New ways of sports entrepreneurship in the university
| Date | 11 March 2019 |
| Published date | 11 March 2019 |
| Pages | 5-21 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JEPP-07-2019-110 |
| Author | Antonio Jesús Sánchez-Oliver,Pablo Gálvez-Ruiz,Moisés Grimaldi-Puyana,Jesús Fernández-Gavira,Jerónimo García-Fernández |
| Subject Matter | Strategy,Entrepreneurship,Business climate/policy |
New ways of sports
entrepreneurship in the university
Antonio Jesús Sánchez-Oliver
Department of Human Motricity and Sports Performance,
University of Seville, Seville, Spain
Pablo Gálvez-Ruiz
Universidad Internacional de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Moisés Grimaldi-Puyana
University of Seville, Seville, Spain, and
Jesús Fernández-Gavira and Jerónimo García-Fernández
Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to present a project called EmprendeSport, whose aim is to increase
knowledge in entrepreneurship and sports in students, professors and professionals through seminars carried
out from 2015 to 2018. This study summarises the experience and data extracted throughout these seminars
with the purpose of helping to design policies that stimulate business activity of the universities that seek to
promote entrepreneurial spirit within a higher educational context.
Design/methodology/approach –This is a descriptive paper of the experiences of the seminars done
during four years, with a regularly assistance of 200 people. The profile of the assistants was, mainly males,
studying a degree on sports or entrepreneurship and working.
Findings –There is a lack of knowledge and interest in entrepreneurship. The realisation of the seminar
resulted to be a useful incentive for the public to develop new ideas to innovate in their daily lives, some of
them also, because of the seminar through of creating their own business. From the organisation perspective,
in order to increase the entrepreneurial culture between the females.
Originality/value –The main contribution of this document could be to help design policies that stimulate
business activities of universities and, therefore, stimulate their contribution to the development of the
modern knowledge economy.
Keywords Entrepreneurship, Seminars, University, Experience, Sport
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The economic crisis of recent years has produced a change in the social paradigm, creating
high rates of general unemployment, above all for youth, placing Spain among the countries
of the European Union (EU) with the highest rate of unemployment for young persons
(Ubierna-Gómez, 2015). This fact has resulted in Spain doubling its unemployment rate as
compared with the other EU countries (Eurostat, 2018b). Unemployment is a problem of
structural imbalance and currently one of the main challenges. Thus, at this moment, the
generation of youth employment and improvement of their insertion into the labour market
are priorities in matters of public policies (Moreno-Mínguez, 2015).
This economic, political and social scenario has aroused particular interest in
entrepreneurship as an alternative to the current crisis (Urbano and Aparicio, 2016). Policy
makers have identified the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic development,
with studies showing that the impact on the immediate economic development of new
companies is positive in small, medium and large cities (Audretsch et al., 2015). This has led to
entrepreneurship policies to increase the number of companies created in a country, stimulating
the entrepreneurial activity of people as a fundamental way for the development of countries,
self-employment and the creation of wealth (Ubierna-Gómez, 2015; Vaquero-García et al., 2017).
Journal of Entrepreneurship and
Public Policy
Vol. 8 No. 1, 2019
pp. 5-21
© Emerald PublishingLimited
2045-2101
DOI 10.1108/JEPP-07-2019-110
Received 15 December 2018
Accepted 4 April 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2045-2101.htm
5
Sports
entrepreneurship
in the university
In order to understand all the data related to entrepreneurship and to consequently
establish action lines, the number of studies in this regard has increased in recent years.
Among the most notable are those that seek to identify common entrepreneurial
characteristics, or the most relevant situations in order for bu siness activity to take place
(Salazar-Carvajal et al., 2014). The most outstanding entrepreneurial characteristics may be
foundinAlemanyet al. (2011): need for achievement, meaning, achieving significant and
challenging goals; independence, meaning, be one’s own boss; locus of internal control, when
one thinks the results of events are determined by the actions themselves; propensity to take
risks, make decisions under uncertainty, but with high probabilities of winning; and self-
confidence or belief in one’s abilities. Despite this growing scientific mass, the existing literature
on the entrepreneurial intention of young persons is still quite limited (Goyanes, 2015).
Based on national and international data, three essential factors of entrepreneurial
initiative may be specified: entrepreneurial culture and values, education and financing.
Entrepreneurial motivation is greater if entrepreneurial activity is accepted socially and
entrepreneurial function is valued and admired. Attitudes such as fear of failure and
aversion to risk inhibit potential entrepreneurs from launching a project (Oosterbeek et al.,
2010; Shane et al., 2003).
Entrepreneurship, according to Baron and Shane (2008), should be understood as a
process rather than an event. This implies the identification of opportunities and the
exploitation of creation and innovation (Baron and Shane, 2008). Therefore, currently,
generating these while promoting situations that enable entrepreneurship is essential
(Sánchez-Oliver et al., 2017).
Entrepreneurship in Spain is not held in high regardas compared to other countries. Thus,
data from 2009 indicate a 48 per cent popularity index compared to 62and 73 per cent from
France and the USA, respectively. Of the 3.4m companies registered in Spain in 2009, 1.8m
were self-employed. Entrepreneurship in Spain is one of the lowest in theEU (5.1 per cent) and
was severely affected by the crisis of the first decade of the twenty-first century. Spain is a
country where preference is given to employment in companies with respect to self-
employment(from 34 per cent in 2001 to 52 per cent in 2009), linkingthis fact with need rather
than opportunity. Hence, in Spain there is a greater aversion to risk and a greater fear of
failure, although it seems that this decreases for young people. Precisely,Spain is considered
to be not very creative and it is thoughtthat what happens is largely determinedby others or
by luck, meaning that there is little self-confidence (Alemany et al., 2011).
2. Sports entrepreneurship
Physical-sport activity has become a very diverse business or entrepreneurial idea
(Guillén-Pereira et al., 2018). In this way, there are small, medium and large sports centres,
fitness companies, sports clubs, brand sponsorships, personal training services, etc.
(Puigarnau et al., 2016; Ratten, 2011).
Regarding the employment aspect, the sports sector has a series of characteristics that
make it different from others. These include the temporary nature of the majority of the jobs
generated, which entails a lower degree of professionalisation and low salary levels, or an
increase of self-employed workers without social security coverage (García-Fernández et al.,
2017). To grow within this situation, it is important to have high levels of innovation,
initiative and creativity, especially in entrepreneurs who know how to read opportunities
when presented in an emerging market such as sports (Eckhardt and Shane, 2003; Peña
et al., 2016).
The latest data obtained in Eurostat (2018a, b) show that sport sector employment in the
EU continues to increase. In 2017, 1.7m people worked in the sports sector in EU member
countries, with higher levels in the UK (435,000) and Germany (253,000). Between 2012 and
2017, employment in the sports sector increased in almost all EU member states,
6
JEPP
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