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Article
Publication date: 14 March 2016

Kalle Artturi Piirainen, Allan Dahl Andersen and Per Dannemand Andersen

This paper aims to argue that innovation system foresight (ISF) can significantly contribute to the third mission of universities by creating an active dialogue between…

1341

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to argue that innovation system foresight (ISF) can significantly contribute to the third mission of universities by creating an active dialogue between universities, industry and society.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper’s approach is conceptual. The authors analyse the third mission and relevant literature on innovation systems and foresight to explain how and why foresight contributes to the third mission.

Findings

The authors propose that foresight contributes to the third mission of universities, particularly to the research and development and innovation dimensions through the development of joint understanding of the agendas and future needs of stakeholders. In addition, foresight enables education to be designed to address identified needs.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are both conceptual and exploratory in nature. Thus, the argument needs further examination through a broader study on foresight in the university–industry context and/or longitudinal research on the outcomes and impact of foresight in this context.

Practical implications

The findings highlight the importance of understanding the systemic nature of innovation and its role in economic development. Universities must understand their role within the larger innovation system to fulfil the potential of economic development and by extension, their third mission.

Originality/value

The paper outlines a novel approach of using ISF to promote university–industry partnerships and the growth of innovation systems. The paper also contributes to the discussion of the third mission by outlining that mission in practical terms.

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2017

Claudia Urdari, Teodora Viorica Farcas and Adriana Tiron-Tudor

This paper aims to inquire about the types of measurements used by international university rankings and their connection to the higher education institutions’ (HEIs) third

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to inquire about the types of measurements used by international university rankings and their connection to the higher education institutions’ (HEIs) third mission activities, namely, the contribution to society.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a review of literature and content analysis of nine international rankings.

Findings

This empirical study corroborates that rankings focus on teaching and research activities but rarely measure the HEIs’ connection to practice.

Originality/value

As the measurements used by international university rankings are claimed to have a huge impact on the structuring of the academic environment, this paper shows that international rankings fail to measure the HEIs’ success in developing third mission activities.

Details

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, vol. 8 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8021

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 May 2013

Yvonne Hillier

The purpose of this paper is to examine how government policy has encouraged universities and their community group partnerships to work together through the relationship between…

407

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how government policy has encouraged universities and their community group partnerships to work together through the relationship between the University of Brighton and members of community groups in Hastings who are researching recent educational regeneration in the town. It identifies lessons learnt from engaging community members with such research.

Design/methodology/approach

The University of Brighton in Hastings was set up to be a catalyst for change in one of the most deprived coastal towns in the country. The Coastal Regeneration Research Centre (CRRC) was created in 2008 to undertake a research‐led programme within, and focused upon, the community and has established a track record of research and engagement in this community. Research projects have been supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), East Sussex County Council (ESCC) and Hastings Borough Council (HBC) and the Ore Valley Forum.

Findings

The relationship between the University and its partners is exemplified through an example of a pilot project examining use of a children's centre in Hastings. This research draws upon work by Turning Point, a charity engaged primarily with social care which engages users within the community to become involved in research into the needs of their peers. Turning Point's successful approach was subsequently adopted in the pilot project examining how parents of pre‐school children engage with a children's community centre in a deprived area of Hastings. The pilot project involved two experienced parent researchers supporting six parent volunteers in their interviews with local parents of young children who engage to varying degrees with the local children's centre.

Originality/value

This paper examines how government policy has encouraged universities and their community group partnerships to work together to research recent educational regeneration in Hastings. It identifies lessons learnt from engaging community members with such research.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 3 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 July 2020

Anna Karin Olsson, Iréne Bernhard, Tobias Arvemo and Ulrika Lundh Snis

The purpose is to develop a work-integrated learning (WIL) model for university-society research collaboration facilitating societal impact toward short lag yet sustainable…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose is to develop a work-integrated learning (WIL) model for university-society research collaboration facilitating societal impact toward short lag yet sustainable societal impact for local innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology applied was engaged scholarship based on a WIL approach involving a network of collaborating partners from different sectors of society and cross-disciplinary university researchers. Mixed data collection methods were applied.

Findings

Conceptualization of university-society research collaboration for local innovation is presented as a WIL model including the elements of continuity and commitment, coordination, communication and relationships, trust, courage and creativity and co-creation opportunities. Short lag societal impact as local innovation was identified as product and process innovations.

Research limitations/implications

Further validation of the model is encouraged for the model to be viable in various contexts and to generate different kinds of societal impact.

Practical implications

The model may act as a governing tool for project management to facilitate co-creative and short lag societal impact for local innovation to ensure that engaged and learning activities are embedded in the collaborative process.

