Purpose – Facing the multiplication of entrepreneurship education programmes (EEP) and the increasing resources allocated, there is a need to develop a common framework to evaluate the design of those programmes. The purpose of this article is to propose such a framework, based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Design/methodology/approach – TPB is a relevant tool to model the development of entrepreneurial intention through pedagogical processes. The independent variables are the characteristics of the EEP and the dependent variables are the antecedents of entrepreneurial behaviour. To illustrate and test the relevance of the evaluation methodology, a pilot study is conducted. Findings – Data are consistent and reliable, considering the small scale of this experiment. The EEP assessed had a strong measurable impact on the entrepreneurial intention of the students, while it had a positive, but not very significant, impact on their perceived behavioural control. Research implications/limitations – This is a first step of an ambitious research programme aiming at producing theory-grounded knowledge. Reproduction of the experiment will allow researchers to test how specific characteristics of an EEP influence its impact and how the impact differs across several cohorts of students. Those comparisons will serve to improve a priori the design of EEP. Originality/value – The new methodology is built on a robust theoretical framework and based on validated measurement tools. Its originality is about a relative – longitudinal – measure of impact over time and a particular use of the theory of planned behaviour which is seen as an assessment framework.

Assessing the Impact of Entrepreneurship Education Programmes: A New Methodology

Entrepreneurial intention is a rapidly evolving field of research. A growing number of studies use entrepreneurial intention as a powerful theoretical framework. However, a substantial part of this research lacks systematization and categorization, and there seems to be a tendency to start anew with every study. Therefore, there is a need to take stock of current knowledge in this field. In this sense, this paper carries out a review of the literature on entrepreneurial intentions. A total of 409 papers addressing entrepreneurial intention, published between 2004 and 2013 (inclusive), have been analyzed. The purpose and contribution of this paper is to offer a clearer picture of the sub-fields in entrepreneurial intention research, by concentrating on two aspects. Firstly, it reviews recent research by means of a citation analysis to categorize the main areas of specialization currently attracting the attention of the academic community. Secondly, a thematic analysis is carried out to identify the specific themes being researched within each category. Despite the large number of publications and their diversity, the present study identifies five main research areas, plus an additional sixth category for a number of new research papers that cannot be easily classified into the five areas. Within those categories, up to twenty-five different themes are recognized. A number of research gaps are singled out within each of these areas of specialization, in order to induce new ways and perspectives in the entrepreneurial intention field of research that may be fruitful in filling these gaps.

A systematic literature review on entrepreneurial intentions: citation, thematic analyses, and research agenda

Recent shifts in education and labour market policy have resulted in universities being placed under increasing pressure to produce employable graduates. However, contention exists regarding exactly what constitutes employability and which graduate attributes are required to foster employability in tertiary students. This paper argues that in the context of a rapidly changing information- and knowledge-intensive economy, employability involves far more than possession of the generic skills listed by graduate employers as attractive. Rather, for optimal economic and social outcomes, graduates must be able to proactively navigate the world of work and self-manage the career building process. A model of desirable graduate attributes that acknowledges the importance of self-management and career building skills to lifelong career management and enhanced employability is presented. Some important considerations for the implementation of effective university career management programs are then outlined.

The graduate attributes we've overlooked : enhancing graduate employability through career management skills

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Corporate governance and performance of the financial firms in Bahrain

What factors influence students to start their own business? What are the implications at the university level? This paper aims to answer to these questions and investigates, at a micro level (university), the motivation for entrepreneurial intentions among students in 10 universities from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). An online inquiry has been conducted among 500 students between April and June 2018, and 157 fully completed questionnaires were retained. Factor Analysis with Varimax (with Kaizer Normalization) rotation and logistic regression were used to identify what factors motivate students to start their own business and, from those factors, which one is determinant in this decision. Also, age and parental self-employment status were used to determine the influence of these factors. Four factors have been identified as determinants for students to start their own business: entrepreneurial confidence, entrepreneurial orientation, university support for entrepreneurship, and cultural support for entrepreneurship. Surprisingly, the only factor significantly correlated with the intention in starting a business is entrepreneurial confidence. This factor becomes even stronger when it is associated with age (20–25 years old) and parents’ self-employment status. These conclusions involve specific challenges on the university level, related to the role of entrepreneurial education and on country level, in link with the effectiveness of governmental programs to enhance entrepreneurial endeavours. Further research can explore and test these findings on a representative sample for the UAE, and for other countries.

