Involving Universities in Regional Upgrading in the Periphery: Lessons from Northern Europe

Benneworth, Paul Stephen; Pinheiro, Rómulo

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-49818-8_13

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The analysis we present here has found that business incubators in Oman, though they are receiving public support, are currently functioning sub‐optimally and like “cathedrals in the desert” (as per: Benneworth & Pinheiro, 2015; Cooke & Morgan, 1992; Morgan, 1997) with few links to the wider milieu at regional or national levels. As such we have made some suggestions about how these links can be enhanced through better knowledge and resource exchange between key actors, using the EE concept as a way to understand how these flows and inter‐relations should take place.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Applying the ecosystem model in a new context? The case of business incubation in Oman

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper studies entrepreneurship ecosystem development in a context little discussed in the extant literature to date: Oman. Specifically, it focuses on business incubation (BI) initiatives as a policy tool for developing the local, regional, and national systems of supporting entrepreneurship and SME growth. Although BI’s are a popular policy measure for ecosystem development, spreading globally from their original conception in the United States around 60 years ago, their universal effectiveness is questioned. We analyse the tenability of BI as an economic development strategy by entrepreneurship ecosystems as a conceptual framework to help us understand the multitudinous cultural, institutional, and governance structures required for success. Specifically, we consider these ecosystem dynamics and their influence on the incubation of SMEs in the novel context of an oil‐rich yet transitioning economy such as Oman. Conducting interviews with 22 key informants within a range of ecosystem actors (policy‐makers, incubator managers, academics, and entrepreneurs) we find that existing capabilities within the Omani BI programme are not yet fully fit for purpose, highlighting the need to establish developmental priorities for the wider entrepreneurial ecosystem, bottom‐up. Finally, we reflect on the wider cultural and institutional constraints highlighted, and suggest potentially fruitful avenues for further research.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Applying the ecosystem model in a new context? The case of business incubation in Oman

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Since the demise of the textile industry in the 1960s, the unemployment rate in the region has generally been higher than the national average. Considering all the relevant socioeconomic indicators, Twente can be characterized as a peripheral region (Benneworth & Pinheiro, 2017) (Figure 1). Established in the 1961, post the decline of textile industry, the UT is one of the four technical universities in the country.…”

Section: The Case: University Of Twente In the Twente Region The Netherlandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delving into social entrepreneurship in universities: is it legitimate yet?

Çınar

2019

Regional Studies, Regional Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Universities have recently been pressurized to go beyond their economic conceptualization of third-mission activities and contribute to solving grand societal challenges in the regions in which they are located. Social entrepreneurship has emerged as one mechanism by which universities can address societal challenges. Despite a growing awareness of universities' potential and expectations to enhance social entrepreneurship in their geographical vicinities, how these processes become legitimized within a higher education context has received surprisingly little attention. This paper, therefore, explores factors affecting the (de)legitimacy process of social entrepreneurship within universities. Using a single case study design that relies on semi-structured interviews carried out in a Dutch public university, it was found that organizational legitimacy of social entrepreneurship remains unestablished. Furthermore, the legitimacy process is affected by (1) the expectations of stakeholders, the difficulty of measuring social impact and third-mission indicators; (2) an overemphasis on high-tech research and application as an organizational identity; (3) the absence of a leader in the field and lack of organizational recognition; and (4) stringent regulations of public institutions in the Netherlands. In addition, enhancing social entrepreneurs is hindered by the lack of place-based belonging among the student body. Consequently, this paper argues that a holistic approach that focuses on the specificities of universities and the increasing competitive environment in which they have come to function, the potential facilitating role of other organizational actors in the field, and designing appropriate policy instruments and incentives would benefit universities in their efforts to enhance social entrepreneurship.

show abstract

“…Enschede is the major city and is where UT is located. Compared to the innovation heartlands of the Netherlands, particularly the Randstad conurbation including major central and western cities, Twente is characterized as a peripheral region in the Dutch context (Benneworth and Pinheiro, 2017). The lack of an airport and a relatively long distance to the main airport in the Netherlands, Amsterdam Schipol (173 km from Enschede, two hours by train), a lack of large multinationals and the absence of metropolitan influence add to this peripherality, making Twente one of the few peripheral regions in the Dutch context.…”

Section: Introduction To the Case Study And Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Universities’ contribution to culture and creativity-led regional development: Conflicting institutional demands and hybrid organizational responses

Çınar

Coenen

2022

Industry and Higher Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Universities are increasingly recognized for playing a proactive role in supporting culture and creativity-led regional development. Meanwhile, they are also expected to distinguish themselves in their core activities via mission differentiation. Often these two demands are pitched against each other while little attention has been paid to the way universities can manage them. Drawing on a case study involving 29 semi-structured interviews carried out with key actors, this article examines the way a public university located in a peripheral region in the Netherlands navigated such a complex institutional environment. The findings suggest that the university formulated a hybrid response strategy, engaging in both institutional demands simultaneously while prioritizing collaboration with cultural and creative industries and talent attraction over other sub-demands. More importantly, the authors demonstrate that organizational identity, which itself is influenced by peripheral characteristics as well as other institutional factors, plays a significant role in the formulation of a hybrid response strategy. They therefore argue that universities’ contribution to culture and creativity-led regional development is not only dependent on their resource capacity – as is often suggested in the literature – but also on how they envision their organizational identity; that is, the type of institutional profiling they want to pursue.

show abstract

Involving Universities in Regional Upgrading in the Periphery: Lessons from Northern Europe

Cited by 13 publications

References 29 publications

Applying the ecosystem model in a new context? The case of business incubation in Oman

Applying the ecosystem model in a new context? The case of business incubation in Oman

Delving into social entrepreneurship in universities: is it legitimate yet?

Universities’ contribution to culture and creativity-led regional development: Conflicting institutional demands and hybrid organizational responses

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About