Entrepreneurship Development CentreUniversity of National and World EconomyStudents Town ‘Hristo Botev’, Sofia 1710phone/fax: +359 2 9625268e-mail: uedc@unwe.acad.bg

How to teach Entrepreneurship and prepare future entrepreneurs: The practice of

Statute

Established in 1995 in the frames of international Phare Tempus Project

Part of the UNWE, but having special statute – self-financing

Pays to the university between 10 and 15% of its incomes

Employs full-time and part-time experts (including Ph.D. students)

Historical development

Introduction of Entrepreneurship as teaching discipline at the UNWE – in the spring of 1991 (25 students); first in Bulgaria

ESBID project - Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development in Bulgaria - 1993-1996 (initial accumulation of data)

Phare Tempus Project – 1994-1997 ‘Educational Programme and establishment of Centres for Entrepreneurship Development’ (University of Ulster, N. Ireland, Universita Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain, DeVlerick School voor Management, Belgium)

Establishment of Centres in Bulgaria Technical University in Plovdiv D.A. Tsenov Academy of Economics in Svishtov St. st. Cyril and Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo

Training Programmes for University Students Foundations of Entrepreneurship – obligatory subject;

modules: Small Business – Entrepreneurship Starting-Up Own Business

Small Business Management and Growth; modules: Small Business Management Survival (crisis) Management Growth Management

Approach: Every spring term the first subject ends with about 30 business plans and 10 case studies, as 7-8 students start-up own business (total about 120 starters up to now)

In the autumn in the frames of the second subject students make project for management improvement for SMES as well as project for SMEs growth from the practice

Joint Programmes and Activities Seminar in Entrepreneurship with the Florida

International University (FIU), Miami, USA, on global entrepreneurship and business 25 American and Bulgarian students make joint

projects in selected Bulgarian companies (by teams) to be defended in English

The American students receive credits and Bulgarian pass their exams by these projects

The successfully completed this seminar receive certificates signed by the rectors of both universities

Seminar with ISTUD (Milan) – “How to teach dynamic entrepreneurs?”

Other seminars

Training for Entrepreneurs and Managers In-company training: SMEs and large

companies Open courses (starting-up business,

management) Regional development

Gabrovo – training of export-oriented companies (preparation for establishing joint-ventures with Dutch companies

Pernik – training of women ‘would-be’ entrepreneurs

Growth management Specilised seminars (export, subcontracting,

negotiation skills, etc.)

Training for Banks

United Bulgarian BankDiagnosis and change of

organisational culture DSK Bank (branch Haskovo)

Credit experts (business planning, entrepreneurs figures and behaviour)

Managers (management of change: transition from savings bank to commercial oriented bank for SMEs)

Consulting Services

For starting-up companies (entrepreneurs)

For entrepreneurs and managers in existing companies

For dynamic (growing) companies Consulting services for Encouragement

Bank (the state bank for SMEs credits) Special subjects: subcontracting,

entrepreneurial networks, joint-ventures

Some projects and conferences Dynamic Entrepreneurs – comparative study for

Bulgaria and Poland (RSS project) Internationalisation, inter-firm linkages and SMEs

development in Clothing and Food Industries (the United Kingdom, Greece, Poland, Estonia and Bulgaria)

The Influence of National Business Culture on the Success of Joint-Ventures (the Netherlands, France, the Slovak Republic and Bulgaria)

Internationalising Entrepreneurship Education and Training – IntEnt99 (annual world conference, organised for first time in Central and Eastern European country

International Conference on Entrepreneurship and Industrial Organisation in transition, Albena 1995.

Preparing Ph.D. Students

Themes (completed and under development) Management Consulting for SMEs Organisational Culture in Growing SMEs Subcontracting between SMEs Entrepreneurial Networking Management of Growth in the Firms from the

New Economy Organisational Restructuring of Holding

Companies Future

Design and evaluation of supporting programmes for dynamic (growing) SMEs

Published books (some of them) 10+1 Business Plans for Starting Up Own

Businesses, 1996 25 Case Studies for Entrepreneurs and

Managers from the Practice, 1997 9 Business Plans for Starting Up Own

Businesses under Conditions of Currency Board, 1998

Foundations of Small Business, 2000 Strategic Management in Small and Medium-

sized Enterprises - Theory and Practice, 2001 Handbook for Starting-Up Own Business in the

Service Sector. 2003 (ordered by the Ministry of Defence)

Some summarized results 2800 trained students in the two entrepreneurial

subject (since 1991) 6 Ph.D. students (2 completed) Approximately 120 SMEs started-up since 1991 Completed 11 research and training projects of which:

4 national 7 international

Trained 18 own experts (most of them occupied leading positions in Bulgarian and foreign companies)

Organized 8 conferences and seminars of which 4 international 3 national 1 regional

Problems and Barriers

In fact, EDC pays itself to create entrepreneurs (75% of the time is spent to prepare students and Ph.D. students who do not pay EDC)

There is not, up to now, institutional and financial support by the interested institutions

How to disseminate existing results and know-how in other universities and training organisations?

The Future

Dissemination and diffusion of the available results and know-how in more Bulgarian universities, centres, and companies (needs institutional and financial help)

The best way for dissemination: Upgrade of the existing 4 entrepreneurship centres at different universities and establishment of 6 more at others technical and classic universities in different regions. Utilisation of the existing know-how of EDC and the rest centres; preparation of intellectual entrepreneurs ready to meet the new challenges: EU membership, globalisation processes and the development of the new economy. (estimated high by the EU Phare expert)