Testing enterprising potential

An enterprising tendency is defined as the tendency to start up and manage projects - highly enterprising people do this more often and are more innovative and growth-oriented in their approach. Enterprise may be expressed by starting your own business, operating as an intrapreneur within an organisation or by setting up community setting up community initiatives, either as a social entrepreneur or a voluntrapreneur. This self assessment test should take you about ten minutes to complete and will give you an idea of your enterprising potential. Your ability to express your enterprising potential may depend on the changing constraints and contexts in your life and career. Your enterprising tendency may also change in response to challenges you face at different key phases of your life and career development. There is much academic debate about the most important characteristics of enterprising people. This test suggests an emphasis on the following key characteristics:

Motivation

The enterprising person is highly motivated, energetic, and has a capacity for hard work. They are busy, driven, dynamic and highly committed to getting things done. Their high motivation levels are characterised by a high need for achievement and for autonomy, manifesting as the desire to lead, shape and complete projects.

Creative tendency

The enterprising person is restless with ideas, and has an imaginative approach to solving problems. They tend to see life in a different way to others, spotting opportunities around them. Their innovative tendency helps them to develop ideas to create new products (goods and services) and systems, new intellectual property and artistic outputs, and new businesses and ventures across sectors.

Calculated risk-taking

The enterprising person is opportunistic and identifies goals they wish to pursue. This will usually involve some risk to them– their time, finances and personal relationships. They may be willing to take risks in some or all of these areas. They seek information and expertise to assess if it is worth pursuing the opportunity, although the nature of calculated risk-taking means there is a risk and they may be proved wrong. They also need to convince their investors and supporters to take a calculated risk.

Locus of control

The enterprising person has an internal rather than external locus of control which means that they believe they have control over their own destiny and make their own ‘luck’. This means that they confidently seek to exert control over life, draw on inner resources and believe that it is down to them if they succeed through their own efforts and hard work.


Note that the test is not definitive and it should only be used as an educational aid for thinking about enterprise. You could discuss your responses with a supportive group of students, teacher or friends. Try getting involved with setting up and managing projects, then take the test again to see if your scores change. If you are not happy with your test scores, personal transformation is an open door! If you want to be enterprising then you are half-way there!

What does it mean to be enterprising?

Learn more about the characteristics of enterprising people

Enterprise

What is an enterprising person?

The description of the enterprising person is drawn from what is known about entrepreneurs; the idea being that the enterprising person shares entrepreneurial characteristics. Simply put, an enterprising tendency is defined as the tendency to start up and manage projects - highly enterprising people do this more often and are more innovative and growth-oriented in their approach. This suggests that enterprising people have to be opportunistic and good at utilising resources and capabilities, including human, technological, material and organisational resources and capabilities. An enterprising tendency may be expressed by starting your own business, operating as an intrapreneur within an organisation or by setting up community initiatives either as a social entrepreneur or a voluntrapreneur. Just as there are different types of entrepreneurs, distinguished by their growth orientation, motivation, type of business, engagement with new technology, association with business owner management and particular sectors, and so on, there are different ways enterprising people can operate.

A person who is highly enterprising has the following qualities:

  • Has a strong need for achievement and use resources effectively to achieve challenging goals
  • Likes to be in charge and do things their own way;
  • Seeks out opportunities for innovation and achievement;
  • Believes that they possess or can gain the qualities and competencies to be successful;
  • Is willing to take a calculated risk to achieve their goals successfully.
High Need For Achievement

What is a high need for achievement?

The enterprising person is highly motivated, energetic, and has a capacity for hard work. They are busy, driven, dynamic and highly committed to getting things done. Their high motivation levels are characterised by a high need for achievement, manifesting as the desire to lead, shape and complete projects.

