Demonstrating the causal benefit of entrepreneurship and SME supports and benefits is a key goal for the Hincks Centre for Entrepreneurship Excellence. We note 3 recently published innovative quantitative / empirical papers which have begun to prove the causal benefit and impact of the type of work the Hincks does (Åstebro & Hoos, 2020; Camuffo et al., 2020; Chatterji et al., 2019). Furthermore, we were delighted to host a guest webinar by Prof Arnaldo Camuffo of Bocconi University, Milan in March 2021. During the webinar, entitled 'Increasing Start-Up Success by Focusing on Entrepreneurial Decision Making', Prof Camuffo shared the story of their ground-breaking research running some of the first randomised controlled trials with start-ups. As part of the webinar, Prof Camuffo outlined how start-ups that were taught a ‘scientific’ method to making decisions wasted less time and money and changed their start-up in fewer but more effective phases. Finally, Prof Camuffo outlined the benefits in terms of cumulative income of the start-ups showing a clear benefit for the scientific approach. The Harvard Business Review recently published an article on this exciting research. www.hbr.org/2020/11/founders-apply-the-scientific-method-to-your-startup.

The Hincks Centre for Entrepreneurship Excellence are actively incorporating the insights from these 3 studies in our work including innovative courses for rural women, South African graduates and musicians. This entails teaching beneficiaries to approach large business decisions ‘like a scientist’ by posing hypotheses and collecting data to test these hypotheses to inform key decisions. This could be an SME considering a large investment or a start-up deciding the structure of their business. We are now also seeking to collaborate and secure funding to deliver more SME and entrepreneurial support and to perform similar ground breaking research.

If you are interested in getting involved in this exciting area, please contact Niall.OLeary@mtu.ie.