India is one of the most intimidating business environments for first generation entrepreneurs. One has to become entrepreneur because there is no better option of work. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2013- India report suggests introduction of entrepreneurship education at undergraduate university level as well as at engineering and technical institutions.
International Journal of Management (IJM) Volume 7, Issue 7, November–December 2016, pp.433–441, Article ID: IJM_07_07_048 Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijm/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=7&IType=7 Journal Impact Factor (2016): 8.1920 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com ISSN Print: 0976-6502 and ISSN Online: 0976-6510 © IAEME Publication A STUDY OF WORKING OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT CELL IN ENGINEERING COLLEGES Dr C R Birajdar Principal, Maharashtra College of Science and Commerce, Pune, Maharashtra, India Madhura Wagh Maharashtra College of Science and Commerce, Pune, Maharashtra, India ABSTRACT India is one of the most intimidating business environments for first generation entrepreneurs One has to become entrepreneur because there is no better option of work Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2013- India report suggests introduction of entrepreneurship education at undergraduate university level as well as at engineering and technical institutions The Entrepreneurship Development Cell is being promoted in educational institutions to develop institutional mechanism to create entrepreneurial culture in Science &Technology academic institutions This research was model building exercise for Entrepreneurship Development Cells Key words: Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship development, Entrepreneurship Development Cell Cite this Article: Dr C R Birajdar and Madhura Wagh, A Study of Working of Entrepreneurship Development Cell in Engineering Colleges International Journal of Management, 7(7), 2016, pp 433–441 http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=7&IType=7 ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT In 1950 the need for entrepreneurial development was first felt It is now well known that entrepreneurs are not born, they can be made In country like India where human resources are to found plenty, it is possible to identify individuals in all segments of population who have requisite entrepreneurial skill India is one of the most intimidating business environments for first generation entrepreneurs1 Small scale industries serve as seed beds of entrepreneurship Small scale industries contribute significantly to the strengthening of industrial structure, various products can be produced economically on a small scale They offer the most promising means of promoting entrepreneurship among the people from the different walks of life, especially those with limited financial resources and limited technical and managerial experiences, thus establishing a wide base for rapid industrialization The persons who will set up small industry units have to come from within the country and the community they are local in the true sense and their success has a much greater impact on generating the right climate for successful entrepreneurship CURRENT INDIAN ECONOMY According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Indian economy is factor driven economy2 In Factordriven economies economic growth of the country is determined by primary factors of production i.e land http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 433 editor@iaeme.com Dr C R Birajdar and Madhura Wagh and labor (mostly unskilled) Economic activity in these economies is primarily based on the extraction of natural resources; the focus is on building a subsistence and basic level of foundation This report divides entrepreneurship in India in two ways • • Opportunity entrepreneurship and Necessity entrepreneurship Necessity entrepreneurship involves people who start a business because other employment options are either absent or unsatisfactory One has to become entrepreneur because there is no better option of work In contrast, opportunity entrepreneurship involves those who choose to start their own business by taking advantage of a perceived entrepreneurial opportunity ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND EDUCATION Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2013 India report suggest Introduction of entrepreneurship education at undergraduate university level as well as at engineering and technical institutions to promote commercialization of R&D and technology-based enterprises should be made mandatory in all states Entrepreneurship education needs to be accompanied with dynamic lectures delivered by expert faculty in entrepreneurship Experienced entrepreneurs with proven track records in business should be recruited for mentorship programs There should be interactive sessions between mentors and students This would help to mitigate fear of failure and set role models for potential entrepreneurs Education and training need to be imparted to fill in gaps at grass root levels Quality of education differs from area to area Quality education at all levels, will increase employment opportunities for the individual, and also reduce necessity entrepreneurship It will pave way to increase the individual’s alertness to identify and exploit business prospects and thus increase opportunity entrepreneurship ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT CELL (E D CELL) The Entrepreneurship Development Cell is being promoted in educational institutions to develop institutional mechanism to create entrepreneurial culture in Science &Technology academic institutions and to foster techno-entrepreneurship for generation of wealth and employment by Science &Technology persons The E