The article deals with the new approach of business education – the competence building in training future entrepreneurs and their occupational advancement. It has been determined that the Process of building entrepreneurial competency has a subjective-objective character: each subject of entrepreneurial activity develops its individual attitude towards economic realia, its particular point of view about the existing economic contacts and perspectives of their development, anyway, it takes the gauge of its potential abilities in the economic area of public life. Entrepreneurial competency provides a person with the possibility to find and apply the best configuration of resources in the manufacturing process, create innovations and engage them in the economic life of society, and take the risks required for the achievement of the desired goal. The success of entrepreneurial education is related to personal leadership, business and personal qualities of a business person, and the effectiveness of business management. The leadership qualities, an ability to solve conflict situations, make decisions in a context of uncertainty, work in a team, promote and motivate the efforts of employees, and create organizing structures are extremely important components. It was proved that the formation of entrepreneurial competence is a complex, controversial, and multiple-stage process, including the acquisition of entrepreneurial knowledge and establishment of the entrepreneurial consciousness and behaviour, based on the gained knowledge. The research claims that the formation of entrepreneurial competence of an individual takes place under the influence of continuous economic education, in the course of professional education, and, later, professional activity. The internal structure of the entrepreneurial competence includes the motivationalvalue-conscious, cognitive, activity, and emotional-volitional components, which are tightly intertwined.
Keywords
Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurial Education, Entrepreneurial Competence, ProfessionalActivity, Research Competence, Skills Profile of an Entrepreneur.
JEL Classifications
M5, Q2.
Introduction
The penchant for fundamental knowledge, a close connection between theory and practice,the desire for professional self-development and self-realization, the ability to think creativelyand master the research methods are of great priority in the process of preparing a futureentrepreneur who will have the set of the necessary professional competencies. The study ofsources related to the highlighted problem demonstrates that both scientific and professionalspheres have different approaches towards the definition of the notions and content of“competencies,” “competence,” and “research competence,” related to entrepreneurial activityand belong to basic investigatory categories, have their individual meaning, and an extensivedescription. There are no single accepted definition of the notions entrepreneurial “competency”and “competence.” The notion of “competence” is determined as the combination of knowledge,skills, practical skills, manner of thought, value orientation, personal qualities, moral, and ethicalvalues, which regulate the individual’s capability to successfully perform educational andprofessional activity; it can be regarded as the result of training at a specific level of higheducation. The definitions under the study are interlinked as the notion of “competencies” isdetermined as the pre-defined set of knowledge, skills, and experience, while “competence” actsas a qualitative feature showing the individual’s progress in mastering competencies, which canbe seen in the course of their use in a specific sphere of a person’s activity.
Review of Previous Studies
The scientific society distinguishes three main approaches regarding the definitions underthe study. Based on a range of scientific papers, the fans of the first approach think the notions ofentrepreneurial “competency” and “competence” to be synonymic (Camuffo et al., 2012; SanTan & Ng, 2006; Babiy et al., 2019; Zaplatynska et al., 2019). The representatives of the secondapproach consider that competences consist of specific personal competencies (Driessen &Zwart, 2010; Komarkova et al., 2015; Bezkorovaina et al., 2019). The followers of the thirdapproach connect the notion of the entrepreneurial “competency” to the range of professional orpublic powers of a specific individual; they think “competence” to be an ability of a person to aspecific type of work (Faltin, 2013). For instance, the scientist (Lans et al., 2014; Drobyazko etal., 2019a; Drobyazko et al., 2019b; Tirto et al., 2020) views the notion of competence as a) acertain type of action or behaviour, influencing the formation of skills and experience, requiredfor performance of particular activity, which has nothing common with creative activities; b) softskills, influencing the choice of activity in professional sphere; c) the match value of the gainedskills to accepted standards; d) as a parameter, the way of existence.
Methodology
In terms of methodology, we think that one should learn the difference between the termsentrepreneurial “competency” and “competence.” “Competency” can be determined as a rangeof questions, belonging to a specific field of a person’s activity, he or she should be well aware,i.e. have the necessary knowledge, skills, and capabilities for their performance. The“competence” is an individual trait of each person, based on the gained knowledge, moralvalues, and personal experience, which is manifested in the process of solving various problemsat an expense of the ability to apply their individual practical experience, knowledge, skills, andindividual attitude towards them in a specific situation. The competence acts as an evaluation ofthe effectiveness of specific human actions, targeted on solving the task.
