Entrepreneurship, clusters & industrial park

The context of this study is the southwest of Finland and the attempts to create a regional innovation system enabling an increased rate of venture development and emergence of high growth high technology firms based on a triple helix model. The area has a science park, which was established 2002, three universities and four polytechnic colleges and a strong concentration of industry in particular in the pharmaceutical and ICT sectors. There is also a strong shipbuilding industry, which produces most of the world’s luxury cruise lines. Hence this area seems like a typical example of a regional agglomeration that should show strong entrepreneurial vitality.
However, there is a consensus among governmental officials, local business leaders, and academics that not enough firms are founded in the region and that there are far too few growth companies. This is a problem that seems to plague Finland as a whole. Moreover, there is an understanding that a much larger number of ideas and innovations that potentially could generate firms should emerge from the concentration of research universities and technology institutions. Somehow, despite numerous governmental agencies providing counseling and financial support for persons willing to start companies, these persons do not appear nor do the universities appear to produce ideas and innovations at a desirable rate.
On a national level numerous initiatives and instruments to boost technology development and innovations has taken place since 1983 when the National Technology Agency (TEKES) was founded with primary objective to promote the competitiveness of Finnish industry and the service sector through technological means. In 1987 The Science and Technology Policy Council (STPC) was established. During the 1990s major reforms were conducted: (i) a regional innovation policy was established through an act enforced at the beginning of 1994 leading to the creation of regional centers of expertise, (ii) a cluster programme was launched in 1997 to reinforce the utilization and commercialization of technology by established technology centers and incubators and licensing offices in the universities. 8 cluster programmes were formed under six ministries and one national cluster, The Finnish Pharma Cluster was formed, and (iii) venture capital activity started with Sitra as a pioneer. Apparently, some of these measures have paid off as Finland was for the fourth consecutive year regarded as the most competitive nation (Global Competitiveness Report, 2005). Yet, entrepreneurial activity in Finland is remarkably low. Technology-based new venture creation is low and has dropped in Finland since 2000 (Table 1) despite policy measures aiming for an opposite trend. In 2003 it looked as if measures would pay off, but results from 2004 follow a downward trend since 2000. Opportunistic entrepreneurship does not keep pace with the level of technology development. It decreased from 600 new ventures in 1995 to only 350 in 2002 (Reynolds 2005).

Entrepreneurship, adult education & HRD

I think the endeavor for our program should be entrepreneurship, transformative learning and career development. More in the field of adult education than in the HRD. I say this because the problem of business schools today is how to increase students' intention to become business owners. A number of authors proposed a link between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention or action, but no empirical proof have been found. I think the problem is the content of the entrepreneurial programs not the entrepreneurial education per se. Business school's professors have little background on adult education literature and, to encourage the transformative learning sought, they only know methods such as entrepreneur guest-speakers or mentoring, these methods are expensive. In consequence, courses and resources are utilized by curious students that are not seriously thinking in starting a business someday. A first course on entrepreneurship, transformative learning and career development could trigger a deeper and serious reflection from the students about whether they really want to become business owners. This process not only could trigger an experience that would increase the desire of starting a business but also could help an student to focus earlier on a professional career within a multinational company. At the end of the day, students stop by in entrepreneurship classes but most of them will pursue careers in big companies.

Entrepreneurship education

Based on descriptions of entrepreneurship programmes in the literature (e.g. Gartner and Vesper, 1994) and on a search of current offerings in major universities, we suggest that balanced, ‘good practice’ programmes offer activities grouped under four components: (a) a ‘taught’ component, with one or more modules; (b) a ‘business-planning’ component, which can include business plan competitions and advice on developing a specific business idea; (c) an ‘interaction with practice’ component, which can include talks from practitioners and networking events; (d) a ‘university support’ component, which can include market-research resources, space for meetings, a pool of technology with commercial potential and even seed funding to student-teams.


Al-Laham A., Souitaris V., & Zerbinati S., (2007) Do entrepreneurship programmes raise entrepreneurial
intention of science and engineering students? The effect of learning, inspiration and resources.
Journal of Business Venturing Volume 22, Issue 4, July 2007, Pages 566-591

Prophet of Innovation: Joseph Schumpeter and Creative Destruction By Thomas K. McCraw (Harvard University Press, 719 pp., $35) Click here to purchase

Innovation is not the same thing as invention.
Anyone can invent a new product or a new technique of production. The entrepreneur is the one who first sees its economic viability, bucks the odds, fights or worms his way into the market, and eventually wins or loses. Each win means profit for the entrepreneur and his backers, and it also means a jog upward for the whole economy. In the course of this process, which cannot possibly run smoothly, many businesses, individuals, and institutions, themselves founded on earlier successful innovations, will be undermined and swept away.
Schumpeter called this birth-and-death process "creative destruction," and realized before anyone else that it was the main source of economic growth. There is no feasible alternative for capitalism; this is capitalism. Here is a characteristically strong statement: "Without innovations, no entrepreneurs; without entrepreneurial achievement, no capitalist returns and no capitalist propulsion. The atmosphere of industrial revolutions--of 'progress'--is the only one in which capitalism can survive."

