There has always been a fierce debate of whether can be taught or not, and if an entrepreneur is made or simply born.

In the past, being an entrepreneur was not something “cool.” People who became an entrepreneur were usually those without a proper education, struggling to find a decent job. Becoming an entrepreneur was not the first career choice. Educated people would rather become a doctor, engineer, lawyer or accountant instead of heading through the pain of starting a new business.

But over the , an entrepreneurship boom or “” has emerged. Being an entrepreneur suddenly looks cool, and out of the blue everyone wants to become the next Richard Branson or Mark Zuckerberg.  have become popular, business contests are everywhere, and a bunch of new startups are born in a flash.

Dealing with this growing public interest, educational institutions responded by including entrepreneurship in their curriculum. Universities designed specific degree programs in an attempt to nurture new entrepreneurs. All of a sudden, business owners, including those who had never attended university, have started to enjoy the privilege of being invited to hold lectures.

But there are questions that arise here. Is an entrepreneurship degree really ? Is it helpful or just a  investment? Can universities ?

Entrepreneurship at University

As someone who holds a Master’s degree in Entrepreneurship, I feel an urge to answer those questions. What do I get out of an entrepreneurship degree? Could I be a more successful entrepreneur with an academic insight? Will these university assignments make my business survive and thrive?

Trying to find those answers is just like getting into a long debate over the correlation between theory and practice. But during my time at university, I learned something important: Theory does make sense if we know how to apply it in the real world.

When working on my final project, I realized that linking theory with practice was pretty hard to do. Diverse problems of the small businesses I interviewed seemed like a tangled mess.

To use an analogy, learning theory before practice is a bit like cooking with half the ingredients. You have the recipe, but you need to choose what to use and how. 

But there are frameworks you can use, according to my supervisor. You don’t have to rack your brain to solve a business problem—scholars have already done it for you. They found the root cause and even created a tool to help solve it. It’s true that some theoretical frameworks cannot be directly applied, but with some adjustments, they can help entrepreneurs understand common startup problems such as when to seek external investment.

I remember one of my lecturer’s quotes: “Theory is a tool.” He was an MBA graduate and had a long marketing career at a number of companies. During his practical work, his academic education gave him an advantage as he had adequate tools to deal with business-related problems.

To use an analogy, learning theory before practice is a bit like cooking with half the ingredients. You have the recipe, but you need to choose what to use and how. Likewise, practice without theory means you have to come up with the recipe yourself. And you probably won’t even know what ingredients to use or where to find them.

So, what does this mean for starting your own business?

Learning theory might shorten the time you need to scale your business. You don’t need to experience all the mistakes just to learn lessons. You can learn from other people’s mistakes—that’s why you study theory. It saves you time and energy that you need when starting any company.

Nevertheless, good theory is a base of good practice and a source to improve upon existing material. If business theory and practice are mutually exclusive of each other, you would never see a PhD graduate becoming a corporate boss like Eric Schmidt of Google and Jørgen Knudstorp of Lego. Those who say that theory has nothing to do with successful business practice probably don’t know how to use it properly.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect 51�Թ�’s editorial policy.

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As 40 million people gasp for breath and of forest are on fire in Indonesia, the world continues to revolve like nothing dangerous happens. When more than suffer from acute respiratory infection and wildlife habitat are exposed to damage, people across the globe have barely responded.

For the past two months, the sky of the Borneo and Sumatra islands has been blurred in smoke, just as hazy as the huge capitalism game behind this structured, man-made eco-disaster.

What makes matters worse is that mass media appear to be gradually slipping away even though, as said, it’s almost definitely the 21^st century’s greatest environmental disaster to date.

Despite the fact that approximately 40 million people are breathing in noxious smoke day in, day out, the international community seems to care little, if not at all, about the situation. This is indeed surprising, considering that not only is there unspeakable human travail, with of people ill and significant others dead, but the illicit smoke is also a considerable cost to the country’s economy.

Land Mafia Fires

In Indonesia, forests are intentionally inflamed nearly every year during dry season to clear land for commercial plantations, notably palm oil and the pulp industry. Fires are ignited in isolated zones, thus it is frequently hard to pinpoint whose land is burning. So, finding those responsible is a difficult thing to do—sometimes even impossible.

