Cognitive model of entrepreneurship and its reflection in three Scandinavian graduate programmes

This is the title of my Master thesis that I submitted few days ago as the finalising part of my studies at the MSc programme in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the BI Norwegian School of Management.

It is the result of several months of work. Me and my colleague Richard from Hong Kong spent a lot of time and effort doing this research and presenting it as a written report.

The topic focuses on the entrepreneurship education. The intriguing question has been: entrepreneurship, just like the talents of musicians, artists, teachers etc. is often considered to be more art than science. How to teach someone to become an entrepreneur? Is it possible anyway?

Borrowing methods from the field of human geography, we mapped out the very domain of entrepreneurship. Essentially, we constructed the map of entrepreneurship based on the stories of 36 entrepreneurs. Then we did the same for three different graduate programmes focusing on the entrepreneurship as a subject - and compared their cognitive models.

Hopefully, I will make a practical use of this research in the future - this is my intention anyway.

The full as well as summarised text of this work is available on request.


The model of entrepreneurship from the accounts of practitioners (click on it for a larger view)

The model of entrepreneurship in the clusters of meaning (click on it for a larger view)

I have done terrible mistakes

I often think about it - and it troubles me. In order to get rid of at least part of such troubling thoughts, I'd write about them here. Public confession may make my feeling of guilt smaller.

What troubles me is that I have done terrible mistakes in my life. Well, everyone does them, and nobody is able to live a life without them. But what troubles me the most are those mistakes that have hurt other people. Sometimes it were people who used to be very close to me.

I used to behave in a selfish way.

I used to to say things simply out of vainness, because I enjoyed attention.

I used to be very careless to the feelings of people around me.

I was choosing not to tell some things out of pure self-interest.

I used to say things just because they made me feel I impressed someone, because I wanted to be perceived smart.

I used to behave in such ways for many years, and as long ago as in 2008-2009, after I had gone through tremendous self-discovery process of leadership and taking responsibility for other people.

I regret my behaviour. I regret what I did to some other, very good, people. I wish these people were in the same town as me now - I would just go and meet with them... and say: "I'm sorry". Even though they might not even remember what did I do to them.

A strong wish to do it was provoked by one particular radio documentary from BBC that I listened to a few weeks ago - a story of how a former prison guard at Guantanamo Bay detention centre sought reconciliation with two of his former prisoners. It turned out they were innocent people and were taken as prisoners by the U.S. force by mistake.

I have not been a prison guard, yet I know I did hurt the feelings of some good people. I hope such mistakes will mainly stay in the past (is it ever possible to avoid them?). I hope I will be a better person in the future.

Seven arguments against gay marriage

1. Being homosexual is not natural. Hence, the gay marriage should not be allowed either.

2. Allowing gays to marry? Who's next? Dogs with other dogs? Cats with other cats? Paedophiles with minors?

3. A gay marriage is a bad, bad example for children. Promoting homosexuality in that way will turn more children to be gays.

4. Marriage has traditionally been one of the very sacred symbols of society and its cultural/spiritual values. We cannot allow these values to be ruined by legalizing the acts of sodomy.

5. Homosexuality is basically a sickness. We cannot allow sick people to marry because they are sick.

6. People claiming to be gay make it out of fashion or because they want to be different or because they had gotten a child trauma. These are no valid reasons to allow them to get married.

7. Gay couple cannot give a birth to a child. This is the main point for having the very institution of marriage. Why bother then?

--

I have just summed up the arguments that I have been hearing from many people throughout many years. And I still keep on hearing them.

Let me be clear on few things. First, I'm a heterosexual man and I am very happy about it. I've always liked girls, I've always been attracted to beautiful women.

Second, I know a lot of people who are gays.

Third, I support the legal ability of gay people to sign a partnership agreement, in case it allows them to be legally treated as people closely related to each other (it's important for the cases such as inheritance, having common property, and so on). I don't necessarily think it should be called "marriage" - rather a "partnership" in legal terms like in Norway.

Fourth, I don't necessarily enjoy watching two men passionately kissing - I don't want to be exposed to it when I choose not to. I wouldn't be participating in a gay parade (although I have nothing against it taking place). I think that the union between a man and a woman has to bear its primary meaning in the society and has to be promoted so - otherwise, we as humankind will die out. But what I am talking here about are the fundamental human rights of people that differ in their sexual orientation from the majority.

--

I decided to write about it after having attended a celebration party of two gay men who had signed a partnership agreement in Norway. They organised a party without calling it a wedding, although many elements of a traditional wedding were there. It was a great event. I enjoyed seeing people having chance to express their happiness without being feared that they will be prosecuted or terrorised for that

--

Now back to the most common arguments against the gay marriage.


1. Being homosexual is not natural. Hence, the gay marriage should not be allowed either.

Homosexuality has existed in humankind since we know it documented. Homosexuality has been reported numerous times among other species. A different type of sexuality is coined by nature. How can it be called "not natural" then?