Social implications

The model has implications for inclusiveness and co-creation fostering transparency, respect and mutuality in university-society research collaboration and to equate both academic and practice knowledge.

Originality/value

The conclusions drawn support the understanding of a WIL approach practicing engaged scholarship in research collaborations. The main theoretical and practical contributions of the article are the conceptual model for university-society research collaboration generating short lag societal implications and local innovation.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 24 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2012

Clinton Bantock

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the development of understanding of the social processes involved in business engagement and understanding of the role of knowledge…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the development of understanding of the social processes involved in business engagement and understanding of the role of knowledge transfer practitioners. It is also to provide the first outlines of a theoretical framework of business engagement between higher education institutions and business, through the lens of complexity theory.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on research that explored the actions of a group of actors within a university Business School as they attempted to develop a range of business engagement activities. The data were analysed using a narrative event sequence methodology designed to deal systematically with the relationship between events occurring over time. The events were linked into a progression to create temporal maps which provided the basis for data collection and conceptual analysis.

Findings

A space of possibilities was created by participants in the faculty to engage with industry that was adjacent to the teaching and learning space. The adjacent space set out to provide the business development team different expectations they could exploit to generate new interactions beyond the boundaries of the teaching and learning space. It was for the business development team to exploit the generative potential of the adjacent space by creating emergent events which developed halting as a non‐linear progression that juxtaposed extinction and emergent events. In their interactions the business development managers had continually to reconcile the tension between compliance and generative potential through use of individual judgement.

Practical implications

In developing business engagement activity consideration should be given to the contradictory world the business development managers act within and the constraints they experience. Through the examination of the events, lessons can be learned that enhance the generative potential of the business development manager.

Originality/value

The theoretical outline of this paper provides an initial framework within which to examine the role of the business development manager.

Article
Publication date: 6 November 2007

Christopher Prince

Developing third stream activity is becoming increasingly important for business schools as they come under increasing financial pressure. The purpose of this paper is to…

Abstract

Purpose

Developing third stream activity is becoming increasingly important for business schools as they come under increasing financial pressure. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the strategies adopted by new university business schools and highlight the resources, capabilities and constraints under which they are operating.

Design/methodology/approach

The research conducted for this paper is based upon Yin's multiple case design methodology using replication logic. Six new university business schools were identified, where two cases would be literal replications (large schools with a large portfolio of third stream activity) and four cases designed to pursue different patterns of theoretical replication (large schools with small levels of third stream activity, and two small schools). In total 14 senior staff were interviewed in the six schools.

Findings

The overall picture that emerges from the research is of a complex market that is for the most part local and regional in nature, where the ability of individual schools to develop a coherent strategy towards growing third stream activity in a range of sub‐markets is constrained by their resources, capabilities and organisational arrangements, as well as market opportunities in their region. From the analysis it is possible to identify two distinct development paths. One where schools focus on delivering funded activity (funded for example by EU, regional development agencies, learning and skills councils and SSP's) and one where schools focus on more “commercially” based activity (in‐company programmes, accreditation, contract research for public and private sector organisations).

Practical implications

The paper is one of the first to highlight the resources and capabilities necessary to compete in this increasingly important market.

Originality/value

There is little hard evidence available highlighting the development of third stream activity in new university business schools.

Details

Journal of European Industrial Training, vol. 31 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0590

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 July 2010

Jen Nelles and Tim Vorley

Over the past 20 years public policy has sought to promote and formalise the socio‐economic role of universities under the auspices of the so called “third mission”. The purpose…

1526

Abstract

Purpose

Over the past 20 years public policy has sought to promote and formalise the socio‐economic role of universities under the auspices of the so called “third mission”. The purpose of this paper is to consider how the third mission relates to, and has the capacity to reinforce the core missions of teaching and research.

Design/methodology/approach

By highlighting the key limitations of contemporary debate the paper bridges the conceptual model/case‐study dichotomy that characterises the literature. The paper draws on an ongoing study of higher education institutions in the UK and Europe.

Findings

The paper contends that triangulating teaching, research, and third stream activities reinforces the respective dynamics of each component through their recursive and reciprocal development.

Research limitations/implications

The paper forms the foundations of a de novo research agenda to better understand the dynamics of the third mission as a central facet of the contemporary university.

Practical implications

The paper has implications for policy‐makers and institutional strategy alike – identifying an unparalleled opportunity for institutional development by linking teaching, research, and third stream activities.

