Do business degrees adapted to the EHEA in Spain develop entrepreneurial managers?

Abstract

Introduction: This paper aims to answer the following question: Do new Spanish degrees in Business Administration, designed to adapt to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), include key competencies to ensure training for entrepreneurial managers? The relevance of this question lies in the current economic context and thus the social need for entrepreneurial managers who expand, strengthen and improve businesses competitiveness. Method:. To answer this question, we first carry out an extensive literature review and identify ten areas of competencies that are necessary for an entrepreneurial manager. Then we empirically analyse the generic and specific competencies defined by 52 Spanish universities for their degrees in Business Administration. Results: The statistical analyses show that 74 percent of the competencies officially included in the Spanish degrees in Business Administration correspond only with two out of the ten areas of competencies necessary for an entrepreneurial manager: the technical and the conceptual ones. The remaining eight areas of competencies are almost overlooked (opportunity, relationships, organizational, strategic, commitment, learning, personal strength and social responsibility). Discussion: The match analysis between the competencies included by the universities in their degrees and those competencies theoretically identified as required for an entrepreneurial manager reveals a prevalence of the competencies aiming at the education of technical managers at the expense of those needed to train entrepreneurial managers. This contribution can be useful to revisit the curricula in business administration degrees in order to guarantee the development of these highly needed entrepreneurial managers.