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Guidance supporting Europe’s aspiring entrepreneurs
Policy and practice to harness future potential

In Lithuania, one university, supported by EU funding, has developed an
international business simulation game for university students across Europe.
Between 2006 and 2008 the ISM University of Management and Economics in
Lithuania developed the project OfficeInterActors, which is a virtual platform
through which students and mentors meet and participate in role-plays that are
realistic and linked to their professions. This particular project involved a
business simulation game for entrepreneurial learning. For six weeks the
participants from different European countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Spain, France,
Lithuania, Romania and other countries) met once a week through the online
learning platform and participated in joint various problem-solving tasks. The
project aimed to motivate young people to use their entrepreneurial ideas, but
also to improve communication, intellectual, information management skills.

4.3. Encouraging entrepreneurial activity in students

HEIs across Europe are also involved in encouraging entrepreneurial activity in
students through a range of extra-curricular activities. These include:
(a) entrepreneurship competitions and awards (business plan competitions);
(b) dedicated programmes on building self-confidence and self-efficacy;
(c) networks of student entrepreneurs and meetings with business experts and
entrepreneurs.
The goal of such activities is normally to ‘demystify the start-up world’; to
make young people more aware of their entrepreneurial attributes and skills and
encourage them to see entrepreneurship as an option for professional life. They
are often also a platform for learning about and meeting successful
entrepreneurs and other students who have recently started a business; role
models are seen as a key to motivating students (European Commission, 2006a;
European Commission, 2008a; European Commission, 2010a; Potter, 2008;
Schoof, 2006).

4.3.1. Business plan/idea competitions and awards
Business plan/idea competitions and awards have become an established
feature in European HE. They give potential young entrepreneurs an arena to
compete in, where business professionals and experienced entrepreneurs can
evaluate their business ideas/plans and provide a critique (Volkmann et al.,
2009). Competitions, which typically have a monetary (or other) prize, incentivise
and drive young people into ‘performing to the best of their ability’ and pursuing
their entrepreneurial ideas. At the same time, business competitions allow

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