Michael H. Morris, Ph.D. George & Lisa Etheridge Professor of Entrepreneurship

1. What Should We Really Be Teaching : Competencies as a Focal Point for Entrepreneurship Education Michael H. Morris, Ph.D. George & Lisa Etheridge Professor of Entrepreneurship University of Florida California Entrepreneurship Educators Conference San Diego, California March 6, 2014

2. Competency :background • Competence is a fuzzy concept useful in bridging the gap between education and job requirements (Boon and van der Klink (2002) • To have competencies is to possess the necessary attributes to perform competently (Burgoyne, 1988) • A characteristic of an individual that has been shown to drive superior job performance (Hartle, 1995) • Observable behaviors that superior performers exhibit more consistently than average performers (Klein, 1996) IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

3. Competency :background • Competencies include knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, behaviors and characteristics that people need to do a job successfully (Bryant & Poustie, 2001) • They correlate with job performance and can be measured against standards (Bryant & Poustie, 2001) • One can contrast areas of competence (aspects of the job which an individual can perform) with competency (a person’s behavior underpinning competent performance) • Competencies are connected to activities & tasks, and tend to be interrelated (Bergevoet, Mulder & Van Woerkum, 2005) IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

4. Why competencies matter… • ‘competency’ is a term that allows for flexibility in adapting to diverse and changing organizational demands (Garman and Johnson, 2006) • a competency is something that can be learned and developed (Klarus, et al., 1999) IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

5. Competency to ultimately do what? Entrepreneurship is… • The capacity to perceive and act upon opportunities in the environment • The pursuit of opportunity regardless of resources controlled • The creation of something from nothing IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

6. Under what conditions…the experience Limited Sense of Control Loneliness Ambiguity Dejection Stress Freedom Exhilaration Uncertainty Responsibility Self-reliance Learning Adaptation Discipline Change IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

7. Delineating competencies • Two expert panels • Three waves (first listed competencies, then rated them, then indicated whether they were entrepreneurial or managerial) • Survey Monkey • Produced total of 167 competencies • Split into two major groups: managerial and entrepreneurial • Eventually arrived at 13 core entrepreneurial competencies IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

8. The key competencies • Recognizing Opportunity • Assessing Opportunity • Vision/Seeing the Future • Creative Problem-solving • Resource Leveraging/Bootstrapping • Mitigating and Managing Risk • Planning/Modeling When Nothing Exists • Innovation---Value-driven New Product and Concept Development • Building and Managing Networks • The Ability to Maintain Focus Yet Adapt • Action Orientation/Implementation • Tenacity/Perseverance • Ability to Learn from Experiences IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

9. Distinguishing types of competencies managerial entrepreneurial Recognizing Opportunity Assessing Opportunity Creative Problem-solving Resource Leveraging Guerrilla Skills Mitigating and Managing Risk Planning When Nothing Exists Innovation---Products, Services, Processes Building & Managing Social Networks Adaptation while Focusing Implementation of Something Novel or New • Organizing • Team building & Staffing • Communicating • Budgeting • Controlling • Motivating • Planning • Directing • Operating • Assessing IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

10. So we are doing both • Developing managerial competencies in the business school • Developing entrepreneurial competencies in the entrepreneurship program • Both are needed for success in an entrepreneurial context, although the relative importance of a given competency will vary IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

11. Measurement approaches • Pre- and post- measures using rating scales • Judging experiential project portfolio • Behavioral event interviews • In class assessments tied to exercises • Student diaries or registers • Peer assessments • Self-assessments at end of program • Behavioral assessments after graduation (see also Bird, 1995) IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

