evidence is overwhelming: If you want your company to grow
qualitative knowledge that one cannot get from a textbook.
and prosper, maintain an entrepreneurial culture. If your
For example, how you must be good at being small before
company has lost it, it is possible to get it back.
trying to be good at being big.
What are the advantages of being self-employed versus
working for a corporation?
There are certainly differences we can examine objectively.
Self-employment is enticing because it satisfies the inherent need for control many entrepreneurs possess. Getting
paid twice—by earning a salary and building equity—is also
nice. While about fifteen percent of the workforce is self-employed, this segment represents about 30% of all millionaires
in the United States. However, there are also studies that show
self-employed individuals—on average—earn less than equally
qualified professionals in the corporate world. Entrepreneurship
is a manifestation of human talent and creativity. However,
How your reputation for being ethical enhances your brand.
How money arrives when there is congruence between what
you do professionally, and what you feel called to do spiritually.
Your thoughts on conventional college education?
Overall, a conventional college education will serve you well.
The economic data is clear: Education is a good investment.
Ben Franklin said education is the investment that pays the best
dividend. I believe his words hold true today. While a college
education is tremendously valuable, the higher education
system that delivers it is going through a paradigm shift. It is
a complex industry, with complex challenges.
How is Kenney College different form
other business schools?
it is not synonymous with self-employment.
Sometimes there are more opportunities for
entrepreneurs within existing corporations.
Studies show that the majority of the
Those who embody the traits of an entrepre-
self-employed are kinesthetic learners.
neur within an existing system are known as
Essentially, we learn best by doing. This is
corporate entrepreneurs, or intrapreneurs.
why we created a model where the student’s
What is your background in business?
business becomes a practicum. We are
the only business school that takes this
I grew-up working in a family business started
approach.
by my grandfather during the Great Depression.
My first memories are of working with my
w w w.kenneymba.com
grandparents and father in our family business.
We are also different in that we have low
student faculty ratios, never more than 10-1.
I launched my first solo-venture in my early twenties, outsourc-
Of course, we are unique in striving to provide free graduate
ing the production of family recipes to manufacturers, and
education when possible.
selling the finished products to supermarkets. The first question
other entrepreneurs would ask me was, ‘how did you do that?’
I enjoyed teaching other entrepreneurs, which led me eventually to academia.
I served as Entrepreneur-in-Residence for my alma mater after
earning my MBA. This led to becoming a business professor,
earning a doctorate in business administration with a marketing
concentration, and ultimately starting Kenney College in 2009.
What are some important aspects you teach at Kenney
College on successful entrepreneurship?
What kind of entrepreneurship research do you
perform at Kenney College?
Although we are a young college, our team is performing some
of the most exciting research within the business-school arena.
For example, we are measuring the effect of corporate entrepreneurship education on large firm performance.
While business educators and practitioners are increasingly
aware of the value of corporate entrepreneurship, less is known
about how to use education as a tool for changing attitudes
and behaviors. Our clients are truly ahead of the curve because
I think pretty much all MBA programs do a great job of teaching
they are getting answers to questions that their competitors
the science of business. What we try to integrate is the type of
are not even asking.
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