Leadership and Entrepreneurship Research and Application Center

In today’s world, where rapid change and globalization are experienced in the transition process to the information society, “creating a difference” in economies, innovation and entrepreneurship have become key factors for development. Entrepreneurs play a key role in any economy by using the skills and initiatives necessary to satisfy the needs and by bringing new ideas to the market.

Entrepreneurship refers to the abilities of an individual such as intelligence, knowledge, risk taking, management and organization capabilities in putting an idea or innovation into practice, that can meet a need or solve a problem.

In contemporary societies, the leadership characteristics of successful entrepreneurs are becoming even more prominent. We can describe a leader as a visionary and self-confident person who is beneficial to his environment and can mobilize people, who does not hesitate to take responsibility when necessary, who can take and implement decisions based on courage, intuition, reason and knowledge. A leader manages not only the affairs well, but also relations with others.

In this context, Istanbul Commerce University established the Leadership and Entrepreneurship Research and Application Center on 21/1/2013 in order to combine theory and practice and prepare our students well for a life where competition is high.

The purpose of the Center can be summarized as; to contribute to social welfare and development at local, national and international levels, to develop the cooperation between the University, public and business world, to carry out researches in order to develop the leadership capacities and entrepreneurial processes of public and private sector institutions and organizations, and to provide training, guidance and consultancy services in the field of leadership and entrepreneurship.

In line with these purposes, the fields of activities of the Center are as follows:

• to organize national and international activities such as conferences, symposiums, etc. on leadership and entrepreneurship,
• to meet the people who are prominent in the fields of leadership and entrepreneurship with the students and to present the knowledge and especially the experiences of these people to the benefit of the students,
• to cooperate with national and international public and private institutions and organizations operating in the fields of interest of the Center, and to organize joint studies, to prepare research and application projects, and to create resources for these projects, and
• to provide undergraduate and graduate courses on leadership and entrepreneurship in the university, and to organize and implement certificate programs jointly with other centers and institutions,
• to conduct research in the fields of leadership and entrepreneurship, to provide trainings, to cooperate with external stakeholders and the private sector and develop joint projects.

Finally, I would like to emphasize that societies and individuals that can create a difference will come to the fore in the future. Therefore, we attach great importance to equip the young people with knowledge and skills and to develop their leadership and entrepreneurship skills.

Prof. Dr. Yusuf Balcı

Director