Entrepreneurship Business Research Skills

Ileana Hamburg Emma O’brien Gabriel Vladut

Abstract In recent years area of entrepreneurship has gained significant attention nationally and internationally. It is one of the main skills priorities of national governments and EU council. Traditionally associated with commercial activity, entrepreneurship has gained traction as a key competence necessary to allow society as a whole to adapt to the changing economic climate. Small and medium sized companies (SMEs) greatly contribute to employment and wealth in Europe but there are limited studies into the specific skills needs required for SMEs into the future. Skills such as problem solving, critical thinking and entrepreneurship allow learners to adapt to changes, communication, digital skills and teamwork allow learners to collaborate and exploit technology in the changing workplace. Research is a key element of entrepreneurial success, but how these skills particularly workplace-oriented ones improve entrepreneurial culture has not been widely explored in the literature. This paper explores the importance of entrepreneurship today, the skills required to allow our society to become more entrepreneurial and identifies the potential of workplace research skills to develop entrepreneurial capacity in all facets of work, particularly within SMEs. The authors collaborated on many European projects aimed at improving work and education/training of entrepreneurs. The work presented int this paper resulted from surveys conducted within these projects regarding the problems SME staff have in connection with workplace transformation and entrepreneurship education and training. From this the paper proposes a conceptual model to facilitate the development of workplace research skills which will enhance entrepreneurial capacity in SMEs. The problems discussed in this chapter will also be used within the German initiative Mittelstand 4.0-Kompetenzzentrum with the participation of one author. Companies within this program are eager to improve their workplace research skills and change the learning culture and staff behavior in connection with digital workplaces.