18/09/2014

Prof Elmarie Venter, from the Department of Business Management, attended The Annual Family Enterprise Case Competition (FECC), which was held from January 8-11, in Burlington, Vermont, as well as the Price-Babson Symposium for Entrepreneurship Educators, held during January 12 – 16 in Boston, USA.

 

Prof Venter acted as a judge during the Annual Family Enterprise Case Competition (FECC).  There were student teams, academics and business owners from more than 25 countries.

The second initiative ran concurrently with the FECC competition, namely the Price-Babson Symposium for Entrepreneurship Educators. Babson is the number one entrepreneurship university in the world and it was a privilege and honour to attend this symposium and training.   Babson is for entrepreneurship what Harvard is for business studies.

This flagship open enrollment program was held on Babson's campus with the goal of building an international cadre of educators who understand the importance of combining entrepreneurship theory and practice in teaching. Cross-disciplinary educators from around the world were invited to attend this innovative and practical program. 

During an intensive four-day period, 53 participants from more than 15 countries explored the entrepreneurial process, the “art and craft” of teaching and learning entrepreneurship.  The program provided an introduction to case method teaching and live, venture-based teaching methodologies.

Attendees were encouraged to identify, plan, and personalize their entry (or re-entry) strategy into academia, and to improve as teachers, learners, researchers, colleagues, and entrepreneurs. Participants identified and explored new content, programs, and materials.