A person with a high need for achievement has the following qualities:

  • An orientation towards the future
  • Self-reliance on their own ability
  • An optimistic rather than a pessimistic outlook
  • A strong task orientation
  • An effective approach to time management
  • An orientation towards achieving results, which applies to managing themselves and others
  • A restlessness, with a strong drive and high energy levels
  • Opinionated with strong opinions and ready to defend their ideas and views
  • A determination to ensure that objectives are met, even when difficulties arise
  • Responsible and persistent in the pursuit of aims
  • Goal–orientated, setting challenging but realistic goals
  • Willingness to work long and hard when necessary to complete tasks.
High Need For Autonomy

What is a high need for autonomy?

The enterprising person is highly motivated, energetic, likes to lead, shape and do things their way. They are independent, driven, dynamic and may have to be number one or work solo.

A person with a high need for autonomy has the following qualities:

  • Independence, preferring to work alone especially if they cannot be top dog
  • A strong self-expression, feeling the need to do what they want to do in their way, rather than work on other people’s initiatives
  • A distinctive individualism, being able to stand alone even when pressurised by people and groups
  • Leadership orientation, preferring to be in charge and disliking taking orders
  • Unconventional, being prepared to stand out as being different to others
  • Opinionated with strong opinions, having to say what they think about issues
  • Determination, being strong willed and stubborn about pursuing their interests.
Creative Tendancy

What is creative tendency?

The enterprising person is restless with ideas, and has an imaginative approach to solving problems. They tend to see life in a different way to others, spotting opportunities around them. Their innovative tendency and need for achievement helps them to develop ideas to create new products, services and systems, new intellectual property and artistic outputs, and new businesses and ventures across sectors.

A person with a creative tendency has the following qualities:

  • Imagination, with an inventive or innovative tendency to come up with new ideas
  • Intuition, being able to synthesis ideas and knowledge, and make good guesses when necessary
  • Change-orientation, preferring novelty, change and challenge, with a dislike of being locked into routines
  • Versatility, being able to draw on personal resources for projects or problem solving
  • Curiousity with an interest in new ideas.

Calculated Risk Taking

What is calculated risk-taking?

The enterprising person is opportunistic and identifies goals they wish to pursue. This will usually involve some risk to them– their time, finances and personal relationships. They seek information and expertise to assess if it is worth pursuing the opportunity. They also need to convince their investors and supporters to take a calculated risk.

A calculated risk-taker has the following qualities:

  • Decisive, being able to act on incomplete information and good at judging when incomplete information is sufficient for taking action
  • Self-awareness with the ability to accurately assessing their capabilities
  • Analytical, being good at evaluating the likely benefits against the likely costs of actions
  • Goal-oriented, setting challenging but attainable goals
  • Information management skills, using information effectively to calculate the probability of success.
Internal Locus Of Control

What is an internal locus of control?

The enterprising person has an internal rather than external locus of control which means that they believe you have control over own destiny and make their own ‘luck’. This means that they confidently seek to exert control over life, draw on inner resources and believe that it is down to them if they succeed through their own efforts and hard work.

A person who has an internal locus of control has the following qualities:

  • Opportunistic, seeking and taking advantage of opportunities
  • Self-confidence, believing that they have control over their destiny and make their own luck, rather than being controlled by fate
  • Proactive, taking personal responsibility to navigate problems that arise to achieve success on their terms
  • Determined, expressing a strong will, and effort to control their life
  • Self-belief, equating the results achieved with the effort made.

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to some of the most common questions we receive

What does it mean to be enterprising?

Understanding of the enterprising person is largely drawn from what is known about entrepreneurs; the idea being that the enterprising person shares entrepreneurial characteristics...

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Why does the test only allow tend to ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’?

You might prefer to answer that you ‘sometimes’ or ‘slightly’ agree on occasion. You may dislike tests that require you to decide if you tend to agree or disagree with statements....

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Does GET2 predict what I might do in the future?

Although GET2 has proved useful as an aid to education and personal reflection about enterprising tendency, predictive validity has not been established. However, GET2 may help you ....