Another important feature of our research is the fact that professional training of the futureentrepreneur starts shifting its direction towards the increase of the research component in theeducational process, which implements the training of a specialist with a developed researchcompetence that will provide him with significant advantages and success in his chosenprofession. The contemporary entrepreneur should do both monitor the acquisition of qualitygoods by the consumers and be aware of relevant market tendencies, latest inventions in the areaof marketing, and specialize in various types of sales management.
Results and Discussion
Considering the specificity of the professional activity of the future entrepreneur, oneshould mention that the research activity, which forms the research competence, is the main partof the professional life of a specialist in a specific profile. This is the main reason why thetraining process of the future entrepreneurs should focus on the development of their skills andcapabilities of conducting the research activity with the use of scientifically based researchmethods.
The research (Penaluna & Penaluna, 2008) demonstrates an idea that the training of amodern specialist should be necessarily followed by his engagement into scientific-researchactivity, ensuring the formation of skills to independently find solutions for the given tasks, skillsof conducting scientific and practical activity, development of creative potential, and motivationto self-education and improvement. Thus, the problem of formation of entrepreneurs’ motivationtowards the improvement of their individual theoretical training, required for the performance ofresearch activities that will further ensure their competitiveness within the labor market andprofessional growth in professional activity, is becoming extremely important. In this regard, it isnecessary not only to acquaint future specialists with modern science, but also to engage them invarious scientific studies, ensuring the formation of skills on how to find the necessaryinformation and put the obtained knowledge into practice in the course of problem-solving,creative potential, and readiness to unite the future professional activity with the researchprojects.
The society of scientists believes that research activity is characterized by a commitment togaining new knowledge and practical experience. The notion of the research activity as a specifictype of human activity is of great interest for us as it is regulated by the consciousness of anindividual and his active position, focusing on the satisfaction of intellectual needs; the finalresult of which is the new knowledge which meets the objective set by the research.
The building of logical thinking, mastering principles and scientific methods of inquiry,skills to conduct scientific researches and apply gained knowledge to solve scientific andproduction objectives, formation and development of values-based attitude to this type of activityare the main goal of research activity of the future entrepreneurs.
To a certain extent, the results of the research are influenced by personal inclinations basedon the interests of the listener who, in his turn, develops an active and creative attitude to hisfuture profession, and encourage self-improvement and self-development (Laguador, 2013). Theabsence of interest in a profession and professional discipline leads to a decrease in productivityof the research activity. That is why this factor should be considered for conducting a productiveresearch activity and get fundamental results.
In the process of their training, the future entrepreneurs have to master the necessary set ofknowledge and skills upon the chosen line of profession as well as the ability to solve diversifiedresearch problems. We adhere to the position that the formation of the research competence of the future entrepreneurs is a voluntary process that occurs when they have a desire for selfdevelopmentand orientation towards research activities, based on the freedom of choice of eachindividual.
The results of the analysis of scientific sources upon the determined research problemindicate that the process of building the research competence of a future entrepreneur can beregarded as a complex socio-pedagogical phenomenon, consisting of a set of interconnectedcomponents (profound knowledge, research skills that are realized under specific conditions anddepend on external and internal factors, and skills on conducting the research). All the abovementionedcomponents are the foundation for the formation of the research competence of thefuture specialist.
In contexts of the modern model of entrepreneurial education, the process of formation ofthe research competence becomes subject to many discussions among scientists. This issue islinked not only to a different vision of the prerequisites for the formation of research abilities bythe scientists but also with the psychological characteristics of the formation of the researchcompetence of the future specialists. The research competence is the key competence as itsformation is followed by the use of analytical, critical, and communicative skills.
We keep to the position that the formation of the research competence of the futureentrepreneurs is a voluntary process, which takes place under the condition of availability of thedesire to develop individual skills and orientation on the research activity, considering thefreedom of choice of each individual.