The picture generated by classical and
neoclassical economics had none of this dynamism, turbulence, and intrinsic uncertainty. (Malthus was perhaps a partial exception.) Smooth trends and stationary states, equilibria of one kind or another, predominated. There is a sense in which Schumpeter could claim to have been the progenitor of a torrent of modern research that analyzes the dynamics of profit-driven innovation and innovation-driven economic growth. Even creative destruction has been translated into equations. (The pioneers were Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt, and others have followed.)

Schumpeter derived from this analysis a lasting bias in favor of big business. "American opinion is so antibig business," he wrote, "precisely because big business has made the country what it is now and in doing so it has set the standard of the American soul: who is not a part of big business feels he does not meet the standard and by compensation turns against it." Clearly a successful innovation confers, in his view, at least a temporary monopoly. Without the lure of those monopoly profits, there would be no incentive for anyone to bear the risks of entrepreneurship. Schumpeter believed that large firms were both the source and the result of successful innovation; and so tampering with them would be dangerous. But the issue is more subtle than that. The English economist John Hicks once remarked that "the best of all monopoly profits is a quiet life," meaning that a seller with monopoly power might settle for less than the largest possible profit in order to avoid attracting rivals who would have to be beaten off amid turmoil and uncertainty. There is much evidence that having to compete with best practice is itself an important spur both to innovation and to other aspects of industrial performance. Maybe there is an optimal intensity of competition.

I think that this is Schumpeter's main legacy to
economics: the role of technological and organizational innovation in driving and shaping the growth trajectory of capitalist economies.
Whole subfields of economics now pursue the subject of the care, feeding, and consequences of innovation, using qualitative and quantitative, historical and mathematical methods. McCraw gives only a few pages to Theory of Economic Development. He certainly understands that it is fundamental, but he does not place it as the summa that it is.

entrepreneurship education and training

Gorman et al (1997)
there has been an increase in the amount of empirical research conducted, specially in the areas of educational process and structure
Vesper (1982) demonstrated that entrepreneurship can be taught

Pablo Turner

De no ser por su encanecida cabellera, el gerente general de Viña San Pedro, Pablo Turner, se habría confundido entre los universitarios que el viernes miraban el partido de tenis de Fernando González, en el coffe break del foro con que los convocó Icare. Porque su atuendo usualmente informal se acerca más al de un estudiante que al protipo de gerente.

Turner expuso a los alumnos de los últimos años de las carreras de ingeniería y derecho de distintas universidades, que concurrieron a escuchar experiencias de vida de empresarios y ejecutivos, una especie de decálogo de cómo tener éxito. Pero de seguro quienes escucharon más atentamente su exposición fueron su mamá y su hija Catalina, sentadas casi en la última fila.

Después de comentar su paso por la universidad - donde lo que más estudiaba era finanzas porque sus habilidades iban por el lado comercial- y que tras pasar de la gerencia general de Falabella a la viña se siente como partiendo de nuevo, les dio sus consejos:Hay que ser optimista y persistente. Tener iniciativa y seguridad en sí mismo.Mantenerse atento a los cambios que experimentan los consumidores, para adelantar hacia dónde van.

Business plan competition

Dear NVC Challenge Participants:

(Please READ this e-mail in its entirety and REPLY directly to the
e-mail with the following information:
TEAM NAME:
TEAM LEADER:
This is to ensure that we know we have your correct e-mail address.)

CONGRATULATIONS for having the courage and commitment to compete in the
2007 New Venture Challenge (NVC)! You have decided to take what will be
a difficult journey, but the rewards at the end will be well worth your
efforts! Below is all the information you and your team will need to
compete in this year’s Challenge. If at any point you have any
questions, please feel free to call our offices: 305-348-7156 and ask to
speak to someone about the New Venture Challenge.

If you are receiving this e-mail, it is because we have received your
team’s application and you are now accepted as a New Venture Challenge
Competitor. (If there are any problems with your application, you will
be contacted separately.)

From this point forward, please note that ALL correspondence from our
offices will be in the form of an e-mail and will ONLY be sent to the
Team Leader.

It is the Team Leader’s responsibility to communicate effectively to his
or her teammates.

RULES:
Please re-review the procedures and reprint the pages if you had
previously viewed or printed the rules. Among two of the key changes
from last year are presentation length and the addition of a second
business plan deadline.

