The oldest Chair of the University of Lorraine celebreates its 10th anniversary: the Entrepreneurship Chair! Based in Metz at the IAE Metz School of Management and linked to the CEREFIGE research laboratory, the Entrepreneurship Chair was created in 2010 on the initiative of the PRES of the University of Lorraine. The founding goal of the Chair is to initiate and encourage research on entrepreneurship, the aim of which is to provide a better understanding of the current entrepreneurial reality and to propose approaches, good practices and tools for entrepreneurs, support structures and trainers. Meeting with Christophe SCHMITT, Holder of the Entrepreneurship Chair, Professor of Entrepreneurship at the IAE Metz and the CEREFIGE.
What is the purpose of the Entrepreneurship Chair and how did it come about?
The founding goal of the Entrepreneurship Chair is to initiate and encourage research on entrepreneurship, the aim of which is to provide a better understanding of the current entrepreneurial reality and to propose approaches, good practices and tools for entrepreneurs, support structures and trainers. The Chair has its origins in the steering of an international research project involving 22 countries around the world. The funding objective is to understand the place of entrepreneurship within the university. This scientific work brought together researchers, teachers, entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship stakeholders. The results achieved allowed to define a typology of entrepreneurship development within universities, namely the 3I model for Initialisation, Institutionalisation and Innovation. This served as a basis for the structuring of a local, national and international ecosystem with Lorraine as its anchor.
What are the projects that the Entrepreneurship Chair supported within the University of Lorraine?
The Entrepreneurship Chair supported two supporting projects over the last 10 years. The most symbolic being the PeeL (Lorraine Student Entrepreneurship Centre). The work carried out has made it possible not only to establish the scientific and operational foundations of the system but also to promote its evolution over these 10 years. The work of developing scientific knowledge and scientific monitoring is undoubtedly an inseparable part of PeeL's success. It allows it to be at the forefront of entrepreneurial culture and action.
The second structuring project for the University of Lorraine concerns the recent establishment of a think tank or laboratory of ideas at the level of the Grand Est Region in terms of entrepreneurship. This project is founded by the Grand Est Region and FEDER (European Regional Development Fund), in the framework of the call for proposals for the Regional Cooperation Fund for Research. The network called "Research & Expertise in Entrepreneurship" (R2E) is composed of 5 higher education institutions (University of Lorraine, University of Strasbourg, University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, NEOMA Business School and Y Schools). It brings together more than forty researchers and a dozen research laboratories in various fields from Management Sciences (CEREFIGE, HUMANIS, Y Schools, NEOMA), Economics (BETA), Engineering Sciences (ERPI), Education Sciences (LISEC) and Computer Sciences (LORIA).
What are the main result of the Entrepreneurship Chair?
Different research programmes have led to new developments in entrepreneurship and, more specifically, in entrepreneurship coaching and training. This is the case of the "Agir entrepreneurial" (acting entrepreneurially) programme, which was the subject of a book awarded the Best Management Essay Award. The "La fabrique de l'entrepreneuriat" (The Entrepreneurship Factory) programme made it possible to put into perspective the need to consider entrepreneurship in 3 dimensions: the entrepreneur, his or her project and the players in the ecosystem. A new research programme is underway entitled " New Perspectives in Entrepreneurship. From the telegraph model to the orchestra model ", which focuses on the interactive approach to entrepreneurship. In ten years, this work has led to the production of 36 articles, 11 books and 40 book chapters, as well as the defense of 10 theses and 2 HDR (Authorisations to supervise research). Today, the Entrepreneurship Chair is a very large scientific network in about ten countries with about fifty researchers.