2. Allowing gays to marry? Who's next? Dogs with other dogs? Cats with other cats? Paedophiles with minors?

Those who are making such comparisons miss one important point: unlike minors and animals, gay people have consciousness and are able to be responsible for their intentions and acts. Two adults who are mostly contributing to the wealth, development and creativity of society decide for themselves, being fully aware of the consequences of such act.


3. A gay marriage is a bad, bad example for children. Promoting homosexuality in that way will turn more children to be gays.

As I wrote earlier, there is no scientific proof that you can switch between a different type of sexuality, because you were told to do so. But there is a proof that a certain percentage of population is gay by default.

On the other hand, however exposed I would be to being a gay - no, thanks - I will not exchange my natural desire for women for anything else. I clearly remember my music teacher in the kindergarten. I was 5. She was around 30. I was in love and... wanted her to be my second mum (how else should have I imagined her to be in that age?). I don't think that my sentiment towards the music teacher would have somehow be influenced by the knowledge that there are two men or two women living together somewhere in a happy family.


4. Marriage has traditionally been one of the symbols of society and its cultural/spiritual values. We cannot allow these values to be ruined by legalizing the acts of sodomy.

It's funny to hear about the family values when, according to statistics, almost half of the marriages in the Western world end with divorce (I believe the percentage is smaller elsewhere primarily due to the strong social stigma related to a divorce). On the other hand, so many children are born into the families where parents are not married. Or - worse - into the situation when they get raised without a father. There have been cheating wives and alcoholic husbands for as long as we know human society. I don't believe the act of legalisation of gay marriage would somehow make the situation even worse...


5. Homosexuality is basically a sickness. We cannot allow sick people to marry because they are sick.

That's essentially the same as "naturalness" argument. It's a well-known rhetorical tactics - to call something you don't like "sick". And even if it is "sickness", shall we prohibit all other "sick" people to get married? HIV-positives, asthmatics - should they be doomed to stay single?


6. People claiming to be gay make it out of fashion or because they want to be different or because they had gotten a child trauma. These are no valid reasons to allow them to get married.

Once again - I don't know anyone who has chosen his or her sexuality. The people usually discover their sexuality, not choose it. A girl kissing another girl in a night club for fun doesn't equal with choosing your sexuality.

And if someone has turned to be a gay due to a child trauma? Well, that's the same as "sickness" argument - I don't think it's right to prohibit people to get married because they had traumatic childhood.


7. Gay couple cannot give a birth to a child. This is the main point for having the very institution of marriage. Why bother then?

Gays can't have children - that's true (in some places they can adopt children - and I'm not going to argue for or against this - that's another topic). However, as I mentioned earlier, there are more and more children being born into families where parents are not married. Thus, I don't see a clear correlation between marriage and having children.

Beautiful Estonian nature

I spent a wonderful holiday in Estonia in June. One great part of it was a four-days-long hiking trip in South-Eastern Estonia with four friends of mine. We spent very quality time together - as we haven't seen each other for a long time - hope to be able to repeat such trips every year! We had a lot of fun, some good deep conversations and truly enjoyed the sights of beautiful nature around us.

Here are some snapshots of what we saw around us:

Impressions from St.Gallen Symposium in Switzerland (vol.2)

The part of the St.Gallen Symposium in Switzerland in the beginning of May was a debate involving some successful intelligent people from different areas - academia, social entrepreneurship, corporate life, government. The topic of the debate was "Choose your Future" - addressing the young people across the world who were participating at the Symposium. To make this interesting debate available outside the scope of participants of the event, it was hosted, recorded and later broadcast by the BBC World Service Radio on 15th of May.

Some young participants were chosen to speak up their views based on their questions to the panellists. I happened to be one of them. I expressed my view that young people who have education and intelligence too often don't think of the responsibility that they bear - instead being egocentric and comfortable with the little bubble of consumerism and other learned desires they treat as important.

The whole programme is available on the BBC website. My contribution to the debate is from around 41:15 till 43:00 and, again, from 45:30 till 46:45.

Impressions from St.Gallen Symposium in Switzerland

I got a privilege to be part of 40th St.Gallen Symposium in Switzerland which took place on 6th-7th of May with the pre-programme on 4th-5th of May. This Symposium provides a platform for some young people from the best business schools across the world to meet with the prominent business leaders from across the globe. I got selected there to represent the BI Norwegian School of Management.

The topic of this year's Symposium (the topic is different every year) was "Entrepreneurs - Agents of Change" - relevant for both my studies, as well as for my academic and professional interests. The event was organized on a very professional level (around 300 students participated in organizing it, guided by the board of trustees). The line of speakers and workshops leaders was very impressive - the most high-profiled event I have attended so far. CEO of Nestle, Chairman of the Board of UBS, Chairman of the Board Deutsche Bank, the Managing Partner of McKinsey&Co, Chairman of the Board of BASF, Minister for the Economy of France, to name a few.

The most impressive for me were the stories from the European, American and Asian entrepreneurs - both of established successful businesses and those among young ambitious "leaders of tomorrow" (I was being labelled a "leader of tomorrow" as well). Very smart people, impressive conversations, good fun with some of the "leaders of tomorrow", new ideas and insights, yet another confirmation that I have a larger responsibility towards this world.

