1,721,021 research outputs found
ESSAYS ON MARKET-BASED MECHANISMS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: CHALLENGES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES
Full text linkIn many European countries, a change from a public university model towards more responsible and procedurally autonomous organizations took place. The shift includes a strong emphasis on market, competition and related elements, like incentive steering, managerial capabilities, individual profiling and organizational learning, quality assurance and evaluation.
These recent higher education reforms have often been described as managerial reforms, which have moved the universities’ governance regime towards a much more competition-driven and managerial arrangement. Yet, universities provide public services for which at least in most of the European countries no real market exists and their primary funding comes from public resources, hence these tendencies towards market and competition result at most in quasi-markets.
The introduction of quasi-market mechanisms led government to implement different policies to address these changes. They focused among others on three distinctive aspects: the cost sharing of higher education and the shift toward student tuition; the performance-based research funding mechanisms; the promotion of interaction with industry and the raise of academic entrepreneurship
This dissertation aims to investigate the main implications of the application of market-based policies to higher education, in terms of university managerial reactions. In relation to the diffusion of the cost sharing phenomenon, some universities decided not to modify their tuition price setting strategy, some have indiscriminately increased tuition fees, while others targeted for their recruitment strategy ‘full fee paying’ students more aggressively within the global higher education marketplace. Accordingly, the first essay of my dissertation investigates the dynamics of university competition on price setting decision after the 2008 financial crisis by relying on data from 59 Italian state universities over the period 2003-2014. Italy represents an interesting setting where to investigate the post-crisis dynamics of university competition as an example of both a Southern European country strongly affected by the economic recession as well as cuts in public funds and a quasi-market where universities increasingly compete for attracting students.
Concerning the establishment of performance-based research funding mechanisms, universities adopted the strategy to position themselves at the top of the international rankings, as outstanding research institutions. The second essay of my dissertation investigates the issue of international competition and visibility. It provides an analysis of the impact of a specified policy intervention aimed to promote and select outstanding research active universities by allocating competitive additional public funds: the Excellence Initiative in Germany.
Referring to the promotion of interaction with industry and the raise of academic entrepreneurship, universities became fully engaged in the spinoff activity. The third essay of my dissertation aims to contribute to the literature on the drivers of this kind of firms, by focusing on a specific university feature, the degree of internationalization. Academic spinoffs indeed are found to be more prone to internationalize than similar firms due to the essential role played by universities and in particular internationalized universities in offering networks and capabilities as well as dynamic and mobile human capital. University internationalization in this way contribute to the national economic growth by stimulating the international orientation of their affiliated firms.
As a whole, this thesis provides some insights into the main challenges that universities are experiencing in terms of marketization of Higher Education and their consequent managerial reactions. Hence, it discusses such reactions extensively, it outlines some theoretical and practical contributions and derives some policy implications
Corporate entrepreneurship strategy in universities: emerging leadership in austerity time
Full text linkPublic organizations have widely adopted corporate entrepreneurial strategy. The complex and financially constrained context in which public organizations operate calls for the implementation of entrepreneurial actions. Our study validates the theoretical framework of Kearney and Meynhardt (Int Public Manage J 19(4):543–572, 2016), which recognizes strategic vision and organizational factors as the main components of corporate entrepreneurial strategy and theorize its main antecedents and outcomes. Thus, by analyzing the public University of Bergamo as a single case study, we demonstrate that entrepreneurial orientation is beneficial for public organizations such as universities. Specifically, the entrepreneurial leadership was able to recognize opportunities in the unsupportive political external environment characterizing the entire Italian public sector during the period 2009-2015. The austerity policy known as the Gelmini reform was designed to make public organizations more efficient and transparent, by cutting personnel costs, by explicitly accounting for university budgets, and introducing external controls on university governance and performance. Despite the climate of general austerity, the entrepreneurial leadership succeeded in engaging several stakeholders and grounding an entrepreneurial strategy at the university. This has significantly changed the image of this public organization
Sustainability orientation of academic spinoffs: does it pay?