DEADLINES:
April 16, 2007 at 5 p.m.- Deadline to submit Business Plan in PDF format
– ONE file only
April 23, 2007 at 5 p.m. - Deadline to submit hard copies of Business Plan
Each team must submit the "Official Business Plan Submission Form" along
with one bound (no spirals please) hard copy and ten (10) additional
hard copies (three-hole punched and individually shrink-wrapped for
insertion into standard notebooks for judge's review) of their written
business plans.
May 7, 2007 at 5 p.m.- Deadline to submit Revised Business Plan hard
copies and PDF format

The “Official Business Plan Submission Form” has not yet been posted on
the web site, but all of the processes and requirements are posted.

Business plan requirements and submission process can be found here:
http://entrepreneurship.fiu.edu/nvc_submission_judging_rules.htm

An online business plan guide can be found here:
http://entrepreneurship.fiu.edu/nvc_business_plan_guide.htm

Please submit all plans to:
Attn: New Venture Challenge
FIU Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center
11110 Southwest 11th Street, University Park - VH 130
Miami, Florida 33199-0001

REQUIRED EVENTS:
April 27, 2007 - Presentation Rehearsals for Semi-Finalists
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (by appointment only)
May 2, 2007 - Semi-Final Oral Presentation Rounds
Morning Session 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (times subject to change)
FIU University Park Campus MARC 125
Afternoon Session 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (times subject to change)
May 15, 2007 - Final Oral Presentation Rounds
8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
FIU University Park Campus MARC 125
May 16, 2007 - FIU College of Business Administration’s Annual
Entrepreneurship
Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Luncheon (NVC winners announced)
11:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Parrot Jungle Island

More details will follow as the semester progresses, but should you have
any questions at any time, please feel free to contact us.

Best of luck and good wishes,
New Venture Challenge and Pino Entrepreneurship Center Support Team

Call Centers

Flores: La venganza de Buda

Rafael Gumucio
Las Ultimas Noticias
domingo 19 de noviembre de 2006

("Esta resena de Rafael Gumucio sobre el senador Fernando Flores del PPD, uno de los personajes mas polemicos en este escandalo de corrupcion que sacude al gobierno y en particular al PPD."[Pato Navia])

"Yo no estoy para tanta huevadas"-declaro con su característica elegancia el senador Flores, para posteriormente acometer muchas de las huevadas que a los chilenos nos tienen cansado de la política nacional.

Sin pudor fue de estudio de televisión en estudio de televisión ventilando conversaciones privadas, pasando por encima de cualquier institución, reglamento, o simple lealtad amistosa, para dejar caer-como quien no quiere la cosa-todo tipo de acusaciones al voleo. El único logro visible, a parte de la destrucción sistemática de un partido que hace pocos meses quería dirigir, fue cubrir y minimizar las irregularidades de Girardi, confundiendo a todos en una bruma de declaraciones, y permitiendo, en nombre de la bendita transparencia, más impunidad.

No me cabe duda que al senador Flores mis criticas y las de cualquiera lo tienen sin cuidado. Una de la más indignante de sus características es la seguridad absoluta en su propia genialidad. Vino de estados unidos donde gana mucho dinero y tiene muchos amigos, y sus nietos e hijos viven y prosperan, para salvarnos a los chilenos de nuestra propia mediocridad. De pura buena persona que es se ha hecho senador, desembolsando una gran suma de dinero en ello, eligiendo una región desértica y pobre a la que conectar con los flujos informaticos del mundo entero.

No nos portamos bien, los defraudamos, no estuvimos a su altura, fuimos mediocres, corruptos, mala onda, así que el Buda Flores decide ya no querernos y decirnos en nuestra cara que somos unos mafiosos, unos ignorantes, unos pobres tipos a los que-de no mejorar substancialmente-el va abandonar, para volver a San Francisco donde lo idolatran.

La grandilocuencia es para Flores una vieja amiga. En el gobierno de Salvador Allende estaba a punto de conectar toda la administración pública a un computador gigante alojado en uno de los departamentos del paseo Bulnes, cuando vino el golpe. Flores, Talquino, brusco y sin pelo en la lengua, amigo de sus amigos, sufrió la relegación y el exilio. En inglés, y sin las tallas y la mala onda de los compatriotas, logró una extraña fusión de filosofía y tecnología que conquisto el alma de más de un magnate.

Flores, un hombre sensible y más bien solitario empezó a gustarle eso de tener discipulos. En chile legiones de personeros públicos y privados han pasado por sus cursos, cantando las alabanzas del profeta en todo tipo de foros. Varias veces he tratado que algunos de sus iluminados alumnos me expliquen los revolucionarios contenidos de las charlas de Flores. Generalmente suelen estos repetirme sarta de lugares comunes como que hay que llegar a la hora a las citas, o que hay que sincerar las relaciones en la empresa. También me hablan de un futuro en red-que ya es presente-y nuevas formas de organización y otras bendiciones tecnotronicas imposibles de verificar.

