‘High tech cannot stay domestic and small’

To make a major paradigm shift in thinking, outside a provincial box, Associate Professor Sirp de Boer, Assistant Professor Rainer Harms, and Master student Lukas de Sonnaville explain how they are about to introduce key changes in the core curriculum of the Master’s of Science program in Business Administration, teaching students scientific skills to enter a world of global business interaction and exchange with understanding and the right knowledge tools.

Robbin Engels

Starting on 20 April, the Netherlands Institute for Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship (NIKOS) offers a brand new, research-based academic course in ‘International Entrepreneurship,’ intended to target Master’s students who are following two of the six academic tracks within the Master of Science program in Business Administration.

De Boer: ‘We combined students in the ‘Innovation & Entrepreneurship’ and ‘International Management’ tracks to form a dynamic mixed group.’ The course is one of the few of its kind to explore topics on the feasibility and nature of cross-border activities by entrepreneurial firms.

In nods of agreement, the two course designers and assistant say only a handful of journal papers have been published on the topic of international entrepreneurship which excites all of them. The central goal, they concur, is to develop and push new lines of research, lifting the subject area to a higher level of understanding.

Harms, a native of Friesland in northwestern Germany explains their aspirations. ‘We explored International Entrepreneurship courses that are offered worldwide. One of our bases was the Harvard School of Business course, which we adapted to fit our specific requirements.’ In the study program, De Boer says one third of the 50 enrolled students are foreigners, the rest being of Dutch nationality.

Having traveled often abroad, De Boer has witnessed the emergence of opening world markets that are ‘hungry for technology.’ He gives an example, ‘Look at China. There are technology niches waiting to be tapped. If MESA+ develops a certain technology and an entrepreneur wants to exploit it then how is he going to do this? We want to teach students to address and research these topics in their Master’s thesis.’

The backbone of the course and underlying rationale, Harms describes: ‘Basically there are three stepping stones in the core curriculum. The entrepreneurial process consists of opportunity identification and creation, opportunity exploration and preparation, and opportunity exploitation. In each of the steps, entrepreneurs need a specific combination of capabilities and resources to build a sustainable business.

‘The model shows entrepreneurs a way to first recognize business opportunities, prepare for them and then begin to exploit them,’ summarizes Harms. De Boer also notes differences in cultural aspects and cross-border opportunities. ‘We will be asking the question: what are the particular ways to recognize opportunities here in comparison to business opportunities in China, the US or elsewhere in the world?’

De Sonnaville, who has Dutch and Portuguese roots, acts as a sort of ‘sparring partner’ in the group, a person to offer clarity and insights on the students’ perception and reaction to the course material. He acknowledges the basis of the course is in fact theoretically based, but opines, ‘When students get to test the theory in practice by going to local, small to medium-sized enterprises to interview “real entrepreneurs,” then that’s when things get incredibly interesting! It’s not only about the big companies like Philips,’ adds De Sonnaville with a knowing glance.

He has lived for ten years in Utrecht, ten years in Apeldoorn and now resides in Enschede. In a display of his witticism, he jokes with De Boer and Harms, ‘I keep moving progressively towards the East. Maybe,’ he mocks, ‘I’ll end up one day living in the Far East.’

Whether it’s a question of exploiting business opportunities in New York, Bombay, Dubai, Beijing or closer to home in Europe – the fresh curriculum might just prepare students to cross country borders without batting an eye and their research contribution could offer up a better theoretical understanding of the indeterminate path of the global entrepreneur.

Rainer Harms (left), Sirp de Boer and Lukas de Sonnaville map out the future: ‘We are situated in a border area, in a country with a small, open economy. Technologies developed here at the university need a place to go. The Dutch have a long history of trading and conducting business activities across the world.’ (Photo: Arjan Reef)