Abstract
In recent years area of entrepreneurship has gained significant attention nationally and internationally. It is one of the main skills priorities of national governments and EU council. Traditionally associated with commercial activity, entrepreneurship has gained traction as a key competence necessary to allow society as a whole to adapt to the changing economic climate. An important aspect particularly in the digital transformation is entrepreneurial orientation (EO) as the proactive nature of businesses of products and services in the market seeking for new innovations by even investing into it in spite of the high risk following it (Miller, 1993). It seems that organizations guided by a combination of market, technology, entrepreneurial learning (EL) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) are well-positioned to take advantage of the opportunities presented by digital technologies.
 Small and medium sized companies (SMEs) greatly contribute to employment and wealth in Europe but there are limited studies into the specific skills needs required for SMEs into the future. Skills such as problem solving, critical thinking and entrepreneurship allow learners to adapt to changes, communication, digital skills and teamwork allow learners to collaborate and exploit technology in the changing workplace. Research is a key element of entrepreneurial success, but how these skills particularly workplace-oriented ones improve entrepreneurial orientation has not been widely explored in the literature. 
 This paper explores the importance of EO and entrepreneurship today, the skills required to allow our society to become more entrepreneurial and identifies the potential of workplace research skills to develop entrepreneurial capacity in all facets of work, particularly within SMEs.
Highlights
Small and medium-sized enterprises sized companies (SMEs) are the dominant form of business organizations in the EU; more than 99 % of enterprises in the European Union are SMEs
Digital technologies have dramatically changed the organization and work in companies in SMEs. This could be an opportunity or a challenge for SMEs if these organizations have a right strategy for digital transformation. It seems that organizations guided by a combination of market, technology, entrepreneurial learning (EL) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) are well-positioned to take advantage of the opportunities presented by digital technologies
Entrepreneurial Orientation is often mentioned as an antecedent of growth, competitive advantage and superior performance, and it seems that research skills and the process of learning could influence this
Summary
Small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs are the dominant form of business organizations in the EU; more than 99 % of enterprises in the European Union are SMEs. Understanding of what the company stands for in terms of digitalization and how digitalization will aid goal attainment in the future provides guidance in the formulation of strategy itself, and sequentially, a justification for the strategic decisions made This requires a “digital” EO and a corresponding entrepreneurship education including the achieving of research skills oriented to digital aspects in workplace is necessary. The Research skill development (RSD) framework is a model that aims to formalize an approach for developing research skills in academia It specifies six key phases which are conceptualizing/clarifying and posing questions/finding and generating data/evaluating/reflecting upon and critiquing research methods/source credibility and arguments/organizing and managing info/analyzing data/synthesizing data/communicating with awareness of ethical and social issues throughout the process.
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