D Cells are established in academic institutions (science colleges, engineering colleges, universities, management institutes) having requisite expertise and infrastructure The mission of the E D Cell is to "develop institutional mechanism to create entrepreneurial culture in academic institutions to foster growth of innovation and entrepreneurship amongst the faculty and students" Govt has separate mechanism for entrepreneurship development Now new ministry is also started as Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Ministry Various institutions are working all over India for nurturing entrepreneurship skills in young generation Entrepreneurship Development Cell is one of the ways to develop entrepreneurship in students OBJECTIVES OF STUDY • • • • • • • • To analyse trainings organized by ED cell To study fund arrangements for aspirant entrepreneurs To examine arrangements for mentorship To study track records kept by ED cell To know number of business houses started by ED Cell To check ED Cells are promoting entrepreneurship or self employment To study performance of ED Cells To give suggestions for improvement of ED Cell http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 434 editor@iaeme.com A Study of Working of Entrepreneurship Development Cell in Engineering Colleges 5.1 Hypothesis H1 ED cells are concentrating more on entrepreneurship awareness rather than entrepreneurship development RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In this research, researcher wants to find out working of Entrepreneurship Development Cells Engineers of various streams are able to launch new technologies For that purpose entrepreneurship development in engineers is very essential Hence, researcher has selected Entrepreneurship Development Cells in engineering colleges Engineering colleges have started to establish ED cells from 2001 Hence, facts and figures of last two to ten years were available for analysis UNIVERSE AND SAMPLE The research has taken place in Engineering colleges in Pune Municipal Corporation area According to Website of Savitribai Phule Pune University2, PMC area has 22 engineering colleges Sample size for this population is calculated as below: Ss New ss = -ss -1 + -Pop Where Pop = population 96 New ss = -95 + -22 = 96/1 +4.32 = 18 The researcher has collected data from 18 engineering colleges LITERATURE REVIEW Neeta Baporikar describes three phases of entrepreneurship development in her book ‘entrepreneurship development and project management’ • • • Initial phase – creation of awareness about the entrepreneurial opportunities based on service and research Development phase – implementation of training programmes to develop motivation and management skills Support phase – infrastructural support of counseling, assisting to establish new enterprise and to develop existing unit She analysed barriers to entrepreneurship in categories Entry barriers, Survival barriers and exit barriers Entry barriers are those factors which are limiting access to indentified business opportunities and capitalization on those opportunities Some of them are a cultural bias in identifying and initializing the entrepreneurial development process, limited market information, hostile environment, unsympathetic and cumbersome government attitude etc Survival barriers are difficulties faced by small businesses to sustain in changing market conditions Observed survival barriers include the threatening shadow of changing technology, constraining practices within the capital market, failure of guidance agencies to guide and behavioral pattern that could impair basic managerial practices Exit barriers are those constraints which are limiting the termination of those small industrial ventures that have out-lived their business viability or the growth of such ventures to a different size category Identified exit barriers are the emotional http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 435 editor@iaeme.com Dr C R Birajdar and Madhura Wagh commitment of the entrepreneur to his venture, fear of losses, sunk funds, need of more entrepreneurial skills Sandeep Vij and Pooja Sharma examine entrepreneurial drive of business students in ‘Does Entrepreneurial Education Enhance the Entrepreneurial Drive of Business Students?’ The study explores the effects of demographics on the entrepreneurial drive of students and compares the level of entrepreneurial drive among groups of students who have or who have not undergone some training on entrepreneurship The results of the study show that type of family and genders of student not positively affect the entrepreneurial drive of students The study proves that entrepreneurial education enhances confidence of students which makes them self dependent The study explains the necessity of entrepreneurship education in the curriculum of studies Authors also have given suggestions for trainers and Government Departments concerned with entrepreneurial development In the article ‘Entrepreneurship requires good real-life connect’ Abhishek Choudhari speaks about disconnect between education and entrepreneurship The education system is producing job seekers Job creators are not developed at all The fundamental aim of education should be shifted to entrepreneurship The students should not be developed as managers or accountants or software developers but should be oriented with all aspects of starting and growing own venture Entrepreneurship is like learning swimming which cannot be learned by studying books It's about doing it and learning it DATA ANALYSIS Name of the College -> ED Cell started in Connected with Funded by how students connect membership by default educational ranking percentage of members 1% to 10% 11% to 20 % 21% to 30 % 31% to 40% 41% to 50% Above 50 % Students go through training Only last year rd year & last year all no of trainings conducted