Flores, el hombre del futuro, el campeón de la tecnología, y el nuevo conocimiento, representa sin embargo una figura muy conocida de nuestro
pasado: El millonario que hace política por filantropía. El caballero que paga su campaña con su propia plata y que por eso queda facultado para dar lecciones a los pobres ratones de cola pelada que anda rasguñando boletas y robando mesas de ping pong. Como si el hecho realmente indignante no fuese el que en chile un hombre pobre o normal, no pueda llegar a ser senador sin robar algo, o contar con el gentil auspicio de algún empresario.

No parece darse cuenta que ambos, el senador que ve la política como una excentricidad en que gastar su plata, y el senador que hace trampa para conservar su clientela, son las dos caras de la misma moneda, la de caciquismo, la de la política visto como un pasatiempo parecido a la caza de ciervos.

Lo que falta no son ni referentes nuevos, ni nuevas formas de entender la política, sino la vieja, la antigua y despreciaba humildad para verse como parte de un todo que no se puede uno permitir ensuciar, escupir o despreciar impunemente.

Philosophy	Description	Application to Extension practice
Liberal	Probably the most enduring of the major educational philosophies; stresses develop ment of intellectual power of the mind. Emphasizes content mastery with the educator viewed as expert/authority.	Educational effort in pesticide education with agriculture specialist providing instruction via lecture with a test following presentation of material; content mastery is essential due to mandatory testing for licensing of pesticide applicators.
Progressive	Developed out of the ideas of John Dewey; stresses an experiential, problem-solving approach to learning. Emphasizes experience of learner in determining problem areas and solutions to be considered.	Human resource specialist in interior design and household equipment designs an instructional approach directed toward household maintenance via a problemsolving process; participants identify, by experience, problems in home care and then determine appropriate procedure based on alternatives suggested by the specialists.
Behaviorist	Emphasizes importance of the environment in shaping desired behavior. Behaviorism has contributed to the development of systematic instructional design models and emphasizes accountability.	Family economics specialist provides home study course in estate planning involving a systematic (step-by-step) approach to determining accountable end results; specialist serves as facilitator while participants take initiative to complete process and evaluate each step before proceeding to the next step.
Humanist	Based on the assumption that human nature is essentially positive and that each person possesses virtually unlimited potential; places emphasis on personal growth and selfdirection in the learning process.	Family development specialist designs instruction relevant to economic stress with emphasis on self-concept and self-esteem (the worth of the individual). Small group workshops, seminars, and forums used to enhance "participatory" approach resulting in a positive feeling by individuals. Specialist serves as facilitator of the learning process.
Radical	Stresses the role of education as a means of bringing about major social change; education is used to combat social, political, and economic oppression within society.	Public affairs specialist designs instruction relevant to public issues such as water policy. Forums, selfinstructional packages, and other techniques are used to increase awareness of specific issues and, in turn, provide opportunity for possible community change.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This phenomenological study will seek to understand the process that adults experience when they become entrepreneurs by pursuing business opportunities. This chapter presents the background of the problem, problem statement, research questions, and conceptual framework for the study. Significance of the study, limitations of the study, and definition of terms are also addressed.

Background to the Problem

“New business creation is a fundamental indicator of entrepreneurial activity in the U.S. economy. The self sufficiency and independence that lead individuals to create new businesses significantly affects economic growth, innovation and job creation” (Reynolds, 2002 p.6). As capitalism has emerged as the Western world's dominant economic system, entrepreneurial activity has become the major source of upward social mobility and the primary source of job creation. Entrepreneurial activity is the major source of economic enhancement and the first cause of innovation in business (Bygrave, 2004). Five hundred million people are participating in entrepreneurial activity worldwide (Reynolds, 2002). “firm startup effort” are undertaken by half of all adults in the United States (U.S.) during their work careers, and one in eight working adults in the U.S. started a new business in 2001 (Reynolds, 2002). “firm startup effort” is

Entrepreneurial activity is a means of accomplishing personal goals and reaching self-actualization. The typical Monday through Friday work schedule of the ‘60s and ‘70s is no longer true for a large segment of today’s workforce. Employees are increasingly complaining that the line between work and life has become blurred, creating personal conflicts and stress (Brett & Stroh, 2003). Entrepreneurship provides the possibility of personal achievement for those who feel disengaged in their jobs and who don’t find a sense of purpose in their work. Starting a business gives people the chance of reaching more exciting and creative ways of life. Entrepreneurship is not only healthy for the economic system, but also provides an opportunity for many people to achieve a better quality of life.

