The Entrepreneurial University ─ Context and Institutional Change

Global recessions and structural economic shifts are motivating government and business leaders worldwide to increasingly look to "their" universities to stimulate regional development and to contribute to national competiveness. The challenge is clear and the question is pressing: How will universities respond?

This book presents in-depth case narratives of ten universities from Norway, Finland, Sweden, UK, and the U.S. that have overcome significant challenges to develop programs and activities to commercialize scientific research, launch entrepreneurial degree programs, establish industry partnerships, and build entrepreneurial cultures and ecosystems. The universities are quite diverse: large and small; teaching and research focused; internationally recognized and relatively new; located in major cities and in emerging regions. Each case narrative describes challenges overcome, actions taken, and resulting accomplishments.

This volume will be of interest to policymakers and university administrators as well as researchers and students interested in how different programs and activities can promote university entrepreneurship while contributing to economic growth in developed and developing economies.

Lene Foss is Professor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at School of Business and Economics, UiT – the Arctic University of Norway – and is currently a visiting fellow at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK. Her research concentrates on university entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial networks, entrepreneurial education and gender in innovation and entrepreneurship. She has published work inInternational Small Business Journal, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business,European Journal of Marketing, International Journal of Tourism Research, Systemic Practice and Action Research, andInternational Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship. Foss is associate editor ofJournal of Small Business Management and editorial consultant and editorial board member ofInternational Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship.

David V. Gibson is Senior Research Scientist, Associate Director and The Nadya Kozmetsky Scott Centennial Fellow, IC2 (Innovation, Creativity, Capital) Institute, at The University of Texas at Austin. In 1983, he received a PhD from the Department of Sociology, Stanford University, concentrating on organizational behavior and communication theory. He has edited or authored 17 books and authored over 25 journal articles and is a consultant to businesses, academia, and governments worldwide. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon, Portugal, 1999–2000. He currently is a visiting Professor II at Tromso University Business School, Norway.