Author(s): Mohammed Emad Al-Shaikh
Purpose: This paper aims to share the experiences of developing an Entrepreneurial Marketing curriculum at a leading business school in the Middle East. Methodology: A sample of 12 universities/business schools offering Entrepreneurial Marketing courses was selected for this study using the judgmental sampling technique. The entire procedure was based on the notion of "adoption" to "adaptation" originated by the benchmarking approach using a comparative account of 12 business schools offering EM courses. In addition, validity was ensured through a panel of five faculty members from different business schools, teaching entrepreneurship courses, and two entrepreneurs voluntarily associated with business incubators as mentors. Analyses: Analyses were made based on the five dimensions of EM curriculum, including course learning outcomes, course syllabus, course textbooks & readings, and course assessment. CLOs were classified into four broad areas: the entrepreneurial context of marketing, entrepreneurial opportunity search, entrepreneurial opportunity evaluation, and entrepreneurial success achievement. This research also provides a detailed comparative account of benchmarking summaries for 12 universities offering entrepreneurial marketing courses, including course learning outcomes, course syllabus, course textbooks & readings, and course assessment. Results: Several gaps were identified, including overlapping CLOs between entrepreneurship courses and EM courses; lack of orientation towards Bloom's Taxonomy among EM CLOs. Similarly, the course syllabus overlaps between entrepreneurship courses and EM courses, lack of orientation towards entrepreneurial ecosystem; lack of internationalization; lack of technology and skills development, and lack of integration with internships and practical issues. Finally, 'Marketing Plans' has been given a less significant portion in assessments. Recommendations: This research paper presents the findings on various methodological issues of curriculum design, i.e., course structure, textbooks, and assessment methods (assignments, quizzes, projects). It also provides numerous recommendations to academicians, including standardizing the course learning outcomes, updating the curriculum, ıncluding the entrepreneurial ecosystem, ınternationalize the curriculum, emphasizing skill development, and enriching with technology topics, focusing on the curriculum core issues, shift assessments from exam-based to action-based. Finally, it also provides sample CLOs, course contents, sample case studies as part of recommendations. Limitations: Two limitations were identified in this research. Firstly, limited availability of literature on Entrepreneurial Marketing curriculum or education. Secondly, this research is based on secondary sources and validated by a jury of experts. Implications: The principal target audience for this paper are deans, vice deans, heads of departments mainly responsible for developing and launching new courses. This paper provides a systematic mechanism for designing a new curriculum. This paper also provides significant help to faculty members teaching entrepreneurial marketing curriculum. Finally, it provides baseline data for future research.