The Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management course aims to introduce students to the world of start-ups, SMEs (small-and medium-sized enterprises) and corporate venturing. The goal of the course is to acquaint students with concepts and theories that are relevant in the process of setting up and managing an own business. Besides, we will illustrate how entrepreneurial behaviour in large companies can positively influence multiple individual and firm-level performance variables. At the same time, the course will offer the students a ‘learning-by doing' environment in which they can practice certain fundamentals of the entrepreneurial process such as value creation, opportunity recognition and creativity. Finally, this course aims to bridge theory and practice illustrating how the theories in this course are applied in their specific business context. This course however is not a step-by-step guide for starting your own business.

The course discusses the different steps in the entrepreneurial and small-business process, such as opportunity recognition, gathering resources, strategic planning in smaller companies, managing the venture, and growth, exit or failure of the business. It also introduces different types of entrepreneurship, such as social, academic and corporate venturing, as well as the theories that are important within this research field.

Selection of book chapters and journal articles

Students need to have an advanced level of English and the ability to read and understand articles from
scientific journals.
For exchange students: fluid mastery of English and capacity to read and understand academic journal articles