in year less than 3 - – 10 More than 10 Types of trainings arranged in a year EAC EDP FDP Skill development Any other Training for preparing business proposal is given by Mentor ED cell incharge Any other No training Guidance for preparing Business proposal is given by Mentor ED cell incharge Any other Students on their own Total VIT VIIT PVG PICT 2001 2001 2003 2009 in acts pre NEN self self self self 12 11 0 0 11 10 18 5 11 √ √ √ COEP AISSM Eng AISSM IT MIT Cummins SKNCOE SCOE NBN RMD SAE MMCOE MMIT Wadia Wadia IT 2006 2011 2011 2006 2009 2013 2010 2012 2012 2012 2007 2010 2012 2012 Tie Divine corp pre NEN pre NEN pre NEN self DST DST self self self self self self self self self self self √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ NR √ NR √ NR √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ NR √ NR √ √ NR √ NR √ NR √ NR √ NR √ NR √ √ √ √ √ √ http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 436 editor@iaeme.com A Study of Working of Entrepreneurship Development Cell in Engineering Colleges 10 OBSERVATIONS After data is analysed the researcher has formed various observations For presenting these observations in proper way they are linked to objectives 10.1 To analyse trainings organized by ED cell • • • • • • The students who show some interest in entrepreneurship are only going through training The students who are not aware about entrepreneurial opportunities are not made aware about this career option (Q No 1) Students not believe that entrepreneurship can be one career option which is available for them (Q No 3) The students who take admission to engineering are mature enough to decide about their career path If they have not introduced with entrepreneurship in first year, they not show interest in activities in third and last year The colleges which give training to third and last year students have less membership (Q No & 4) It seems that frequency of trainings is not pre-determined It is decided on the basis of availability of time and trainer (Q.No.5) It is clear that though we say Entrepreneurship Development Cell, they are actually Entrepreneurship Awareness Cells These cells provide trainings at very basic level Because of which students become aware about entrepreneurial opportunities but are not able to transform their ideas into business (Q No.6) Preparing business plan proposal is one milestone for starting new venture If aspirant entrepreneur is not able to develop his business plan proposal in good manner, he will not be able to get funding for his business Business plan proposal makes various aspects of business Crystal clear (Q No 7) 10.2 To study fund arrangements for aspirant entrepreneurs • VC, bank loans are available for new ventures But ED Cells are not taking any responsibility of funding business (Q No 11) 10.3 To examine arrangements for mentorship • It is observed that the concept of mentor is not clear In some colleges ED Cell incharge is himself is called as mentor In some colleges entrepreneur whose guest lectures are arranged is called as mentor Only in COEP ED Cell incharge is HOD of one department and eminent entrepreneur is appointed as mentor for ED Cell 10.4 To study track records kept by ED cell • 10 colleges not have any track record of businesses started by ED Cell colleges have contact with businesses set up by ED Cell The contact is mainly established by students and not by ED Cell College comes to know about activities through alumni meet No any special efforts are taken by ED Cell 10.5 To know number of businesses started through ED Cell • The number of businesses started through ED Cell is very low The colleges are not giving proper importance to entrepreneurship development It is one of the extracurricular activity in the college.(Q No.8) 10.6 To check ED Cells are promoting entrepreneurship or self employment • Entrepreneurship development Cells are promoting entrepreneurship as well as self employment 10.7 To study performance of ED Cells • For judging performance of ED Cell factors like number of businesses started, number of trainings, number of students take part in activities are taken into account ED Cell is extracurricular activity and so it has not given much importance http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 437 editor@iaeme.com Dr C R Birajdar and Madhura Wagh 10.8 To give suggestions for improvement of ED Cell • • • • • • • Challenges faced:- Mindset of parents, students and society is big challenge faced by ED Cell Our society not gives same status to salaried person and startup entrepreneur Job seeking nature is developed right from school days Academic subject:- 50% ED Cell incharge say no use of adding subject It will have only academic importance Change of mindset is not possible by adding subject Other 50% say subject should be added Some have started subject as elective subject Compulsory internship:- 70% ED Cell incharge think that internship for engineering students will become beneficial for increasing entrepreneurship All have recommended internship in MSME sector It will provide handful experience of running business Internship in large scale companies will not be able to give experience of all the aspects of business Is engineering education sufficient? There is no any doubt about technical capabilities of students but knowledge about business is insufficient They all suggest some training or course for increasing entrepreneurial capacity Here is confusion There should be training or course for entrepreneurship They not recommend subject in engineering syllabus 10.9 Other observations When researcher visited various colleges for interviewing ED Cell incharge, she asked some questions to students like where is ED Cell? Who is inchrge of ED Cell? Hardly in one college, she got positive answer from some students In all other colleges students were totally unaware about ED Cell On the