| Abstract [eng] |
This Master’s Final Degree Project analyses the role of hackathons in developing entrepreneurial competencies through experiential learning. The relevance of the topic is based on the premise that the effectiveness of innovation ecosystems depends not only on financial, technological or institutional conditions, but also on the ability of the individuals operating within them to identify opportunities, create value, act under conditions of uncertainty, collaborate in interdisciplinary teams and apply solutions in practice. Although hackathons are widely used as intensive problem-solving formats, their links with the manifestation of entrepreneurial competences are often discussed in the scientific literature in general terms, without sufficiently revealing the role of specific hackathon design elements. The object of the research is the links between hackathon design elements and the manifestation of entrepreneurial competences, as well as the structural relationships among these elements in the context of an innovation ecosystem. The aim of the research is to theoretically and empirically substantiate the role of hackathon design elements in the manifestation of entrepreneurial competences by identifying their links with the conditions for competence manifestation and their structural interrelationships. The project applies scientific literature and information source analysis, expert evaluation, descriptive statistical methods, the item-level content validity index (I-CVI), Interpretive Structural Modelling and MICMAC analysis. The empirical research was organised in two stages. In the first stage, 15 experts evaluated the links between hackathon design elements and the manifestation of entrepreneurial competences. These data were analysed using mean scores, medians and I-CVI in order to assess the strength of the links and expert agreement regarding their content validity. In the second stage, the experts evaluated the directional relationships among hackathon design elements, and the results were analysed using Interpretive Structural Modelling and MICMAC analysis. In the theoretical part of the project, a hackathon is conceptualised not as an event that develops competences by itself, but as a structured experiential learning environment whose significance for competence manifestation depends on specific design elements and their interaction. Eight hackathon design elements were identified: open problem / challenge, timeboxing, teamwork, role dynamics, mentoring and feedback, iteration / prototyping, solution presentation and evaluation, and incentives and evaluation criteria. These elements were linked to decision-making situations, observable behavioural episodes and the manifestation of entrepreneurial competences based on the EntreComp framework. The results of the first research stage showed that the hackathon design elements defined in the theoretical operationalisation create conditions for the manifestation of entrepreneurial competences; however, these conditions vary in intensity and demonstrate different levels of expert agreement. The most consistently supported links were related to iteration / prototyping, teamwork, and incentives and evaluation criteria. Some theoretically defined links, such as the link between open problem / challenge and valuing ideas, the link between timeboxing and coping with uncertainty, ambiguity and risk, the link between mentoring and feedback and mobilising resources, and the links between solution presentation and evaluation and mobilising others and valuing ideas, were evaluated ambiguously. The results of the second research stage showed that hackathon design elements form a dense system of interdependencies. According to expert evaluation, 43 directional relationships out of 56 possible relationships were confirmed. The application of Interpretive Structural Modelling showed that, after applying the logic of transitivity, hackathon design elements become mutually reachable; therefore, a clear hierarchical level structure did not emerge. MICMAC analysis clarified the structural roles of the elements: incentives and evaluation criteria, mentoring and feedback, and timeboxing were classified as independent / driving factors; teamwork and iteration / prototyping were classified as dependent factors; and open problem / challenge, role dynamics, and solution presentation and evaluation were classified as linkage factors. The results of the project suggest that the role of hackathons in the manifestation of entrepreneurial competences should be explained not through the intensity or short-term nature of the format itself, but through the way hackathon design creates conditions for acting, collaborating, experimenting, making decisions and justifying the value being created. Therefore, hackathon organisers are recommended to design this format as an integrated system of interrelated design elements. |
