Applied Entrepreneurship Education Programme
The goal of the project is to develop and implement together with the Arba Minch University, Ethiopia and several industry partners an entrepreneurship programme which is tailored to the skills and the needs of Arba Minch’s electrical engineering master students.
The project was funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), carried out by DAAD within the programme 'Praxispartnerschaften 2013' and ran from September 2013 until December 2016. The total project volume amounts to € 500.000.
Project Team
Partners
Project leader
Professor Dr. Elmar Steurer
Vice President for Research and Internationalization
Project description
Project description
The targeted education programme aims to bridge the gap between the students’ competences and the demands of regular and self-employment job markets by equipping them with the necessary business and entrepreneurial skills as well as practical and leadership experience. Students have to put theoretical knowledge directly into practice within their trainings. They have to identify their own business ideas, to develop their own business models and their own business plans, and most essentially they have to found and run their own micro businesses in the field. Moreover, the education programme tries to use synergy effects to support micro entrepreneurs as part of student’s studies.
Education Content
The targeted education programme consists of two parts: 'Micro Business Development' and 'Entrepreneurship Specialisation'. The idea of this approach is to equip students with a holistic overview about running a business first and teach them the use of more advanced methods for starting and running a business based on their own experience afterwards.
Within the first part, students have to develop their own micro business idea, develop a technical solution for it and have to implement it together with micro entrepreneurs in the field. The micro entrepreneurs should overtake the full responsibility of the business after four weeks and to run it then on their own in the long run.
Within the second part, students have to identify a business idea for their own purpose, have to develop a business plan for it and have to present it in front of potential investors during an organized conference for this purpose. The idea can be based on an upscale solution of the previous developed micro business or can be a fully autonomous one.
Mutual benefits
Non-business students: create small business models
- develop a holistic business overview
- develop entrepreneurial and leadership skills
"Typical" micro-entrepreneurs: support the realization of these models
- take advantage of a promising idea and concept
- increase their chances for sustainable success
- receive support in the business implementation and business training
Procedural overview
1Development
Joint development of education modules by experts of industry partners, lecturers of Arba Minch University (AMU) and Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences (HNU) during a two month stay of the AMU lecturers at HNU in Germany. Pilot execution of the developed education models by HNU lecturers and industry partners at AMU in Ethiopia.
2Transfer
Experience exchange and joint development of standardized lecture scripts by experts of industry partners, lecturers of Arba Minch University and Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences during a two month stay of the AMU lecturers in Germany.
3Implementation
Independent execution of the education modules by AMU Lecturers at AMU in Ethiopia.
4Wrap-up
Result analysis of the education methods and the micro business success. Result presentation and discussion during an conference at HNU in Germany. Prepare the long-term implementation of the education program in AMU.
funded by the DAAD with financial means of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Impressions
