Entrepreneurship and Innovation Journey

Question: Discuss about theEntrepreneurship and Innovation Journey. Answer: Introduction Indeed, time waits for no man. It feels like yesterday when I first set my feet inside entrepreneurship and innovation classroom. On the first day of the class, our class teacher Melissa introduced herself and led a session aimed at helping us interact and know each other since we all did different course. The first two weeks were rather low key but gears shifted from the third week. Practical learning activities started and where conducted in groups. Each group had a task to complete and different topics were discussed and analyzed every week. We used case studies of businesses to gain a deeper understanding of different topics that we were learning. In all these activities and assignments, the course coordinator and the class teacher were very supportive and always availed themselves to assist us whenever we faced difficulties. Therefore, we explored the subject with increased interest and confidence because we knew our teachers wanted us to exploit our potential. As we explored ou r talents, we also networked. In my group, we identified an entrepreneur who we considered doing well and approached him to mentor us. His advice was inspiring and of great value to us. During my first class, I was uncertain of what to expect and did not fully understand what entrepreneurship was all about. To my surprise, I discovered that entrepreneurship is not as complicated. Creativity is an essential part of entrepreneurship yet many business people are afraid of the term. According to (Chinta) entrepreneurship is characterized by creativity, which leads to innovation. There can never be Innovation without creativity. To gain market shares a firm must be innovative and willing to invest in creativity (Iwu, 2010).The learning process was enjoyable when working in a group rather than working individually. This way we shared ideas and realized that our different abilities and skills made group activities easier to handle. This wonderful program has given me both positive and negative experiences. Nevertheless, I have gained a lot of skills and knowledge and my perception of entrepreneurship and innovation has changed for the better Working in groups was of great help to me. At first, I was skeptic about group work but it turned out that for this module learning was best achieved when issues were discussed. In order to come to conclusion of any topic, ideas had to be exchanged, analyzed critically and a decision made. This could only be possible if the heads involved are more than one. According to Payne, Monk-Turner, Smith Sumter (2006), engaging students with content that is difficult to understand, thought provoking and with many interpretations amount to proper use of group work. These group activities seemed to help many other students since the topics we discussed were difficult. Therefore, the discussions broadened our thinking and problem solving capacity. Because of the group work, my public speaking skills improved as well as leadership skills. Learning new concepts has also been fun in a group. For example, the five forces analysis model that was completely new to me became fun and easy to understand when we discussed it with my group members. In this group it became easy identify an entrepreneur who would mentor us because we shared information about contacts that we had who we thought had unique and innovative businesses. According to Drumm (2006) overall college success, student learning and retention have been linked to positive group experiences. This was my case as working in a group for this module helped me learn and understand entrepreneurial concepts. I can attribute this to being a member of a group that was motivated and focused on making use of the opportunity to learn. As members of the group, we had agreed on helping one another whenever faced with challenges. The unity of the group helped us stand together when faced with difficulties and look for solutions as a team. Group work strengthens skills that are useful to the group as well as individual members (Gillies Khan, 2009). Therefore, group as well as individual accountability was improved which is essential in entrepreneurship and innovation. The fact that I was expected to participate actively as a group member; my communication skills took a turn for the better. I can know deliver messages to a large group of people with greater confidence. Am still a little panicky but the situation is much better than before. My work related networking skills have also improved as my group members taught me the importance of having a strong network of professionals. I can say that in my group, we have helped each other improve on our weak points and we are working s a team to maximize our strong points. This experience has made me consider business partnership in future, as I feel such a business can work well if the partners have similar interest. Unfortunately, group work has not been successful for all my classmates. I can attribute to lack of cooperation among group members as well as lack of commitment to making the group work well. To conclude, I can say that experience of group work was a good one and I would not trade it for anything. The only thing I would change about this group is to convert the group from class group to business partners since am convinced we would work so well. Through this experience, I discovered that I needed to work on my communication skills as in the beginning I was afraid to contribute. I would do this repeatedly and hope that even after this module our group will continue to exist and work together to better ourselves. To improve on my communication skills fully, I intend to enroll to communication skills training classes to learn how to communicate in different scenarios. I will also take part in public speaking and debating events and competitions at the college to boost my confidence when addressing a gathering. I will also regularly meet with the business mentor we identified as a group to get lessons on how to start a business Conclusion Critical reflection is an important tool that has helped me flash back on activities that happened since the first day of this module to this moment. Through this, I have discovered that group work worked the best for my learning. I have learnt of areas that I need to work on to improve my chances as an entrepreneur as well as my strengths. Through this reflection, I have realized that I would prefer to venture into entrepreneurship with partners. References Chinta, R. . Management entreprenuership. The ignatian mentoring program, 115. Iwu, C. G. (2010). Impact of product development and innovation on market share. African Journal of Business Management, 4(13), 2659. Payne, B. K., Monk-Turner, E., Smith, D., Sumter, M. (2006). Improving group work: Voices of students. Education, 126(3), 441. Drumm, K. (2006). The essential power of group work. Social Work with Groups, 29(2-3), 17-31. Gillies, R. M., Khan, A. (2009). Promoting reasoned argumentation, problem?solving andlearning during small?group work. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(1), 7-27.