Bishops university entrepreneurship culture research paper

Bishop’s University’s Entrepreneurship Culture

BMG 320 2015

Karim Sy-‐Morissette &

Keegan Murphy

2 Bishop’s University Entrepreneurship Culture

TABLE OF CONTENT

1. Executive summary ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3

2. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................... 4 3. Methodology

3.1 Interviews ......................................................................................................................................................... 4 3.2 Articles, Videos & Other Media ............................................................................................................... 5

4. Entrepreneurship & Entrepreneurial Culture

3.1 Capacity Analysis Methodology .............................................................................................................. 5

5. Incubators & Accelerators

5.1 Incubators ........................................................................................................................................................ 7 5.2 Ryerson University Digital Media Zone ............................................................................................ 10 5.3 Accelerator .................................................................................................................................................... 12 5.4 Babson College ............................................................................................................................................ 13 5.5 Common Success Factors ........................................................................................................................ 16

6. Entrepreneurship at Bishop’s

6.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 18 6.2 Overall Culture ............................................................................................................................................ 19 6.3 Influencers .................................................................................................................................................... 20 6.3.1 Dobson-‐Lagassé Center ................................................................................................................ 20 6.3.2 Williams School of Business ....................................................................................................... 21 6.3.3 SEED ...................................................................................................................................................... 22 6.3.4 BUCS ..................................................................................................................................................... 24 6.3.5 Enactus ................................................................................................................................................ 25 6.4 Student Projects & Initiatives ............................................................................................................... 27

7. Involvement of Other Departments ................................................................................................................................ 30

8. Support Systems ........................................................................................................................................................................ 32

9. Action Plan

9.1 Limitations .................................................................................................................................................... 37 9.2 Recommendations ..................................................................................................................................... 39

11. Appendices

Appendix A ........................................................................................................... Interview Topics of Discussion Appendix B ............................................................................................................ Incubation Program Sponsors Appendix C ......................................................................................... Types of Business Incubation Programs Appendix D……………………………………………………………….... Enactus Canada vs Enactus USA

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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Since its creation in 1998, the Dobson-‐Lagassé Center for Entrepreneurship

as dedicated to change the culture of this University, and the community

surrounding it. This report was commissioned with the purpose of analyzing this

change and observes the current state of the entrepreneurial culture at Bishop’s

University. In order to come with an accurate perspective on the health of this

ecosystem, interviews were conducted to 13 people of interests at the University.

These interviews were open-‐ended and focused on the role of Entrepreneurship

here at Bishop’s as general theme, but also followed a flexible structure relating to

the topics of personal projects, incubators, department involvement, and student

involvement. The findings were comparatively analyzed to benchmarked model

ecosystems. The results show that entrepreneurship at Bishop’s is in a stagnating

state, and some weaknesses prevents the growth of the culture. These boundaries

include communication, management structure, access to resources and University

identity.

This report highlights areas of improvements and discusses these recommendations

to raise the level of this culture:

• The university needs to transition their traditional style of management

• Introducing and implementing SEED programs (Marketing Entrepreneurship

Series)

• Marketing Entrepreneurship Series

• The birth of Toast Radio as a Hub

This reports has limitations. Some key University contributors were not reached

and interviewed. Also, the interviews were done in an open-‐ended fashion, that way,

the results are subjective to each individual’s perceptions and biases might occur.


2. INTRODUCTION

This research paper focuses on evaluating Bishops University and the state of

the entrepreneurial culture that exists on campus and in the surrounding

community. The research conducted was two fold, mainly using open-‐ended

interviews with persons of interest who played an impact role within this culture.

Secondly, literature, videos and websites that were useful in backing up these initial

conversations.

According to Dobson-‐Lagassé’s executive director David Monty, a large

fragment of entrepreneurship’s contemporary culture deals with the concepts of

incubators and accelerators. Looking into these ecosystems, these models were

observed to determine the main factors in creating a successful entrepreneurship

culture.

These models were then used in comparison and contrast to the culture at Bishops

University. Programs supporting this culture, student initiatives and impact players

were highlighted in relation to their role in this culture. An action plan was

developed focusing on limitations that exist and the ideal and realistic direction to

be attained for entrepreneurship at Bishops.

3. Methodology

3.1 Interviews

In order to gain knowledge on the key aspects of Bishop’s Entrepreneurial

Culture, its state and general feeling on the topic, we chose to interview 13 people of

interests at Bishop’s University who could provide us with different perspectives.

These people are departments’ chairperson’s, students, head of student-‐ran projects

and clubs, teachers and university representatives. The interviews were conducted

in an open-‐ended manner; the goal was to get the interviewees’ honest unbiased

opinion. Our focus revolved around creating a safe platform for them to express

themselves. The interviews lasted between 20 to 90 minutes. Interviews were

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recorded using the iPhone app QuickVoice, available on iTunes store for free, only

when these people accepted this meeting condition.

Although these meetings focused on letting the interviewee communicate

their views and involvement openly, we created a basic structure with the purpose

of getting information on similar topics throughout our process. We first presented

ourselves as students and the main goal of our project: Gain the necessary

knowledge on the Entrepreneurial Culture of Bishop’s University and use it to

recommend trends that could be applied to enhance the culture. As for the topics

approached, they can be found in the Appendices section.

3.2 Articles, Videos & Other Media

With the purpose of supporting our findings above and understand what

represents the factors in a successful entrepreneurship culture, we used articles,

videos and other sources of media. The information gained from these provided

crucial knowledge on trends, concepts and facts that help give life to this project.

4. ENTREPRENEURSHIP & ENTREPRENEURIAL CULTURE

When looking to investigate the topic of Entrepreneurship at Bishop’s

University, it is important to first understand what is the general meaning of

Entrepreneurship and how is it applied in an environment to create what is referred

to as an Entrepreneurial Culture.

Entrepreneurship derives from the French Entreprendre, meaning to

undertake, and is defined as “The capacity and willingness to develop, organize and

manage a business venture along with any of risks in order to make profit. The most

obvious example is the starting of a new business.”1 Whether it focuses on profit or

1 BusinessDictionary. (n.d.)


not, this behaviour enables creative minded individuals to put their thoughts and

ideas into action. According to the Business News Daily, one of the biggest trends of

the near future is the resurgence of small businesses powered by entrepreneurial

minds. They quote:

“I predict there is going to be a resurgence in small business formation as

Americans get back to their entrepreneurial spirit. Millennials, in particular,

are going to embrace owning their own business as they realize the freedom

it offers and reject the more stringent corporate world [to] create their own

wealth.” –Cody Gunn, president, Gunn Capital Management2

The topic of entrepreneurship is constantly growing in the world today. With the

emergence of technology and focus on creativity, people are constantly looking for

new ideas to improve the environment around them. The mentality also revolves

around the idea of people creating their dream job. This economy of innovation will

continue to grow and force small businesses to be formed, grow and expand.

