Developing the University in Turbulent Times (original) (raw)

FROM UNIVERSITY TO ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITY: THE CASE OF THE UNIS EDUCATIONAL GROUP

Academia Letters, 2021

Contributing to the development of the region in which it operates is a common objective for most higher education institutions (HEIs). The teaching, research, and service aspects were, for some time, the only actions of the HEIs towards this goal (Piurcosky et al, 2019). However, changes in the education sector and in society itself, have made the HEIs seek different operating formats (Piurcosky et al, 2019b). An example of this is the so-called Entrepreneurial University, an application of the Triple Helix concept. Etzkowitz and Zhou (2017) explain that HEIs, government, and industry work in favor of development, through the sharing of interests, resources, and knowledge. However, the question is: how to become an Entrepreneurial University? The Unis Educational Group chose to create a Business Council and an Innovation Laboratory. The councils are possibilities of "building spaces for debate, articulating ideas and proposing solutions, it seems to be the current search for groups and agents who wish to be heard…"

The Entrepreneurial University: from concept to action

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITY: FROM CONCEPT TO ACTION, 2013

This publication seeks to demonstrate concept, action and impact associated with development of the entrepreneurial university. It is written to familiarise the reader with many of the issues raised and discussed in the Entrepreneurial University Leaders Programme and to share the experiences of some of the past participants.

Entrepreneurial architecture in UK universities: still a work in progress?

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 2019

PurposeUK higher education has faced an unprecedented period of change due to multiple UK governmental policies over a short period – coupled with demographic change and the vote to leave the European Union. This pressures universities to meet third mission aims by engaging effectively with society and business, generating income in the process to address reduced funding. Support from the UK Government includes over 20 years of funding for universities to develop entrepreneurial structures and processes, termed entrepreneurial architecture (EA). While the government regularly collects data on funds generated through third mission activities, less is known about how EA is perceived by those inside the university. The purpose of this paper is to meet that gap by exploring the perspectives of those employed specifically as part of EA implementation, as knowledge exchange intermediaries.Design/methodology/approachThe study takes a phenomenological approach to achieve deeper insights int...

Academic Entrepreneurialism and Changing Governance in Universities. Evidence from Empirical Studies

In: Multi-Level Governance in Universities. Strategy, Structure, Control, : Jetta Frost, Fabian Hattke, and Markus Reihlen (eds.). Dordrecht: Springer, 49-74. , 2016

In this paper, I focus on a phenomenon widely discussed in European higher education research and policy communities, emergent in various geographical locations across the continent: academic entrepreneurialism – especially with regard to university governance and management. Entrepreneurial universities seem to be increasingly important points of reference for international and European-level policy discussions about the future of higher education and I combine theoretical insights about “academic entrepreneurialism” with recent empirical evidence coming from 27 universities located in seven European countries. The league of entrepreneurial universities in Europe seems still relatively small. In recent years, though, the term has been widely popularized in research and policy literature in higher education, with a bulk of books and papers referring often to Burton Clark (in the tradition of higher education research) and Henry Etzkowitz (in the tradition of innovation and science policy studies). Entrepreneurial universities, functionally similar although variously termed in different research traditions and different national contexts, currently seem a useful reference point in discussions about reforming higher education systems; and especially in discussions about a possible shift in financing higher education in Europe towards more financial self-reliance and in EU-level and OECD-level discussions about how to secure sustainable development of public universities in increasingly competitive financial environment with powerful inter-sectoral competition for public funding between higher education and other state-funded public services.

Developing a socially entrepreneurial university

2012

Higher Education in the United Kingdom is facing unprecedented change. The key drivers of this change are the squeeze on public sector funding, new pricing structures and increased competition from new entrants. In addition the coalition government aims to change the relationship between government, citizens and civil society. Within this context the University of Northampton has put in place a very ambitious strategy which puts social enterprise at the centre of its development. The strategic development of the University comes at a time when people are asking questions about the societal role of Universities. This is a continuation of a debate that has been taking place over many years with an increasing emphasis being placed on employability, entrepreneurship and the need to develop new approaches and new business models; requiring an increasing collaboration between Universities, public, private and third sector organisations. The paper will explore the genesis of the strategy, its key components and the elements that were needed to change the University into a socially entrepreneurial University and the opportunity this provides for the University to become part of a socially innovative region.

Entrepreneurial university strategies in the UK context: towards a research agenda

Management Decision

Purpose Prior research shows that universities differ in the knowledge exchange (KE) activities they pursue, but little is known about universities’ strategies regarding their portfolio of KE activities. The purpose of this paper is to explore the KE strategy of UK universities in specific relation to their portfolio of KE activities with small- and medium-sized enterprises. Design/methodology/approach Based on the 2015–2016 Higher Education Business and Community Interaction Survey data set, this study employs the Preference Ranking Organisation METHod for the Enrichment of Evaluations to assess the KE activities from 162 UK higher education institutions. Findings The study reveals that entrepreneurial universities valorise university knowledge assets through five SME-focussed KE activities most beneficial to measuring the entrepreneurial university. It also uncovers four different archetypal categories (groupings) of universities based on their strategic focus of KE activities. Or...