By: Seyed Hossein Hosseiniseddiq
Another current issue in Iran, along with other issues, is the issue of
entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial university, which has occupied the
writer’s mind for a long time. For this reason, I had a discussion with one of my
successful university colleagues and one of the experts in this field named Dr.
Abolghasem Arabiun, an associate professor at the Faculty of Entrepreneurship,
University of Tehran, which is briefly discussed below:
In the global arena, creative and innovative people as entrepreneurs have been
the source of great changes in the field of production and services. Even large
global companies turn to entrepreneurs to solve their problems. The cycles of
economic development move with the development of entrepreneurship. When
we examine the course of events, happenings, and economic and social activities
of societies, we find that human beings have always sought change, and in the
meantime, there have been people who have not followed restrictive minds but
caused change in their societies and Human societies in general have become.
Today’s advanced society owes its development to people who have been able to
turn their creative dreams and ideas into reality, have the spirit of independence
to explore new opportunities, which today is called “entrepreneurship”.
He believes that rapid social change and the need for active adaptation to
developing societies have increased the value of entrepreneurs. Research has
shown that there is a correlation between economic growth and the number of
entrepreneurs in a country because a country with a large number of
entrepreneurs has stronger trade and economic incentives. Considering the role
of human resources as an unlimited resource in the axis of any kind of
development, entrepreneurs have a special role in the process of economic
development. In addition, because of their job-creating potential, entrepreneurs
help reduce the unemployment rate, which is one of the macroeconomic goals of
governments. The importance of entrepreneurship has reached the point that
some experts consider entrepreneurship as one of the factors of production such
as capital and labor and call it the engine of economic development.
Research shows that entrepreneurs play a key role, especially in creating small
and medium-sized economic units that lead to high job creation. They enable the
effective and increasing use of resources and facilitate trade between different
sectors with different facilities and priorities. Entrepreneurial behavior is also an
accelerator of the production, dissemination and application of innovative ideas,
and in societies undergoing economic change, entrepreneurship also mitigates
the harmful effects of society by creating job opportunities. In general,
entrepreneurial performance both affects the growth rate of new firms and
increases the chances of survival and growth of existing firms.
The first countries to work on the role of entrepreneurs in job creation and wealth
creation were Germany, Britain and the United States. In Germany, from 1935 to
1993, the study and identification of innovatively motivated individuals with
financial constraints began, followed by the establishment of colleges to train
these individuals in the country.
In 1958, Japan launched a program called “Economic Sacrifice Soldiers” at the
Ministry of Education. According to this plan, people from the high school level
were introduced to the issue of entrepreneurship and were taught how to save
their country from dependence by making a profit.
In Taiwan, programs for training young entrepreneurs as well as promoting the
level of employed entrepreneurs are designed based on a long-term and
comprehensive program that includes different strata. In some countries, such as
Canada, the bulk of new job growth in the first five years of the 1990s was due to
self-employment and small business start-ups.
Professor. Abolghasem Arabiun says: Entrepreneurship education in the higher
education system of our country Iran with more than 20 years delay compared to
developed countries in late 2000 in the Ministry of Science, Research and
Technology was considered. According to the third development plan of the
country, a plan entitled “Entrepreneurship Development in the country’s
universities” will be formulated and implemented with the opinion of the
Management and Planning Organization of the Ministry of Science, Research and
Technology in 12 universities of the country. It was handed over to the country’s
education evaluation organization by the Ministry of Science in late 2000.
The completion of educational structures that are created in order to acquaint
students with business issues, training and strengthening the entrepreneurial
spirit, aims to prepare the mentality of graduates to enter the economic field.
Entrepreneurship development platforms are created in order to provide the
necessary physical conditions for the entry of these entrepreneurial graduates
and aim to create economic professions. Among the structures that have been
experienced for this purpose in many countries are centers for business growth
and technology.
A review of the experience of higher education centers in different countries
shows that these centers, depending on the economic and social conditions in
which they are located, have addressed one of the solutions or have launched
training courses entitled Entrepreneurship or they have established a growth
center at the university. In many cases, these two solutions are used
simultaneously.
In the last one or two years, the higher education system of Iran has paid special
attention to the issue of strengthening and developing the entrepreneurial spirit
in students and has made initial investments in implementing these two solutions.
Establishment of entrepreneurship courses and centers, as well as licensing and
support for the establishment of more than 15 centers are among the executive
measures that have been formed in this regard. Therefore, the University of
Tehran as a higher education in Iran, with the establishment of the School of
Entrepreneurship as the first Faculty of Entrepreneurship in Iran, the Middle East
and North Africa has taken an important step in this area. And we hope that with
the role of professors and graduates of this college in order to develop
knowledge, thinking and entrepreneurial culture in the near future will be
valuable results.
Prof. Abolghasem Arabiun, a member of the faculty of the Faculty of
Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, is one of the professors who has taken an
important step in this field with valuable activities and effective steps in recent
years. Such as:
Launching the Entrepreneurship Development Policy Research Institute,
University of Tehran; Founder of the Iranian Entrepreneurship Elite Foundation at
the University of Tehran; Launching 12 specialized sections and working groups in
the Iranian Entrepreneurship Elite Foundation since 2014, including:
1. Smart Business Department of Iran Entrepreneurship Elite Foundation;
2. Start-up Department of Iran Entrepreneurship Elite Foundation;
3. New Banking Services Department of Iran Entrepreneurship Elite
Foundation;
4. Department of Creative and Innovative Economy (Capital) of the Iranian
Entrepreneurship Elite Foundation;
5. Department of Establishment and Development of New Businesses of the
Iranian Entrepreneurship Elite Foundation;
6. Technological Entrepreneurship Management Department of Iran
Entrepreneurship Elite Foundation;
7. Information Technology Department of Iran Entrepreneurship Elite
Foundation;
8. Smart Business Department of Iran Entrepreneurship Elite Foundation;
9. Department of Oil and Energy Businesses of the Iranian Entrepreneurship
Elite Foundation;
10. Cultural Heritage, Industries and Tourism Department of Iran
Entrepreneurship Elite Foundation;
11.Research Department of Iran Entrepreneurship Elite Foundation;
12.Educational Department of Iran Entrepreneurship Elite Foundation;
Prof. Abolghasem Arabiun has been founder and member of the Board of
Trustees and the Board of Directors of the National Association of
Entrepreneurship and Development of Iran and also supervision and consulting of
dozens of doctoral dissertations in the University of Tehran and other universities
in the field of management, economics and entrepreneurship and supervision and
counseling of more than 200 master’s degree dissertations in the fields of
management, economics and entrepreneurship.
He believes: Entrepreneurial University is a self-generating institution and in the
process of transitioning from an organization based on gifts and dependent on
the space of other institutions for its resources. Conducting related economic
research forces the university to communicate with the external environment.
Entrepreneurial universities increase their position and legislation and access to
public resources. In such an environment, the conversion of knowledge into an
economic commodity is encouraged by public institutions, the private sector and
universities.
Dr. Seyed Hossein Hosseiniseddiq is a faculty member at the Islamic Azad
University