A collection of such behaviors in a single environment creates what is called

an entrepreneurial culture. Through this culture, the creative kinds thrive as they

are giving the tools to translate their ideas into tangible actions. Mihaylo College of

Business and Economics at California State University Fullerton presents it as: “an

environment where someone is motivated to innovate, create and take risks. In a

business, an entrepreneurial culture means that employees are encouraged to

brainstorm new ideas or products.”3 A great example of a business giving its

employees a chance to innovate is the 20 Percent Time rule (or mentality).

Companies like Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Yahoo and eBay, all force their

employees to use at least 20% of their paid hours working on personal projects and

testing their brains. These projects can even graduate and become a complete entity

on its own with the help of the company itself.4 Companies continue to invest in

start-‐ups of such kinds and more especially in people as they have the agility and

2 Helmrich. (2015) 3 Mihaylo College of Business & Economics. (n.d.) 4 WIRED. (2013)

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creativity that corporations simply do not possess. In return, the company supplies

the resources possible for this creativity to flourish.5

This state of mind is a given talent to some individuals but it can also be

thought. In the case at end in this report, we will refer to the definition of

entrepreneurial culture above replacing the term “business” by “Bishops University”

and adding the terms “students and teachers” to the term “employees”. This gives us

a better perspective of what is at hand.

One of our primary sources of information in doing this project was David

Monty, who is the Executive Director of Dobson-‐Lagassé Entrepreneurship Centre.

When speaking of entrepreneurial culture, he pointed out two concepts that he

judged of the upmost importance: Incubators and Accelerators. The Dobson-‐Lagassé

center is based off these concepts that we will study in the next section.

5. INCUBATORS & ACCELERATORS

As we explore the state of Bishop’s University’s entrepreneurship culture, it

is important to first take a look at what is considered the norm in or the benchmark

of such a culture. To do so we first take a look at the concepts of incubators and

accelerators. They are two very similar environments in which entrepreneurial

culture is omnipresent. We often refer to Silicon Valley as being a bed in

technological advancement due to this mentality of innovation and the presence of

numerous companies involved in incubations and/or accelerations. In this section

we will observe what makes the two concepts successful and how does it relate to

Bishop’s entrepreneurial culture.

5 Weiblen, & Chesbrough. (2015)


5.1 Incubators

A "Business incubation is a unique and highly flexible combination of

business development processes, infrastructure and people designed to nurture

new and small businesses by helping them to survive and grow through the difficult

and vulnerable early stages of development. ”6 In other words, an incubator is an

environment where start-‐ups or ideas are created and given the necessary help in a

multitude of disciplines that it requires to bring it to life. This help is centralized (all-‐

in-‐one). For example, if the start-‐up needs legal help as well as technological advice,

the incubator will provide all these services. It also gives these companies the

necessary office space to work on the project. Mentorship is available to these

companies. The graph below shows the key advantages of incubators according to

the NBIA, National Business Incubation Association.

Table 1: Advantages of incubation7

When comparing it to accelerators, Paul Bricault, cofounder of Amplify, defines

the environment in the following manner:

6 UK Business Incubation Limited. (2011) 7 Knopp. (2007)

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“An incubator brings in an external management team to manage an idea that was

developed internally. “Those ideas can gestate for much longer periods of time and

the incubator takes a much larger amount of equity [compared to accelerators].”

One of the downside of incubation is that owners of the start-‐up or idea lose equity

as they reach out for help in numerous spheres of their projects and more people

get involved. Also, although the help is centralized and the start-‐up process

accelerated, they now become dependent of the help they first seek, as they don’t

gain the knowledge necessary to be self-‐sufficient. The value proposition is

composed of 3 categories: Infrastructure, Business Support and Access to

Networks.8

Incubators are growing across the world and are starting to become the trend

amongst successful businesses. Companies, government and others constantly

invest in these environments to build innovative cultures around the globe. In 2006,

there were over 1,100 incubators in North America of many different types. As most

incubators have mixed used (54%), some of them specialize in other disciplines

(Technology represent 39%).9 87% of incubators graduate start-‐ups stay in

business. It is also vital for the survival of corporations as they represent a source of

innovation and revenue. The trend is to invest in incubators at creation, then take

equity from the start-‐ups as they become self-‐sufficient.10

We are lucky to have two of the first-‐adopters of this movement right here in

Canada. The University of Alberta’s TEC Edmonton and Ryerson University’s Digital

Media Zone were amongst the top University-‐ran incubators in the world in 2014.

8 Bruneel, Ratinho, Clarysse, & Groen. (2011) 9 See Table types of incubation in Appendices 10 Mas-‐Verdú, Ribeiro-‐Soriano, & Roig-‐Tierno. (2015)


Table 1: Global Top 25 University Business Incubators11

As one of our closest example of a successful incubator, we will now take a closer

look at the Digital Media Zone, commonly called DMZ.

5.2 Ryerson University Digital Media Zone

Ryerson’s DMZ is a one of a kind incubator

in the heart of Toronto. At the DMZ, students help

companies take the next step by providing them with the help they need. By doing

so, these students gain real life experience and the companies are able to leverage

knowledge that is alien to them. Their main focus is on connecting customers,

advisors, influencers and other entrepreneurs to innovate, collaborate and learn in

an experiential fashion. The DMZ believes that in order to develop a strong

innovative culture in Canada, we have to start at the “grassroots”, its students. The

DMZ also created a hub called Zone Learning described as the following: “Zone

learning transforms your educational experience at Ryerson. It takes you beyond

the classroom and lets you meet and work with students from across the university

who are creative, ambitious, and driven by passion. By becoming part of Ryerson’s

zone learning network, you’ll get the right kind of support to create, develop, and

launch your idea.” 11 UBI Index. (n.d.)

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The Digital Media zone operates following the 5 pillars as seen below. These

steps are true for students as well as start-‐ups. In the case of students, they can

apply for the DMZ through an organization called Enactus, which will be approached

later on. As for businesses, they are offered a 4 months trial period in which they get

access to all the resources for free. A membership fee is applicable after this period.

Since its creation in April 2010, the DMZ as incubated over 130 startups, helped

raise $ 40 million dollars and created 1,200 jobs. This represents the greatest

measure of success for the incubator. Companies are able to leverage cheap labor

and knowledge, and in return students

are given the right tools to succeed

when they graduate, credits for their

involvement (through Seed programs)

and even job-‐offers at graduation.

Everyone wins.

The number of start-‐up launched

from the DMZ is astonishing. Some of the most notable ones are FlyBits, JamCam,

HouseIt, Closing Folders Inc. and SoapBox.


