engleski

Building Competitive Advantage: The Role of Small Business Schools

The interest of foreign investors in Croatia has grown recently and the majority of its citizens would like their country in transition to become a member of the European Union. Many surveys have been conducted to that end, the best known being the ones by the World Economic Forum - National Competitiveness Council and Global Entrepreneurship Monitoring. All surveys so far have shown, among other things, that Croatia comes last in matters of managerial skills and the quality of business schools. On the other hand, the efforts of the EU to catch up with the competitive entrepreneurial American economy indicate the growing role and responsibility of the university and other educational institutions where entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial management are taught. The unique example of a private business school set up in Zagreb five years ago as a private enterprise shows the possible role of business schools in promoting entrepreneurial activities and entrepreneurial culture as well as in regional development. The mission of business schools is twofold: to teach the students how to recognize and use a business opportunity to their advantage and in doing so systematically develop entrepreneurial culture which contributes to the economic growth and overall progress of the society. By developing entrepreneurship curriculum and motivating the students to establish start ups, develop and run their own business and passing on up-to-date applicable knowledge, the business school also realizes its social responsibility in connecting education with private and public sector. Following the well-known model of teaching entrepreneurship on four key levels: entrepreneurship by learning, by understanding, by doing and by being leads to the need of constant improvement. Systematic and regular evaluations are required to improve the curriculum and the methodology of teaching all subjects, especially entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial management. Moreover, it is important to establish co-operation with entrepreneurs because of the quality of students’ in-company training and with supporting institutions for the promotion of entrepreneurship (Croatian agency for SME’s , entrepreneurship centres, incubators, chambers, organizations of entrepreneurs and employers, non-government organizations etc.) The need for entrepreneurial behaviour of the business school management is particularly emphasised, which should serve as a model to the students, aspiring entrepreneurs. Additionally, the students’ awareness is raised of the need for lifelong learning, networking and social responsibility of entrepreneurs and their companies. Although this role of small business schools in Croatia has not been sufficiently recognized yet because it requires strenuous efforts and long-term co-operation with many parties, the latest recommendations of the EU show that such concepts are on the right track. To successfully deal with rapid changes, not only in the field of work and organization, but also achieving economic growth and development in general, entrepreneurship is seen as the crucial and critical source for mastering that new, unknown terrain. In this paper we want to show why entrepreneurship education is so important today for our young generation but also for our country. What should entrepreneurship education and business schools be like in order to contribute to raising the economic literacy and entrepreneurship activities, which in itself is of utmost importance, especially in countries in transition. This is also a significant requirement for the balanced regional development of Croatia and attracting foreign investments, which should all result in creating new jobs and eventually raising the standard of living.

entrepreneurship; business school; social responsibility; competitiveness; local development

This book is accompained with the CD-ROM. U tiskanom zborniku nalazi se prošireni sažetak rada, a na CD-ROM-u cjelovit tekst.