The research competence is unattainable part of the research activity, namely, through theprocess of research, and shows itself in the awareness of the meaning and importance of theresearch activity, in the possession of the research knowledge, skills, and capabilities, reasonablechoice and optimization of research decisions in the case of their diversification, and the abilityto use the obtained skills and capabilities in the future professional activity. We agree with theposition of (Proitz, 2010) who determines competence as conscious readiness to constantlyprogress in the course of self-growth, experiencing the acts of understanding, creativity, and selfimprovement.
The entrepreneurial potential is the knowledge and skills of managerial staff. Theentrepreneurial potential should be determined comprehensively, by the main types of activity ofthe managerial personnel. The professional profile of an entrepreneur, as a rule, is determinedupon the four main types of activity, namely: 1) action planning; 2) organizational activity; 3)analytical activity; 4) application of technical tools of data processing (Table 1).
| Table 1 Entrepreneurial Competency and Professional Opportunities | ||||
| Competency | Opportunities | Mark | ||
| Activity | Reaction capability | Reaction type | Reaction range | |
| Action planning | The ability to solve problems with reason, consistently, originally, and prepare solutions | Problem- solving techniques | Experimental, trial and error | 1 |
| Alternative | 2 | |||
| Creative exaltation | 3 | |||
| Organizational activity? | The ability to organize work, apply decisions in one or several sectors (in a big way) | Scale of problem- solving | Consistent and gradual implementation | 1 |
| Consistent-parallel implementation | 2 | |||
| Parallel ambitious implementation | 3 | |||
| Analytical activity | The ability to search for information, analyze its value, selectiveness, and | Information acquisition | Accumulation of experimental data | 1 |
| Extrapolation | 2 | |||
| intuition | methods | Forecasting | 3 | |
| Application of technical tools | The ability to search and process computer information (an ability to use PC, knowledge of database, programming, modeling) | Information processing methods | Manual handling of most information | 1 |
| The use of standard programs | 2 | |||
| Establishment of a decision support system | 3 | |||
The evaluation of the skill profile of an entrepreneur makes it possible to determine theavailability of the rapid response of staff when they face problems. Table 1 provides thepossibility to evaluate the competence and capabilities of the future entrepreneur based on thefigures given above (Makedon et al., 2019).
The determination of the entrepreneurial potential is conducted based on the held polling,including the evaluation upon six main characteristics: 1) perception of new ideas; 2) readinessto criticize; 3) understanding of the perspective; 4) level of intelligence; 5) sense of purpose andintentions; 6) managerial thinking. Theoretic evaluations of the entrepreneurial potential mightcome within 0-100 %.
In the course of the held analysis of the scientific investigations, we can conclude that theprocess of building and improving the research competence of an entrepreneur can be regardedas successful under the condition of a person’s awareness of its value, the possession of a basiclevel of formation of general cultural competence; the availability of a shaped methodologicaland communicative competence; the ability to set objectives and reach them; forecast possibleresults and, if necessary, correct his activity to reach the required goals; and the awareness ofimportance of self-education and personal growth.
Such a complex approach to understanding research competence makes it possible toidentify its process as the development of research skills and abilities, capabilities toindependently obtain knowledge, the experience of successful orientation in the process ofprofessional training, etc.
The potential of an entrepreneur can be identified via the formula:
Where, K: qualification potential of an entrepreneur;
Ki: intellectual potential of an entrepreneur;
Ko.y; Ko.k: coefficient, characterizing the organizational conditions and the state of an organizational climaterespectively.
Based on the held analysis of scientific researches, we determine the research competenceof the future entrepreneurs as an integrative feature of the personal qualities that are importantfor the profession, which find reflection in the motivation to the research activity,methodological knowledge, research skills, and formed personal qualities (independence,creative thinking, and reflection) and is implemented via the ability to conduct a research in thefield of economics with the further analysis and evaluation of the research results (Kirby, 2004).In the course of analysis of research papers, we have distinguished the main structuralcomponents of the research competence of future entrepreneurs: motivation-value-based,cognitive, operational-activist, and reflective.
1. The thrust of the motivation-vale-based component lies in the availability of the formed firminterest to research activity and the chosen profession in general; the desire to get profound knowledge onthe professional discipline, which are a prerequisite for successful implementation of the research in the area of entrepreneurship; the need to develop their professional knowledge, skills, and competences to acompetitive level, to form a personality outlook and motivation for professional self-advancement.
