Transformation to an Entrepreneurial University: Balancing the Portfolio of Facilitators and Barriers

Abstract

Several traditional research universities are developing entrepreneurial strategies and adopting an entrepreneurial vision due to expected benefits for themselves and the socio-economic system. Their transformation has also been catalyzed by the reduction in public moneys to support the universities, and the pressure on them to improve efficiency and increase revenues in the competitive market for education and research. However, the transformation can be beneficial only if the universities control it and systematically manage the factors that impact it; otherwise, it can diminish academic quality and prestige, and adversely affect the long term performance. Strategies for the transformation affect the forces of change and continuity which we call facilitators and barriers, respectively. Nevertheless, the metamorphosis into an entrepreneurial university can be more complex. Facilitators, while promoting change, may also have dysfunctional second-order effects and barriers may also have functional second order effects. We suggest that one has to: (a) maximize the functional effects, and (b) minimize the dysfunctional effects of both facilitators and barriers. The distinctive feature of this model is the recognition of the need for both forces of change and continuity for a successful transformation and the necessity to manage both of them.