Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)

Integrate Entrepreneurial Initiative into Vocational Education and Training!

Hannelore Paulini-Schlottau

Entrepreneurial skills must be built up gradually if they are to retain their usefulness over the long term. Vocational education and training can begin fostering such skills long before a person starts or takes over a business. A BIBB research project has investigated the ways in which vocational education and training, particularly in the commercial sector, can contribute to the acquisition of entrepreneurial skills and how appropriate offerings could be integrated into vocational education and training.

Study Findings

The study extended over various sectors and produced the following findings:

Analysis of business "start-up" courses

The analysis of the start-up courses revealed that these tend to be survey courses outlining general knowledge about establishing companies. This "start-up"-related knowledge consists largely of managerial and legal information needed when starting a new business: funding possibilities and finance schedules in particular, followed by legal forms, corporate concepts and sales, marketing, and promotional issues. The analysis makes it clear that "start-up" courses generally fail to go into sufficient depth. By covering the entire subject matter very quickly without going into practical applications or providing a context, they fail to offer any guidance in terms of actually going through the process of starting a business.

Analysis of the research literature on starting businesses

The analysis of the literature on start-ups suggests that in order to run an enterprise successfully people leading or starting businesses need commercial, management-oriented, sector-specific and personality-based factors and skills. A wide range of professional and managerial skills are involved, including skills from areas like strategic planning and control, personnel management, law, marketing, communication, and cooperation, as well as work techniques and self-management.

Poll of entrepreneurs and experts

The poll of entrepreneurs in the fields selected - retail business and tourism - also found that financing, marketing, and cost accounting/controlling are the core entrepreneurial skills. To lead a business, one must also have the ability to communicate - with customers, suppliers and, providers of capital - and be able to use marketing instruments, understand pricing, and employ controlling and cost accounting instruments. The polled experts also stressed the importance of informed location choice and the execution of a strategic business plan. The most important methodical and social skills are decision-making ability and flexibility, followed by the ability to plan, organize and set goals.

The entrepreneur poll suggested that the subject of entrepreneurial initiative should be covered in general during vocational education and training. While they shouldn't be shoved into self-employment, trainees should have the opportunity to practice entrepreneurial thinking and behaviour and starting a new company should be presented to them a career prospect. Formats for trainees to gaining some initial experience should be created. In upgrading training though, the subject of starting up or taking over a business should be covered hands-on and in detail, as should business management.

Selected Good Practice Examples

The evaluation of selected good practice examples of the promotion of entrepreneurial initiative has revealed that these have been covering managerial, methodical and social skills as well as contextual thinking in a business situation, all of which must be systematically practiced. It has become apparent that the teaching of skills must be combined with practical exercises. Programmes should employ the tested and proven methodical/didactic methods as well as learning forums such as student enterprises, junior enterprises, simulation games, and opportunities for trainees to lead a branch or a division for a while. University programme offerings are the most highly developed, in terms both of subject matter and of the integration and coordination of the offerings with one another. Good practice examples should be disseminated into the standard supply of vocational education and training, expanded, and integrated.

International Concepts

The analysis of selected international qualification concepts suggests that rearing people to be entrepreneurs has recently led to a change of attitude towards the promotion of a culture of entrepreneurial initiative. The systematic, networked and internally complementary approach taken towards qualification in the subject of entrepreneurship in Canada, which encompasses several educational levels, is particularly noteworthy. Characteristic of this approach is the intensive cooperation among schools, chambers of commerce, universities, and regional and federal programmes. The cooperation going on among private foundations, state authorities, and industry is also worth particular mention.

Development of a Qualification Concept

The results of the research and the analyses clearly suggest that the qualification concept used in vocational education and training to promote entrepreneurial initiative must vary according to whether it is employed in initial training, additional qualification, upgrading training, or business start-up courses. The offerings should involve "start-up"-specific subject matter, suitable learning forums and appropriate methodical/didactic instruments. Furthermore, the offerings available in the various educational fields need to be made more transparent and be integrated with one another. In this respect, it is very important that cooperation among federal and state institutions, chambers of industry and commerce, companies, vocational schools, and private foundations be enhanced.

The research findings have already resulted in some initial changes in vocational education and training. A new optional training module, "Fundamentals of entrepreneurial initiative," was introduced during the recent updating of the curricula for training in retail careers. The module serves as an additional qualification. Moreover, optional training called "Fundamentals of entrepreneurial initiative" has been integrated into the upgrading training "Geprüfter Handelsfachwirt/Geprüfte Handelsfachwirtin" (certified master of trade/commerce), which is currently being re-regulated and restructured. That training is largely identical to that of the additional qualification in the initial retail business training.

Persons interested in this subject can find more information in the recent publications listed below. They can be ordered from W. Bertelsmann-Verlag.

German Language Literature and Information:

• Paulini-Schlottau, Hannelore
  Unternehmerische Selbständigkeit fördern
  Eine Aufgabe für die Berufsbildung, Bielefeld 2004
• Paulini-Schlottau, Hannelore
  Handel ist Wandel: Die modernisierte Einzelhandelsausbildung
  in: Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (ed.): BWP 4/2004
• Paulini-Schlottau, Hannelore
  Qualifizierung zur unternehmerischen Selbstständigkeit. Eine Innovation in der Berufsbildung
  in: Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (ed.): BIBBforschung 4/2004 
• Research project 3.2007
  Beitrag der kaufmännischen Berufsbildung zur unternehmerischen Selbstständigkeit
• Garnhost, Petra; Paulini-Schlottau, Hannelore
  Förderung von Unternehmerqualifikationen in der Berufsbildung
  in: Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (ed.): BWP 2/2003
• Pilot project D0963.00 (Otto Versand GmbH & Co. KG)
  Junior Enterprise Network - Jeenet - Kompetenzentwicklung in vernetzten Juniorfirmen am Beispiel von E-Commerce-Kompetenzen und unternehmerischem Handeln
• Pilot projects on additional qualifications