Currently, 61% of US college and universities offer at least one course on entrepreneurship (Bygrave, 2004). Many formal educational programs focus on U.S. teaching techniques and models about how the entrepreneurial process should be managed.. However, these programs aim to help people after they have already made the decision to start a business or are evaluating the possibility of starting a business.

Problem Statement

Despite the importance assigned to the need to foster entrepreneurship, only 6% of the U.S. population actively participates in entrepreneurial activity (Reynolds, 2002). Most of the remaining 94% are traditional workers who expect to find and maintain an employer who will pay them for their labor.

Literature is abundant on what successful entrepreneurs do cite, which social conditions create more business cite, and which entrepreneurial activities are highly correlated with business growth cite. Yet we know little about the process that occurs just before the idea to undertake a business comes to mind. Research to help us understand how people decide to become entrepreneurs, what motivates them, and how they perceive and describe this process is scant. Little scholarly research is available to explain the nature of the decision individuals make to pursue unconventional ideas. Why would somebody leave a secure job to start a new enterprise?

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this study is to understand the process that triggers a person’s decision to become an entrepreneur. The study aims to understand what personal transformations, if any, are experienced before adults modify their priorities to pursue a business opportunity.

Research Questions

1. How do entrepreneurs describe the process of becoming entrepreneurs?

2. How do entrepreneurs describe the process of identifying an opportunity?

3. How do entrepreneurs describe the moment when they become aware of the desire to start a business?

4. How do entrepreneurs perceive themselves before and after becoming entrepreneurs?

Conceptual Framework

This study is informed by various concepts such as creative destruction cite, structural determinism cite, and perspective transformation cite. These concepts are used, related, and analyzed from the constructivist theory. A constructivist perspective is congruent with much of adult learning theory (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999). “Constructivists posit that learning is a process of constructing meaning. Drawing from Piaget, learning as an individual activity, involves a progressive adaptation of [an] individual’s cognitive schemes to the physical environment” (Towmey, 2005.p.11). This study presents the change of perspective to become an entrepreneur as an individual’s progressive adaptation to the physical environment, performed spontaneously when becoming an entrepreneur and triggered possibly by formal education.

Creative destruction

Entrepreneurs are conceptualized as creative destructors (Schumpeter, 1950). They are people who rearrange the current allocation of resources to create new, productive relations. These new relations produce outcomes desired by the entrepreneurs and imply a progressive adaptation to the physical environment. It is in while searching for these new outcomes that entrepreneur motivates themselves to pursue an opportunity. The entrepreneur’s behavior reflects a kind of person willing to change priorities like career development and financial security to pursue an identified opportunity (Drucker, 1970).

Entrepreneurship is a function of different factors like opportunities, motivation, and resources (Aldrich & Zimmer, 1985). However, the perception of an opportunity rather than the resource controlled drives the entrepreneurship process (Gartner, 1985). Entrepreneurs don’t have the resources; they combine disconnected resources to create new, more valuable conditions (Schumpeter, 1950). Through this process, entrepreneurs rearrange the order of the economic system and reform it.

Structural Determinism

Opportunities are interpretations that adults make about the world that they are living. Opportunities are meaningful to the adult not because of the objective conditions of the opportunity, but because of a particular interaction between the adult’s previous experience and the environment in which he or she is living. A business opportunity is a subjective idea that someone has concerning the benefits that it (the opportunity) can bring to oneself or to others through the deployment of specific actions that can capture the opportunity. This subjective idea of the opportunity is a mental construction that the person creates. Like all mental constructions, it’s an internal process that depends more on the person observing the phenomenon than on the “objectives” characteristics of the opportunity. Entrepreneurs, as living systems, are structured and determined systems, and as such deal, nothing external to them can specify what happens to them (Maturana, 1970, 1975). Therefore, the opportunity does not exist outside the head of the entrepreneur and should be possible to develop the ability of observing opportunities. Inquiring about how the internal process of perceive an idea happen could help to facilitate, by formal education, the process of becoming entrepreneur.

Perspective Transformation

The decision to change career and/or financial security to pursue an opportunity represents a big transformation on the adult’s life. This transformation can be understood as a perspective transformation (Mezirow, 1999). Perspective transformation is the process of becoming critical about the way that we perceive, understand, and feel about the world (Mezirow, 1990). This transformative process can be provoked by a single dramatic event, a series of almost unnoticed cumulative events, a deliberate conscious effort to make change in one’s life, or by the natural developmental progression of maturing. This research will seek to understand how adult entrepreneurs describe these events trying to discover if they are/were aware of this process.

Definition of Terms

Structural determinism. Structural determinism is, according to system theory, the property of the autopietic[1] (Maturana & Varela, 1970) system such as any action or influence coming from outside that does not have a direct or mechanical effect over the system, but is always modified or mediated by the organism.

Entrepreneur by opportunity. Somebody who starts a business even though he/she is employed and does not have a present or future financial crisis pushing him/her to start the business.