What Determinants Influence Students to Start Their Own Business? Empirical Evidence from United Arab Emirates Universities

Employability in the fourth industrial revolution

The main aim of this study was to clarify the current literary inconsistencies regarding the characteristics of entrepreneurial leadership and its impact on sustainability. Additionally, another aim was to establish the framework of entrepreneurial leadership and to highlight the main gaps in the entrepreneurial leadership literature. The entrepreneurial leadership literature started to develop recently as a new leadership style that is required to fulfill the current business changes in the fourth industrial revolution. The researchers conducted a narrative literature review to assess the status of entrepreneurial leadership in academia, literature gaps, and the impact of entrepreneurial leadership on the sustainability performance of organizations. Furthermore, the researchers main aim was to investigate the following research question: is entrepreneurial leadership a fixed or a multidimensional concept that differs based on industry, context, and firm size? Regarding the answer to this question, the current study found that entrepreneurial leadership is a multidimensional concept as it is reflected in different perspectives, which indicates the inconsistency of the characteristics of entrepreneurial leadership claimed in the literature. Research limitations—the current study focused on assessing the literature review status of entrepreneurial leadership. Based on that, this study’s limitation is represented in not focusing on testing entrepreneurial leadership’s impact on sustainability either quantitatively or qualitatively. On the contrary, it contributed by analyzing the status of the entrepreneurial leadership literature. Future studies need to further assess this relationship between both concepts and reach an agreement about the common characteristics of entrepreneurial leadership. Originality/value—the current study contributes to the entrepreneurial leadership literature as it highlighted the existing gaps and the inconsistency in the literature. Additionally, it contributed theoretically by connecting entrepreneurial leadership to the existing literature. Furthermore, empirically, it highlighted the contribution of entrepreneurial leadership by emphasizing the impact of it on organizational sustainable development performance. This study represents a call for scholars to focus more on entrepreneurial leadership given its contribution to organizational performance.

Entrepreneurial Leadership and Sustainable Development—A Systematic Literature Review

Located in the south-eastern corner of Arabian Peninsula, the Sultan of Oman is one of the fastest developing economies having a rich history and culture of exploration abroad. The country is categorized under the high-income economies and is placed in the top 50 leading nations in peace. Despite neighboring countries that are hugely endowed with oil and gas resources, the nationâ€™s economy is hugely diversified and oil forms only a small fraction of the economic activities, which also include fishing, light manufacturing and agriculture among others. In addition, a stable government coupled with relatively low taxes makes Oman an attractive investment destination for entrepreneurs and local as well as foreign investors searching for tax havens. The country also recognizes the importance of technology and innovation to economic development, which is foreseen by the research council. The research council undertakes an important duty of ensuring that research in the country is well developed. This research looks at some of the factors that impact on the individual decision to venture into entrepreneurship as well as a qualitative analysis of the link between entrepreneurship and innovation. The key findings of the empirical study will be examined in detail in bid to analyze the relevance of the findings in relation to existing theories and research in the field.

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Innovation and entrepreneurship in Sultanate of 0man – an empirical study

The main contribution of this research project is to provide statistical evidence on some of the external factors that are perceived to have significant impact on the performance of Fablabs. The success of any Fablab requires sound understanding of the external factors that affect its performance. By surveying the sample of 140 Fablabs around the world we could identify four categories of external factors considered to be relevant for the performance of Fablabs, namely – customers/beneficiaries, access to finance, competitive business environment, and volunteers/workers. The original contribution of this research work comes from the lack of detailed knowledge on Fablabs’ performance and previous contradictory findings concerning Fablabs’ functioning in developed and developing market economies around the world.

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Alexandrina Maria Pauceanu

Papers

What Determinants Influence Students to Start Their Own Business? Empirical Evidence from United Arab Emirates Universities

Employability in the fourth industrial revolution

Entrepreneurial Leadership and Sustainable Development—A Systematic Literature Review

Innovation and entrepreneurship in Sultanate of 0man – an empirical study

External factors influencing Fablabs’ performance