MAN 606: Well-being along the Entrepreneurial Journey
Contents
Entrepreneurs often experience passion, benefit from feelings of autonomy, and receive a boost in self-esteem through external recognition. However, the process of founding and growing a venture is also marked by high uncertainty, limited resources, and frequent setbacks—conditions that can lead to stress, anxiety, and burnout. This course discusses the psychological challenges and opportunities of founding a new venture, offers insights into how entrepreneurs can navigate adversity, and illustrates how personal well-being ties into entrepreneurial performance.
In this course, students will explore topics such as the drivers of entrepreneurial well-being, the balance between passion and burnout, the impact of emotions, and the role of resilience in navigating uncertainty. Students will engage with the latest literature on entrepreneurial well-being, supplemented by insights from psychology (e.g., positive psychology, clinical psychology) and popular press to gain an understanding of current approaches to, as well as practical tools around entrepreneurial well-being. The course is designed to blend academic theory with practical application through readings discussions, self-assessments, group work, and experiential learning activities.
This course lives from active participation both during and between sessions. Students are expected to actively engage in course discussions, complete their mandatory readings and additional homework between sessions, and invest time to practice the applied exercises on a regular basis.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students are able to:
- Identify psychological, emotional, and physical well-being opportunities and challenges that entrepreneurs face.
- Understand and analyze the key academic concepts and theoretical frameworks surrounding entrepreneurial well-being.
- Identify and apply well-being strategies (emotion regulation, coping) to manage entrepreneurial stress and uncertainty.
- Assess their own well-being experiences in the entrepreneurial (or academic/
professional) context and develop personalized approaches to foster well-being in settings of high uncertainty.
Necessary prerequisites
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Recommended prerequisites
The course is aimed at master students with an interest in the topic of well-being and its link to entrepreneurship. Having previous entrepreneurial experience and/
| Forms of teaching and learning | Contact hours | Independent study time |
|---|---|---|
| Seminar | 2 SWS | 15 SWS |
| ECTS credits | 6 |
| Graded | yes |
| Workload | 180h |
| Language | English |
| Form of assessment | In-class presentation (70%) & written reflection paper (30%) |
| Restricted admission | yes |
| Further information | https://www.bwl.uni-mannheim.de/woywode/lehre/man-606-well-being-along-the-entrepreneurial-journey/ |
Examiner Performing lecturer |  | Prof. Dr. Michael Woywode Erika Ni |
| Frequency of offering | Spring semester |
| Duration of module | 1 semester |
| Range of application | M.Sc. MMM, M.Sc. Bus. Edu., M.Sc. Econ., M.Sc. Bus. Inf., MAKUWI |
| Preliminary course work | Please note that this course relies on active participation so that attendance of at least 80% of the classes is required in order to complete the course. |
| Literature | Will be provided shortly before the course |
| Course outline | Session 1: Introduction to entrepreneurial well-being
|