Entrepreneur by necessity. Somebody who starts a business due to a present or future financial crisis that pushes him/her to start a new activity.

Significance to the field

Entrepreneurship education has been limited only to those interested in business and who have already decided to undertake a business venture. The understanding searched by this study enlarges the focus of the entrepreneurial to those who are not comfortable with their work life and/or those who want to start a new stage of their lives. This study will inform entrepreneur educators how to become more effective when promoting entrepreneurial spirit.

This research is also relevant to the field of business management. Human resource practices to deal with early retirement can be enlightened by encouraging entrepreneurship. Adults close to retirement age could become important strategic partners of their former employers if they decide to start a business. The implicit knowledge (Nonaka, 1998) could be strategically used by companies by promoting older employers to start their businesses.

On the other hand, helping adult professionals start their own businesses could be a good strategy to reduce the negative effects of mass layoffs. This approach could be very interesting for labor unions trying to help their associates when layoffs are announced.

Limitations to the Study

This study establishes a difference between entrepreneurs by opportunity and entrepreneurs by necessity. Even though the outcome is similar no matter what the trigger, the process to become an entrepreneur is different when caused by opportunity rather than by necessity. The perspective transformation when the process is triggered by opportunity occurs spontaneously, in contrast to the perspective transformation caused by necessity where adults have no options. When the transformation is caused by necessity, the transformation is triggered by an explicit disorienting dilemma (i.e., a financial crisis). When the transformation is caused by opportunity, the event generating the transformation and how this event is experienced is unclear. Understanding the causes of entrepreneurial behavior by opportunity will help to create a better educational environment to facilitate transformations and, as a result, foster entrepreneurship.

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[1] Autopoiesis: The concept of autopoiesis tries to capture an essential characteristic of living organisms (auto=self, poiesis=production). Its purpose and definition are stated in Maturana and Varela (1980): “Our aim was to propose the characterization of living systems that explains the generation of all the phenomena proper to them. We have done this by pointing at Autopoiesis in the physical space as a necessary and sufficient condition for a system to be a living one.” “An autopoietic system is organized (defined as a unity) as a network of processes of production (transformation and destruction) of components that produces the components which: (i) through their interactions and transformations continuously regenerate and realize the network of processes (relations) that produced them; and (ii) constitute it (the machine) as a concrete unity in the space in which they (the components) exist by specifying the topological domain of its realization as such a network.”

Expositores estadounidenses del concepto "Expansion de conciencia de si"

Buscando conexiones con el metodo de ensenhanza que usa el PHD del DII me encontre con respetados autores estadounidenses del campo de la educacion. El concepto bajo el cual se desarrollan ideas muy similares a las del PHD es Transformative Learning. Uno de los autores que ha expandido la comprension del transformative learning hacia espacios que escapan al paradigma racionalista es Dirkx. Hay una rica literatura y una interesante teoria que aun esta en construccion.

Dirkx (1997) proporciona una visión sobre el aprendizaje transformativo que implica formas muy personales e imaginativas de saber - la manera del Mito más bien que de la razón-. Lo mítico refleja una faceta de saber a través de símbolos, imágenes, e historias. Dirkx (1997) describe el alma contando experiencias más que con una definición. “siendo sobrecogido por una puesta del sol, o impactado por el dolor y el desamparo frente al sufrimiento de otra persona. Sentimos el alma a través del arte, la música, y las películas. Es un momento mágico que trasciende la racionalidad para otorgar una profundidad, un poder, un misterio, y un profundo significado que conecta el ser con en el mundo.” (Cranton, 2005. p.50).

Future research in Transformative Learning

Taylor outlines 8 themes from the research published up until 2000: (1) transformative learning is uniquely adult; (2) TL appears to be linear, but not necessarily step-wise process; (3) the nature of a frame of reference and how it transform is unclear; (4) a disorienting dilemma usually initiates transformative learning; (6) discourse is equally dependent on relational ways of knowing; (7) context plays an important role in shaping transformative learning, but the influence of culture has not been well investigated; and (8) some characteristics of a learning environment that foster transformative learning have been identified, but more work needs to be done in this area. Based on his review Taylor suggests future research: (1) in-depth analyses of specific components of transformative learning that tend to be overlooked in the broader studies studies-for example, feeling such as anger, happiness, and shame, the management of emotion, and changes in behavior following transformation; (2) studies of how transformative learning is fostered in classroom; (3) new and varied research design and data collection techniques, including longitudinal research, observer participation, collaborative inquiry, action research, and quantitative studies

Definitions of entrepreneurship

Schumpeter (1934) "carrying out new combination"
Stevenson (1985) "entrepreneur is being driven by perception of opportunity rather than resources currently controled"
Gartner (1985) "as the creation of new organization"

Tiffin, S. (2004). Entrepreneurship in Latin America: Perspectives on Education and Innovation. pag 55. 1st Edition publishing by PRAEGER .