No full textThe sustainability orientation of entrepreneurial companies is crucial for addressing the sustainability challenges of our time. However, research on the role of sustainability in enhancing performance, as well as the factors enabling sustainability, has been inconclusive thus far. Our study, by relying on 639 Italian academic spinoffs from 59 public universities over the period 2006-2019, demonstrates the relevance of disentangling the role of environmental, social, and economic sustainability, as they contribute differently to economic performance. Economic sustainability enhances performance, environmental sustainability hinders it, and social sustainability does not play any role. However, the sustainability orientation of entrepreneurial ecosystems does play a role. University research and local awareness and support in terms of environmental sustainability can contribute to overcoming the negative effects of environmental sustainability on performance. Similarly, university research and local awareness and support in terms of economic sustainability reinforce the positive effects of economic sustainability on performance
The importance of team diversity for academic spinoff performance
Full text linkThis study examines how team diversity affects the performance of academic spinoffs. Building on the upper-echelon theory, we argue that different forms of diversity, namely profile diversity, cognitive distance, CEO non-duality, and the presence of a non-academic CEO may positively affect the early performance of academic spinoffs. Our hypotheses are tested on a sample of 307 Italian academic spinoffs founded between 2010 and 2014. Our results support the positive role of diversity in enhancing growth, but only for innovative academic spinoffs. The presence of a non-academic CEO is the only diversity measure that plays a direct positive role, regardless of company technological features
Entrepreneurial Orientation During Covid 19: An Empirical Analysis
No full textEmployees’ entrepreneurial orientation may be affected by exogenous shock, but empirical evidence in this respect is lacking. To address this gap we exploit the Covid pandemic as a valuable bed test. By analysing the entrepreneurial orientation of employees in an IT company, we find that although Covid pandemic negatively affects employees' entrepreneurial orientation, such relationship turns positive by employees' entrepreneurial experience. This shed lights on the role played by employees’ entrepreneurial experience in uncertain and complex situations
Employees’ entrepreneurial orientation in response to exogenous crises: the contingent role of entrepreneurial exposure
Full text linkEmployees’ entrepreneurial orientation represents a powerful bottom–up force for building organizations that are more resilient to exogenous crises. However, limited empirical knowledge exists regarding how exogenous crises may affect employees’ entrepreneurial orientation in the first place. To address this gap, we draw on threat-rigidity theory and exploit the COVID-19 pandemic as a valuable test bed. Using a survey administered to employees of a system integrator firm pre- and post-COVID-19, we find that the crisis negatively impacted employees’ entrepreneurial orientation. However, entrepreneurial exposure mitigates this effect, ultimately enhancing employees’ entrepreneurial orientation in response to exogenous crises. Our findings deepen the understanding of employees’ entrepreneurial orientation dynamics and the role of entrepreneurial exposure in established firms
Women’s Academic Entrepreneurship: Understanding Gender Disparities
Full text linkThis monograph provides an overview of the current state of female participation in academic entrepreneurship and focuses on theories, approaches, and evidence in the university setting. Women represent a valuable yet underrepresented capital for economies and societies, and universities have recently made the effort to support and foster female participation in both science and entrepreneurship. However, differences in entrepreneurship rates between men and women still exist. This monograph offers a comprehensive framework drawn from the process-based concept of academic entrepreneurship, encompassing mindset, intention, and action. Each phase is discussed separately in terms of both student and faculty entrepreneurship, with the aim of detecting complementary findings and theories. Special focus is placed on the influence of context, since the unique factors of a university setting might mitigate the gender disparity in academic entrepreneurship and offer avenues for further investigation. In doing so, this monograph seeks to identify gaps in the field and areas for future research
A taxonomy of the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship: firm types and knowledge sources
No full textKnowledge-intensive firms increasingly harness geographical proximity to enhance collaboration and knowledge exchange within dynamic clusters. This paper examines knowledge spillovers and their impact on innovation within dynamic clusters, focusing on how different firm types – startups, spin-offs, unicorns, and hidden champions – absorb and utilize external knowledge. We develop a taxonomy categorizing these firms based on their unique characteristics, knowledge sources, and absorptive capacities. By analyzing how these distinct firm types engage with the cluster environment and leverage knowledge spillovers, this study provides valuable insights for entrepreneurs, policymakers, and researchers. The framework contributes to a deeper understanding of knowledge diffusion dynamics and informs strategies for fostering innovation within technology transfer ecosystems
Exposure to women and career outcomes: understanding the path to entrepreneurship of the Italian University’s students
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