Embedding MBA Students in Local Incubators and Accelerators

Abstract

This article presents an innovative method of engaging MBA students in a capstone course by offering a customizable project with businesses that are currently progressing through a regional, independent incubator, or accelerator program. We include various project options but focus on customizable capstone project alternatives to traditional business strategy simulations and case study methods. Namely, our innovative learning solution is a mock consulting project which drives innovation and fosters strategic collaboration between small business owners, university faculty, and MBA students while providing business strategy experience and generating positive exposure for both the university and the small businesses involved. Our method includes pairing MBA students with participating startup businesses and allowing the soon-to-be MBAs an opportunity to garner consulting experience while simultaneously serving the needs of the businesses in the accelerator. Accordingly, MBA students act as consultants to business owners and prepare detailed weekly briefings to inform stakeholders within the university and the constituent businesses. By breaching the typical capstone project parameters, the mock consulting option provides for experiential and applied learning experiences for MBA students and develops higher order strategic thinking by challenging them to work hand-in-hand with real startups.

Making sense of entrepreneurial intent: a look at gender and entrepreneurial personal theory

“…One way of doing so includes the promotion of female participation in accelerator and incubator programs (e.g. Savoie et al , 2018), which has been found to increase their entrepreneurial self-efficacy and intentions (Neumeyer, 2020).…”

Antecedents of entrepreneurship in the career trajectories of junior enterprises alumni

“…And past experience has an important role in this process. The acquired knowledge, when mixing results of experiences with opportunities and also with obstacles and impediments, increases the young person's capacity to deal with issues that involve risk control and their positive or negative career assessment (Ajzen, 1991, Savoie et al, 2018.…”

“…Additionally, the results of this study show a profile different from most Brazilian entrepreneurs described in the GEM (2015), which points out that in developing countries, ventures are started more out of necessity. It is believed that because of their entrepreneurial learning in junior enterprises, the subjects of this study are able to develop competencies that expand their employment opportunities and, at the same time, make them visualize the entrepreneurial career as another alternative for putting into practice what they learned at the university (Delaney et al, 2019;Savoie et al, 2018;Zampier & Takahashi, 2011). Corroborating this point of view, we cite case 2 ("The role of the university was to provide internships and participation in the JE in the last year") and case 3 ("The university brought out their aspect as leaders, identified since their time in school").…”

“…Most studies that address university students' entrepreneurial intention use the perspective of future career choice (Linan & Fayole, 2015), without advancing the understanding of individual and contextual factors in the trajectory of those students who put their intention into practice -for example, students egress from junior enterprises (JEs), who usually go through experiences related to entrepreneurship throughout the course, developing skills to open their own businesses (Campos, 2015). Initially located in France and later spread around the world, JEs are characterized by a type of entrepreneurial training in the university environment, which, by enabling the dialogue between theory (academic content) and practice, favors the development of entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviors in university students (Campos, 2015;Delaney et al, 2019;Ferreira & Freitas, 2013;Ngan & Khoi, 2020).In other words, it is a space in which the students manage a real business and acts as professional consultants in their area.JEs function as a field of practices seen as entrepreneurial, contribute to the construction of the relationship network, and also promote student contact with other entrepreneurs, who serve as reference models (Reeves et al, 2019;Savoie et al, 2018).…”

“…Thus, entrepreneurs learn through practical experience (Savoie et al, 2018). The context of the experience in junior enterprises makes students learn to create and deal with opportunities and people, in addition to improving technical competencies (organization, planning, etc.…”