12. Sample measurement approach using scales 148 items in self-report, scaled format; mostly 5-point, Likert-type scales (stronly agree-strongly disagree) • Opportunity recognition: 10 items from Tang, Kacmar and Busenitz (2010) • Opportunity assessment: 5 items from Tang, Kacmar and Busenitz (2010) • Risk management/mitigation: 9 items, self-developed based on Cramera,et al. (2002 and McMullen and Shepherd, 2006) • Conveying a compelling vision: 8 items based on Chen, Yao and Kotha (2009) • Tenacity/perseverance: 21 items from Duckworth and Quinn (2009) • Creative problem-solving: 12 items from Hmieleski and Corbett (2006) • Resource leveraging/bootstrapping: 15 items PolitisWinborg and Dahlstrom (2011 and Brush et al., 2001) • Guerrilla skills: 2 items, self-developed • Maintain focus, yet adapt: 6 items from Haynie and Shepherd (2009) • Resilience: 9 items from Sinclair and Wallson(2004) • Self-efficacy: 11 items from Hodgkinson (1992) • Build and exploit networks: 18 items from Forret and Dougherty (2001)

13. Scale Refinement • Opportunity Recognition, 6 items, alpha= 0.809 • Opportunity Assessment, 5 items, alpha: 0.875 • Risk Management/Mitigation, 5 items, alpha: 0.745 • Conveying a compelling vision/seeing the future: 6 items, alpha: 0.827 • Tenacity/perseverance: 14 items, alpha: 0.861 • Creative Problem Solving/Imaginativeness, 7 items, alpha: 0.968 • Resource Leveraging/Bootstrapping, 8 items, alpha: 0.931 • Guerrilla skills, 2 items, alpha: 0.752 • Value Creation w/ New Products, Services, Business Models: 15 items, alpha: 0.949 • Ability to Maintain Focus yet Adapt, 6 items, Alpha: 0.878 • Resilience: 9 items, alpha: 0.887 • Self-Efficacy : 4 items, alpha: 0.895 • Networking/Social Skills: 17 items, alpha: 0.87

14. Pilot: the EESA Program • 23 American students and 15 South African students • Rigorous 6 – week intervention • Consulting to historically disadvantaged entrepreneurs • Pre- and post measures • Improvement on all 13 competencies • Significant differences on:

15. Setting the standard for a rubric • Criterion-referenced evaluation: student performance is assessed relative to standards set by the discipline or entrepreneurship faculty • Norm-referenced evaluation: students are evaluated on the basis of comparisons to other students IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

16. Establishing norms • We have no norms • Benchmarks must be established • Suggest we initially evaluate students relative to one another • Over time we might create benchmarks using successful entrepreneurs • But----are certain competencies more critical for success in certain types of contexts? • Is our focus less on achieving some absolute level on a competency ---- or more on showing improvement relative to where a student started? • Competency is a process of continual development through one’s life---not riding a bike---fades without practice IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

17. Sample template for scales(Mertler 2001) Total Score = _______ Score at Program Outset _______ Average Student Score ________

18. Mastering a competency: how do we teach it??? • Knowledge and Understanding: what do you need toknow about resource leveraging • Attitude/Affect and Self-Awareness: what do you need tothink, believe and feel about resource leveraging? • Skills and Behaviors: what do you need to be able to do in terms of resource leveraging? These are all learning outcomes We can do more not just in terms of conveying knowledge, but in all three areas, especially to the extent that we stress experiential learning IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

19. Each competency requires a definition and level of proficiency • Definition: What do we mean by the competency? • Level of Proficiency: What must the student be able to demonstrate in terms of knowledge, skills, capabilities and attitudes he competency to indicate mastery of the competency? IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

20. An illustration Example:Risk management Definition: The ability to identify relevant risks surrounding an entrepreneurial action and systematically mitigate those risks. Level of Proficiency: 1. Understands key types of risks 2. Can identify principle risks surrounding a given entrepreneurial action 3. Can prioritize risks based on magnitude and probability of loss 4. Is able to develop specific actions to -stage the risk -share the risk -reduce the risk IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

21. Breaking it down for teaching purposes • Knowledge • Nature of risk versus uncertainty • Dimensions of risk • Categories of risk • General techniques for mitigating risk • Attitudes/values • Willingness to assume moderate levels of risk • Belief that risk is manageable • Sense of association between risk level and potential return • Behaviors/Skills • Ability to estimate risk • Ability to isolate risk • Ability to moderate level of risk IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