5.3 Accelerator

The reason why we explore the concept of incubators and accelerator is

because the common impression amongst Bishop’s people of interests is that the

Dobson-‐ Lagassé Center is an incubator. But as David Monty quickly pointed out to

us, they are fundamentally different. The Dobson– Lagassé Center is not an

incubator, it is an accelerator. Paul Bricault of Amplify describes it:

“An accelerator takes single-‐digit chunks of equity in externally developed

ideas in return for small amounts of capital and mentorship. They’re

generally truncated into a three to four month program at the end of

which the start-‐ups ‘graduate’.”12

This is an interesting concept as it brings the notion of graduating. Companies enter

the ecosystem to accelerate their growth. They will have mentors, attend

workshops, seek specialize help, etc., for a short amount of time with the purpose of

correcting or eliminating their weaknesses. An accelerator will teach the companies

the tools to be self-‐sufficient at the end of this period of intense learning. Companies

do not necessarily give equity in exchange for these services; they will usually

simply give a small amount of money. Just like incubators, they have the advantages

of having centralized help, low cost labor (to none), specialized help, workspace, and

resources.

In order to analyze Bishop’s own entrepreneurial culture we will first

examine the model for all accelerators of North America: Babson College. David

Monty’s model for Entrepreneurship and the Dobson-‐ Lagassé Center is based of

this institution.

12 DesMarais, C. (2012)

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5.4 Babson College

Babson College is considered the benchmark in

Entrepreneurship in North America. According to

David Monty, every year, similar programs around

the continent go to this Boston area school every

year to study its structure and methods in the

form of seminars. Based on a survey of 2,000 school administrators in 2014, Babson

ranks 1st in undergraduate entrepreneurship program and second in graduate

entrepreneurship programs.13 The Princeton review also ranks it 1st in

undergraduate schools for entrepreneurship.14 Babson’s entrepreneurship MBA

ranks number 1 according to the U.S. News & World Report (2016). 15

It is a difficult task to calculate the return of investment of such programs. In

order to do so, it is argued that the best way is to calculate graduation rate, average

student salary after 5 years of graduation and success stories that flourished from

Babson. In terms of categories the metrics can be named educational quality,

affordability, and career outcome. According to Money Magazine, Babson is also the

number 1 College in America. This is very impressive considering it ranks above

powerhouses like MIT and Harvard. The investment itself represents the money

invested in a 4-‐year program. 90% of its students graduate within 6 years of

enrollment and alumni average around $59,700 annually after 5 years of

graduation. Many successful businesses and entrepreneurs have also taking-‐off in

this accelerator. The following are 3 examples of graduates that have taking their

experience at Babson College and turned it into great success stories. Matthew R.

Coffin graduated from the University in 1990 and in 2005 sold his business called

LowerMyBills.com for $380 million to company Experian. He was also named

Southern California Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006. Mir Ibrahim Rahman

graduated from Babson in 2000. From there he went on to co-‐found Pakistan’s most

13 Entrepreneur. (2014) 14 The Princeton Review. (n.d.) 15 U.S. News & World Report. (2015)


popular and largest media outlet, GEO TV when he was only 25. He went on to win

many awards, notably the Robert F. Kennedy award for Excellence in Public Service

at the Harvard Kennedy School. Lastly, Babson

Entrepreneurship center, Arthur M. Blank center, is named

after the co founder of The Home Depot who graduated from

Babson in 1963.

How is Babson able to stimulate creative minds to go

above and beyond in changing the environment around them

through innovation? There are many characteristics that make Babson such a

dominant figure in the world of entrepreneurship.

First, Babson’s entrepreneurship program offers its 378 enrolled students 79 full-‐

time courses with a focus on practical learning. With the help of 9 mentors provided

by a sponsored school program, they constantly work on projects hands-‐on to help

them real their full potential.16 These programs are crucial to their development as

they gain the necessary tools to become entrepreneurs themselves. They are

rewarded with credits, awards and bursaries. In the last 5 years, 181 companies

have launched from the College.

The second dominant factor is the John E. and Alice L. Butler Venture Accelerator at

Babson. This center represents the fundamentals of an accelerator. “Through our

diverse programs, students and alumni explore opportunities and move their

business concepts forward, taking advantage of workspace, peer-‐mentoring

programs, expert advisers, and other valuable resources.” This ecosystem enables

16 Entrepreneur. (2014)

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companies to flourish and grow at an accelerated rate following the 3 stages below.

It offers various services and resources like legal advice, mentors, workspace,

events, etc.17 A great aspect for companies is that students aren’t allowed to take any

equity an external business coming in for help or a salary before graduation. This is

great for companies looking for centralized help at low cost. Both parties therefore

add value to the other in a beneficial matter.

In term of financial resources, Babson is lucky to have the support of one of

the biggest foundation dedicated to Entrepreneurship in the United States, the

Kauffman Foundation. The foundation based out of Kansas City devotes itself to

“...foster a society of economically independent individuals who are engaged citizens

in their community.” That being said they see this shift happening by focusing on 2

main areas: Education and Entrepreneurship. The Kauffman foundation is also

involve in big projects, such as Khan Academy, an online website dedicated to

academic help through informational videos. Babson is able to leverage their

support.18 20

17 Babson College. (n.d.) 18 Kauffman Foundation. (n.d.)


Finally, Babson offers numerous special programs & events dedicated to raising

entrepreneurial awareness and culture throughout its environment. Here are some

of the most important ones:

• Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference: This conference is

considered one of the best in the world in the field of entrepreneurship. Each

year over 350 scholars join the conference.

• B.E.T.A. Challenge (Babson Entrepreneurial Thoughts and Actions): This

challenge award $20,000 and “service in kind” to a group of individuals to

reward them for taking an idea and putting it into action. Cash prizes are

awarded by corporate sponsors. Two prizes of $2,500 are also given to the

finalists.

• Rocket Pitch: Babson College, Olin’s Engineering and Wellesley College

student are welcomed to an evening where they are invited to pitch their

projects to investors, alumni and school representative. These officials are

located in several rooms and do not give feedback until the end of the

evening when a networking session occurs and students gets to meet these

people and chat business opportunities with them.

• Summer Venture Program: This program lasts 10 week and start-‐up and

companies take place in workshops and are provided the mentoring

necessary to help accelerate their business.

• Alumni Entrepreneur Hall-‐of-‐Fame: Just like the 3 success stories presented

at the beginning of this section, Babson graduates that have contributed to

their environment with great innovation are recognized in its hall-‐of-‐fame.

5.5 Common Success Factors

Both systems are able to take small ideas and create a number of real

successful projects. Although they are fundamentally somewhat different, they are

truly one of kind for that exact reason. We now observe some of the common key

factors that contributed to both’ success.

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First, these environments possessed their full organization & community

faith & support. This category is very important when trying to put forward a

culture revolving around entrepreneurship. As an organization, both of those

universities understood the importance of putting forward creative thinking and

innovation. They’ve giving these programs their full support to implement

centralization of knowledge and resources to help departments build together,

financial aid (if necessary), etc. These programs now represent their pride and joy

and are at the center of not only the school itself, but also the community in which

they live in. The biggest aspect to retain from this point is that they were able to

align the values of all spheres of the organizations towards innovation, as a common

goal.

