CBS launches initiative to help small businesses in Covid-19 distress
Micro-courses, round-table discussions and an online accelerator are among the plans CBS and the Copenhagen School of Entrepreneurship are launching to help “reactivate business activity” in a post-Covid-19 society.
News | 01. Jul 2020
The Danish government was quick to launch several financial support packages for the business sector when Denmark closed down. Now that Denmark has reopened, the businesses are trying to find their feet in a new normality, CBS has teamed up with the Copenhagen School of Entrepreneurship to launch a range of initiatives and educational programs “designed to help the private sector mitigate the immediate impact” from Covid-19. The initiative is specially tailored for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Among the ideas are round-table discussions with five to seven start-ups struggling with the same challenges brought on by Covid-19; micro-courses worth 5 ECTS that address resilience in the post-Covid-19 world for entrepreneurs and small business owners; and launching an online accelerator to inspire entrepreneurs with insights and knowledge on how to survive, adapt and grow their companies in the wake of the current crisis.
For example, the 5-ECTS courses will be offered as electives on the Graduate Certificate Program (HD1), and the Copenhagen School of Entrepreneurship will host the start-up discussions.
“A key part of re-opening society will be to reactivate business activities. This will be especially challenging for small businesses and entrepreneurs. We see it as part of CBS’s duty to society to do what we can to support them,” says Gregor Halff, the Dean of Education and CBS.
Andreas Gjede, Director of CSE says about the initiative:
“CSE has many years of experience in helping start-ups and entrepreneurs by supporting them in developing their businesses. We have the knowledge, the tools and a strong network, which we are more than happy to provide in order to help as many as we can through the very different effects of the Covid-19 crisis,” he says.
The main aim is to support and mentor the entrepreneurs and small businesses, but the plan is also to create teaching cases for students and entrepreneurs, and to explore new learning formats through the initiative.
Therefore, CBS has partnered up with bowline.dk, an open-source platform created by Eric Guthey, Associate Professor at the Department of Management, Society and Communication at CBS, and a group of chefs and restaurant owners as a response to the immediate crisis.
“The plan is to run a series of three workshops to bring together faculty and people from the restaurant industry to work on specific problems that can both help the industry as well as sparking new learning concepts. Right now, we’re developing those,” explains Eric Guthey and continues:
“Hopefully, we can get a more hands-on approach to lifelong learning in the classes with the students and share ideas on what we envision for the future. This could involve collaborative leadership, which is what we see in the kitchens. A lot of romanticized accounts have been written about chefs and their craft, but they are also amazing at collaborating. And that inspires me as a leadership scholar.”
During the fall, CBS and its partners will evaluate the initiatives and proceed to develop new courses for students and the business sector.
Gregor Halff hopes that the initiative will play its part in Denmark’s recovery by, in his words:
“Restoring confidence in one’s ideas, confidence in one’s ability to turn those ideas into business, and confidence in Denmark’s businesses’ ability to recover.”
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