Enhancing student employability : a New Zealand case study of cooperative education in sport

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how employability is embedded and made explicit within two tertiary-degree programmes in sport and recreation in New Zealand, through the use of cooperative education strategies.

Education and training as a social science : some empirical evidence in the Rosebank Business Precinct of Auckland New Zealand

Tertiary institutions should seek continuous feedback from industries to keep track of the needs of businesses to provide education and training. Academics should stay in touch with businesses by networking and consulting. Holland and De Cieri (2006) refer to theories of child learning (pedagogy) to inform their understanding of andragogy, the study of adult learning. Adult learners would be continuous learners and would move in and out of formal education according to individual needs or life circumstances, job requirements or career development. In designing programmes and up-grading curricula, these are important factors to bear in mind so that programmes “cater” for these learners as well.

This study was financed by Auckland City Council focussing on Auckland’s Rosebank Business Precinct (ARBP). The surrounding communities, particularly Mäori, Pacific peoples and recent migrants, experience disparities in employment. Our research questions were:
• Is there a skills match between the present-day workforce and actual business needs over the medium term?
• What can these data tell us about Rosebank’s trajectory as a skilled business cluster and about its future workforce requirements?
• What education and training will be necessary for these organisations to maintain their competitive advantage and profit margins?

The target population were the 500-600 businesses operating on Rosebank Road. A total of 529 businesses were identified. Interviews with 102 companies with a 36-question questionnaire were conducted. The sampling frame was owner-managers (senior, non-shareholding managers). Of the respondent firms, 68.75% had vacancies for up to 3 months and 31.24% vacancies for 6 months.

This paper highlights areas identified in the ARBP for developing programmes and curricula for tertiary institutions to provide employable students with the right knowledge, skills and attributes (KSAs) to grow existing ventures. A fine balance must be struck between human and organisational needs. In the analysis and discussion we point out what education or training is necessary for the ARBP to provide greater efficiencies and subsequent improvement to their profit levels by current and future employees entering the workforce; well “equipped” employees with knowledge and skills to add value in their organisations. Recommendations, future perspectives and conclusions form the last part of this paper

Entrepreneurship policy development : New Zealand in comparison

This paper first examines the impact of entrepreneurship research on policy development in 20 countries of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor project. Curiously, despite its entrepreneurial endowments, the impact on New Zealand falls behind other countries. For a deeper insight, the paper then compares entrepreneurship and innovation policies in New Zealand and Sinaloa, Mexico. New Zealand has a robust innovation policy yet places little emphasis on the needs of actual individual entrepreneurs and their decision to choose self-employment. In Sinaloa, the emphasis is on creating more and better entrepreneurs, but there is no innovation policy. Both sides have something to learn from the other.

GEM New Zealand's different approach

At 13.9% of the adult population, New Zealand's ''Total Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity'' is highest amongst developed countries. This benchmark uses the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) methodology. New Zealand has a high level of opportunity entrepreneurship and a moderate level of necessity entrepreneurship. New Zealand's entrepreneurial firms contribute about half of all new jobs created annually. Informal investment is a more important source of financing to entrepreneurs than venture capital. The proportion of female entrepreneurs has slipped over the past three years. Maori are more entrepreneurial than the rest of population. The study argues that New Zealand has an excellent innovation policy but no entrepreneurship policy.

Educating generationE in Australasia : US lessons, New Zealand experience

Australasian countries have huge numbers of young entrepreneurs. Yet the state of entrepreneurship education in this region has yet to come to grips with their needs. Elsewhere in the world, the growth and development in the curricula and programs devoted to raising the level of enterprise and new venture creation has been remarkable. The researcher undertook field study in North America and Europe to examine interdisciplinary initiatives that take the study of entrepreneurship and personal enterprise out of the Business School, integrate it across the campus and make it available to the widest range of students. The paper first describes GenerationE in Australasian countries and in New Zealand. It then classifies and categorises best-practice models of enterprise education, focusing especially on non-business entrepreneurship and university-wide enterprise requirements. The paper summarises these data and formulates “models of enterprise education” outside the business school environment. It offers generalisations that may prove helpful to educationalists and government policy planners about how to accelerate the development of personal enterprise within individuals and thereby to increase the supply of young people who launch their own businesses and social enterprises. The goal of this paper is to help universities in our region and elsewhere move toward infusing entrepreneurship throughout the curriculum.