“Very importantly, we are also seeking to foster an entrepreneurial spirit in our people. Our policies on taxes, CPF and flexible wages will create the conditions for businesses to flourish. But the vital special ingredient which drives businesses to grow existing activities and start new ones is the entrepreneurial spirit.”
-- Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 11 Oct 2004
At Temasek Business School (TBS), we are doing our part in nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit in our students. From 2005, every student in TBS will go through a compulsory course, Basics of Entrepreneurship, where they will be exposed to the key elements of entrepreneurship.
The subject introduces first year students to the basic concepts of entrepreneurship. Basics of Entrepreneurship examines the traits of successful entrepreneurs and the basic elements of generating new business ideas. It serves as a foundation upon which students can embark on continuing further studies in entrepreneurship and participation in Poly-wide business projects and other entrepreneurial activities.
In addition, all diplomas have either specialized entrepreneurship subjects or entrepreneurship related content embedded in their subjects, including Practice of Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship, Principles of Entrepreneurship, and Technopreneurship.
Successful entrepreneurs were also invited to share their experiences with our students:
·Mr. Lawrence Leow
Executive Chairman of Crescendas Group and President of The Association of Small and Medium Enterprises 2004 (Rotary–ASME Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2000)
·Mr. Ron Sim
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of OSIM International Ltd (Singapore Brand Awards 2002)
·Mr. Douglas Foo
Chief Executive Officer of Apex-Pal International Ltd (Entrepreneur of the Year Award by ASME in 2002)
·Mr L.C. Seah
Founder and Managing Director of DSC Holdings Private Limited and President of Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization (Singapore Chapter) (2001/2002 to 2002/2003).
Our students regularly compete in entrepreneurship competitions such as Singapore Management University (SMU) Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition, National University of Singapore (NUS) Start-up@Singapore Competition etc. Our academic staff have served as judges for such entrepreneurship competitions.
In order to further encourage entrepreneurial spirit among students, the polytechnic has initiated the renting of four retail cart kiosks to allow students to operate retail businesses within the polytechnic, making their own profits, dealing with operational issues and business risks.
Entrepreneurship Process Skills
During their stay in Temasek Business School, the various diplomas will train students in one or more of over thirty-six entrepreneurship process skills which include:
- Business plan preparation
- Marketing
- Preparation of financial statements eg balance sheet,profit & loss statements, cash flow statements
- Communication eg written and oral presentation
- Human Resource Management
- Managing in an organization
- Media & Market research
- Dealing with licensing requirements, and government organizations
- Innovation in food & beverage systems & operations
- Logistics planning, control and management
- Tour packaging
Through the rigorous curricula and activities, Temasek Business School aims to develop in our students seven essential entrepreneurship values:
- Self started, independence in Learning
- Persistence in solving problems
- Team builder
- Market driven
- Interpersonal empathy
- Adaptive
- Global in outlook
Click here to access the Temasek Polytechnic Entrepreneurship Centre Website
