Junior company

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A junior company (also junior company or student company ) is a practice company founded independently by trainees or students , which is run on a long-term basis with real business operations , real goods and real cash flows, mostly under the umbrella of a training company or a school (as a student company or company) . Today, such companies primarily serve pedagogical and educational purposes and are structured differently depending on needs and possibilities.

history

Companies run by trainees or students have slowly evolved into their present day forms. There were already transitions between forms of teaching and trade, for example, when apprentices earned extra income by selling their own work on the market and organizing the related business processes themselves or with the supervision of a master. Today, however, one speaks of a company only if it has a structure similar to that of a company, as well as a guided but independent way of working, which is often financially secured to a certain extent by the trainer. This is not new either. As early as 1796, a shop managed independently by students as part of a Leipzig educational institution is documented. Labor and production schools were established in the 1920s . The first real training company was founded in the Friedrichshafen gear factory in 1975 .

The term junior company comes from a three-year pilot project initiated in 1983 by the Federal Institute for Vocational Training in which eight differently structured industrial companies took part. The aim of the experiment was to try out project- oriented work in commercial vocational training . By May 2000, the number of operational junior companies in Germany had grown to around 70, 38 of them at Deutsche Bahn AG. The first junior companies in the vocational school sector were conceived in 1987. In the school sector, one often speaks of student companies or student companies .

Internationally, real companies geared to exercise purposes can only be shown in the school-related area. So the so-called was in the US in 1916 Junior Achievement - movement founded. Today, the movement includes student-run junior achievement companies in nearly 100 countries. In Europe , Junior Achievement Europe, founded in 1977, offers student company programs in 39 countries. a. in Germany since 1994 through Junior Achievement Germany .

Purposes

Today, these companies can fulfill a large number of purposes and functions that are not or poorly covered by teaching. Above all, this includes imparting skills, competencies, but also self-confidence in one's own work, experiences of success and team spirit. This serves the personal development of the students, promotes their willingness to cooperate and also leads to the strengthening of their training and professional skills. The students should be prepared for professional life through independent and self-reliant action and the need for networked thinking in order to be able to cope with the requirements there.

Today, however, these companies are also set up for purposes that go beyond vocational training. Further goals can be the creation of cooperative social spaces for special schools and special needs schools, which also enable occupational therapy and similar therapeutic measures on a grass-roots level, but also impart vocational preparation skills to advanced students. A wide variety of station wagon models are in use here. In the curative education area, the practical work can be used in such a way that a suitable activity is found for each student. This is an advantage that cannot be achieved, or can only be achieved with great effort, through lesson planning. Particularly in the manual production of small series, all students can learn every work step, develop routines, but also, depending on their skills, be involved in the planning of materials and budget management or sales, which can provide an incentive to work more successfully and to make some profit. From the perspective of a student, a difference to classic therapy is that no individual pieces are made from start to finish, but rather the work builds on the previous work steps and provides the following participants with a processed workpiece.

Often the company projects are carried out partly during class time and partly in leisure time. They are therefore also suitable for school types with boarding school accommodation. Some concepts provide that the company is run by student teams for a limited project period (weeks to months), at the end of which there is often a sales period that creates a sense of achievement and ends the project with a final evaluation. But there are also long-term projects in which successive “generations of students” are continued, with newcomers being instructed by more experienced students, which can also provide positive experiences.

As a rule, the shortness of the project time, lack of money and the resulting low level of mechanization and automation mean that the profits generated are very modest or that there is a loss that has to be compensated for for educational reasons, otherwise the desired sense of achievement will not arise. This is mostly cushioned by allocations in the parent company, so that the students have the impression of a successful company. For example, expenses for work rooms, driving, heating / electricity or tools can be borne by the educational company, so that only the actual materials management is the responsibility of the learners. Even with a generally uneconomical working junior company, the students can learn in simulated real situations, economic knowledge and relationships of cost accounting that are not dealt with in normal lessons or that are not apparent as a directly experienced cause-and-effect principle.

Due to the predominantly educational orientation, the products or services can be tailored to the needs and abilities of the students, less often to the market situation. This is particularly beneficial for the special funding area, in which it is often necessary to produce what the students can do, even if the items are not in particular demand. When promoting the gifted, one can rely on high-quality products or one-offs, such as electrical equipment or computer programs. High-performing students benefit personally from this educational opportunity, which cannot be provided by normal school lessons.