22. A second illustration Example:Opportunity identification Definition: The ability to specify unrecognized or unfilled gaps in the external environment creating an opening for a new product, service or process. Level of Proficiency: 1. Understands general sources of opportunity 2. Is capable of scanning the environment to identify emerging patterns & trends, competitor shortcomings, unutilized resources & unmet needs 3. Can connect an opening in the environment to a specific target audience with a need IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

23. Breaking it down for teaching purposes • Knowledge • Key sources of opportunity • Major types of opportunity • The nature of opportunities • Four ways in which opportunities are identified • Understanding of specific opportunity generation techniques • Attitudes/values • Curiosity about why things work a certain way • Value one places on being alert to opportunity • Openness to being exposed to diverse and changing situations • Behaviors/Skills • Ability to draw associations • Ability to grasp and hold onto ideas as they occur to us • Ability to assess customer needs • Response to a failure (e.g., elevator pitch loss) • # of opportunities generated • Novelty of ideas generated IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

24. Teaching the competencies… • Lectures • define each competency • illustrate each • strategies for managing each • examples • relate to other competencies and learning points • repetition • Experiential learning in the classroom • Experiential learning outside the classroom IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

25. Experiencing…and experiencing again (practice) • Cases • Student incubators • Tech commercialization teams • Small business consulting projects • Entrepreneurial audits • Marketing inventions • Creativity field experiences (e.g., the Lowe’s experience) • Simulations • Entrepreneurs in the classroom • Interviews of E’s • Unique internships • Mentorships and job shadowing • Role plays (VC’s, family firms, etc.) • Business models • Business plans and competitions • Social entrepreneurship projects in the community IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

26. Comprehensive Exam: D. Duck An Overview of My Experience Portfolio and Mastery of Competencies, MSE Program, 2013-14

27. My experience portfolio • Business Plan for MyPlanet.com • Business Model for Genius, LLC • Four Marketing Inventions for Best Buy, Domino’s, the Hair Place, and Bob’s Quicklube • Entrepreneurial Audit for Infinite Energy • Attended twelve entrepreneurial speaker presentations and hosted one entrepreneur • Consulting project for GoPlaces, LLC (Gatornest) • Started Duckfeet, LLC in Incubator • Two consulting projects in Entrepreneurship Empowerment in South Africa: Kaltshaglass and Silulo Technology • Internship at Starter Space • Competed in Big Idea Competition, made Sweet Sixteen (Duckfeet, LLC) • Conducted formal interview of William (Billy) Bad, Founder of You Ain’t Seen Nothing, Inc. • Completed feasibility study for franchise model for Club Risque IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

28. Competency mastery: Opportunity Recognition • Define opportunity recognition • b) Provide examples of opportunities recognized during the program: • Opportunity 1: explain and how I discovered it • Opportunity 2: explain and how I discovered it • Opportunity 3: explain and how I discovered it • c) Provide summary of approaches you employ on ongoing basis in looking for new opportunities (e.g., pattern recognition, challenging assumptions, looking for underserved markets, etc.) IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

29. Competency mastery: Guerrilla Skills • Define the guerrilla concept • Examples of guerilla techniques developed during the program: • Guerrilla action 1: explain and how I came up with it • Guerrilla action 2: explain and how I came up with it • Guerrilla action3: explain and how I came up with it • c) Provide summary of approaches you employ on ongoing basis in attempting to come up with new guerrilla approaches---use a scenario (e.g., reciprocity, tapping underutilized resources in my environment, using an existing resource in new and novel ways, taking advantage of my surroundings, exploiting my extended network) IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

30. Competency mastery: Risk Management • Define what is meant by calculated risk taking • Examples of risk management techniques developed during the program: • Risk mitigation action 1: explain and how I came up with it • Risk mitigation action : explain and how I came up with it • Risk mitigation action : explain and how I came up with it • Provide summary of approaches you employ on ongoing basis in attempting to come up with new ways to manage and mitigate risks (e.g., staging market entry, outsourcing, partnerships, leasing instead of buying, contracting for labor, etc.) IMAGINE > BELIEVE > CREATE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA