THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION AND KNOWLEDGE BASED MANAGEMENT IN ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITIES

Topic: Entrepreneurship education and research / Entrepreneurship education and research Objectives: Business and management depend on knowledge-the basis of education, in a continuously changing world. This paper presents the state of knowledge regarding entrepreneurship, the level of influence of the main factors of change upon decision and leadership among entrepreneurs and the categories of research methods and techniques used in entrepreneurial activities. Prior work: The paper is based on several concepts from literature, on opinions of well known specialists but also on the reality of international crisis which shows an obvious lack of entrepreneurial education. Design/Methodology/Approach: The investigation is composed of two successive researches: a qualitative explorative research (interviews among specialists, focus-groups) and a quantitative descriptive research. Results/Acknowledgement: The results of the research show the importance of education and research in entrepreneurial activity in modem organizations but especially an extremely low preoccupation among specialist for this type of education. An essential result reflects a weak level of education and interest among entrepreneurs for a knowledge based management. Implications: We consider that the results of this research have an innovative character and could be the base for new theoretical and mostly practical study programs for entrepreneurs. Also, organizations affected by profound changes should realize that only a better preparation and a knowledge based activity will ensure a sustainable entrepreneurship. Originality value: The paper is original because education and research will always change its value and typology. It can be studied theoretically but only practical research can show the impact of education upon entrepreneurs and organizations. Such research has not been undertaken at such high level, in Romanian organizations.