| Autor: |
John B. Ochs, Todd A. Watkins, M. Jean Russo |
| Rok vydání: |
2008 |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development. 15:348-364 |
| ISSN: |
1462-6004 |
| DOI: |
10.1108/14626000810871727 |
| Popis: |
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate Lehigh University's demonstration program integrating technology entrepreneurship courses with state and federal employment and economic development agencies. The article aims to detail program goals, activities, resources and structure.Design/methodology/approachThe demonstration involved three stages over 30‐months in the context of Lehigh's Integrated Product Development Program. IPD engages students and faculty from business, engineering and design arts. Multidisciplinary student teams worked with unemployed clients with entrepreneurial new product ideas. The authors report results of several surveys and lessons learned from a comprehensive assessment process.FindingsOne year after participating, compared to a control group of non‐participants, clients with student teams had made statistically significantly more progress in launching businesses and generated more economic activity. Family support and market knowledge were the strongest predictors of entrepreneurial progress.Research limitations/implicationsSample size is small and follow‐up timeframe only one year post‐participation. Larger controlled studies over longer periods would be valuable.Practical implicationsFindings suggest both students and unemployed early‐phase entrepreneurs gain from such academic collaboration. Resources were substantial in the context of curriculum. Partnerships with economic development agencies were instrumental.Originality/valueDespite a large literature on the value of multidisciplinary and project‐based experiential learning, there is little empirical evidence about the extent of commercial benefits to client companies, particularly early phase entrants. Specifically lacking is evidence on the utility to start‐up entrepreneurs of working with student teams. This paper begins to fill that assessment gap. |
| Databáze: |
OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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