An Entrepreneurship Program for the University Simon Bolivar.

The Undergraduate Course.

To date, the course has been given 6 times, once each academic quarter (12 week), each course havin on average 25 student. the students who took thei course came from different fields in engineering and from chemistry, arquitectural, and urban studies. Apart from the students in production engineering, the rest had very little knowledge of business. At the beginning of each couse, I asked the students to answer a number of entrepreneurship related questions. Data was obtained from a total of 152 students.

In general, students perceived technological entrepreneurship as being a difficult endeavor. When asked to evaluate obstacles to entrepreneurship, student placed lack of financing as most important factor, followed by excess red tape on registering a business and other business transaction.

...access to financing is certainly a problem faced by small an medium size businesses in Latin America; however, manu of these problem have their roots in the lack of confidence that the financial institution have on the project proposed (grupo DCF 2002)--acceso de las pequenas y medianas empresas al financiamiento. Informe de trabajo. Division de micro, pequena y mediana empresa, departamento de desarrollo sostenible, BID.

Tiffin, S. (2004). Entrepreneurship in Latin America: Perspectives on Education and Innovation. pag 18. 1st Edition publishing by PRAEGER .

what suggestion can we make about further developing this field and getting the knowledge into curriculum, executive training, and public policy? First, the obvious-we need more research! More exactly, we need research carried out in conjunction with stakeholders. In other words, the research should not just be for the sake of academic publication but to take input from users who defines what the critical issues are, and who must be involved in applying the knowledge as well as funding its generation.

pensar en sudamérica

una entrevista muy lúcida del presidente del Perú....

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Pensar en sudamérica

Una entrevista muy lúcida del presidente del Perú me hace pensar en un futuro promisorio para nuestra América mestiza. Libre Mercado, Estados poderosos, y democracias en permanente perfeccionamiento, es todo lo que necesita sudamérica para sacar a su gente de la pobreza y constituirse en un grato lugar para vivir. Tenemos recursos, una población que crece,  una sustrato cultural común, y paisajes envidiables para disfrutar. Llegará el momento de poner nuestro talento al servicios de los habitantes de sudamérica. Llegará el momento de crear soluciones y transferirnos conocimeinto mutuamenteen.

technorati tags:sudamerica

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Los lideres que ando buscando

Hay que revolucionar el sentido común de los chilenos. Debe disputarse la batalla cultural instalando un proyecto de país basado en la solidaridad y el respeto. Un proyecto colectivo en el que todos los actores sociales sean co-artífices del proceso de desarrollo de Chile. Para ello, debemos ser capaces de poner al frente misiones colectivas, en las que se ponga todo el esfuerzo y los recursos para cumplirlas.

“El capítulo chileno de la transición a la democracia se ha cerrado. Ahora, despejadas las odiosidades, nos queda mirar en perspectiva histórica lo pasado y sacar de el lecciones al servicio de Chile y su gente.”(Valdivia, 1996)

Hoy es posible avanzar en una construcción técnica sobre cuál es el camino que debe seguir Chile para alcanzar el tan anhelado desarrollo económico y social. Sin embargo, esa reflexión es lenta y generalmente incompleta. Los vertiginosos cambios de este mundo desbocado (Giddens, 1999) llevan cualquier abstracción contemporánea rápidamente al pasado.

Desde lo anterior es que, paralelo a la preparación técnica que debe adquirir cualquiera que quiera lo mejor para Chile, se debe dar énfasis también a otros dos pilares. El espíritu de servicio público y la sensibilidad social. Chile, al mismo tiempo que necesita dotarse de una buena estrategia para alcanzar el desarrollo, necesita líderes sensibles y con profunda vocación de servicio público.

Un contexto histórico tan incomprensible como el que nos toca vivir y compartir, requiere de un trabajo en tres ejes: Preparación profesional, sensibilidad social y espíritu de servicio. Independiente del modelo a seguir, si alguno de los tres ejes se descuida, no hay modelo que valga. Un país que apueste a alcanzar el desarrollo económico, debe exigir en su clase política el cultivo de estos tres pilares fundamentales.

Espíritu de Servicio

Cultivar el espíritu de servicio es una tarea diaria, es un compromiso que requiere poner el proyecto personal de vida en favor de un pueblo, es sentir que la tarea es el desarrollo de Chile y trabajar sin descanso por ello. Es necesario invitar día a día a trabajar por el país, por su gente y por sus niños. En una tarea ardua, pero que tiene como recompensa estar vivos para ver a Chile alzarse como un país desarrollado, el primero de la región, el primero de América Latina. Para ello se requieren tareas amplias, sentido de misión de país, enfoque absoluto en nuestra gente y una conducta de auto motivación permanente. Necesitamos que todos aquellos que están en política, en especial los que lideran el país, se auto motiven permanentemente para seguir trabajando.

