Can Entrepreneurship be taught in b-school?

Last week, I was talking to a Chicago GSB MBA student (class of 2009) at a student reception in New York. He had been an entrepreneur before starting his MBA. When we were discussing about resources available for entrepreneurs at GSB, he expressed his opinion that entrepreneurship has to come from within the person and the MBA programs cannot teach entrepreneurship. Though it was his own view, it triggered a question in me “Can Entrepreneurship be taught in b-school?” So I decided to do a little bit of research.

We all know that an entrepreneur is a person who starts a new business venture. But what are the qualities of a person that makes him a successful entrepreneur? A quick Google search resulted in 3, 7, 10 or 20 qualities of an entrepreneur, such as, energy, passion, assertiveness, initiative, creativity, self starter, etc,. Many of these qualities are also required for anyone to be successful in his carrier. What differentiates Bill Gates from Jack Welsh is the ability to take risk. Can b-school teach a person to take risk? No. But a b-school can provide the necessary tools and knowledge to calculate risk and help make change a risky decision into a prudent decision.

Few decades back, even now, many raised the question “Can b-schools prepare good managers?” The b-schools proved that it can, provided the students have the potential. When managers can be trained and leadership taught in school, entrepreneurship can also be taught. But entrepreneurship is not for everyone. It is only for the people with the right mind set. An MBA program can only impart business knowledge to an entrepreneurial person and increase his chance of success. “What is the best way to learn business skills?” is a different question. Some would say only “experience”. Other would say formal education. For entrepreneurs, real world experience is better any day.

In the second half of the video, Prof. Tom Kinnear of Ross School of Business at University of Michigan explains whether Entrepreneurship can be taught in b-school.



An interview from MIT Sloan school professor Ed Roberts. His answers to first 3 questions reflects my opinion