The purpose of this study was to bridge a gap in our understanding of the role business simulation games can play in the development of entrepreneurial capabilities in undergraduate students. While entrepreneurship education has come a long way from being a branch of business and management studies, to its current status as a core discipline in its own right, the debate on the pedagogy of entrepreneurship education continues. The best results in entrepreneurship education are achieved when students are exposed to action-oriented experiential learning that encourages problem-solving, creativity and peer evaluation. Game-based learning is an emerging pedagogy that brings together the evolving nature of young learners and experiential learning. Grounded in the theory of experiential learning and action research methodology, this study investigates how a particular business simulation game, SimVenture, develops not only students' business and management skills but also their entrepreneurial attitude and values. The findings suggest that the business simulation allowed students to face their limitations, overcome some of them and make significant progress in their learning. Using SimVenture improved students' appreciation of business in general and the challenges entrepreneurs have to face in running a business.

Purpose -This paper seeks to provide insight into the state of enterprise education and skills training at postgraduate level at UK higher education institutions (HEIs).Design/Methodology/Approach -Case study Approach. A case-study research strategy was used to address the lack of existing research on enterprise training for PGRs. The initial task was to identify those UK universities which provide enterprise and entrepreneurship training for their PGRs. Based on this desk exercise, 5 universities were selected according to the nature and structure of their training programmes ands geographical spread such that one university was included from Wales, Scotland, South of England, Midlands and North of England. The next stage of the research focused on gaining in-depth understanding of the enterprise training available to PRGs at selected universities through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with key personnel responsible for the design and management of PGR enterprise education programmes. The data collected was analysed using the Rugby Team Impact Framework to explore the training and development provision and structure, internal and external profile raising and awareness, staff and skills required, research-based practices, the reaction of participants, behaviour and outcomes, stakeholder engagement, and ongoing strategy Results. The study highlights the current best practices in enterprise education for PGRs. It identified key factors contributing to the success of selected programmes including the development of objectives, the modes and pedagogy of delivery, and the involvement of stakeholders.Implications. The results of the research enable universities across the UK to drive the development of a suite of learning opportunities tailored to the needs of the PGR population in order to overcome barriers to engagement and best promote entrepreneurial activity -both within employment and as new venture creation -as appropriate career options.Originality/Value. This paper contributes to the limited literature concerning the state of enterprise training for PGRs which provides a detail analysis of current provisions useful for benchmarking and planning purposes and which can be useful to researchers and enterprise education providers.

This paper examines the evolution of the entrepreneurial function of Russia's leading universities: the study is based on a conceptualization of a university's entrepreneurial development pathway developed by the OECD in 2009. The data on entrepreneurship development were collected in 2012 through a survey of technology transfer and innovation development managers of 18 National Research Universities. The primary data were complemented by desktop analysis of the strategy development documents of the universities surveyed. The results suggest that in the period studied, 2008–2012, a new type of university, the entrepreneurial university, has emerged in Russia. However, these entrepreneurial universities are facing serious challenges in the implementation of an entrepreneurial, innovation-oriented mission due to the lack of managerial competencies and inadequate infrastructure development. The paper has significant theoretical and practical implications in shedding light on the development of the entrepreneurial university in Russia, where the process is still in its infancy. The authors depict a trajectory of entrepreneurial transformation in and barriers to this process that, it is argued, university executives and policy makers should take into consideration.

Purpose This paper presents a survey of postgraduate research students (PGRs) studying at the University of Huddersfield, concentrating on entrepreneurial attributes and the importance of enterprise-related skills future career intentions.Design/methodology/approach Electronic survey questions asked respondents to rate their confidence in a series of enterprise-related skills, and each skill's importance in their career development. Identification with attributes relating to independence, risk taking, self-efficacy, tolerance of ambiguity, and innovativeness were explored. Further questions probed the importance of enterprise skills development, research impact, and career aspirations including business start-up potential. FindingsRespondents identified with entrepreneurial attributes and were positive towards enterprise skills development. The majority felt that their research could have commercial impact, and over a third reported that starting a business appealed to them. Comparisons of importance and confidence ratings identified skills areas a) where confidence was relatively low and needed to be improved, b) where there is a large gap between confidence and importance and c) where a skill was rated as having lower importance than is optimal from an institutional perspective. Interestingly, different groups of students considered 'self-employment' compared with 'business start-up' as a career option. Research limitations/implicationsThese single-institution results suggest that PGRs are more entrepreneurial than might be expected. Is the Higher Education (HE) sector underestimating the entrepreneurial potential of our PGR population, their appetite for engaging in enterprise, and their enterprise and commercialisation training needs? Originality/ValueThe results have relevance for the HE community in terms of understanding PGR entrepreneurial attributes, and training needs for enterprise and commercialisation of research output.

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