They both employ practical learning methods for students. In this regard,

programs curriculum are based off real life experiences where students work with

mentors and companies to improve their knowledge of disciplines. They also are

encouraged to start projects of their own, for which they are rewarded with credits

and/or bursaries. These rewards ultimately aim to take these projects one-‐step

further and put them into action. For students of these schools, creating is part of

their degree and innovation is the norm. Students that have been rewarded for

entrepreneurial thinking are also publicly acclaimed throughout the universities.

Events and contest are constantly occurring, engaging the students in an interactive

manner.

Both of these schools possess a tremendous access to resources, which

broaden the scale of possibilities and quality of engagements. It is one thing to be

sponsored by the largest foundation pro entrepreneurship in the US or being able to

afford to move the facilities in one of the better looking buildings downtown

Toronto, but this also involves the amount of mentors available, access to

technology and specialist from all disciplines. Yes, Babson and Ryerson are

fortunate to have such generous donors, but they also put these resources into good

use. They are now on the path to self-‐sufficiency and independence from the school


itself. The number of alumni mentors and entrepreneurs helping those students and

start-‐ups through the process is also very high. So these young minds constantly

have specialists to help them gain perspective on the topic at hand.

6. ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT BISHOP’S

6.1 Introduction

To determine the state of entrepreneurship at Bishops University, a number

of informal interviews were conducted with people of interest across campus. These

included, students, professors, staff and alumni who were perceived to be

knowledgeable in the area. These interviews contained a number of open-‐ended

questions that encouraged unbounded conversations. Through these discussions,

there was a great amount of valuable input received that helped assess said state at

Bishops. These interviews placed limitations on the evaluation as it lacked

objectivity. Talking to a number of different people with different opinions and

perceptions led to a great deal of subjectivity on this topic. While some believed

there is a great deal of positivity and a strong entrepreneurial culture that exists on

campus and in the surrounding community, there was opposition and nevertheless

a lot of criticism. This criticism not only touched on the culture but also focused on

the bigger picture with issues involving Bishop’s University as a whole.

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6.2 Overall Culture

While the overall culture of entrepreneurship at Bishop’s is subjective, varying from

one to another, there are many existing elements that are clear and objective. Many

of these aspects play a major role in the culture but are however intangible. With

less than 3,000 students enrolled at the university, the small size has several big

advantages. Because the majority of students are not locals and come from a

distance, it is very common for them to live within Lennoxville and hence very close

to campus. The creation of this bubble not only increases the likelihood of students

getting involved in extra curricular activities, but makes it very accessible for them.

The scale of Bishops University has led to the development of a very tight knit

community, which helps fosters a strong entrepreneurial spirit. This spirit is

generated with the willingness of students to be apart and make a difference within

the community. Bishops encourages and enables its students to get involved with

the many clubs and or other activities on campus. The spirit that exists encourages

participation and involvement amongst students. A part of the culture that is

accompanied with these factors is a heavy social presence at the school. Bishop’s is

known to have a student population that enjoys celebrating together and organizing

communal events. Some of these events have generated revenue that is then

donated to charity while creating memories that will last forever. Within the

existence of this spirit, some elements attempt to breed creative and critical

thinking. This mindset is crucial for entrepreneurial culture and needs to be

emphasized more at Bishop’s. Many of the professors interviewed complained that

the lack of competition amongst students in the business department restricts the

generation of this mentality. They want to see professors and students alike push

each other to create a strong attitude that will help lead to success. With a lack of

funding and restrictive financial budget at the university, the major investment

made on students is not tangible. The investment is to breed entrepreneurial

mindsets that will help create a strong network in the environment. Because of the

tight community and level of engagement that exists, alumni will be much more

willing to give back. Developing strong alumni and keeping them connected is


important in adding value to the culture. While there are some initiatives within

departments across campus, there is not an entrepreneurial backbone that is

present across the university. One of the issues with the culture is the lack of

consistency. According to used definition 20 of entrepreneurship culture requires it

“to be embraced by most and have shared values by people at different levels of the

institutions hierarchy”.

6.3 Influencers

With a lack of uniform entrepreneurial practices, the Dobson-‐Lagasse Center

working alongside the Williams School of Business are the main influencers for the

culture.

6.3.1 Dobson-‐Lagassé Center

Before the inauguration of the Williams School of Business in 1997, Bishops

University did not offer any entrepreneurship courses to its students. John Oldland a

marketing professor at the university with an entrepreneurial background had a

vision to incorporate these classes into the curriculum. Alongside his wife Alice,

Oldland founded Hatley in 1986, a brand that produced clothing and an assortment

of gifts geared towards cottagers. Today, the label has grown to become

tremendously successful, reaching to over 20 countries worldwide and wholesaling

to more than 3,000 stores. In addition, it owns and operates 21 stores across

Canada, the United States of America and New Zealand. With the creation of his own

company, Oldland saw the importance of recognizing opportunities and taking

action in the market. He wanted to encourage this amongst his students and foster

an entrepreneurial spirit across the university. At the time there were financial

limitations that existed that restricted him from achieving his goal. This obstacle

was overcome soon thereafter with the help of John Dobson, a premier supporter of

20 Journal of Entrepreneurial Education

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entrepreneurship in Canada and Louie Lagassé, one of the most influential business

in the country. Together in 1998, they co-‐founded the Dobson-‐Lagassé Center that

brought funding to the table enabling entrepreneurship courses to be taught in the

business school. Furthermore, the center had a mission to develop the community

by integrating both English and French culture. The Dobson-‐Lagassé Center follows

Babson College’s business model in teaching entrepreneurship by connecting

students with local entrepreneurs and mentors through experiential learning.

Facilitating this link between these three creates a network and adds value to the

environment. While this academic segment is directly linked to the university in

progressing young minds, the center offers consulting to local entrepreneurs

independently. The services that they offer to small business in the region are;

market research, accounting support, mentorship, counseling, and training and

speed coaching. In 2006, the center was facing financial difficulties, as they lost

primary sources of funding and had to reduce their cash flow in half. Dobson-‐

Lagassé brought in Dave Monty, the current executive director, to help alleviate the

problem. With expertise in strategic positioning, Monty developed a new inventory

plan for the center. It is a significant part of Bishop’s University as it has helped over

2,000 students and 800 local businesses. The director wants to continue to see it

grow and support entrepreneurs in the environment however would like to see it

disassociated itself from the school and operate as an independent entity.

