Final report - European Commission - Europa

INNOVATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION –JUNIOR ENTERPRISES AT UNIVERSITIESJonathan Nowak, JADE European Confederation of Junior EnterprisesWhat is JADE?JADE is a student-run, pan-European network representing more than 20 000 young entrepreneurs in 225 local JuniorEnterprises. Together with the affiliated Junior Enterprise Network in Brazil and several contacts to student consultinggroups in non-member countries, the JADE Network is the largest network of entrepreneurial students in theworld.The Junior Enterprise conceptThe European Commission recognises the Junior Enterprise concept (entirely student-run consulting companies) asone of the best practices in the field of entrepreneurial education and an aide to foster entrepreneurial mindsetsamong young people, and importantly as a basic facility for a more entrepreneurial society.A Junior Enterprise is a small- to medium sized enterprise entirely managed by students and related to their field ofstudies. The students offer different services on a project base, e.g. market researches, business plans, IT consulting,or the organisation of job fairs. They experience unique learning opportunities through these projects on the oneside, and the management of enterprises on the other. Therefore, our students develop professionalism, and experienceentrepreneurship at an early stage. They distinguish themselves through soft skills such as entrepreneurialspirit, team-working, creativity, intercultural understanding, work experience, and professional career progress todate.Project work: designing a new business strategy for managing growthBetween April and July 2006, a Delta team designed a new business strategy for managing growth; the client wasDockwise Yacht Transport (DYT), the world-leading company for the maritime transports of yachts. The growthstrategy’s aim was to increase DYT’s annual net profit by several million USD by 2012.The project strategy followed a three-step approach which composed of: Market and Competitors Analysis, BusinessCase Modelling and a Business Plan. For each phase of the project, clear deliverables were defined.44Entrepreneurship Education in Europe: Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindsets through Education and Learning