According to the European Commission (n.d.)
The 2013 European Commission’s Entrepreneurship Action Plan aims at
The Paragon Internships’ Entrepreneurship Placements segment aims at developing the entrepreneurial skills of those who would like, one day, become an entrepreneur. These placements showcase the main challenges faced in the entrepreneurial world by matching the profile of the candidates to existing start-ups, SMEs, business incubators, etc.
Even though to some the term ‘Intrapreneur’ might sound recent, “sustainable business school founder, Gifford Pinchot III, coined the term intrapreneur in 1978 and defined it as “dreamers who do.”
The Intrapreneurship Placements are focused on those participants who already have a background in business and can contribute to change and to current challenges. This segments addresses those Hosting Organizations that are in need of people who are, as Kenton (2019) stated, leaders, risk-takers, action-oriented and proactive.
Hosting Organizations usually engage into diverse projects, some shorter than others, where they require help from candidates who have some understanding about what the particular project is about. The Project Based Internships help participants gain a deeper understanding on project management.
The specific project can be set up by either the HEI tying it up to a particular course or by the Hosting Organization that is in need of a particular skill / school of knowledge.
What is innovation in the era of Industry 4.0, how to measure it and where does it come from are questions which do not have a clear answer yet. However, what is clear is that innovation is one of the key components of an institution’s strength.
In their article released by the Word Economic Forum, Gann & Dodgson (2019) stated that “AI and automation replace repetitive work, and human attributes such as creativity, intuition and empathy become more important, understanding behaviours around innovation becomes crucial.
The Innovation Placements act as a bridge between candidates who are looking for opportunities in cutting edge fields such as finance, climate change, information technology, blockchain, etc. and Hosting Organizations which are looking for fresh ideas that could contribute to the sustainable development of their services by increasing their competitive advantage in the market through innovation.