contrary, there was no need to ask for placement cell The place of placement cell was highlighted at the entrance of buildings In some colleges entrepreneurship cell is one part of placement cell Out of curiosity researcher gathered data of placements in colleges where research has taken place The data was easily available on websites of colleges Placement Businesses started • College Of Engineering, Pune – average 90% less than • PVG Engineering College– 233 out of 360 (65%) more than 10 • MIT Engineering college – 232 out of 600 (40%) 3-6 • Cummins Engineering College – 425 out of 540 (80%) less than • Sinhgad Engineering colleges– 70% total less than • AISSM Engineering College – 20% to 30% less than • PICT College – 369 out of 540 intake (70%) 3-6 • MM College of Engineering – 97 out of 540 intake (20%) more than 10 • Wadia College of Enginnering – 84 out of 109 (78%) less than • VIIT – 227 out of 600 intake (40%) 3–6 Highest numbers of businesses were stared in college where placement is lowest The colleges which have highest placement have started lowest number of business It proves that in India necessity driven entrepreneurship is more than opportunity driven entrepreneurship http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 438 editor@iaeme.com A Study of Working of Entrepreneurship Development Cell in Engineering Colleges 11 HYPOTHESIS TESTING H1 ED cells are concentrating more on entrepreneurship awareness rather than entrepreneurship development This hypothesis is accepted ED Cells are arranging only Entrepreneurship Awareness programmes and not giving any attention towards developing students as entrepreneur Activities of entrepreneurship development are missing 12 SUGGESTIONS It is observed that there is no specific programme followed by ED Cell in engineering colleges covered in this research Activities and subjects of the trainings are decided on the basis of availability of time and trainer This hampers the process of entrepreneurship development The researcher has designed programme for ED Cell It will regularize the activities of ED Cell and transform the students from job seekers to job givers First year engineering students are mature enough to think about their career realistically Hence activities of ED Cell should be started from first year itself The students should be divided in groups First year and second year students will be in one group and third and last year students should be in another group Programme for first year and second year will be called as Entrepreneurship Awareness Programme and programme for third and last year will be called as Entrepreneurship Development programme Presently students who are interested in entrepreneurship become member of ED Cell 80% to 90% students not become member of ED Cell Here we give up the chance of changing their mindset Hence the programme for first year and second year students should be made compulsory It will make them aware about entrepreneurship as career option Taking into account academic calendar of engineering students, ED Cell will be able to arrange activities in a year The activities for Entrepreneurship Awareness Programme should be as follows: 12.1 Entrepreneurship Awareness Programme - Activities for Group (FE and SE students) 12.1.1 Activity no 1: Motivational awareness about entrepreneurship Normally students from non entrepreneurial background think that it is not my cup of tea To start change in their mindset, some motivational speech should be organized The activity should be given some tagline like ‘you also can it’ 12.1.2 Activity no 2: ‘Talk with startup entrepreneur’ The startup entrepreneur should preferably be alumni Two characteristics of entrepreneur, very important here, are startup entrepreneur and alumni The entrepreneur should have to speak about the instinct of his mind when and how he decided to be an entrepreneur, his struggle, process of starting business and his success Students can easily connect themselves with him as his struggle and success are fresh 12.1.3 Activity no 3: Classroom session on business environment The students should be made aware about PEST factors of business environment It will prepare background for taking business decisions 12.1.4 Activity no 4: Introduction of Entrepreneurship Development Institutes Various Government and private entrepreneurship development institutions EDII, MCED, MITCON etc are working in India Students should be made aware about these institutions These institutions can help them while starting and running business Students should be made aware about Business Incubation Centers Picture of this support system will encourage them to choose entrepreneurship as their career http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 439 editor@iaeme.com Dr C R Birajdar and Madhura Wagh 12.1.5 Activity no 5: Interview of MSME entrepreneur The students should be grouped having or students in one group They should be asked to conduct interview of one MSME entrepreneur Time of or weeks should be allotted to select entrepreneur and conduct interview On one specific day all groups have to make presentation about their interview This will make them aware about success that can be achieved in MSME 12.1.6 Activity no 6: Business Fair The business fair should be organized to give them live experience of business Students should have to business for couple of days The business, preferably, should be related to engineering It will make them familiar about various new aspects about business Prizes can be awarded to best business 12.1.7 Activity no 7: Classroom session about funding resources Students think that first challenge for entrepreneurship is availability of capital For clearing this block in their mind, classroom session about funding resources should be arranged The students should be made aware about various funding agencies and types of