Conception

There are no uniform concepts for companies. However, all such companies are geared towards generating the most visible and real flows of money and goods with marketable products and services that can be easily understood and traced. In terms of organizational structure, the company is usually based on the parent company or facility in which it is run.

Leadership and direction

The management of the business operations lies partly or completely with the participating trainees , who carry out all work independently or are supported and instructed by those responsible at the parent company. These are often employees from the human resources or training area as well as representatives from the specialist departments.

The extent to which tasks can be taken on by the learners depends on their skills. In the teaching area, work tasks are distributed, which are explained through information materials and the educators. The work itself should then be carried out independently. This affects both the organization and the production. For gifted people, many companies strive for a more self-determined way of working, in which the teachers only suggest goals, but leave the path to them to the learner and his creative abilities.

In special support programs for children with deficits, the students often work in the presence of the educators and are given process tasks, i. H. The task is set in such a way that the solution or the sequence of work steps is explained. In the craft sector these are z. B. Work steps on the workpiece. During the organization and planning, algorithms are adhered to. B. are recorded on information sheets for keeping simple invoice books and can be looked up directly during the paperwork.

Positioning in the market

The companies are usually not subject to the competitive pressure customary in the market and, within the framework of their educational establishment, represent a training or protective space that must be actively maintained; however, some companies can also be completely geared towards the market, which thus provides the environment. In other cases, the corporate environment is the educational institution itself, the other departments of which can be customers or suppliers. This structure is ideal as part of a large company that needs the goods produced for further processes. The junior company is now a department that operates its own accounting.

If the company generates a profit, it often remains in the project or is given to the young employees as an incentive. The opportunity to reward the students with financial incentives for their work is, however, also used in practice when the company is not economically viable overall. Because most of these companies are dependent on their sponsoring company, which also bears the educational staff and the other expenses. Deficits are typically cushioned in such a way that cost factors are taken over by the parent company, so that the accounting becomes positive again.

Shares and ownership structure

The operational junior company is typically a small company in a large company . In addition to the students, other providers are often involved, including:

  • the school, d. H. the school management and supervising teachers
  • Teaching company
  • sometimes the parents
  • occasionally other shareholders as well
  • External partners: support agencies, clubs, businesses
  • in the case of curative education institutions, it is often sponsors or umbrella organizations

The junior company can be wholly owned by the parent company or follow other models. Regardless of the real ownership structure, the legal basis, but also the profitability, the opportunity is often used to enable the students or apprentices to share ownership of the company. In the case of junior companies in the vocational sector, more complex share models are possible, which actually also represent ownership in the legal sense. However, the trainees are never liable for debts or bankruptcies, which in almost all cases are impossible. Depending on the model, apprentices can increase their share. If a student leaves, his shares are transferred back or, depending on the model, he can also hold these shares, e.g. B. to support the company and the subsequent apprentices.

In the school or special school sector, very simple models are often preferred, which consist in the visible payment of smaller symbolic amounts into the company's coffers. Profits generated are then also paid out from this fund.

Teaching methodology

Conceptually, the companies usually represent project-like connections between practice and theory, action and reflection, as well as planning and decision-making, and are often set up in such a way that they illustrate operational processes and training content . The aim is to combine the highest level of reality with a basic level of simplifying simulation . Due to the connection between working and learning , the junior company is counted among the action-oriented teaching / learning methods . Value is placed on transparency, the current status is often shown on boards or generally accessible sources of information.

Possible uses

The concept is suitable for all apprenticeships , but is often found in commercial apprenticeships . In particular, highly talented trainees can be promoted. In some of these companies, the supervisors can take on part of the managerial tasks if lower-performing trainees are involved in the company or if employees are absent due to internships or vacation.

In addition, this teaching method is also suitable for all types of schools that do a lot of manual activities as part of therapeutic programs, the results of which should not remain useless or should be discarded. In the special or special school sector, for example, recurring manual activities are often carried out (basket weaving, woodwork or design), which involve large quantities of finished products that cannot be fully sold through sales stands or at events. Here, contracts can be concluded with real companies that include these products in their range. Smaller niches are often occupied by student companies, such as the production of wooden toys or handicrafts on seasonal themes (Easter, Christmas, etc.), which can then be painted by the end consumer or a material basis for further educational activities in other institutions.