6.3.2 Williams School of Business

The Williams School of Business is designed to provide an interactive, hands-‐on

learning experience that attempts to prepare students to take on the world. The small

classroom size enables students to be engaged with peers and professors and helps

them develop a strong network both inside and out of the classroom. Unlike big

universities, professors are easily approachable and accessible and care about the

education they are providing. At Babson College, the average class size is 29 students

provides one of the best return on investments in the United States. With more than 80

% of business professors as full time and tenured, they view students as more than just a


number and have a big impact on developing these young minds. The Williams School of

Business places a heavy emphasis on teamwork for student projects. While

entrepreneurs often embark on ventures independently, the ability to work in a team is

tremendously important. In order to succeed in future endeavors, it is vital for them to

have this skill. As Ewing Marion Kauffman, founder of one of the largest private

foundations in the United States said:

“All of the money in the world cannot solve problems unless we work together. And

if we work together, there is no problem in the world that can stop us, as we seek to

develop people to their highest potential.” 21

6.3.4 SEED

One of the highlights of the business school is the SEED portfolio geared towards

the finance department.

In 1985, chartered financial analyst Stephen Barlow came to Bishop’s to help out

the finance program. With an extensive background in the field, he recognized a much

higher need for financial services over corporate finance. With a greater number of jobs

in this industry, he began transitioning the department to increase the focus on capital

markets and securities. This shift was tremendously beneficial to the department as its

growth over the next decade made it become the university’s most prominent business

program. While Barlow had made great efforts and strides with the finance department,

he longed to continually improve upon its strong foundation. With the help of a

$3,000,000 donation by David A. Williams, a successful investment manager and

Bishop’s graduate (1963), the SEED portfolio was created. SEED (Success through

Education, Entrepreneurship and Determination) is “an exclusive opportunity for

students to experience the risks and rewards of portfolio management” (website). This

practical learning experience allows students to gain valuable knowledge and essential

tools that can be applied in the market. This program is important in breeding creative

and critical thinking that are crucial for entrepreneurial minds. In addition it is one of

21 Kauffman Foundation

BMG 320 23

the major aspects that give the Williams School of Business a competitive advantage

over many Canadian business schools.

The Williams School of Business promotes entrepreneurship with the help of the

Dobson-‐Lagassé Centre by connecting students with local companies and giving them

the opportunity to gain real world experience. This allows them to learn the ins and

outs of the business and create entrepreneurial solutions to operational problems.

Reviews that cover entrepreneurial education highlight the fact that it is fundamental to

incorporate this aspect into its teaching. Researcher Dr. Martin J Bliemel at University of

New South Wales in Australia heavily stresses the importance of gaining real business

world involvement in his article, Getting Entrepreneurship Education Out of the

Classroom and into Students’ Heads published in the Entrepreneurship Research Journal 22. The conclusion made by Vivek Wadhwa, an academic who specializes in

technological entrepreneurship was that through “education, exposure and networks

[…established…] lead these people to pursue the entrepreneurial path” 23.

It is this mindset that inspires students to start new ventures that the entrepreneurial

culture of Bishop’s University strives to achieve. While the Dobson-‐Lagassé Center is

very beneficial and helps many reach this goal, the environment it operates in, restricts

the level of growth. Once again, the major problem at hand stems from financial

limitations. There is need for a dominant foundation that exists to help finance

entrepreneurship in the country. South of the border in the United States, the Kauffman

foundation is a private non-‐profit organization that financially supports individuals

aiming to help improve communities. Based out of Kansas City, Missouri, the foundation

focuses on supporting entrepreneurial education and creates programs that will give

students valuable experiences while allowing them to gain skills that will be of great use

in the future. With an endowment of $2 billion dollars, they are able to spend millions

dollars on grants yearly aimed to help create “a society of economically independent

individuals who are engaged citizens, contributing to the improvement of their

22 Entrepreneurship Research Journal 23 Tech Crunch


communities.” 19 The Kauffman foundation has conducted great amount of research

in the area of entrepreneurship education. Vice President of research, Bob Litan

determined the field is a teachable subject, however requires “practical, relevant

knowledge” 24. Fast Trac, is one of Kauffman’s program that supports the growth of start

up business. This program started in 1993 and has helped train more than 300,000

entrepreneurs in the last two decades.

6.3.4 BUCS

Within the Williams School of Business is BUCS (Bishops University Commerce

Society), a student run organization that aims to support business students. BUCS does

not focus on one specific business department but has the goal to integrate all

concentrations outside the classroom. This past year, 2015, they were awarded the

Canadian Association of Business Students rising star award. While they do not directly

promote entrepreneurship, they encourage taking action within the market and creating

strong networks. One of their new strategies allows business students to submit

contribution forms for a program or an application that will be beneficial. The most

recent contribution form that resulted in action was the investment club. Proactive

students are able to realize their visions and establish groups with the help of BUCS

funding. This will in turn, create new developments and progressive elements that will

help the Williams School of Business. Some of the notable events that BUCS organizes

are the wine & cheeses, career cocktails, banker’s day and case competitions. These give

students important networking opportunities and allow them to gain essential

experiences that will help widen their scope of contacts. The case competition that was

another new addition by BUCS this winter fosters strong competition amongst different

groups, while giving students great exposure and a solid monetary reward. This helps

encourage students to think critically in order to advance themselves and their careers.

BUCS is an important support system that entrepreneurs can fall back and use at

Bishop’s.

24 Fast Trac

BMG 320 25

6.3.5 ENACTUS

Enactus is a global non-‐profit organization that has the purpose of fostering

entrepreneurial action. They are an international community of students, educators and

business leaders that exists in over 1,700 universities in 36 countries across the world.

Founded in 1975 in Springfield, Missouri, it was originally called Students in Free

Enterprise. Its three pillars are the ability to perceive opportunity in the market and

subsequently create value, making an impact that is sustainable and the collaboration

between students, academics and business leaders to make the world a better place.

While SAFE was a prominent organization that had partnerships and associations across

the globe, they underwent a rebranding in 2012. In order to show their dedication to

entrepreneurial action, they were renamed Enactus, stemming from the three words,

entrepreneurship, action and us. With a consistent brand name Enactus was committed

to improving many communities across the world. They are able to get this done

through their six main values, imagination, courage, partnership, determination,

accountability and curiosity. Formerly known as ACE, Advancing Canadian

Entrepreneurship, founded in 2002, was Canada’s own version of Enactus before its

global rebranding in 2012. Present in over 66 campus across the country, it has helped

employ 1,600 people and impacted 643,026 people.


Bishops University is one of the thousand universities worldwide that has its own

Enactus program. Similarly to the limitations with Dobson Lagassé and the Williams

School of Business, this program has scarce resources available, which is very

restrictive. While comparing it to the Enactus programs at bigger schools like Concordia

or Ryerson, the budget and number of people involved is a fraction of what they are

working with. While it is hard to have the same resources at a school of such a small

scale, it limits the level of competition at inter collegiate Enactus events. In addition,

Enactus requires its programs to simultaneously work on entrepreneurial, community

and social segments. At a small school like Bishop’s University, it may be more beneficial

to put all eggs in one basket and excel in one segment. The two projects Enactus Bishop’s

is currently working on are uConversations and Praxis Malawi. uConversations aims to

develop an app that will integrate all events occurring on campus and in the community.