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My GET2 test results suggest I am enterprising - should I start a business?

Perhaps you already have experience in business, or have undertaken projects at school, or within employment as an intrapreneur, or within your community....

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My GET2 test results suggest I am not enterprising - what does this mean?

Sorry that this result seems negative. Organisations and communities need more enterprising people, but it would not be ideal if everyone was enterprising....

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What is the difference between an ‘entrepreneur’, ‘intrapreneur’ & ‘voluntrapreneur’?

These are all people with enterprising characteristics, but ones who operate in different contexts. The ‘Entrepreneur’ starts up and runs their....

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Is GET2 a Psychometric test?

GET2 works in a similar manner to psychometric tests, in that it asks a series of cross-referenced questions aimed at determining certain characteristics....

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Users Speak About GET2

Thankyou for all the many comments we receive about the GET2 Test.
Here are just a selection of the responses, showing how the test is being used.

GET2Test Users

Since the General measure of Enterprising Tendency (GET) test was developed in 1988 at Durham University Business School, it has generated a lot of interest amongst academics, working internationally in the areas of entrepreneurship and innovation. In recent years it has generated interest amongst educationists and researchers working in higher educational institutions and universities, as well as development consultancies*, for its potential as both an educational and research tool. The GET2test website has been widely used with an average of 2000 users per month, who use the GET2 test online, and has been adopted by more than 80 institutions and organisations across over 30 countries.The map and list below identifies the key institutions around the world who have, over the years, requested to use the GET2 test for research, development and educational purposes.

The many institutions who have used GET2 are presented on the map above and are listed below:

Europe

  • Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
  • Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, England
  • Bordeaux École de Management, Bordeaux, France
  • Business School Ostrava, Vysoká škola podnikání, a.s., 710 00 Ostrava-Slezská Ostrava, Czech Republic
  • Careerserve, Earls Colne, Colchester, England
  • Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning, Glyndwr University, Wrexham, Wales
  • Coventry University, The Innovation Centre, Coventry, England
  • Cranfield University, Cranfield, England
  • University of Pavol Jozef Šafarik Košice, Faculty of Arts, Department of Psychology, Kosice, Slovak Republic
  • Department of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
  • Dublin City University Business School, Dublin, Ireland
  • Durham University Business School, Durham, England
  • Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus
  • Edinburgh Napier University, Business School, Craiglockhart Campus, Edinburgh, Scotland
  • Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Department, The Hive, Nottingham Trent University, Burton Street, Nottingham, NG1 4FQ, England
  • Enterprise, Microfinance and Local Development, ILO International Training Centre, Turin, Italy
  • False Bay College, Tvet College, Rapid Incubator and CFE, West Lake Campus, Muizenberg, Cape Town, 7950, South Africa
  • Harpur Adams University, Shropshire, TF10 8NB, England
  • Henley Management College, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, England
  • Hull University, Hull, HU6 7RX, England
  • IGNITE, The Old Chapel, Greenbottom, Chacewater, Truro, TR4 8PQ, Cornwall, England (see here)
  • INSEAD, Fontainbleu, France (student studies)
  • ILO International Training Centre, Enterprise, Microfinance and Local Development, Turin, Italy
  • Institute Of Teacher Education (ITE) Batu Lintang Campus, Jalan College, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
  • Innovation & Enterprise, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK
  • J.J. Strossmayer University, Sveucilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera U Osijeku, Osijek, Croatia
  • Karlstad University, Universitetsgatan 2, 651 88 Karlstad, Sweden
  • Kingston University, Small Business Research Centre, London, England
  • Leeds Business School, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, England
  • Loughborough University, Careers and Employability Centre, Loughborough, England
  • Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
  • Manchester Metropolitan University, Careers and Employability Service, Manchester, England
  • Millionaire Milano Newspaper, Milan, Italy
  • UCMK: University Campus, Milton Keynes, England
  • Newcastle University, Newcastle, England
  • Nottingham University, Nottingham, England
  • Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England
  • Open Business School, Open University, Milton Keynes, England
  • Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, England
  • Oxford Innovation Ltd, Oxford Centre for Innovation, New Road, Oxford, OX1 1BY, England
  • PerMicroLab Onlus (www.permicrolab.it) Member of Youth Business International (www.youthbusiness.org), Via Maria Vittoria 38, 10123, Torino, Italy
  • Poznan University of Economics, Poznan, Poland
  • Preston College, Preston, England
  • Robert Gordon University, Garthdee Campus, Aberdeen, Scotland
  • Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England, GL7 6JS
  • Richardson Howarth Llp - Management Consultant, Durham, England
  • Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 2DF, England
  • Tallinn Technical University / Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany
  • Teesside University, Business School, Middlesbrough, Tees Valley, England
  • Tom Sneddon, St. James’s Place Wealth Management 1 Tetbury Road, Cirencester, Glos, GL7 1FP, England
  • Tower Hamlets College, (SFEDI-accredited Business advice and standards setting for business enterprise), East London, England
  • TSM Business School and Management Consulting of the University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands
  • TUI Travel plc, Education division, West Sussex, England
  • Università Commerciale L. Bocconi, Milan, Italy
  • Universitetet i Agder, University Campus, Kristiansand, Norway
  • University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
  • University of Bradford, Bradford, England
  • University of Bradford, School of Management, Bradford, England
  • University of Edinburgh, Business Studies, Edinburgh, Scotland
  • University of Gloucestershire, Start and Grow Enterprise Project (SAGE), Longleavens, GL2 9HW, England
  • University of Northumbria, School of Computing, Engineering & Information Sciences, Newcastle, England
  • University of Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon, England
  • University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, Rome, Italy
  • University of South Wales, Cardiff Campus, Adam Street, Cardiff, Wales
  • University of Southampton, Institute for Entrepreneurship, Southampton, England
  • University of Stirling, Scottish Enterprise Foundation, Scotland
  • University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland
  • University of Surrey, School of Management, Guildford, England
  • University of Szent István, Godollo, Hungary
  • University of València, Àrea d'Estudis i Anàlisis OPAL, Amadeu de Savoia, València, Spain
  • University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, England
  • University of York, York, England
  • Vilnius University, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Educology, Centre in Educational Researches Scientific Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania
  • Warwick University, Student careers and skills, Warwick, England
  • Waterford Institute of Technology, School of Science, Waterford, Ireland
  • Westminster University, London, England
  • zupaTech Limited, Warwick Court, 34 Leigh Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9DT, England - www.zupatech.co.uk

Asia

  • Adana Science and Technology University, Adana, Turkey
  • AICTE-Startup Policy Implementation Unit, New Delhi-110070, India
  • Anadolu University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Science, Yunusemre Kampusu, Eskisehir, Turkey
  • Antibody and Product Development lab (APD), 60 Biopolis Street, Genome Building, Basement 2, Singapore 138672
  • Doon University, Uttarakhand, India
  • Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Gujarat, India
  • Far Eastern University, Manila, Philippines
  • Guruji, Mahim, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
  • International Business and Entrepreneurship, University of Malaya, Malaysia
  • JAIST (Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), Japan
  • Manipal University, Manipal 576104, Karnataka, India
  • Marmara Universitesi, Anadoluhisari Istanbul, Turkey
  • Mindanao - the Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), University of Phillipines, Phillipines
  • National Chiao Tung University, 1001 University Road, Hsinchu, Taiwan
  • National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), Bangkok, Thailand
  • Prestige Institute of Management and Research, Indore, India
  • National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Hyderabad-500045, Telangana, India
  • Raichur University, University of Agricultural Sciences, UAS, Karnataka, India
  • Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India
  • Tokyo Institute of Technology, Ookayama, Meguro, Tōkyō, Japan
  • United Nations Development Programme Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
  • Universiti Brunei Darussalam, State of Brunei, Borneo
  • Universiti Putra Malaysia, Faculty of Human Ecology, Malaysia
  • Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Centre for Continuous Learning, Malaysia
  • Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Centre for Languages and Human Development, Melaka, Malaysia
  • University of Colombo, Faculty of Management and Finance, Colombo, 03, Sri Lanka
  • Uttarakhand Open University, School of Management Studies and Commerce, Haldwani, Uttarakhand, India
  • Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India
  • VentureEducation.org Venture Education, Beijing, PRC
  • Waseda University, Totsukamachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tōkyō, Japan

