Print version Recommend this page Press release
30/ 2004
Bonn, 26.08.2004
Entrepreneurial thinking and behaviour in the electronic age - Learning in "junior enterprises"!
Once an insider tip, learning in so-called "junior enterprises" has become an established method of preparing for the working world. This training concept - where young people are given real commercial responsibility and are prepared for the demands of the business world on a practical, action-oriented basis - has proven its worth many times, not only in actual in-company training but also at full-time vocational schools: Junior enterprises instil entrepreneurial thinking and behaviour, motivate young people to be autonomous and teach acting on one's own responsibility.
Junior enterprises were first tested 20 years ago in a pilot project that Germany's Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training ("BIBB") financed with funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Going one step further, the Junior Enterprise Network ("JeeNet") pilot project conducted from 2001 through 2003 also proved that the junior enterprise concept can incorporate the means the Internet has to offer for doing business. This project was set up to get young people in shape for e-business. With this in mind, a virtual network was set up between classroom-based and company-based junior enterprises (http://www.jeenet.de ). 01 This network provided the framework for project planning and order processing. Germany's Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training used funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research to finance the JeeNet pilot project. The project was sponsored by the Hamburg-based mail-order house OTTO GmbH & Co. KG. Flanking support was provided by a project team from the Helmut Schmidt University of the Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg.
The many experiences gathered in setting up junior enterprises during the course of the JeeNet pilot project have now been published in the Praxishandbuch: Juniorenfirma. This German-language handbook aims to encourage companies, vocational schools and other training facilities to start up new junior enterprises and develop existing junior enterprises. It also provides assistance with all content-related, organizational and conceptual matters involving junior enterprises.
Some of the points covered by the Praxishandbuch:
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The first chapter explains the concept that underlies junior enterprises. This chapter shows how they work in practice, the theoretical considerations behind junior enterprises and how training goals can be accomplished with the help of this concept.
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The second chapter lays down what has to be considered when establishing a junior enterprise. It also answers questions about the correct legal form, organization, choice of business segment, the process of establishing an enterprise, and other similar issues.
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The third chapter explains how junior enterprises are managed, which factors are crucial to the success of a junior enterprise, how to help learners with their work and how to make sure that enough attention is given to learning, alongside work.
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The fourth chapter is dedicated to the continued development of junior enterprises. The focus here is on the prospects of junior enterprises - in other words, their outlooks once they have been established and professionalized - the advantages and disadvantages of networking them, and similar issues.
The handbook includes a CD-ROM that was developed to facilitate the practical work conducted with and in junior enterprises. The CD-ROM contains checklists, guidelines, sample documents and other organizational aids designed for practical use by junior enterprises.
The annex contains lists of further reading material, addresses and related links that offer readers options for obtaining additional information from other sources about theory and practice in junior enterprises.
The German-language publication Das Ausbildungskonzept Juniorenfirma. Ein Praxishandbuch für Betrieb und Schule by Zorana Dippl, Frank Elster, Guido Fassbender, Wolfgang Fiedler and Jeanette Rouvel can be ordered for € 19.80 from BW Bildung und Wissen Verlag und Software GmbH, Vertrieb, Postfach 820150, 90252 Nuremberg, Germany. Tel.: +49 911 - 967 6175, Fax: + 49 911 - 967 6189, E-mail: serviceteam@bwverlag.de