Originality/value

By highlighting the importance that universities need to embody an “inherent idea” the paper contends the third mission presents the capacity for institutional development beyond the third mission.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 30 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 5 February 2016

Sondra N. Barringer

The environment surrounding U.S. higher education has changed substantially over the past 40 years. However, we have a limited understanding of what these changes mean for the…

Abstract

The environment surrounding U.S. higher education has changed substantially over the past 40 years. However, we have a limited understanding of what these changes mean for the higher education organizations (HEOs) that occupy this organizational field. In this paper, I use descriptive statistics and multilevel latent class analysis (MLCA) to analyze the financial behaviors of public four-year HEOs from 1986 to 2010 to evaluate how HEOs adapt financially to their changing environments. I advance the current conceptual and empirical understanding of public HEO behaviors by evaluating how public HEOs utilize combinations of revenue and spending streams to accomplish their mission and the extent to which the revenues and spending patterns of these institutions are related. Descriptive results confirm the shift away from state funding toward tuition revenues and the relative stability in spending patterns. MLCA results, which allow for the investigation of how combinations of revenue and spending streams work together, indicate that public HEOs are changing the combinations of revenues they rely on in different ways, revealing multiple specific pathways for how public HEOs adapt to their changing environments. The spending profiles, in contrast, remain stable with only a few HEOs changing their profile over time. I argue that the loose coupling between revenues and spending and discontinuity in their patterns of change over time suggests that public HEOs are able to establish a buffer between their environment and spending or activities that allows them to continue engaging in the same broad set of activities despite environmental changes.

Article
Publication date: 10 July 2017

Arthur Rubens, Francesca Spigarelli, Alessio Cavicchi and Chiara Rinaldi

Over the past few decades, higher education institutions (HEIs) have become key players in regional economic development and knowledge transfer, which has led to a third mission…

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Abstract

Purpose

Over the past few decades, higher education institutions (HEIs) have become key players in regional economic development and knowledge transfer, which has led to a third mission for HEIs and the entrepreneurial university. The purpose of this paper is to assess the challenges of HEIs in fulfilling the third mission for economic development and the changing role of being an entrepreneurial university, and the changes that need to be implemented to fulfill this new mission.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors have drawn on current literature to examine academic entrepreneurism and the entrepreneurial university, and how universities are fulfilling their third mission.

Findings

The findings from our review of the literature demonstrated the varied economic and social benefit of universities conducting external third mission/entrepreneurial activities in the community, as well as how the changing role and expectations of universities to become more entrepreneurial, has not only changed the expectations and role of university administrators, faculty and staff but also the business community which they serve. The review also showed the varied challenges for universities in fulfilling the third mission of economic development.

Research limitations/implications

Although ample literature and cases about universitiesthird mission of economic development and the new entrepreneurial university (especially with research universities) were available, literature or research was limited on the specific challenges and obstacles faced by administrators, faculty and departments in fulfilling this mission, and few studies recommended changes that needed to be implemented in HEIs to support this new mission.

Practical/implications

The paper supports the potential role that HEIs play in implementing economic development in their communities or region. The paper also highlights some of the necessary resources and policy changes that policymakers and university administrators need to implement to reward and recognize faculty in conducting outreach activities as part of the university’s third mission.

Originality/value

The findings from this study highlight the challenges and barriers for faculty, staff and HEIs in fulfilling the third mission and becoming an entrepreneurial university.

Details

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 11 no. 03
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6204

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 February 2022

Anita K. Foster and Gene R. Springs

Academic libraries are struggling to support the growing demand for streaming video. The purpose of this paper is to detail the experience of running three long-term pilots with…

Abstract

Purpose

Academic libraries are struggling to support the growing demand for streaming video. The purpose of this paper is to detail the experience of running three long-term pilots with different streaming video platforms, including processes involved, lessons learned and next steps.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a mixed methods approach, combining analysis of usage data with case study observations.

Findings

The length of the pilots allowed for deep understanding of the needs of this academic library’s community’s engagement with streaming video in the classroom, and confirmed anecdotal information that availability of multiple platforms supports diverse needs which led to continuing access to all platforms, operationalized to be managed within existing processes. Using usage data and feedback from a task force led to decisions to continue with all three platforms that were piloted.

Research limitations/implications

While this research describes the experience at one academic library, the information may be generalizable enough that other libraries may use it for their streaming video collection development decisions.

Originality/value

Long-term pilot studies for streaming video platforms can be challenging for many libraries to undertake. With a modest initial financial commitment, the library was able to explore how the community might use streaming video. Through analysis of usage data, the library was able to see when, where and what was being used and could make better informed decisions about where to concentrate future funds for streaming video support.

Details

Collection and Curation, vol. 41 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9326

Keywords

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