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Entrepreneurial activity has been an element of economic and social enhancement. However, managing a startup is a difficult and risky activity that strongly depends on the entrepreneur's characteristics and skills. While much attention has been given recently to entrepreneurial learning, less has been studied about the learning dynamics in different industries. This study aims to understand and explore types of learning in different industries and find their similarities and differences. For this purpose, an exploratory comparative case study composed of four cases has been considered. Findings reveal that the main types of entrepreneurial learning are similar in all the industries analysed and are linked to social and experiential learning. The main dissimilarities are related to searching for customer information, employees' feedback, and solving issues. Lastly, some entrepreneurs reflect on the actions or decisions taken, while others do not reflect as much as they would like to.

This research aims to examine the extent to which the way entrepreneurs learn is reflected in entrepreneurship education, highlighting the existing gap between the literature on entrepreneurial learning and the practice of entrepreneurship education. To explore entrepreneurial learning in-depth, we adopted an interpretivist-constructivist approach that involves participant observation at coworking spaces and semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs. Data were subsequently analyzed using thematic analysis. Major findings indicate that social networks play a vital role in facilitating entrepreneurial learning, with context and network serving as essential learning mechanisms. However, these elements are often disregarded in traditional entrepreneurship education approaches. This study highlights a gap in the literature where the focus of entrepreneurial learning is primarily on entrepreneurs, while entrepreneurship education primarily focuses on students and educators. The study's contribution is its emphasis on the importance of social networks in entrepreneurial learning and its potential for redesigning entrepreneurship education. By bridging the gap between entrepreneurial learning and entrepreneurship education, it is possible to create educational approaches that more closely mimic how entrepreneurs learn in real life, potentially leading to more impactful entrepreneurial activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This research aims to identify the intentions behind becoming an entrepreneur and the perception of entrepreneurial failure among different groups of students. There has been significant research discussing the motivations behind becoming an entrepreneur. However, such a research study is often focused on individuals who are already in the entrepreneurial process. Therefore, this research focuses on the understanding of the entrepreneurial process specified on the intentions of becoming an entrepreneur and the associated risk, in the context of a learning process. Design/methodology/approach: The perspectives of students towards becoming an entrepreneur and their perception of associated risk are identified. A comparative exploratory case study method is used. Three cases developed in the light of empirical evidence consist of Business, Law and Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students. Findings: Major results show that the law and STEM students were on the same line in terms of motivational factors, such as being career driven. In contrary, the business students were more driven by personal factors such as leaving something behind and building something meaningful. Originality/value: Whilst studies have attempted to understand entrepreneurial intentions, little work has considered students and their views on becoming entrepreneurs. Even with studies that looked at this subject matter, the focus was mainly business students. The authors build on previous work and construct the authors' views based on multi-disciplinary student base to know more about their intentions to become an entrepreneur. The science and law students were more influenced by external factors, whereas business students were focused more on their personal goals. Such classification of the diverse intentions based on student discipline opens a new and promising research avenue to better develop entrepreneurial education not only for business students but across all disciplines in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing data-driven solutions to address the direct and indirect challenges posed by COVID-19. A sample of six case studies of SMEs from the UK and Portugal were selected to explore in-depth the experience of these companies in proposing innovative solutions in the pandemic context. The findings reveal that the pandemic caused amplifying effects on the digitalization of organizations and the emergence of data-driven solutions. However, the development of a data-driven approach involves not only technologies but also the digitalization of processes and highly skilled human resources. The pandemic was also a catalyst for the emergence of collaborative initiatives that have enabled the development of solutions involving diverse players from science, business, and civilian society. This study offers innovative contributions by focusing exclusively on companies developing data-driven solutions supported by technologies such as the internet of things (IoT), big data, and artificial intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]