Social and Business Entrepreneurship (LUC)
“As a matter of fact, capitalist economy is not and cannot be stationary. Nor is it merely expanding in a steady manner. It is incessantly being revolutionized from within by new enterprise, i.e., by the intrusion of new commodities or new methods of production or new commercial opportunities into the industrial structure as it exists at any moment.”
— Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1942)
The dynamics that Schumpeter described in a capitalist economy are the same dynamics of innovation in social and political spheres. These dynamics displace ineffective and outdated ideas, processes and relations by providing better, faster solutions to our needs and wants. It is the entrepreneur’s job to identify areas for improvement and create paths to improvement. This class is about that entrepreneurial process.
This LUC minor in Social and Business Entrepreneurship (“SBE”) is designed to put you into the entrepreneur’s world at the same time as you bring your entrepreneurial ideas to the world. The minor (six classes, or 30 ECTS) is divided into two parts. Part I (two classes in the spring semester) introduces you to the world and perspective of entrepreneurs. The summer break will give you time to read and reflect. During Part II (four classes in the fall semester), you will bring a “product” (a profit or nonprofit good or service) to the market, government or community. Students will work individually and in teams to design products and structure their enterprises as they “go to market.”