Critical Reflections on the Entrepreneurship Programme Designed to Develop Effectual Entrepreneurs

Abstract

This article reports on a study that was largely a qualitative, critical examination of the Tsohang Entrepreneurship Programme which was designed to develop effectual entrepreneurs. The programme was primarily examined in terms of its theory of change, which evaluates effectuation, as well as evaluating its effect on the trainees' mind-set, as assessed through business decision processes and improved business practices. Effectuation advances a business decision process that attempts to guide business actions and activities toward choosing particular effects on the grounds of the available means, using the principles of affordable loss, the surprise factor and network building to fabricate and reshape markets. The critical reflection theory was predominantly used for scrutiny and critique of the programme's theory of change as well as certain other aspects of the programme. This was achieved through firstly, broadly identifying and examining the deep-seated assumptions embedded in the programme's conception and applications. Secondly, the study concentrated on tracing the origins of these assumptions. Thirdly, it focussed on evaluating their relevance in our context and within the Small to Medium businesses framework and finally, on suggesting improvements to the programme. The critical reflection theory was additionally utilised to discover the extent to which programme's trainees developed alternative decision processes as a result of their exposure to the programme and how that, in turn, improved their business practices. Through collection of data and analysis of interviews as well as observation, the data were organised in the form of vignettes or critical incidents permitting these researchers to understand some of the effects of the programme on beneficiaries' decision processes and learn of improvements on their business practices.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n25p53