The School of Business & Humanities at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) has launched its Entrepreneurship Guest Lecture Series 2019/2020, an exciting programme of guest lectures and panel discussions from leading academics in the field as well as dynamic entrepreneurs.

The lecture series is for DkIT students from all disciplines and is also open to the general public. It is an opportunity to listen to individuals and their entrepreneurial journeys as they detail their successes, failures, and any lessons they have learned along the way. It provides a forum for students to explore entrepreneurship as a viable career option, not to mention a great opportunity for them to network. The lecture series forms an important part of DkIT's continued strategy to introduce students from all backgrounds to enterprise learning environments, to help nurture desirable graduate attributes such as creativity, critical thinking, teamwork and entrepreneurship.

Speaking of this year’s series, Angela Hamouda, DkIT lecturer in Entrepreneurship, Creativity & Innovation, commented:

I am delighted to welcome such esteemed entrepreneurs and leading academics to participate in our lecture series. We have a vibrant programme of speakers from a variety of backgrounds and wide ranging topics from social entrepreneurship to minority entrepreneurship. This presents a great opportunity for our students to learn about key areas in the field of entrepreneurship and be inspired and learn from these shared experiences as they plan and consider their future careers.”

This week Dr Eric Clinton spoke to students about family business and in particular: ‘Entrepreneurship in Multi-Generational Family Firms: How family businesses have embraced entrepreneurship and innovation across multiple generations’.

Dr Eric Clinton is Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at DCU Business School and Director of the National Centre for Family Business at DCU which engages with international family business associations and projects in order to support family businesses in Ireland with informed and innovative evidence-based research. The centre aims to provide the family business community in Ireland with practical managerial and business insights, informed by lessons from best practice in family business management. Eric publishes in leading academic journals, presents at international conferences and consults with family businesses at international level including; Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, China, Mexico and the US.

The lecture highlighted the significant role of family business in Ireland’s economy with 66% of businesses in Ireland being family run. It was highlighted that there are specific dynamics of family business and unique challenges, in particular that of succession. The lecture enticed a lively Q&A session afterwards with students from across disciplines, many who are from family business backgrounds.

The next lecture of this series will be given by Prof. Tom Cooney from TU Dublin on Thursday 12th December at 12pm. The lecture will discuss the topic of Minority Entrepreneurship. If you are interested in attending, please contact: angela.hamouda@dkit.ie