I think that we are really experimenting applying business philosophies, rules and methods in an ivory tower.
However, business and academia may be quite different from each other. How about we take this opportunity to use our class as a case study to investigate the resemblance and difference between the two worlds.
For examples,
Resemblance
- Hardworking leads to successfulness.
- Basic protocols of ethics are respected.
- ...
- Students (employees of CMPS 598 Co.) are paying tuitions vs. Usually, employees get paid in a real company.
- The primary goal for students is to learn vs. The primary goal for most employees is to make a living.
- The primary goal for teachers is education vs. The primary goal for directors and managers is to get project well-done.
- ...
Feel free to use the "comment" function for the discussion. Hopefully, our thoughts and discussion will help us to understand our experiment better, and help us not to be lost in transition.
4 comments:
So according to your differentiation and the meaning of entrepreneurship,I think i it necessary for the students to take risk.Because enterpreneurship is collecting lot of individuals who are willing to take financial risk and work.
That is another difference between the two worlds. I don't think we really have the sense of taking a financial risk with the business (unless you count losing tuition money if you drop the class). Still, we will not be financially hurt if the product fails to succeed. I believe that in our scenario we will gain more than we might possibly lose which is not always the case in the business world.
Teja and John,
Thanks for your comments! Right, entrepreneurs take more risks for more potential rewards, financially, in most cases.
As you said, in this class, in the simulated IT startup environment, you can experience how it feels, what it brings by taking a reasonable risk to become a leader on certain project and/or try to create an idea and implement it, without real financial hurt. Hopefully, the subtle, hard-to-describe experience you have will help you somewhere sometime in your future career.
From an instructor point of view, the risk-taking spirit with passion and hardworking is what we are looking for. It will be respected, rewarded and guided, if needed.
Together, we have been building an entrepreneurship show, and we are all playing some roles in the show. The more we act our role as real, the more successful the show will be. Who knows, it may just become real.
One more big difference :
Being a student, we only focus about self. Its jus 'me' here. If I learn, well & good for me. If I don't, its 'me' whose gets affected.
But in an industry, Its more of 'we' than 'me'. If I do well, good for the project, it affects the whole project.
Similarly, If I fail, it affects the whole project.. which in turn affects the organization.
So in an organization, I believe its more of 'we' than 'I'.
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