Andre Mostert is an academic practitioner who has expertise in entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, financial management, Islamic Finance and African Languages. Andre led the team on the development of the BA entrepreneurship and supports students to develop business ideas and opportunities. Andre has conceptualised various education development projects and managed diverse programmes for different agencies, including, USAID, TDA, BECTA, British Council, DFID, DANIDA and Asia-Invest. Andre supports a number of clients to expand their activities and penetrate new markets. 

Andre is responsible for the BA Entrepreneurship and the MOBIvation Intraprenuers Nexus (MIN). Through these activities students at RDBS are able to explore and develop business ideas, expand their professional networks, enhance their employability and career opportunities. 

 Andre is interested in all aspects of entrepreneurship education and training and development of student enterprise and employability for students. 

BA Entrepreneurship

Driving Entrepreneurship

Currently Andre is engaged as part of the Publish and Thrive initiative to expand the research activities in entrepreneurship education. This involves members of RDBS and partners at Rhodes University in South Africa.

Present research title topics:

* Learning styles and Team Roles – Lessons for Gregorc Based Teams for Effective Enterprise Development

* Social Enterprise through student Co-ownership model

* MOBIvation Intrapreneurs Nexus (MIN): Towards a model for effective motivation of emerging student entrepreneurs 

* The Dragon Effect: Nemesis or Opportunity for the Emerging Entrepreneur? Ian K Bathgate and Andre M Mostert, International Symposium on Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ISEI 2012) 23rd -25th May 2012, Island of San Servolo, Venice, Italy

*MMORPG – Towards a Sustainable Livelihood model for Africa and Beyond, Andre Mostert and Russell H. Kaschula, First International Conference on Virtual and Networked Organizations Emergent Technologies and Tools, ViNOrg '11 July 6-8, 2011. Ofir, Portugal.

* The role of Copyright, copyleft and open source in advancing the electronic accessibility of oral literature’. Kaschula, R.H., and Mostert, A. (2010) SAFOS. Vol. 1. pp. 65-85.

* Gaming culture – what lessons for pedagogy in South Africa? Kaschula, R.H., and Mostert, A.  Commonwealth 8 (1) 2010

* Towards enhancing indigenous language acquisition skills through MMORPGs. Kaschula, R.H., and Mostert, A.  (2010) Alternation 17,1 (2010) 165 - 185 

* Analysing, Digitising and Technologising the oral word: The case of Bongani Sitole,  Kaschula, R.H., and Mostert, A.  (2009) Journal of African Cultural Studies, 1469-9346, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2009, Pages 159 – 175

* Communicating across cultures in South African law courts: Towards an information technology solution, Kaschula, R.H, Mostert A, and Ralarala, M  (2008)  Stellenbosch papers in Linguistics PLUS No 36

*English Hegemony or African Identity? Towards an Integrated Language Planning Tool for Economic Development, Kaschula,  R.H, Mostert, A. Schafer, D., and Wienand, C., (2008) Southern African Journal for Folklore Studies. 2007 17(2),43-59. 

* Towards a Centre for Extended Learning, A Feasibility Study Report on Public Institutions’ Readiness to Engage in Workplace Learning at a Regional Level, Chapter on Centre for Extended Learning in National Access Consortium Western Cape (2003) Creda Communications.

*The Structure of the Economics Course at LEAF and its Envisaged Effect on Student Performance.  Journal for Teachers of the Economic Sciences, Mostert, A. and Holton, L (1993) Winter 1993.

Andre has developed qualifications at Level 5, 6 and 7 for entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, Islamic finance and Banking, International Financial Services Management and Social Enterprise.

THE DRAGON EFFECT: NEMESIS OR OPPORTUNITY FOR THE EMERGING ENTREPRENEUR?

Reality television in the UK is fast redefining many aspects of our society.  The message to the audience, and especially a young audience, is ‘get on TV to access your life goals and dreams’.  This image is for some a reality but for many little more than a grossly malignant mirage, that promises much but delivers nothing but ridicule and heartbreak.

In terms of the impact on business and industry the flagship from the British reality television stable is the Dragon’s Den programme, a format where new and existing businesses and ideas are pitched before a panel of potential investors.  The format has proven, like most reality television, to be very popular and the show now enjoying its 9th season continues to draw a sizeable audience .  This success has had a significant impact on the nature and delivery of enterprise education across many environments and institutions.  The use of the Dragon’s Den format is now seen as a bona fide methodological framework for assessing and evaluating business ideas and possible investment decisions.  One of key reasons for this ’dragon effect’ is the belief that the Dragon’s Den (DD) approach is a necessary and sufficient condition for assessing and nurturing business start-up potential and growth.  The contention of this paper is that the format does have a place for business start-ups that have achieved some basic toehold in a market, but is not the route to viable and effective nurturing of innate entrepreneurial skills within society.