Deben ser invitados todos; las ONG, la iglesia, las JJVV, los clubes deportivos, los scout, los colegios, todos aquellos que sirven sin recibir mas recompensa que ver a Chile mejor. Todos deben ser convocados. Hay que traducirlo en tareas intermedias e invitar a Chile a cumplirlas.

Derrotamos la desnutrición, el analfabetismo, construimos carreteras y todos los chilenos tienen agua potable. ¡pongamos nuevas tareas a Chile! con nuevos estandartes, para que nuestros servidores públicos recuperen la brújula.

Preparar a nuestra gente.

“Se señala que en sólo 150 años, la tecnología conquistó el planeta y creó una civilización mundial. Esta transformación fue impulsada por un cambio radical en el significado del conocimiento, el que sería más esencial para la riqueza de las naciones, que el capital o la mano de obra. Este cambio que se inició hace 250 años en el significado del conocimiento, ha transformado a la sociedad y a la economía. Hoy en día, el conocimiento es el único recurso significativo. Los "factores de la producción" tradicionales -los recursos naturales, la mano de obra y el capital- no han desaparecido, pero se han vuelto algo secundarios” (P. Drucker).

El surgimiento de la sociedad del conocimiento es el cambio de mayor magnitud que se haya registrado jamás en la historia del intelecto.

Comprender esta realidad es extremadamente complejo. Nuestro país es muy pequeño, invisible para el mundo, con un aislamiento geográfico soslayable a través de la revolución de las comunicaciones, pero indudablemente insignificante el marco mundial. Ese papel sólo es comprensible desde el exterior, nuestra clase política debe prepararse bien para comprender el mundo en el que se desenvuelve. Para asumir tareas grandes necesitamos líderes preparados, que hayan recorrido el mundo, que lo dominen y comprendan. Que hayan compartido con otras culturas, que posean conocimiento y entrenamiento para liderar en un mundo diverso y en constante cambio. Preparar a nuestra gente es una tarea compleja. Necesitamos más chilenos estudiando fuera, más chilenos que hablen varios idiomas, más políticos con la ambición de prepararse más y mejor para hacer un trabajo superior.

La carrera política debe tomarse con seriedad y profesionalismo, no es posible que las primeras aproximaciones a esta actividad sean instintivas, sin guía y con profundas distorsiones sobre el sentido de la vida pública. En Chile, al igual que otros países debiera implementarse el sistema de becarios, donde los jóvenes postulen para trabajar junto a parlamentarios y estos les enseñen y muestran el trabajo público. No puede ser que las juventudes políticas tengan ese rol a cargo, más aun cuando dichas organizaciones no cuentan con ningún tipo de apoyo ni respaldo. Ese es un grave error para Chile, ya que de esa manera los nuevos interesados en la actividad política solo aprenden lo accesorio.

Tampoco es posible desarrollar Chile dejando la actividad política exclusivamente en manos de nuestra descendencia sanguínea, o de nuestros círculos sociales. Necesitamos a todos los chilenos, de todos los círculos y todos los colegios.

La importancia de la sensibilidad social para la política.

Las tareas colectivas se construyen con la gente. Junto a ellos, en las campañas electorales, ocupando ese espacio para invitar a un proyecto mayor. No podemos ganar elecciones con deudas personales, o hipotecando nuestras convicciones. Las campañas se ganan comunicando nuestra idea de país, invitando a la tarea colectiva. Presentando nuestra honestidad y nuestra vocación de servicio, presentando el anhelo de ver a Chile mejor. Para ello hay que conocer el lenguaje de la gente, que ellos te conozcan y confíen. La política se juega en el barrio, no es posible hacer buena política lejos de la gente.

La primera de las necesidades fundamentales en el proceso de preparación es conocer al país y a su gente, a sus partidos políticos y a sus líderes. Hablo de prepararse para una gran tarea, desarrollar Chile, ello no es posible sino en terreno. Desde lejos se puede conocer el mundo, pero no Chile. A Chile y a los chilenos se les conoce en el barrio, en la población, en la cancha de fútbol, en la reunión de apoderados, en el comité de adelanto.

No es posible inventar políticas sociales sin conocer antes el sufrimiento de los que se beneficiarán de esas políticas, tecnocracia es lo que menos necesita nuestro país, es un pueblo demasiado complejo para ello, demasiado culto, muy desconfiado para ofrecerle soluciones tecnócratas. Es más fácil invitarlo a una tarea común. Después de todo, tenemos un gran pueblo, solo falta que este pueblo tenga la clase política que se merece. Ahora es cuando.