I took many notes during this symposium and decided to type in some of them here.


Global barometer (the survey among the "leaders of tomorrow")

99% of young leaders of tomorrow (400 respondents from across the globe) think that globalisation is good.

The Eastern Europeans are least proud of their countries across the globe. Only 35% are proud, while in total 85% of young leaders of tomorrow are proud of their countries.


Entrepreneurship

Suhas Gopinath (India) started his first business venture when he was 14 in an Internet cafe in Bangalore (he didn't have his own PC) – a freelancer which was dealing with the design of the websites. When he was 15, he first employed people, although his family was against him being involved in the business venture (they wanted him to learn in school properly). Later started with the e-commerce systems, e-systems for education, dealing with the systems that distinguish between real/fake medicine according to the bar code. He now employs several hundreds of people, being 23.
“One advantage with being a young entrepreneur is that you are not afraid of failure”

“Capital without capitalism”: everyone can start up a firm on a kitchen table with a laptop for $300 and have a global audience from the day 1. (Peter Dey, BBC business reporter).

Dr. Bert W. M. Twaiihoven (Switzerland/Holland), an entrepreneur who has established several companies:

• “If you know what you don't know, you are a winner” - there must be people who can be better than you (managers, project leaders etc.)
• Business plan – you are always too optimistic. The success of the technology business venture almost always takes at least 5 years. The first year is always unprofitable.
• Reluctance to change among the people around you: “The only one on the world who likes change is the baby in the wet diapers”
• He was 82 when giving the talk, but was doing a lot of sports with his wife, because it holds one to be healthy.

Angad Paul (GB), entrepreneur:

• “Entrepreneur is the one who creates a long-term wealth, a long-term value”
• “Entrepreneurs surround themselves with the people who are smarter than they are”
• “Money is a measure, a by-product. It is a form of energy”

M. Shafik Gabi (Egypt), entrepreneur:

• “Fortune favours bold and determined”
• “Cash is the king, profit is an opinion”
• “Don't be afraid to fail. If you will, you will fail”

Hiroshi Mikitami (Japan), entrepreneur:
“Everybody can become an entrepreneur. But only some can become successful entrepreneurs.”

Christian von Koenigsegg (Sweden), entrepreneur:

• “I never wanted to build a business. I wanted to build the sports car. That's why I succeeded as an entrepreneur.”
• “If Einstein has figured out how does the universe work while sitting in a cafe, I could have figured out how to build a car without an engineering background”
• “You should only become an entrepreneur if you have a reason to do so. Ask yourself: Do I have something special to contribute? Am I ready to sacrifice?”

Mark C. Medish, U.S. Diplomat
“Entrepreneur is a combination of a great explorer and a great bullshitter”

Morten Lund (DK), co-investor of Skype, failed as a newspaper investor, multiple entrepreneur:

• “Forget about the ideas. Ideas mean nothing. What matters is a team”
• “Money comes from sales”
• “There is no formula” - no unique recipe for success
• “Vision is everything. But be sure you don't mess it hallucination with it”
• “Network is the key” - learn to communicate
• “Technology is the key”
• "Try. Self-confidence every day."
• Being positive. The power of minds.
• Being crazy vs. the mainstream
• "Go with your interests and hobbies"
• “Look for good people. Good people will succeed with anything”
• “Don't over-strategize”. Forget about BSC, McKinsey and similar
• “Find people who you share values with”
• “Try to stay in love”
• “It's all your fault”. Don't blame the others
• "7 out of 8 businesses die. So, don't jump into anything."
• "Do branding."

Would we have had such a financial crisis if there would have been more female leaders around?

Christine Lagarde, Minister for the Economy, Industry and Employment of France (my absolute favourite governmental representative there):

• “There are too many dark suits around. And not enough legs [in financial world]”.
• “If Lehman Brothers had been “Lehman Sisters,” today’s economic crisis clearly would look quite different.”

Nature vs. Civilization - 1:0

People around the world (at least in the territories that call themselves "civilized" world like Europe) are used to be in a driver's seat. We are used to be able to govern what is happening around us. You want to go on holiday? No problem - you book the ticket in the Internet, pay for it with your credit card, take a place - and you're there.

Not this time, however. I am one of those thousands unlucky ones who couldn't take off from or land to many airports across Northern and Central Europe due to eruption of the volcano in Iceland and subsequent spread of the ash from it. My flight from Oslo to Turkey could not happen today. My 1-week holiday has been cancelled and with it - a certain shared joy that I have been waiting for.

However, I have been surprisingly calm about it. After all, people are spoiled with the false belief that they can control everything. The Mother Nature is mightier than us and I - as a big admirer of the Nature on our planet - feel just humble about it.

A beautiful Internet ad

I have recently stumbled upon a marketing campaign of clothes collection at YouTube. Rarely do I see such a beautiful advertisement meant for Internet - with a subtle humour and intelligence. And it is quite an interesting example of using the social media for marketing purposes.