Embryon—The Entrepreneurship Cell of Globsyn Business School

Students apply their knowledge and skills to create a prototype and implement innovative, sustainable, and value-enhancing solutions for identified areas of concern in a socially responsible manner.

Call to Action

It has long been recognized that management students need multidisciplinary skills. Experiential learning is a significant way to provide those skills, as it gives students exposure to the constant call for relevance and enables real-world application.

Globsyn Business School (GBS) firmly believes that educational progress can be made by employing project-based group work to bring together diverse skills and disciplines. In this context, GBS students are continuously encouraged to think innovatively and apply the theoretical knowledge and skill sets they acquire through class lectures, presentations, and assignments in a holistic manner. They get regular opportunities to conceive and implement sustainable, replicable, scalable, and value-enriching ideas to solve certain areas of concern experienced by different groups of people.

In addition to fostering a culture of innovation, GBS also aims to groom students to become socially responsible managers. The students are appropriately mentored by faculty members and industry professionals to undertake a number of social entrepreneurship projects that focus on the benefits that could enrich society and improve the living standards of economically and socially disadvantaged people.

Students recognize pressing social problems and seek to understand the broader context of those issues that crosses disciplines, fields, and theories. Gaining a larger understanding of how an issue relates to society allows them to mobilize available resources for creating unique, superior, inclusive, and sustainable value to develop innovative solutions. 

Description

Embryon – the entrepreneurship cell of GBS – conducts a number of entrepreneurial events at the institution’s campus every year, with EntreArena being the signature event. In this event, students showcase and sell products, which include artwork, homemade food, and beverage items. Students develop and implement effective and efficient delivery mechanisms on their own to procure all the raw materials and semi-finished products from people in adjoining rural areas.

The event usually lasts for five hours, starting at noon. Students get two hours to arrange everything before the event starts. They also create an integrated marketing communication plan using both online and offline media vehicles to generate buzz for their products before the event. The team size is capped at five, and all teams get stalls of the same size, which they decorate on their own.

In order to maintain proper control of financial transactions, paper coupons are issued by the EntreArena organizing committee to the interested buyers in lieu of paper money. During the purchase, buyers provide the coupons to student entrepreneur teams in exchange for products. After the event, these coupons are redeemed, and each team gets their share. Embryon’s entrepreneurship cell sets aside a certain percentage of the entire profit as a reserve for future events.

Impact

EntreArena helps students develop skills to become better managers and enables them to achieve the following:

• Learn how to forecast customer demand and implement subsequent strategies for fulfilling the demand through proportional supply of their products.
• Experience a real-life challenge to determine a cost structure that could enable them to enhance their profits.
• Promote on social media channels like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram to build awareness among prospective customers.
• Gain a hands-on understanding of innovation as a means for differentiation and a defining principle of entrepreneurship.
• Understand how to handle inventory, logistics, and supply chain, as well how to keep financial records and do financial analysis.
• Exercise culinary and artistic hobbies through entrepreneurial skills and zeal.
• Support the craftspeople residing in remote rural areas in earning their livelihoods.
• Get meaningful insights from industry veterans who attend the competition.
• Develop critical managerial skills such as leadership, planning, organizing, coordinating, strategic thinking, teamwork, and decision-making.

Reference Links:

• Video: EntreArena