In operational use, the term junior company or junior company can also be used to describe a department of the parent company in which trainees are employed. In this case, the company's processes can be fully simulated, whereby the customers can also be located within the parent company. Strictly speaking, there is then a department with separate accounting, but the maintenance costs of which are borne by the entire company.

Viewing levels

Depending on the concept and actual economic basis, junior companies are partially or fully simulations. For educational reasons, however, they should be viewed by all those involved as independent, independently acting companies. Among other things, the educational added value depends on this, which results from the conviction of the students that their own work produces success or avoids failure. Responsibility can be built up in particular by keeping the success of the efforts uncertain and depending on those involved. Particularly in the case of long-standing companies, it is not emphasized that the company is in principle always continued and financially buffered for educational reasons, even under uneconomical conditions. They are seen as independent companies when they talk about employees , customers or economic success . In the literature, on the other hand, these companies are understood as teaching / learning methods that must be actively operated and maintained by educators. From this it can be three levels of observation derived.

In the economic perspective , economic - rational action is in the foreground. The trainees assume the status of permanent employees instead of trainees. You can shape the company and make business-related decisions. Success is primarily measured by the profit generated , which should always be available, even if viewed in absolute terms it only comes about through financial relief on the part of the parent company. The operational supervisors act as consultants or decision-makers in operational issues. The company is also perceived as independent by its customers and suppliers .

On the didactic-methodical level , the junior company is seen as an educational method in which trainees perceive most of the activities of a small company . The economic level of the company thus represents the core element of the teaching / learning method . Learning effects should be achieved from the experience gained , with the trainees and company supervisors designing the learning environment together. An external scientific accompaniment can help with this. This theoretical approach is chosen by science , for example in literature .

The level of consideration of operational integration (department) goes beyond the didactic-methodological level. The parent company implements a junior company as a training tool. This is a part of the training system of the mother company and is thus in an interaction to further training activities and duties of the trainees. As an organizational unit of the company, there are company-specific framework conditions for the junior company. It must be integrated into the economic and social system of the parent company. For these reasons, a suitable integration into the parent company and the training system must be guaranteed. The junior company is seen as such a component of the parent company's training, for example by the management , the works council and the employees of the parent company.

The viewing plane of the environment after all, is a complement of the other levels of consideration. The parent company as the organizational framework of the junior company is influenced by changes in the corporate environment. This thus represents the inter-company environment. The corporate environment includes interest groups such as the state , society , interest groups , customers , suppliers or science . Other junior companies that may have a cooperation relationship with the junior company can also be counted among the inter-company interest groups . The internal environment includes all operational interest groups that are not involved in the organization of the company. Important groups of influence are the works council , youth and trainee representatives , trainees and technical supervisors who are not involved, as well as management , departments and employees of the parent company. All interest groups exert varying degrees of influence on the organization of the company, which affects the economic, didactic and affects the operational level.

literature

  • W. Fix: Junior companies - an innovative concept for the promotion of key qualifications. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 1989.
  • H. Ebner, M. Voll: Junior companies in Germany - A synopsis about the forms of realization of junior companies. Chair of Business Education University of Mannheim, Mannheim 2000.
  • K. Kutt: Junior company. In: W. Wittwer (Ed.): Methods of training - didactic tools for trainers. 2nd Edition. German Economic Service, Cologne 2001, pp. 29–42.
  • K.-D. Mertineit: The junior company as a complementary method to in-company commercial training. In: Federal Ministry for Education, Research (Ed.): Innovation and transfer effects of pilot experiments in vocational training. Volume 2, Bonn 2001, pp. 16-65.
  • Helmut Woll (ed.): Junior companies and entrepreneurial competence. Contributions to the 3rd Saxon junior and student company fair at the TU Chemnitz, v. April 26 and 27, 2002. Norderstedt 2003.
  • Z. Dippl, F. Elster, G. Fassbender, W. Fiedler, J. Rouvel: The training concept junior company - A practical handbook for companies and schools. BW Education and Knowledge Publishing and Software, Nuremberg 2004.
  • Ronald Geyer: School company - a different form of teaching. 2nd Edition. Merkur-Verlag, Rinteln 2005.
  • Simone Knab: student company. A form of learning to improve the quality of school education. Results of an empirical study at Berlin schools. Toenning 2007.
  • Perwin Issa: smb goes to school - development of a series of lessons on business start-ups for schoolchildren. Duisburg / Berlin 2012.

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