In addition it looks to be a platform that connects current entrepreneurship students

with alumni that are able to mentor them. Its purpose it to have a platform that is a hub

of communication that also serves as a strong networking tool. With the release of the

Bishop’s student representative council app this winter, there is competition that rivals

its launch. Praxis Malawi has the goal of entering one of the poorest countries in the

world to make a significant impact. This project attempts to develop a business model

that will enable the African communities to build stone oven for themselves and in turn

use it to sell to neighboring villages. This will help them become sustainable and make a

tremendous impact in the life of all residents.

BMG 320 27

6.4 Student Projects & Initiatives

As mentioned earlier, Bishop’s University is a school that is very accessible to its

students. Seeing how the majority of these students live nearby, they are more willing to

be proactive within the university community. Because it is very easy for them to get

involved, there are a number of student projects and initiatives that exist and more and

more that are started. The ones that follow were identified to be amongst the most

prominent at the university.

Build A Better Purple is a fundraising campaign that targets senior students that are

graduating as there primary donors. While this campaign has always existed at Bishop’s

it successfully rebranded in the past couple years. Its motto, “give a little purple back”

encourages student to give a donation of $10 dollars, which coincides with the fact that

the bill is purple. In addition, they organize many events in grad week one of the last

weeks before exams. This included trivia night and happy hour at The Gait and a very

popular event amongst students, the rubber mallard golf tournament. The money raised

is used to fund a student project that will be voted upon by the following year’s


graduate. The projects that are proposed must first and foremost be conceivable,

generate impact and lastly have a sense of creativity. This program is very

entrepreneurial as it gives Bishop’s students the opportunity to improve the community

and leave a lasting legacy. The project that was voted upon by the graduating class was a

student run radio station.

This dream became a realization, and in February 2015, Bishop’s Toast Radio was

born. The capital raised through Build A Better Purple as well as a kick starter campaign

and additional funding from the university’s student representative council enabled a

successful launch. The money was used to purchase equipment that enables the radio to

broadcast online. The idea of a student run radio station was positively received across

the school, as many were eager to get involved. A total of 56 applications were received

which resulted in a 6 day broadcasting schedule with 51 different shows covering a wide

scope. Toast Radio’s launch party was a success, which helped generate a buzz for the

station. Within the first three weeks of broadcasts, the Facebook page gained 15,000

visits and the program has been streamed nearly 4,000 times. In addition, it has gained a

worldwide reached, listened to throughout 16 different countries. This radio station

gives students the opportunity to get involved with the school and have a unique

experience of been a DJ or talk show host. Toast Radio has a great amount of potential

that can be used to enhance the culture at the school and help the community. While this

is the beginning there are many strides that need to be take to obtain a strong and

sustainable future for Toast.

BMK 355, a marketing class the curriculum offers uses the Dobson Lagassé center to

link students with local business to develop a marketing plan. One student group that

was linked with the sports center developed a promotional plan that used a team of

students. This plan was then used and put into action to promote the athletic program

and subsequently Gaiters home games. This promotional team focused on using

targeting students alike, which ultimately are the schools greatest assets. They use social

media platforms to relay sports information to followers and engage students

collaboration. This team called the Gaiter Squad, makes home games a special

BMG 320 29

experience by increasing the atmosphere, including special contests and crowd

involvement that results in greater attendance. This team puts in a great amount of hard

work and effort and receives minimal reward or recognition. It is essential to build upon

this initial team that was introduced this year by developing a structure and continually

improving on what can be done. This year, Bishop’s University hosted the RSEQ Final

Four basketball championship at the new sports center. This is an experience that gives

students a good opportunity to market to a large audience and help give the school and

athletics more exposure. Looking forward to next year, Bishop’s will be hosting the

Baggataway Cup, the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Associations national

championship. Bishop’s can offer credits or incentives to the team so that they continue

to seize opportunities on campus while raising awareness and stimulating the Gaiters

with a loud and energized crowd rooting for the home team. This student initiative

turned into a project that can help students gain skills that can be used in order to

properly market and gain success in future endeavors.

Another project that was conceived within a class was the Dragon’s Den pitch that

came from BMG 320. Through the Topics of Entrepreneurship action plan project,

students organized a competition style event where student entrepreneurs pitch their

business idea to a panel of judges. This can be linked to beginner entrepreneur class

BMG 214, where students must create their own start up in theory and develop a

feasible business plan. This event stimulates entrepreneurial spirit as it highlights the

best action plans on seizing opportunity in the surrounding market. It generates a spirit

of competition that is lacking throughout the Williams School of Business as the winner

receives a monetary reward. In addition, this event is great to showcase talent that

exists within the university, allows ideas to be shared with the community and provides

great networking.


Another major initiative that has developed into one of Bishop’s biggest social and

charity events is the fashion show. Five years ago it was brought on campus as an event

that would bring the community together at Centennial Theater. Now it has become a

staple during the winter at Bishop’s. The fashion show is put together to allow students

to gain another opportunity to get involved at the school and be apart of something

unique. A major part of Bishop’s is the diversity of students coming from different

regions and backgrounds meshing together in the Lennoxville bubble. With heavy

engagement from everyone, a strong buzz is created that helps generate a successful

event in the community. This past year, the committee went above and beyond to

incorporate many fund raising events over the course of the year. They utilized on

campus with The Gait, off campus through The Golden Lion and Provigo amongst others

to fundraise and raise awareness for the show. In addition, they wanted to show their

charity, the Lennoxville Youth Center, a local non-‐profit organization its significance. For

the first time they had two shows, having one specifically for members of the charity and

community. They reached great success, raising $18,000 which was the highest grossing

amount raised by the student body.

6. INVOLVEMENT OF OTHER DEPARTMENTS

Bishop’s Entrepreneurial Culture doesn’t necessarily imply actions taken by

the department only. Many other departments are involved in the act of innovating

and creating. The following is a list of current enterprises taking place on campus at

the moment.

Chemistry

Professor Dale Wood has his own brewing company: Arches Brewery. He also gives

a class focused on sharing his knowledge of brewing with students.

BMG 320 31

Computer Science

Que Innovation has to be one of the most notable projects on campus. Dr. Tammy

Salter and her husband founded the company in 2010 focusing on technology and

solving a need. Their mission statement goes as follows: “Que Innovations is

committed to providing well crafted, genius yet simple and functioning technology

devices. Que Innovations believes in developing superior products that are way

above anything else available and that truly serve a purpose.” In doing so she

employs Bishop’s top computer science students and gives them a unique

perspective of actual work in field. One of their main products is the Que Ball

dedicated to help autistic children learn how to interact and emotions through play.

The company was also name as a 2012 Computerworld Honors Laureate. Award

given to people and organization create information technology that aims to

promote positive social, economic and educational change.25

Bishop’s University

Bishop’s Business Bootcamp offers workshops to students to teach them how to

prepare for the real world. Whether it is networking strategies or simply how to

make a good resume, they are thought how to improve their image and presence.

