Creating a Sense of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Secondary Students in Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica
As organisations continuously position themselves in the international market, several opportunities and challenges are encountered. Such condition requires organisations to develop strategies that will address the threats imposed by the internal and external environment while also exploring the opportunities that the new business provides. One of the strategies that companies seek to pursue is innovation. Innovation is an important factor in the development of an organisation. Innovation is defined as both radical and incremental changes in thinking, in things, in process or in services (Mckeown, 2008). Based on this defitnion, there are three specific aspects of innovation that we can consider. First, the renewal and enlargement of the range of products and services and the associated markets. Second is the establishment of new methods of production, supply and distribution. Third, The introduction of change in management, work organization, and the working conditions and skills of the workforce (as cited in Neeley, 1998, p. 9).
Innovation has a central role in the process of economic development of organisations as it impacts the micro-, macro- and meso-levels of businesses. An innovative firm has actions embedded on the fundamental innovative facts: technological knowledge is often tacit and embodied in the minds and in the routines of the individuals within each group and knowledge is not static but dynamic, cumulative and evolving through time. As such, innovations are products of intra- and interorganisational interactions, making it a collective undertaking. According to Castellaci, Grodal, Mendonca and Wibe (2005), “the unpredictable nature of innovation is due to the conditions of strong uncertainty in which it occurs, given the unfeasibility of accurately predicting the cost and value of a new product, or the users’ demand.” Likewise, the innovative process involves the exploration and exploitation of opportunities on the basis of advance technical practice, on a change in market demand or the combination of two (as cited in Castellaci et al, 2005).
By definition, innovation requires learning how to transform technologies and how to access markets in order to achieve higher quality and lower production costs. Schumpeter (1934) argued that one of the main functions of entrepreneurs in private firms is to combine existing resources to put forward “new uses and new combinations,” or “innovations.” Entrepreneurship is the process of value creation by combining resources to take advantage of an opportunity. Churchill and Muzyka (1994) characterizes entrepreneurship as a process that takes place in different environments and settings that causes changes in the economic system through innovations brought about by individuals who generate or respond to economic opportunities that create value for these individuals and society. Kirzner (1979) thinks of entrepreneurship as the result of superior alertness exhibited by selected individuals in the population.
Schumpeter (1966) one of the pioneers in the study of entrepreneurship believed that an entrepreneur acts as a motivating force that facilitates changes in technology and a driving force behind economic development. According to Schumpeter (1966), the main task of an entrepreneur is to transform or modernize the mode of production. An entrepreneur accomplishes this by developing an invention or an innovative technology in the production of new goods or producing new ones in a revolutionary way, by discovering a new source of supply of materials, or a new outlet for products or by reorganizing an industry (p. 132). Entrepreneurs seek to make money by pioneering innovations. Entrepreneurs assume risk. They manage the people around them, discover new ways of doing things and find new products and markets. According to Carland et al (1984) an entrepreneur is characterized principally by innovative behaviour and will employ strategic management practices in the business (cited in Furnham 1999, p. 168).
As such, innovation and entrepreneurship has interplay towards achieving sustainable competitive advantage. It is therefore important for any nation to cultivate creativity and commercial acuity especially during the phase where further development of cognitive capabilities and skills are realised which is in the secondary education. Apart from honing students innovative abilities, it is also important that they will realised the high necessity of achievement and being risk taker as these are important in building the entrepreneurs among students. According to McClelland (1962), entrepreneurs have a high need for achievement. Need for achievement is the desire to perform in terms of a standard of excellence, to be successful in competitive situations or, according to Atkinson (1968) a capacity for taking pride in accomplishment when success at one or another activity is achieved. Further, according to Miner et al (1989) an entrepreneur has a desire to take risks that can be handled through his or her own efforts. According to Mill (1984), risk bearing is the key factor in distinguishing entrepreneurs.
There are two countries to consider for this dissertation: Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. The secondary school structure of these two nations is almost the same. On the one hand, secondary schooling in Trinidad and Tobago generally embraces the traditional practices. The length of program is five years from age 11 to 16 and is divided into two: junior secondary and senior secondary. In the former, students are undergoing the new system through the Junior Secondary School from aged 11 to 14 for three years. While in the senior secondary, students are required to attend the Upper Secondary School for two years from aged 14 to 16. Secondary students who finish the program will be given Caribbean Examinations Council Secondary Education Certificate. On the other hand, in Jamaica, the secondary education program is also divided into two as lower schools and upper schools, with Forms 1-3 and 4-5, respectively. In the first three forms, students aged 10-13 or 14 are required to attend and after finishing the second form, students have the choice to attend the Sixth form.
Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica are both thriving at innovation. The development of innovative people is one of the five development pillars in Trinidad and Tobago because of the fact that innovation has been, and is continuously being so, a significant contributor in the economic development and growth. The country believes that in order to be successful the education system must support in cultivating ‘critical thinking and invested heavily in harnessing and nurturing the creativity, ingenuity and inventiveness of their people.’ What the country is doing is to integrate the innovative culture in their education system particularly in the ‘curriculum and the school system need to place greater emphasis on nurturing creativity and innovation.’ The strategies that Trinidad and Tobago are implementing include: popularization of Science and Technology, promotion of national innovation awareness, refocusing the approach to education and learning, institutionalisation of a national innovative system, strengthening research and development capabilities, development of research agenda, establishing a national research, development innovation and training fund, monitoring impact of innovation, enhancement of regulatory framework for innovation and establishment of Science and Technology Innovation Council.
Jamaica also has its own initiative in fostering an innovative culture among its people. Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) are strategically combined to respond to the critical underpinnings of rapid economic and industrial growth and the recent emergence of competitive nations and their respective prosperity. In Jamaica, STI ‘plays a fundamental role in the creation of wealth, economic development and in the improvement of the quality of life for all citizens aside from driving the nation’s productivity and competitiveness.’ Nonetheless, innovation is considered as the single most important ingredient in the further success of the Jamaican economy. In building the capacity for STI, the country could realise benefits on the basis of: “1) making demonstrable progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), tackle health and nutrition problems, avoid and/or mitigate the impacts of natural disasters, embarking on a path of sustainable poverty reduction, safeguarding fragile eco-systems, and improving the quality of daily life for the rural and urban poor; 2) transforming the economy from one that is based on subsistence agriculture, enclave extractive industries, and simple, low skilled manufacturing into one that is based on the production of more knowledge intensive, higher value added goods and services; 3) raising productivity, wealth, and standards of living by developing new, competitive economic activities to serve local, regional, and global markets and 4) developing appropriate R&D capacity to support technology-based economic growth and to address social, economic, and ecological problems specific to our country.”
In this dissertation, how each country creates the sense of innovation and the sense of entrepreneurship in the countries will be assessed. The target population is secondary students in each country which will be assessed in terms of entrepreneurial and innovative skills. It will also evaluate the extent to which innovation and entrepreneurship are integrated in the educational curriculum.
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