreneurship and SMEs, a minor concentration in entrepreneurship and management of SMEs for the BAA, the Entrepreneurial Profile, practical workshops offered by Entrepreneurship Laval on business plans, the international SACE distance program [Système d Acquisition des Compétences Entrepreneuriales]. All these initiatives require constant updating of their content, methods and teaching materials; in most cases, ad hoc research is necessary, such as needs assessments, case studies, environmental surveys, simulations, interactive exercises and so on. At the FSA, instruction covers all aspects of the process of creating and managing new businesses, as well as the place occupied by entrepreneurship in all spheres of modern society. A number of FSA programs offer courses to all students on campus, either as a specialization or an optional course. Why should students have to take training in entrepreneurship and SME management? Because they have an idea for a business and they want to get into business; or because they are attracted by entrepreneurial and innovative activities; and because companies are looking for ambitious and multi-skilled graduates. Micro-programs in entrepreneurship for active practitioners These programs are part of a continuing education program for future entrepreneurs, business leaders, collaborators and counsellors working in the SMEs; they emphasize practical training. Despite significant cultural changes with regard to entrepreneurship, new entrepreneurs need support for the start-up and development of their business projects. A lack of knowledge and skills in managing a small business frequently threatens the survival and growth even of very promising projects. The counsellors working for entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses are looking for opportunities to acquire the knowledge and skills that will keep their contributions on target and of consistently high quality. The private sector must more than ever act as the driver of economic development. Small and medium-sized businesses are in the forefront of efforts to meet the challenge of creating stimulating and rewarding jobs. The global economy is forcing local businesses to renew their competitive strategies. Entrepreneurs, ownermanagers and their collaborators need to know ways and means of doing this, and must have leading-edge training to facilitate the task. An unique training and accreditation program for SME counsellors This program offers the various consultants and counsellors in entrepreneurship and SMEs an opportunity to complete their training and develop their competencies as counsellors. The program s training workshops provide resources, practical tools, opportunities for networking, information and techniques to ensure the best possible quality of their interventions with clients. 7

9 Counsellors who have successfully taken the training are accredited through the professional designation APEC-CBC (SME certified business counsellors), which is recognized in more than 15 APEC member countries (consortium of Asia-Pacific countries). The designation APEC-CBC represents dedication and commitment to the highest standards of professionalism in business counselling. It is also an assurance of a counsellor s professional competencies and a reason for increased confidence because it means he or she adheres to the APEC-IBIZ Code of Ethics. The Entrepreneurial Profile: a University first At Université Laval, entrepreneurship is acquiring a new meaning. It reflects the creativity of the students as well as their commitment to projects of all kinds. The Entrepreneurial Profile [Profil entrepreneurial] supports the development of students entrepreneurial competencies through a structured approach in which they are asked to take initiatives, develop projects and manage them. The Entrepreneurial Profile program is addressed to undergraduates of all disciplines (over 30 programs in ). It lets them make their mark in a concrete way in terms of creativity, innovation and action. The Profile gives them the support and tools they need to develop an idea that excites them for a concrete project within their means. It lets them develop an increasingly valued quality: the entrepreneurial spirit. In this way the Entrepreneurial Profile program promotes the emergence and development of attitudes and skills needed for taking initiatives, developing projects and managing them. It lets students, during their time at university, carry out a solo or group project related to their area of study. The originality of the Entrepreneurial Profile derives from several features. First, it is expressed in a definition of entrepreneurship that looks outside the box. Through its comprehensive integration of academic and practical dimensions, it offers a path related to the student s training. Its originality is further reflected in its ability to adapt to the needs and features of each program and the requirements of professional practice. Personalized coaching, provided by professional counsellors and a team of teachers, lets students develop their projects and their entrepreneurial skills. These elements constitute a model for promoting an entrepreneurial spirit that is unique in Canada s university system. Indeed, no other university institution offers students in programs such as theology, biology, music or architecture a chance to incorporate a specialized entrepreneurial component into their curriculum without extending the length of their studies. At the end of their work for the Profile, students receive a designation on their diploma of Entrepreneurial Profile, a recognition attesting to additional skills acquired during their coursework. PROMOTION, COACHING, COUNSELLING SERVICES, TRANSFER, VALIDATION, NETWORKING IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP In addition to research and training, Université Laval also offers a whole range of services to the entire university community, especially its students. The Centre for Entrepreneurship and SME Since 1993, the Centre for Entrepreneurship and SME (CEPME) of the Université Laval Faculty of Business Administration, has carried out studies, disseminated findings, developed teaching 8

