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.