In this new millennium, two trends seem unstoppable—globalization and the transformative influence of market economies on the delivery of goods and services. The
market economy and its corresponding varying shades of capitalism seem today like the only viable system for transnational development. However, within this framework
large enterprises are not creating the number and quality of jobs required by society. On the contrary, under global pressure to remain competitive, large firms constantly
seek new mechanisms to increase efficiency and productivity—adopting new technologies, re-engineering operating processes, optimizing business models, and relocating
activities such as R&D, engineering, manufacturing, etc., to regions of the world where they are best positioned to provide the most cost effective service. This dominant
economic framework views governments as poor administrators and inefficient providers of products/services to society, thereby reinforcing a thirty-year trend toward
privatization and “smaller and more efficient government,” trends that have further eroded employment opportunities in the volume required.
Taken together, these trends pose a significant challenge to nations around the world: how will the hundreds of millions of educated youth coming to employment age
find jobs with decent wages in the context of these new realities? The prospect of employment and the opportunity to earn a good living and high wages for the critical 15 to
30 year old age group falls well below the increasing consumption aspirations promoted by globalization and instant communication. Many of these youth have earned
tertiary/university level education. Yet they are entering a world in which education alone seems no longer to be the “great enabler” to a better life. While in information
society and developed countries like the U.S. empirical evidence points to growing returns to education, in the context of globalization these returns are increasingly tenuous
and characterized by ever widening gaps between winners and losers.
In the presence of impediments to high wage job growth, what roles should various stakeholder groups—such as governments, universities, business, and the
independent sector—play to stimulate growth that is adaptive to the new landscape of globalization? The concept of “global entrepreneurship” is envisioned by the current
collaboration as a growth engine—promoting the creation of new ventures which look from their conception to world as the market. Is there a new role for government,
cross-sector collaboration, and multi-lateral development agencies that can provide strategic resources to increase the odds of success? The anticipated end result of such
resource investments would be the internationalization of formerly local start-ups. This “glocalization” of entrepreneurship would be targeted at increasing the access of
start-ups to resources that are critical to scaling beyond local to global markets. For example, it might address how they can increase their ability to integrate seamlessly
across borders to tap distant markets, suppliers, and strategic partners, as well as human and financial capital. Through this enlarged “frame” a new type of global
entrepreneur can emerge—one that transcends national boundaries to maximize opportunities for value creation.
The construct of “value creation,” should not be narrowly construed in financial or profit maximizing terms. In fact, the development of sustainable market solutions to
social problems can produce both good livelihoods and investor returns while, at the same time, yielding benefits that are primarily measured by the creation of social value
or social returns on investment. These enterprises are called the social enterprises.
The approach taken within the Atlantis Project is to consider a continuum of entrepreneurial activity (see figure below article). While business models and metrics may differ, the fundamental principle behind this project is that entrepreneurial knowledge and skills have relevance to value creation across the continuum of pure for-profit, non-profit, and hybrid enterprises. At the extremes, we have strictly for profit new ventures (for example, the few start-ups that develop into great corporations, like Google, Yahoo and Amazon) and, at the opposite end, traditional philanthropic and charitable organizations. In the middle of this continuum are hybrid organizations with double (financial and social returns) and triple (financial, social and environmental returns) bottom lines.
Entrepreneurship brings to regions both the efficient economic distribution of resources and the innovative capacity that is needed to develop and commercialize new products and to bring social innovations to scale. Entrepreneurship enables new ideas and allows innovative technologies, business models, distribution systems, etc. to serve both conventional economic markets and the unmet needs of society, especially the poor and other marginalized populations. There is no doubt that entrepreneurship is the “secret sauce” that underlies the competitiveness and prosperity of the U.S. and other developed or rapidly developing economies. Silicon Valley is perhaps the archetype of regional entrepreneurship and its transformative impact.
Where, how and why does entrepreneurship take place? How do different world regions develop education in subjects such as entrepreneurship, innovation, technology
management so that regions can prosper both economically and in terms of social outcomes? What catalytic elements are required for this entrepreneurial potential to reach
critical mass? How does the local and regional macroeconomic environment favor or thwart an entrepreneurial ethos? What are enabling mechanisms in key social
institutions? In addressing these and related questions the Atlantis Project will identify best practices and cross-regional educational benchmarks for the promotion of
entrepreneurship education at the university level.
This trans-Atlantic collaboration project is funded by the EU-U.S. Atlantis Program. On the U.S. side the funding agency is the U.S. Department of Education, Program:
Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education, or FIPSE. This effort will explore and identify the critical elements to promote a broad spectrum of entrepreneurial
activities and best practices in universities. It is led in the U.S. by the University of San Francisco (USF) and Santa Clara University (SCU) at the north and south ends of
Silicon Valley, respectively. Each of these universities is distinguished for key educational initiatives in the field of entrepreneurship—SCU in Social Entrepreneurship as
demonstrated by the Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI), and USF for organizing the Global Entrepreneurship Conference and the International Business Plan
Competition.
At both USF and SCU these programs are now in their sixth year of operation. Drawing upon the success of these programs, USF and SCU are partnering with the
Entrepreneurship Programs at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain) and the CEIM (Centro de Empresas e Inovação da
Madeira) of the University da Madeira (Madeira, Portugal) to diffuse learning and accelerate institutional innovation. It is anticipated that the fruits of this collaboration will be
expanded to other regions of the world.
Dr. Carlos S. Baradello is with the School of Business Management at the University of San Francisco; Dr. James L. Koch is with the Center for Science,
Technology and Society at Santa Clara University.
