ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITIES

Innovation is a fundamental driver for economy, and entrepreneurship is one main vehicle by which innovations can create value. Universities are one main component of the national innovation systems and entrepreneurship ecosystem. In that sense, universities, have a fundamental role in fostering innovation culture, producing required knowledge, nourishing talent, supporting startups to become entrepreneurial, and serving industry. The aim of this paper is to study how universities become entrepreneurial. The concept of entrepreneurial university was closely examined through literature review and study tours and interviews at four universities: TU Graz in Austria, University of Turku and Aalto University in Finland, and TU Berlin in Germany. The results produced highlighted the different entrepreneurial activities these universities perform and what it takes to become an entrepreneurial university. For a university to become entrepreneurial, it needs to acquire strategic commitment in terms of leadership buy-in, adjustment of organizational structure, culture and policies, and detailed planning. The university also needs to allocate or acquire the necessary financial, human, physical and digital resources. In addition, the university needs to deliver entrepreneurial awareness, education, and research. Moreover, the university also needs to support startups at their different stages through various services. Furthermore, the university must have a strong industry orientation in terms of being aware of industry needs, having a solid Intellectual Property's policy, technology commercialization infrastructure, and performing collaborative research with industry. Finally, the university needs to have a regular impact assessment and evaluation followed by an action plan for improvement. Copyright © 2021 by Naudé Scribante. Permission granted to IAMOT to publish and use.