Oceania

  • Curtin Business School, School of Management, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
  • Paul Broadfoot Consulting, Queen Street, Melborne, Australia
  • Shellharbour City Council and Illawarra Regional Development Agency, Shellharbour, New South Wales, Australia
  • The University of Western Australia, Centre for Entrepreneurial Management, Crawley, WA, Perth, Australia
  • University of Auckland Business School, Auckland, New Zealand

North America

  • Capella University - University, Minneapolis, USA
  • Iowa State University, Office of Social and Economic Trend Analysis (SETA), Rural Development Initiative, 2229 Lincoln Way Ames, IA 50011, United States
  • IUPUI University Library, 755 W Michigan St Indianapolis, IN, United States
  • Morgan State University, School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD, United States
  • University of Georgia, Department of Workforce Education, Leadership and Social Foundations, Athens, GA, United States
  • University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas, USA

South America

  • Center of Entrepreneurship and Innovation i3Lab, Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral (ESPOL) (public university in Ecuador), Guayaquil, Ecuador i3lab.org
  • Corporacion del Rehabilitacion, Punta Arenas, Chile
  • Escola de Administração, UFRGS / Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
  • Escola de Propaganda do Museu de Arte de São Paulo [School of Advertising of Art Museum of São Paulo] (MASP), São Paulo, Brazil
  • Federal University of Pelotas, Engineering, Pelotas, Brazil
  • UNIP - Universidade Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil
  • UABC - Colonia Nueva, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Segunda, Mexico
  • Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Brazil
  • Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  • UNIFESP - Univesidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Africa

  • Creative People Solutions (CPS), Cairo, Egypt
  • False Bay College, Muizenberg, Cape Town, South Africa
  • Growth Mosaic Ltd., Accra, Ghana
  • North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
  • The Louis Group Business Academy, in association with the University of Stellenbosch, Century City, South Africa
  • The South African Breweries Limited, Sandton, South Africa
  • University of Africa, Thorn Park, Lusaka, Zambia
  • University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
  • University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
  • University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

* Please note this list may not be complete and does not imply these institutions endorse the GET2 test materials.
If your Institute is using GET2 but is not yet on this list, please contact us.

Academic

The GET test

The General measure of Enterprising Tendency (GET) test was developed in 1987-1988 by Dr Sally Caird and Mr Cliff Johnson at Durham University Business School with funding from the University Grants Council whose functions have now been taken over by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

The basic premise of the GET test is that the enterprising person shares entrepreneurial characteristics. The psychological literature has different views on entrepreneurial characteristics and which ones are important. The approach we took involved identifying key characteristics of entrepreneurial people which are associated with entrepreneurial behaviour and entrepreneurship. The key entrepreneurial characteristics identified were: strong motivation, characterised by a high need for achievement and for autonomy; creative tendency; calculated risk-taking; and an internal locus of control (belief you have control over own destiny and make your own ‘luck’). The idea is that people set up an enterprise because they are highly motivated by a good idea to achieve something themselves and will take calculated risks, because they believe they can set up the enterprise successfully.

