Rethinking the university system: toward the entrepreneurial university (the case of Italy)

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate contemporary changes in the education system. In particular, an analysis of the mechanisms of coordination and communication involved in the process can show how different geographical factors with different relational mechanisms may contribute to the creation of a new academic entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach The authors propose a methodology with two-step approach. In the first part of the paper, they use a theoretical approach to carry out a longitudinal study of academic literature on the topics of “entrepreneurial university,” “academic entrepreneurship” and “spin-off organizations.” In the second part, they use cross-database analysis to theorize the main aspects of recent developments in higher education in Italy. To this end, the authors use three public and open-access databases on spin-offs, universities and higher education institutions and incubators in Italy. Findings First, issues relating to the formation and best practices of entrepreneurial universities are discussed, based on the works of researchers from 25 countries. Second, a hypothesis is put forward to suggest that the organizational model of entrepreneurial university affects microeconomic competitiveness. Third, a case study of Italian spin-off organizations suggests that the number of incubators and spin-offs, and the type of academic knowledge, all directly affect the entrepreneurial university. Originality/value This paper aims to examine the role of the university in the modern economic system. The originality of this investigation lies in its ability to offer a picture and first analysis of the main actors and of the entrepreneurial university system.

Connecting universities with entrepreneurship through digital learning platform: functional requirements and education-based knowledge exchange activities

“…In the current and active debate on how to rethink and update the university system (Chen, 2019; Gibb et al , 2013; Vesperi and Gagnidze, 2019), AE has to consider the potential of DLPs.…”

Capacities, competences and capabilities as knowledge structures to build relational capital

“…Given that the teaching and research industry is highly competitive, universities need to create strong value propositions to differentiate themselves and their services from others in the market (Vesperi and Gagnidze, 2019). It should be noted that this task is necessary to foster, and therefore requires empowerment by the right knowledge structures instead of obstruction by students’ erroneous perceptions (Cegarra-Sánchez et al , 2018).…”

“Liberal education” in the globalizing modernity in the perspective of sustainable development: the experience of philosophical interpretation

“…A systematic vision of the changes that determined the essence of what is now called a university (this name is precisely a "technical term") is presented in the work of B. Readings "University in ruins" [21], published in 1994: the university became a corporation for the production of practically useful knowledge and human capital ("entrepreneurial university": [22]) or, in the perspective of sociological analysis of "modern narratives", there are four "models of the university of the future" [23]; its effectiveness is assessed on a scale of "perfection" [24], which is as close as possible to similar methods of assessing the efficiency of production and work of an enterprise [25], that is, financial efficiency (Heidegger argued that the modern European science, which has become "perfect", that is, "included its own form ", is no different from" machine production", about the related modern problems: [26]. Few doubt that the goal of education, including university education, is the formation of "skills for employment" [27, p. 30], and the competitive "world market of educational services" determines the form of the university and the content of university education [28, p. 13; 29; 30].…”