Entrepreneurship: From Opportunity to Action: The Entrepreneurial Process

In 1989 an informal cooperation was initiated between teachers from three HE institutions in Aarhus – the engineering college, the school of architecture’s institute of industrial design, and the business school, ASB. The teachers decided to set up mixed project groups for their students to carry out projects in what was then called “product development”. The cooperation was initiated quite informally and implemented by teachers. A teacher at the school of architecture came up with the idea; it seemed to him that his students lacked any understanding of what it was that made Danish design world-famous in the years between 1930 and 1970. His students considered themselves to be artists, working for the sake of art only, as he put it. What was missing was the traditional cooperation with furniture makers and production people in general, to make them realise what was the exact purpose of their own work. He therefore contacted the other two institutions, starting a cooperation still existing today; however no longer with ASB as a participant. Since then, so many things have happened that a brief outline is called for, to explain the situation which forms the background for the way the subject area entrepreneurship is being taught.