10 and support materials and carved out its primary niche of providing training and development to instructors and social and economic counsellors. The CEPME has developed innovative intervention, management and business creation tools that are now widely used not only in Quebec and the rest of Canada but in a number of other countries as well. It has also organized international conferences and developed business creation tools for the international market, video and television productions, intervention and trade missions, publications, lectures and training seminars that make the CEPME a major focal point in its sector. The mission of the CEPME is to conduct studies and develop intervention and learning tools for the education and economic development of communities, at the regional, national and international levels. Entrepreneurship Laval Inc. Entrepreneurship Laval Inc. is an organization specializing in start-up assistance for businesses. Founded in 1993, it makes its expertise available to members of the university community who aspire to get into business. Its services can be divided into three main categories: personalized monitoring, development workshops and coaching in entrepreneurship competitions. Personalized monitoring allows students to meet with counsellors to evaluate their business approach, explain the reasons prompting them to get into business, validate their ideas for a business and support them in preparing their business plans. The development workshops make it possible to explore, with expert instructors from the business community, the main facets of creating and managing a business. The workshop formula promotes exchanges among members and the concepts presented are integrated into their entrepreneurial approach. Entrepreneurship Laval Inc. also offers students the opportunity to participate in many competitions and win awards in the form of bursaries or services. By submitting their project to external evaluation committees, they also benefit from a valuable perspective on the quality of their project and wise advice enabling them to fine-tune their presentations and pursue their approach. In addition to its regular services, Entrepreneurship Laval Inc. also plays a role in promoting entrepreneurship to members of the university community. It collaborates with many instructors on classroom presentations and actively participates in campus career days and other events to develop the students spirit of initiative. Entrepreneurship is increasingly seen as a powerful tool in developing local communities. For many graduates, the career of an entrepreneur can be an extremely stimulating life choice with a high potential for success. 9

11 Figure 2 Student coaching Psychological support Support in knowledge Support in knowhow Implementation and support to development The Regroupement des étudiants entrepreneurs à l Université Laval The Regroupement des Étudiants Entrepreneurs de l'université Laval (RÉEL) has been up and running since 2001, when dedicated students who were passionately interested in entrepreneurship started the first entrepreneurs club on campus. Since that time, university students have had somewhere to turn for information, support and help in meeting their entrepreneurship-related needs. RÉEL regularly innovates by reviewing its mission and restructuring its positions so as to better represent its members vision and adequately meet students expectations. RÉEL is a student association that wants to develop, through networking activities, the students sense of entrepreneurship and their taste for challenges, pushing limits and initiative; this is its primary mission. RÉEL is for dynamic and creative students who are prepared to engage in an enriching experience. The Société de Valorisation des Applications de la Recherche The mission of the Research Application Development Society [Société de Valorisation des Applications de la Recherche, or SOVAR] is to identify and implement, on the economic level, promising technologies and expertise arising from research conducted by Université Laval and other research centres that want to avail themselves of SOVAR s services. In close collaboration with the researchers, SOVAR analyses the commercial potential of research results, and works with researchers to develop an implementation plan and a structured financing strategy that demonstrates to financial or industrial partners the innovative aspects of the technologies employed for purposes of implementation. SOVAR does everything it can to facilitate the passage of technology from the world of research to the places where it is applied, thus contributing to the increase of innovation in businesses and organizations. 10

12 SOVAR s specialized team works in synergy with researchers on setting up and conducting implementation projects. Technologies used in this way are ultimately transferred to existing ventures or give rise to new companies. Since its inception, SOVAR has contributed to a significant increase in the economic value of leading-edge technologies with promising commercial potential. It has breathed new energy into the region s technological development and activity. SOVAR has shown that applying research results is now one of the essential links in the innovation chain. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION At Université Laval, entrepreneurship has a unifying connotation. It reflects the creative power of its students as well as their involvement in all kinds of projects, national as well as regional in scope. More specifically, Laval seeks to inculcate in its students an entrepreneurial spirit that expresses itself in a way of being, thinking and acting inspired by the desire to undertake, to innovate and to achieve. The open-ended entrepreneurial vision, which goes beyond business start-ups, allows Université Laval to assert that entrepreneurship is present in every area of study and is expressed in a multitude of forms. In this way, the University promotes the development of values and skills focused on creativity and innovation, flexibility and a capacity for adaptation, communication, networking and problem-solving. The University would like to encourage its students to become people who can recognize and seize entrepreneurial opportunities as they appear. In affirming themselves as agents of change, they can work in existing organizations and contribute to renewing them. This approach to promoting entrepreneurship lets students act in their communities in a responsible and committed way, demonstrating basic entrepreneurial values favouring sustainable economic and social development for Quebec. Aware of its role and continuing with what it has already accomplished, Université Laval s entrepreneurial vision reaffirms its commitment to contribute to the development of society and the importance it places on the chief entrepreneurial values of creativity, responsibility and commitment. By relying on these values and putting its entrepreneurial agenda in place, the University s objective is to strengthen the development of its students entrepreneurial potential and to increase the support provided to them. We believe that the Université Laval model can be transferred to other universities, with adaptations for the local community and the particular contexts of different countries and institutions. We recommend that interested institutions turn entrepreneurship into a strong academic dimension in their institution and proceed step by step in their approach, following the prevailing local and organizational culture and the means and resources available to them. The most important resources needed to properly integrate entrepreneurship with a university s academic activities are competent professors and counsellors, freely committed to research, training and counselling students interested in becoming involved in entrepreneurial activities during and after their studies. 11

13 The professors and stakeholders in entrepreneurship at Université Laval are available to university institutions with an interest in entrepreneurship and can provide them with advice and useful information on their experiences. 12

14 REFERENCES Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Presentation document, Université Laval, Quebec City, Entrepreneurship Laval Inc., Annual Report , Quebec City, Proposed Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Presentation document, Université Laval, Vice-President, Development, Quebec City, Web sites: