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Developing a research-based model program in entrepreneurship: a contrarian approach to traditional perspectives

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Donald F. Kuratko
Donald F. Kuratko
Donald F. Kuratko
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Abstract

In developing the Entrepreneurship Program at Indiana University-Bloomington, I took a contrarian approach to what the traditional expectations were of an entrepreneurship center. The traditional approach would entail an entrepreneurship center focused on outreach to the community to develop assistance programs for aspiring entrepreneurs and thus providing experiences for students. Instead, my focus was on the academic side of entrepreneurship with our research faculty and their scholarly output as that was paramount to my vision of how the entrepreneurship center and in effect the entrepreneurship program would be successful. In this article, I discuss the evolution of entrepreneurship programs and centers, the importance of entrepreneurship research, and my contrarian approach to building the program including the journey from initiation, the research focus, the faculty recruitment, the department name change, and the specific curriculum that was developed.
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Vol.:(0123456789)
The Journal of Technology Transfer
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-024-10170-x
RESEARCH
Developing aresearch‑based model program
inentrepreneurship: acontrarian approach totraditional
perspectives
DonaldF.Kuratko1
Accepted: 19 November 2024
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024
Abstract
In developing the Entrepreneurship Program at Indiana University-Bloomington, I took
a contrarian approach to what the traditional expectations were of an entrepreneurship
center. The traditional approach would entail an entrepreneurship center focused on out-
reach to the community to develop assistance programs for aspiring entrepreneurs and thus
providing experiences for students. Instead, my focus was on the academic side of entre-
preneurship with our research faculty and their scholarly output as that was paramount to
my vision of how the entrepreneurship center and in effect the entrepreneurship program
would be successful. In this article, I discuss the evolution of entrepreneurship programs
and centers, the importance of entrepreneurship research, and my contrarian approach to
building the program including the journey from initiation, the research focus, the faculty
recruitment, the department name change, and the specific curriculum that was developed.
Keywords Entrepreneurship· Entrepreneurship education· Entrepreneurship research
JEL Classification L26 (Entrepreneurship)· I25 (Education and Economic Development)
1 Introduction
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has
made all the difference.”–Robert Frost.
“The one who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. Those
who walk alone are likely to find themselves in places no one has ever seen before.”–
Albert Einstein.
Entrepreneurship and innovation have been the catalysts for unprecedented disruption
and advancement over the last two decades. The development, application, and enhance-
ment of new technologies have occurred at a breathtaking pace which has spurred
* Donald F. Kuratko
dkuratko@indiana.edu
1 Kelley School ofBusiness, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN47405, USA
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
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