The research followed a literature review to identify key psychological characteristics of entrepreneurs and an review of relevant psychological tests leading to the creation of a bank of entrepreneurial descriptions. This was pilot tested with entrepreneurs and other occupational groups (including teachers, nurses, civil servants, clerical workers, lecturers and trainers) to establish initial construct validity and reliability. The GET test was refined and validated with occupational and other groups during a time limited research project. Further research and validation of the test is recommended.

Further Developments of the GET test

The original GET test was developed as a paper-based research tool with little interpretation for application in classroom face-to-face assessment. The GET test was later adapted for use by Training Enterprise Companies (TEC) in the form of a knowledge-based system to contribute to training business owner-managers. Over the past 35 years there has been considerable worldwide interest in the General measure of Enterprising Tendency (GET test) with applications in education, research, development and training in a range of contexts (higher education, further education and school contexts). Due to this interest and the volume of requests for the test, Sally Caird created this website which is freely available to people who wish to test their enterprising tendency, or for educational and research purposes. This is based on the original GET test with minor revisions to update elements together with development of it as an educational resource.

The GET2test has been considered very useful for research, education, training and development purposes. Extensive research has been conducted with the GET test leading to a large body of available publications. However, the GET2test tool provides an indicative but not a definitive measure of enterprising tendency. It should be used primarily as an educational tool to prompt thought and reflection about what it means to be enterprising.

The following journal articles, reports and book chapters provide the references to the GET2 test in this work, providing details of how it was developed and tested. If you have a paper published referencing GET2, do let us know.

Reports and book chapters

Caird, S. (1989a) Enterprise Competencies. Scottish Enterprise Foundation, Occasional Paper Series No. 65189.

Caird, S. (1989b) An Initial Approach To Defining, Teaching And Assessing Enterprise Competencies. Scottish Enterprise Foundation, Working Paper Series No. 03/89.

Caird, S. (1992) Testing Enterprising Tendency In Occupational Groups. DUBS Occasional Paper, 9205, ISBN NO 1 85773 017 8 (Reprinted by permission of John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, from the original publication in the British Journal Of Management, Volume 2, pp. 177-186.)

Caird, S. (2006) General measure of Enterprising Tendency Version 2 (GET2), Appendix in T. Mazzarol, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Australia: Tilde University Press. May.

Journal Articles

Caird, Sally (1990a) What does it mean to be enterprising? British Journal of Management, 1(3), pp. 137–145. Available online

Caird, Sally (1990b) Enterprise competencies: an agenda for research. Journal of European Industrial Training, 14(7), pp. 3–8. Available online

Caird, S. (1991a) Self Assessments On Enterprise Training Courses, British Journal Of Education And Work,4(3), pp. 63-80.

Caird, Sally (1991b) Testing enterprising tendency in occupational groups. British Journal of Management, 2(4), pp. 177–186. Available online

Caird, Sally (1991c) The enterprising tendency of occupational groups. International Small Business Journal, 9(4), pp. 75–81. Available online

Caird, S. (1992) Problems with The Identification Of Enterprise Competency with the Implications For Assessment And Development, Management Education And Development, 23(1). Available online

Caird, Sally (1993) What do psychological tests suggest about entrepreneurs? Journal of Managerial Psychology, 8(6), pp. 11–20. Available online

Caird, Sally (1994a) How important is the innovator for the commercial success of innovative products in SMEs? Technovation, 14(2), pp. 71–83. Available online

Caird, Sally (1994b) How do award winners come up with innovative ideas? Creativity and Innovation Management, 3(1), pp. 3–10. Available online

Media

Business Cornwall, ‘Ignite entrants GET ready’ article. Aug 1, 2013 (see here)

Contact Us

We would welcome constructive comment or feedback via our online user-satisfaction survey as to how you have used and found the GET2 test.

Dr S.Caird,
The School of Engineering and Innovation,
Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths,
The Open University,
Walton Hall,
Milton Keynes,
MK7 6AA, UK

 

GET2 test Web development: Dr S.Hallett