Not seeing the forest for the trees? A systems approach to the entrepreneurial university

• Published in: Small business economics Vol. 63; no. 2; pp. 1 - 24
• Main Authors: Wurth, Bernd, MacKenzie, Niall G., Howick, Susan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.08.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Business and Management; Colleges & universities; Commercialization; Connectedness; Diagrams; Economic development; Entrepreneurship; Higher education; Industrial Organization; Innovations; Management; Microeconomics; Organizational behavior; Policy making; Research Article; Strategic planning; System theory; Systems approach; Teaching; Understanding; Academic entrepreneurship; Dynamic capabilities; Entrepreneurial universities; L140; System dynamics; O36; O340; Causal loop diagrams; I230; O310
• ISSN: 0921-898X; 1573-0913
• DOI: 10.1007/s11187-023-00864-1

The idea and practice of the entrepreneurial university has emerged in response to growing expectations of universities contributing to economic development and has, in turn, been subject to a growing body of research. However, much of the work is focused on individual activities or institutions, typically overemphasising commercialisation activities and certain types of universities. Furthermore, much of this research is de-contextualised and does not consider the systems in which universities operate. As a result, we have a variety of unit theories of constituent parts of the entrepreneurial university without considering the wider (feedback) effects and implications — in other words: we are, in effect, not seeing the forest for the trees. Drawing on in-depth quantitative and qualitative field work and the literature, we develop a programmatic theory of the entrepreneurial university and the institutionalised entrepreneurial activities. Using causal loop diagrams, we capture the systemness and the interdependencies between universities’ entrepreneurial activities and their dynamic capabilities. The model highlights how universities are part of a larger system and how this influences their external engagement activities. The result is a more holistic understanding of entrepreneurial universities that reconciles existing work and guides future research. We discuss practical implications and policy levers derived from this systemic perspective. Plain English Summary We provide a systemic model for understanding and diagnosing the capabilities of entrepreneurial universities based on in-depth qualitative and quantitative work. Universities are expected to contribute to society and the economy through activities that go beyond the traditional missions of research and teaching. Academic research on entrepreneurial universities tends to focus on discrete activities in universities or case studies at the cost of a wider understanding of the concept. The result is a limited understanding of how these activities and the university’s capabilities influence each other and co-evolve. We thus propose a new way of understanding how entrepreneurial universities behave, engage, and develop in a systematic fashion. For future research, new methodological approaches are required to operationalise this systemic view including the need to harmonise datasets covering entrepreneurial universities. For policy and practice, understanding the interconnectedness of activities and missions highlights the trade-offs and helps mitigate unintended consequences from different policy actions. The model developed in this paper serves as a tool for thinking and diagnosis for university managers and policy makers that can be applied to different contexts.