In a fast-changing environment, traditional business skills might not cut it. In a world where yesterday is not the same as tomorrow, opportunity recognition and seizing come vital. In the ever-changing business landscape innovation is the only way to survive. This complex environment requires business leaders with the ability to make sense of their environment, interpret what is happening around them and be flexible in their activities. These skills overlap with those usually attributed to entrepreneurs and their activities in uncertain, high-velocity environments. The concept of strategic entrepreneurship was first coined by Hitt et. al (2001) and describes a manager’s behaviour which is both opportunity- as well as advantage-seeking. Many scholars since have identified the beneficial effect of acting entrepreneurial in a corporate setting. Therefore it is surprising that most schools of thought still make the distinction between a corporate management route and an entrepreneurial start-up route, while it is in the cross-section of the two fields most learning and competency building can happen. Managers that act entrepreneurial and entrepreneurs that act more strategical are combining the best of both worlds. This course, therefore, examines the impact of strategic entrepreneurial behaviour on business success as well as examines traits and competencies associated with “acting entrepreneurial”.

The course does this in a specific context of Family Firms. In the US alone there are 5.5 million family firms which account for 57% of the GDP and 67% of the workforce. This specific group of firms faces additional challenges as they not only have to deal with the owner and management aspect of the firm but also need to take care of the family aspect of the firm. Next to this family firms have a different outlook on what constitutes success as compared to non-family firms which have wide-ranging implications for their views on strategy, innovation, and management.