2. The cognitive component in the structure of the research competence makes provisions for theavailability of knowledge, developed to a specific extent, which is formed in the course of digesting theeducational subjects material, studied in the course of professional training of the future entrepreneurs.
3. The operational-activist component appears in the ability to use the knowledge, skills, andexperience, obtained in the process of professional training, to the maximum benefit. In our research, weregard the operational-activist component of the research competence as an obligatory component of theprocess of acquisition of the ability to form a research problem, to define a conceptual apparatus, todevelop hypotheses, and, in fact, to conduct a scientific research with the further design and presentation ofthe obtained results by the future entrepreneurs.
4. The reflective component of the research competence focuses on the analysis of the results of theperformed activity, on awareness of possible results, and the performance of corrective actions based on thegained experience (Vuorikari et al., 2016).
Specific attention should be drawn to the fact that the process of building the researchcompetence of future entrepreneurs becomes possible only under the condition of constantinteraction of all the above-mentioned structural components. In fact, almost every managementpost contains a list of functions, which is somewhat different from other similar lists. Regardingthe last-mentioned aspect, one should note that its functions are quite well known, and, in ourview, do not require deep explanations and characteristics in the given research. The moreinterest is caused by the entrepreneurial learning process and the quality assurance of themanagement system through this process, which should be viewed in more detail. The abovegivenarguments result in the authors' opinion that this phenomenon is typical to theentrepreneurial environment that, in its turn, implies the process of education implementation. Figure 1 demonstrates the process of implementation of entrepreneurial education.
Figure 1 Systematic Formation of Educational Space for an Entrepreneur
Considering the results of the search and analytical work, we can, therefore, say that theincrease in the interest of the future entrepreneurs to a chosen profession and performance of adiversified research activity, and optimization of the process of formation of the researchcompetence of the future professionals depends on the provision of the following conditions:
1. The motivation of future entrepreneurs to research activity;
2. Provision of subject-subject interaction between an entrepreneur and the external environment;
3. The establishment of open educational space considering the specificity of the professional activity of thefuture entrepreneurs and promote their professional advancement.
Thus, the provision of the first condition - the motivation of the future entrepreneurs toresearch activity–was implemented via creation of a positive emotional mood of the applicantsreceiving high education; the implementation of a practice-oriented nature of the researchactivity during the classes; the use of active training methods and modern informationtechnologies during the educational process; and the realization of self-control and monitoring bytrainers of the research activity of the future entrepreneurs.
Recommendations
It is proved that under the condition of subject-subject interaction of entrepreneurialeducation and external environment, one would observe a better understanding and perception ofthe peculiarities and dynamics of doing business, gaining new professional experience in a realtimebusiness environment through involvement in a creative profession-focused activity. Thisbase can form independence and leadership of members of the educational process, promote theirpersonal advancement and creative growth, develop their navigation skills required by the nonroutinetasks, and perform a specific type of training, targeted on intellectual activity. All thisbecomes an excellent foundation for bringing entrepreneurial education into a separate type ofprofessional education, having narrow professional activity and acquired competencies as themain components.
Conclusions
The implementation of an organizational condition in the form of allocation ofentrepreneurial education and the use of open educational space, considering the specificity ofthe professional activity of the future entrepreneurs, will promote their professional advancementand awareness of the necessity of the competency-based approach and entrepreneurship. It wasproved that practical aspects of entrepreneurial activity promote the awareness of importance ofobtaining the necessary theoretical knowledge and research skills; the provision of the possibilityto feel yourself as a researcher; formation of personal practical experience, motivation to furthertake up research activity to solve profession-focused issues, ensure comparison between the levelof formed research competence and the requirements of the employers as well as help to correctindividual entrepreneurial and educational trajectory. We have found out that an open educationspace provides activation of teamwork in the framework of the educational process, promotes theprofessional formation of the future entrepreneurs via a direct dive in the field of professionalactivity.
Thus, we can conclude that the formation of the research competence of the futureentrepreneur can be regarded as a complex organizational phenomenon, consisting of a set of interlinked components (profound professional knowledge, research skills, which areimplemented under specific conditions and depend on both external and internal factors; andpractical skills).
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