Developing Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Entrepreneurial Competences through Business Simulation Games

Abstract

Today, entrepreneurship is seen as a major driver for innovation, economic growth and job creation, with entrepreneurial competencies highly sought after by practitioners and policy-makers alike. Competencies considered entrepreneurial include knowledge about how entrepreneurs create value; skills in marketing, resource acquisition and opportunity identification; and attitudes such as entrepreneurial passion, self-efficacy, proactiveness and tenacity. There is widespread consensus in the literature that entrepreneurial competencies can be developed through entrepreneurship learning. This study adopts an existing framework for entrepreneurial competencies based on previous research to investigate the role and influence that simulation games can play in the development of cognitive (knowledge and skills) and non-cognitive (attitudes) entrepreneurial competencies. The paper showcases the many benefits of using business simulation as an effective mode for developing entrepreneurial competencies. Such competencies are not only beneficial for individuals working in an entrepreneurial context — but are transferable to any business context, bringing to the fore the importance of entrepreneurial learning for all students to develop such competencies.

The Impact of Entrepreneurial Passion on Psychology and Behavior of Entrepreneurs

“… Costin et al (2019) studied the influence of simulation games in the development of cognitive (knowledge and skills) and non-cognitive (attitude) entrepreneurial capabilities using the existing entrepreneurial capability framework. The benefits of using business simulation as an effective model for developing entrepreneurial capabilities were demonstrated.…”

“…It is hoped that this study can reveal the relationship between entrepreneurial passion, selfefficacy, and psychology and behavior of entrepreneur, and expand the application of entrepreneurial passion in the field of entrepreneurship. Costin et al (2019) studied the influence of simulation games in the development of cognitive (knowledge and skills) and non-cognitive (attitude) entrepreneurial capabilities using the existing entrepreneurial capability framework. The benefits of using business simulation as an effective model for developing entrepreneurial capabilities were demonstrated.…”

“…The benefits of using business simulation as an effective model for developing entrepreneurial capabilities were demonstrated. This ability was not only beneficial to individuals working in entrepreneurial environments, but can be transferred to any business environment, thus highlighting the importance of entrepreneurial learning for all students (Costin et al, 2019). Cannatelli et al (2019) explored the relationship between the alternative entrepreneurial behavioral logic based on the principle of causality and the two passions, namely the passion for product and the passion for growth.…”

Changing perceptions about entrepreneurship and industry-related aspects and fostering innovation skills using a video game

“…These results suggest that higher education teachers and institutions should adopt interactive resources such as video games as, from the perspective of students, they benefit the learning process by fostering innovation skills and according to several authors (Raybourn, 2014;Ahrens, 2015;Liberona and Rojas, 2017;Costin et al, 2019), video games offer a good alternate to learn and motivate students, in such a way that learning can be given at any time and place and contribute to the strengthening of entrepreneurial skills as well.…”

“…However, empirical evidence on its effects is limited. Some studies found that the use of SGs improves the teaching and development of entrepreneurial skills (Liberona and Rojas, 2017;Costin et al, 2019) and others bring to discuss these effects and their viability in EE (Charrouf and Taha Janan, 2019).…”