funds available for them 12.1.8 Activity No 8: Workshop on Leadership Entrepreneur should have to lead his business and also men in his business He must possess leadership qualities ED Cell should have to arrange workshop on leadership which should contain leadership games This programme should be followed by conducting one activity in one month This programme will increase the interest of students about entrepreneurship As this programme is for first and second year students, the activities should be repeated but with new guest lecturers and entrepreneurs in consecutive year Couple of activities can be interchanged according to availability of time and students 12.2 Entrepreneurship Development Programme - Activities for Group (TE and BE students) This programme should be conducted for third and last year engineering students These students are sufficiently aware about entrepreneurship Now developing students as entrepreneurs is very important At this stage membership for ED Cell can be introduced Students who are interested and who have shown entrepreneurial traits should be developed as potential entrepreneurs Here also one activity should be conducted in one month 12.2.1 Activity no 1: Motivational awareness about entrepreneurship First motivational activity should be common for all first to last year students It should be inauguration of ED Cell Motivation is very important at all stages of entrepreneurship 12.2.2 Activity no 2: Soft skill Training For becoming successful, soft skills like communication skills, negotiation skills are very much important One training for soft skills will become helpful to them 12.2.3 Activity no 3: Current business opportunities Guest lecture should be arranged for introducing some current business opportunities It should be accompanied with training to identify new business opportunities The opportunities should be knowledge based and innovation driven If possible this should be arrange separately for each stream (for eg mechanical, Civil, Electrical, IT etc) http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 440 editor@iaeme.com A Study of Working of Entrepreneurship Development Cell in Engineering Colleges 12.2.4 Activity no 4: Training of market research Market research is a key factor in maintaining competitiveness over competitors Market research provides important information to identify and analyze the market need, market size and competition This training will arm them with practical approach to their ideas 12.2.5 Activity no 5: Training of Risk Assessment Risk is an integral part of entrepreneurship But for becoming successful moderate risks should be taken Hence risk assessment becomes very important A training of Risk Assessment will give them idea about calculated risks 12.2.6 Activity no 6: Guest lecture for Legal aspects of business Various types of laws are applicable to business The students should be made aware about laws which are applicable for starting business Guest lecture should be arranged for this purpose 12.2.7 Activity no 7: Training of marketing techniques In today’s world proper marketing of business is very important Training should be arranged to equip them with marketing techniques It will make them ready to fight with competition 12.2.8 Activity no 8: Business plan proposal training and competition Business plan proposal is one important activity in process of starting business Training for preparing business plan proposal is important at this stage Business plans are helpful while speaking to lenders and investors about startup funding 13 CONCLUSION Entrepreneurship development is a process It consists three phases • • • Initial phase – creation of awareness about the entrepreneurial opportunities Development phase – implementation of training programmes Support phase – infrastructure support for counseling and assisting to establish a new enterprise or to develop existing business ED Cells can be located in initial phase of entrepreneurship development They are able to create awareness about entrepreneurial opportunities But they are not able to implement proper training programmes expected at development phase Support phase cannot be assigned to ED Cell as it will become burden on them Support phase can be assigned to incubation centers established at university level or in district The major problem is implementation of development phase Development phase is bridge between initial phase and support phase ED Cells are at initial phase If business incubation centers serve as support phase, development phase is missing If all three phases are properly implemented, it will be possible to increase entrepreneurship in country REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] Desai, Vasant, Dynamics of entrepreneurial development and management, Himalaya Publishing House,pg 143 www.gemconsortium.org GEM 2013 – India report Mamatha Kulakarni, P Kesava Rao and S Shireesha, Conflict Management and Resolution Strategies in Engineering Colleges in Telangana State International Journal of Management (IJM), 7(7), 2016, pp 144–152 Dr V S Dhekale Performance of Women Entrepreneurship in India International Journal of Management (IJM), (1), 201 6, pp 123 - 131 http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 441 editor@iaeme.com ... Hence, facts and figures of last two to ten years were available for analysis UNIVERSE AND SAMPLE The research has taken place in Engineering colleges in Pune Municipal Corporation area According... 50% Above 50 % Students go through training Only last year rd year & last year all no of trainings conducted in year less than 3 - – 10 More than 10 Types of trainings arranged in a year EAC EDP... part of placement cell Out of curiosity researcher gathered data of placements in colleges where research has taken place The data was easily available on websites of colleges Placement Businesses