The worst part is that often, the burned area covers flammable peatlands with its ability to snare fire, subsequently festering underground for a long time making it impossible to be quenched.

Though this act of burning land is strictly allowed for up to , landowners and farmers do not even care. In fact, together with local government and capitalist corporations, they are the ones who make profitable business over this hazardous fire game.

In Indonesia, there is something called “.” Meaning, local farmers who sell their land to corporate plantations will get a much higher price if the land is already burned, since it’s considered “ready to be planted.” To put this in perspective, unburned land is worth $640 per hectare, while burned land is valued at $820 per hectare.

In fact, the sales fee is like a fresh pie. Landowners, land marketers, the farmers group and workers each get their own piping hot slice. Local governments even reserve a 10% to 13% stake of the fee to compensate their given authorities. In reality, this seemingly eco-disaster is indeed a man-made fire game. Nothing can stop this deadly haze without switching off the source of flame: the land mafia practice.

The public put the blame partly on increasing market demand for palm and wood commodities from these areas, as well as changing climate patterns that have helped in the worsening of fogs. This has been far worsened by the prolonged dry season, which speeds up blazing and makes it more difficult to turn off the fires once they are ignited. This endangers lives and has made this year’s haze the most destructive ever.

The drawback has been an increase in breathing problems not only throughout Indonesia, but also Southeast Asia, with official predictions hitting detrimental levels. Approximately 150,000 people have endured breathing conditions in different parts of the country. Educational institutions in Indonesia and in nations such as Singapore and Malaysia have been closed. It is estimated that the fires will cost Indonesia , and neighboring states will also be affected, thanks to airport and business closures as well as increased health care costs.

Jakarta’s Response

The Indonesian government’s response has been varied and insufficient. Several provinces have declared a state of emergency. More than 20,000 personnel have been sent to assist, and some amounts of cash have been spent to repel the situation. Although Indonesian President Joko Widodo has ordered the Forestry and Environment Ministry to halt issuance of permits for peatland cultivation and to review all existing permits, his decision to refuse help from Singapore remains questionable.

Not to forget, approximately 200 enterprises and 100 individuals have been under investigation for the fires. But it is important to understand that many of these estates are owned by individuals or entities with strong political links, and it can be said that imposition of law has been desultory at most.

Overall, as Indonesians have argued, the government in Jakarta has been unable to exert strong resolutions over the situation, and many of these efforts have largely been insufficient. As Indonesia-based ecologist , the main reason behind the government’s limited response is that it still has not acknowledged how serious the situation is.

The best way to solve the issue is by eradicating the “land mafia” practice. This can be started by naming and shaming the individuals and companies liable for the fires. However, it is convoluted by the predicament in pinpointing the owner of particular plots of land; registries are not properly stored and are often out-of-date. The government is reported to have set out to relinquish entities allegedly liable for starting the fires. But neighboring countries must also chastise these companies by outlawing their goods and products.

In this case, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should play a more active role in putting an end to the situation. Unfortunately, it has not been able to help end the worsening situation despite the fact there is an instrument to do so: the , which was signed and ratified by all ASEAN member countries in 2002.

The seriousness of the current situation can no longer be ignored. It must end without delay. It is beyond obvious that many people are in dire need of concrete efforts by both the Indonesian government and the regional community to help alleviate the deteriorating condition.

The most crucial step that needs to be taken is to realize how critical the problem is and the implications it may bring about. Then, it is important to hit liable corporations. Not just by taking them to court, but by banning their products. There is no more point in applying a loose and weak approach to deal with these nature-breaker companies. As the stated, a “constructive engagement” with those companies is useless as we should take a firm position to fight against them.

In regard to a long-term solution, many scientists have proposed different “safer” methods to clear lands. Both governments and consumers must encourage the use of sustainable methods, especially those that are certified as “green.”

In the end, we can only hope that as the rain season comes and naturally extinguishes the fire, those criminals’ sins will not be washed away and that people will not simply forget about this disaster.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect 51�Թ�’s editorial policy.

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