GBATA Ninth Annual Conference
Taipei, Taiwan, July 3-7, 2007

Summary of Panel Session:  Saturday July 7^th 2007 
 
The Global Entrepreneurial Revolution

Moderator: Max Coulthard, Monash University, Australia
 
Panel Members:

Guy Callender, Curtin University of Technology, Australia
 
Nejdet Delener, SUNY Old Westbury, USA
 
Leon de Wet Fourie, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa
 
Luis Eduardo Rivera-Solis, Dowling College, USA
 
Emanuel Gomes, Coventry University, UK
 
Gerald R. Ledlow, Georgia Southern University, USA
 
T. Diana L.v. A. Macedo-Soares, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
 
Jurgen Muehlbacher, Vienna University of Economics & Business Administration, Austria
 
C. Pat Obi, Purdue University Calumet, USA
 
Kathleen Park, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
 
Che-Jen Su, Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan

In this lively session over thirty people actively contributed their ideas as part of a general discussion on entrepreneurship lead by the moderator.  A visual presentation by Prof Dr. Nejdet Delener at the end of the session provided some insightful key points on teaching entrepreneurship in a way that would stimulate student interest and provide them with methods for practical application.   

The following is a summary of the key areas covered:

• Corporate entrepreneurship
• Health Care intrapreneurship
• Enterprise planning and funding
• Use of Government schemes
• International entrepreneurship
• Ethics in entrepreneurship
• High performance entrepreneurship
• The challenges facing founders versus builders of businesses
• The necessity of micro-entrepreneurship
• The impact of change and opportunity recognition
• Entrepreneurship in academia

From the above discussion some key issues were identified.  Although the list below is not complete it may act as a guide for others to debate in future forums:

• The distinctions between key terms need greater clarity e.g. entrepreneurial leadership and strategic leadership; entrepreneur and intrapreneur; corporate entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial orientation.
   
• Whether entrepreneurs are ethical or bend (if not break) the rules to achieve success and cut through bureaucratic processes that hold others back.

• The impact of company size and systems on maintaining an entrepreneurial attitude as firms grow. 
   
• Do entrepreneurs cause change or take advantage of change to identify and exploit opportunities?
   
• Do national legal systems discourage an entrepreneurial culture?
   
• What challenges stop the micro-entrepreneurial business from achieving success e.g. knowledge/skills; staff selection; attracting and keeping the right people in a growing company; ability to delegate control of decision-making; ability to share power etc.
   
• Can governments assist in developing entrepreneurship in a society and if so how? e.g. benefits of incubators; financial incentives such as tax breaks; reducing regulations; positive profiling of successful entrepreneurs; education funding of entrepreneurs and those interested in small and family businesses.
   
• The challenges facing entrepreneurs in a growing business – can they change and if not how can they recognise the time to step aside and undertake roles like non-executive chair, or move into roles at lower levels in an organisation that allow them to do their own thing?
   
• The challenges facing not- for -profit organisations and the role of the entrepreneur in driving organisational change.
   
• How should a University deal with entrepreneurial staff?  Can current systems support and reward them or do our current ways of rewarding and promoting staff really discourage entrepreneurial behaviour?  When do you need entrepreneurial staff to bring about change both in terms of course provision; new teaching methods and new areas of research?