The Top 10 After 10 (Hall-‐of-‐Fame) is ceremony where we reward our best alumni’s

accomplishment after 10 years of graduation.

Arts – English – Humanities

Quebec Universities English Undergraduate Conference

(Q.U.E.U.C.) is an annual conference hosted by the

University. During the 3 day period, visitors from around

the world are welcomed to take place in thematic events,

such as Shakespeare Mock Trial, a Edgar Allen Poe-‐themed social event, and the

annual Literary-‐themed Cranium Night. 25 QueInnovations. (2014)


Bishop’s University Film Festival (B.U.F.F.) is the annual competition where students

create short-‐films for a chance to compete in Le Festival Cinéma du Monde de

Sherbrooke and/or Le Festival du Nouveau Cinéma in Montreal. Awards are also

given for numerous categories during the night of the screening.

TEDxBishopsU is a conference platform

where speakers come following the

theme of “Illuminating Education” when

talking about their own discipline. The goal is to provoke young minds, test their

perceptions and open their mind. TEDxBishopsU is an independent entity and is not

related to the famous TedxTalks.

8. SUPPORT SYSTEMS

In addition to the Dobson Lagassé Center and the Bishop’s University

Commerce Society, there are several support systems that are in place and meant to

encourage creative and critical thinking and promote entrepreneurship on campus.

The two major elements of support were financial and psychological through

programs offered.

In order to adhere to the financial need of many students accepted to Bishops

there are a number of different monetary support systems that exist. With the help

of a number of very gracious benefactors who have given generous donations, the

school offers scholarships, bursaries and funds to assist students in their

undergraduate studies. Bishop’s offers entry scholarships to ensure they retain and

ensure many of the talented students with high averages. This is important to

BMG 320 33

develop a strong academic environment that will help create a strong network of

alumni. To reward students that excel in their studies, there are upper year

scholarships, dean and named scholarship as well as the majors entrance ones.

These include

• Alan and Dorothy William Scholarship awarded to the top student entering

the business program

• Stanley Mills Scholarship awarded to the top student entering the humanities

program

• Bishop’s Memorial Fund given to a student entering sciences and preferably

from Quebec

All of these scholarships are valued at $ 4,000. In addition to these, there are

many scholarships that students can apply for and or be awarded. There are also

many awards that are given out that highlight athletic, academic and excellence in

the community while at Bishop’s. The university also offers several bursaries that

help students with financial need.

In addition there are also several funds that students can apply for to help

them develop projects or work on experiential learning. The most important ones

that help develop entrepreneurial mindsets at Bishops are as follows:

• The Cohen Opportunity Fund is valued up to $2,250 and aims to improve a

business student academic experience through experiential learning.

• The McConnell Student Opportunity Fund is valued at $12,500 and

encourages student projects to be self sufficient and creative through the use

of practical research. This fund looks to give students the opportunity to work

on start ups while learning important skills useful in the job market.

• The Bishop’s Experiential or Service Term (B.E.S.T Fund) projects are the

leading financial support the university offers to its students. This fund selects

a student perceived to have significant potential to create meaningful impact

post graduation. The committee chooses someone that will receive


mentorship and valuable assistance with their endeavors. This fund is valued

at $50,000.

Furthermore, there are internships programs that are funded as another

means of helping develop students.

• The Experiential Learning Internship Grant Fund (ELIGF) is valued at $2,000

and is purposed to cover the cost of equipment purchased and used as part of

the project. This experiential learning experience also provides credits to

students.

• The Tomlinson Internship is a program that allows students to earn money

while simultaneously having the chance to experience practical learning

relevant to the business school.

While these financial systems are crucial in helping students receive the

backing to enable them to complete their undergraduate study successfully, there

are other elements that are meant to support students.

The Dobson Lagassé Center is an important tool for students to use because

they have the right people to help mentor and coach success. Dave Monty is very

eager to mold proactive students on the right path and help shape entrepreneurial

minds. In addition to individual projects and start-‐ups he helps coach for the Next

36. This Canadian non-‐profit charity aims to help shape the minds of the country’s

top students through an intensive cooperative training program. 36 talented young

Canadians who have great potential to be innovators embark on economic

development that is aimed to help them while aiming to simultaneously increase the

country’s wealth. This program does an excellent job in modeling strong

entrepreneurial mindsets because it allows students to think critically and

independently to generate original solutions to problems.

BMG 320 35

Bishop’s University wanted to expand its teaching horizons by finding new

means and channels to educate its students and develop entrepreneurial mindsets

amongst its students. They wanted to have more than just the conventional

classroom setting as a method of teaching and incorporate stimulating events that

will encourage creative thinking. In 2008, the Donald Lecture Series was introduced

thanks to the help of substantial donations from Bishop’s alumni, John Donald. The

series brings in prominent speakers with entrepreneurial background who voice

their thoughts on captivating topics that carry strong relevance at the university and

across the world alike. 2009 Graduate, Mark Lawson states that0 the lecture series

was a “ link between our classes and the rest of the world that bridged a gap, so that

we could put down our textbooks”. These lectures provided an important learning

experience outside the classroom aimed to deliver rich insight that would enable

students to think about and create new conversations. With insulated funding from

generous alumni, this lecture series is independent from general school budget and

will remain sustainable for the future. While the Donald Lecture Series tries to

breed critical thinking and enhance the community, the Morris Reading Series is

another academic event that Bishop’s offers to its students. While not as prominent,

this series brings talented authors to the school to help promote literature and the

encourage liberal arts students to be creative with their writing.

Bishop’s is part of U4 a league made up of some of the country’s oldest

English speaking universities in Eastern and Atlantic Canada. Through collaboration

with Mount Allison, University, Acadia University and St Francis Xavier University,

the school’s attempt to create value on campus and provide exceptional

undergraduate education. With similar models and heavy emphasis on liberal art

programs, together these schools aim to develop the highest quality of teaching

practices, through programs, courses and activities that will help improve the


university and community. This is another strong network that the school uses to

spark progressive thinking in the region.

BMG 320 37

9. ACTION PLAN

9.1 Limitations

Based on our interviews with bishop’s University people of interests, we

heard numerous concerns about the state of the culture. Although they should all be

taking into account to achieve alignment of every spheres of our environment, the

following list highlights the most dominant and repetitive comment. Because of the

implications of these concerns, although constructive, we decided not to divulge the

identities of the people involved.

University’s Mission

One of the first aspects we observed is that most people were unclear about

what is the goal of the organization. Bishop’s University seemed to be losing its

identity as a school. Moreover, instead of having a common ideology of their role as

educators, most people had several specific goals and views on what was their role.

In that sense, departments were divided. This makes building an identity as a single

entity very difficult. Bishop’s invested in Entrepreneurship when they created the

Dobson-‐Lagassé Center and has been one of the first-‐movers in that trend, but years

of stagnation are now catching up to us and other school have been taking the lead.

Is entrepreneurship the value we’ve all been looking rally around?

Top-‐Down Management

One of the primary concerns for most departments was the structure by

which Bishop’s University base their teaching structure. The argument was that we

should base our teaching techniques by listening to what students need instead of

following an outdated model. This largely circles around the idea that departments’

curriculums should include Seed programs where students are rewarded for putting

their thoughts into action. Individuals argued that there is a resistance to adopting

these changes in our culture that would make Bishop’s a better place and a leader

once again. This idea was unanimous throughout our interviewing process as a

system that should be adopted by all departments. It was argued that even if


students specialize in a certain field, without the tools to put their knowledge into

actions, they are “useless”. We have plenty of opportunities to empower our

students, but we need to take advantage of the situation. The next 2 quotes is a

testament to the general feeling regarding the issue:

“All Universities need to embrace communication and entrepreneurship or

they’ll die.”

-‐ Anonymous Interviewee

“We need to do a better job at using our best resources: students.”

-‐ Anonymous Interviewee

Access to Resources

This topic was by far the most redundant one of our project. School

representative feel that access to resources is very limited even inexistent in some

cases. That restrains their power to take action, and, in order to undergo any

projects they often need to generate these resources on their own. We observed a

certain dependency from these departments to the school. However, the role of the

Dobson-‐ Lagassé Center, notably David Monty and Steve Karpenko, were always

duly mentioned as being key source of support in undergoing these projects with

limited resources.

Communication

It was also argued that communication between departments is weak.

Related to access to resources, the fact that outlook is the primary source of

information for school events, services and communication is archaic. Information

gets lost in a blender of emails that most of the people who receive them don’t even

acknowledge. Social media handlers are also not constantly responsive to the

outreaches of our community members. Finding specialize help from different

departments without going through the Dobson-‐ Lagassé Center or personal

acquaintances as also become difficult, according to many people.

BMG 320 39

9.2 Recommendations

After conducting research on the state of entrepreneurship at Bishop’s there

are several steps that need to be taken in order to push the school in the right

direction. Several elements need to be changed and or improved that will enable the

school to foster a stronger entrepreneurship spirit.

While the Williams School of Business currently has the SEED portfolio

geared towards finance students, they do not have a similar program for any other

concentrations. There is great potential to incorporate similar course platforms

focused more towards entrepreneurship and marketing students. This course would

be a yearlong program that students apply for in the previous academic year. They

would need to bring a research question to the table and over the course of the class

develop a startup that would be launched in the second semester. This would be a

huge factor in creating entrepreneurial spirit and improving the community. At the

end of the year, the Williams School of Business alongside the university can

organize a conference with U4 and other interested parties to showcase the projects

that stem through this program and the pool of talent that exists at the school. It

would take place during one of the last weekends of the year and bring in influential

businessmen and keynote speakers to help promote the department and university.

A prospective name for this program would be MES, the Marketing and

Entrepreneurship Series. To start, a structured plan must be developed, outlining

the multiple elements that will take place over the course of the year. It will

highlight student requirements and guidelines necessary to be accepted in the class.

Furthermore it will provide a budget and necessary funding that will make this class

a success. Further research needs to be established to discover the financials used to

enable students to reach success. This is a tremendously important event that will

enable Bishop’s to continually take great strides towards a better entrepreneurial

culture. The Marketing Entrepreneurship Series will add value to the school and

business department, making it more attractive to prospective students. It will

incorporate another practical and experiential learning experience that will help


Bishop’s gain a competitive advantage over other small Canadian universities. In

addition, this program will create awareness of the developing state of

entrepreneurship in the area and help progress Dobson Lagassé to become an even

greater asset in the community.

Another major complaint heard from many interviewees was the state of

communications at the university. To begin, the university does not have an efficient

webmail system, as inboxes are consistently spammed with unwanted emails. This

causes a great deal of frustration amongst students and has lead to many to

discontinue using the email service. This is detrimental because it disables them

from been informed about important news and events. Furthermore, there lacks a

strong information database and a communications hub. This makes it difficult to

have consistency across the university as departments have no integration and are

forced to operate independently. With the birth of Bishop’s Toast Radio, there is

great potential to alleviate this problem and create a center that can easily be

accessed by all stakeholders of the university.

In the fall of 2015, two marketing, entrepreneurship students will be

embarking on an independent study to research the market, manage and progress

the radio into a strong entrepreneurial segment on campus. The outline for this

study has already been completed and approved by Dr. Yanan Wang, marketing

professor at the Williams School of Business. One of the study’s main inquiries will

be to assess what students want to listen to and develop a diverse segment that will

maximize listening. While this study deals mainly with market research, it has a

strong entrepreneurial sense as it will have the purpose of developing a structure

and foundation for the radio to operate on in the future. Building this plan will

enable Toast Radio to become sustainable and have a lasting impact for both

Lennoxville and the Bishop’s community. The study conducted by member of the

marketing team will establish managing techniques for the many student DJ and

hosts volunteering for the station, develop ad guidelines that will help generate

revenue streams and work towards the goal of creating a communication hub for

BMG 320 41

Bishop’s University. While it has started off small, Toast Radio is dreaming big to

help create value for the university and improve the environment. Beginning with

simple online broadcast will then turn into the creation of podcasts that can be

shared on multiple different music and social media platforms and will generate a

strong network. The goal is to continually build the radio and develop a website that

will be a central source of information, with broadcast, news and communications

integrating all departments and aspects of the community. This will be separate

from the universities websites and portals but have a link where it connects them

together. The development of Toast Radio strives to become a hub that students,

alumni, professors and staff can easily access. Furthermore it will eliminate

unnecessary information overload and be an effective source of communication.

Lastly, the university needs to transition their traditional style of

management to become much more responsive to the consistently changing

environment. The top down structure makes it tremendously difficult for any

change to occur and is difficult to progress the school in a positive direction. Senior

management needs to realize Bishop’s students are its greatest assets and be able to

listen and adhere to their needs.


11. APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

Interview Topics of Discussion

1. Background Information

2. Involvement at Bishop’s

3. General Perception of Entrepreneurship

4. Perception of Entrepreneurship at Bishop’s University

5. Personal or program related projects

6. Improvements to the culture

7. Comments on Incubators

8. Dodson-‐ Lagassé Involvement/Experience

9. Perception of Curriculum of respective programs/department

BMG 320 43

APPENDIX B


APPENDIX C

BMG 320 45

Appendix D

Enactus Canada vs USA

Canada USA

Team 59 446

Students 2,344 16,844

Projects 260 178

Hours Volunteered 225,139 458,349


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Babson College. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2015, from http://www.babson.edu/Pages/default.aspx

Bliemel, M. J. (2014). Getting Entrepreneurship Education Out of the Classroom and into

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