Higher Education Institutions and Innovation in the knowledge society

Transcription

1 Higher education institutions are traditionally seen as producers of new knowledge, technology and quality graduates. Today they are also supposed to be platforms of co-created innovations and improvements in society. This is a challenge for all higher education institutions. The creation of technological, economical and social innovation requires new types of actions and collaboration from institutions of higher education as well as from their management, teachers, researchers and students. Co-creation of innovations is both the process and outcome. It requires action and application in context. Luckily European higher education is rich with innovative actors from universities and universities of applied sciences acting in the global innovation ecosystem. This book is an interesting and multifaceted report of higher education institutes and their actions of the field of innovation. Contributors come from three continents. Same themes and challenges are met on different levels everywhere. Management and enthusiastic developers find their solutions within their own context. The cases are source of benchmarking and inspiration for all who are interested in the new ways of combining higher education institutions and innovation. HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS and innovation IN THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY Higher Education Institutions and Innovation in the knowledge society The Rectors Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences Rikhardinkatu 4 B 22 FI Helsinki Finland Tel Fax ISBN edited by Kari Laine Peter van der Sijde Matti Lähdeniemi Jaakko Tarkkanen 2008

2 edited by Kari Laine Peter van der Sijde Matti Lähdeniemi Jaakko Tarkkanen higher education institutions and innovation in the knowledge society Publisher Rectors Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences ARENE ry. Rikhardinkatu 4 B HELSINKI Layout SAMK / Jari Vihervirta Printing Oy Nord Print Ab Helsinki First edition 2008 Individual Contributors ISBN (paperback) ISBN (PDF)

3

4 Table of Contents Foreword... 5 Foreword of Rectors Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences ARENE... 7 Introduction... 9 Contributors of The Book Educational and Institutional Reform Satakunta University of Applied Sciences in Finland - a Networked Learning Laboratory for Innovation The Entrepreneurial University: the University of Twente s Concept for Innovation Innovation at Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa Elaborating Academic Enterprise for the University of Salford A Case Study Virtuous Knowledge Sharing, UPBEAT and Modern Renaissance Building the Case for Entrepreneurship in Higher Education Institutions - the Northern Ireland Centre for Entrepreneurship, (NICENT) Case Study Regional and Transregional Engagement R & D Activities in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences Promoting Regional Development The Triangle for Innovation in Technology Transfer at Münster University of Applied Sciences University of Applied Sciences in a Regional Ecosystem of Innovations Social Innovation and Universities of Applied Sciences The role of Regional Integrated Networks in the Transformation of Scientific Knowledge into Productive Knowledge The Case of BioTekNet Regional Center of Competence in Naples Co-creation of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Laurea@Cambridge From Innovations to Entrepreneurship University Miguel Hernández of Elche: A Case of an Entrepreneurial University Searching Innovation New Service Innovations in Elderly Care in Japan and Finland Contents

5 Contents

6 Foreword This book is about universities and their new roles in knowledge society. In the knowledge society universities face many challenges. The book shows that universities can not only react to changes but they can also to take a proactive role. In addition to challenges universities also face many opportunities. There are new ways to collaborate and interact with industry and other producers of knowledge locally, nationally and internationally. Business is turning global, so do universities and their knowledge creation. There are also new roles for the students. These are based on activation of students to become actors in knowledge creation and innovation networks. Students and universities are supposed to have an entrepreneurial touch and grow to be actors of sustainable innovation systems. The authors explain how their universities have responded to the new requirements and opportunities. Contributors and cases are from universities across from three continents. Cases describe in more detail new models for interaction and innovation. Some models are already tested and noticed to be good practices on their field. Some are emerging new models. The book provides solutions for some contexts. They are a good source for benchmarking and learning. Cases can also serve as source of inspiration. The rest is up to the reader. Everyone must create their own model in their own context. The book writing process was originated and guided by the R&D group of Rectors Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences in spring The authors were invited by editors to contribute. The editors wish to thank all contributors for their commitment and valuable work. We also thank Rectors Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences for making this interesting collaborative journey possible, and Mikkeli UAS Tutka project for its financial contribution enabling the publication of this book. We hope that reading of this book will be as enjoyable as the writing process was. 15th August 2008 Kari Laine Peter van der Sijde Matti Lähdeniemi Jaakko Tarkkanen Foreword

7 Foreword

8 Foreword of Rectors Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences ARENE Higher education institutions are traditionally seen as producers of new knowledge and technology. Today they are more and more supposed to be platforms of co-created innovations and improvements in society. This is a challenge for all higher education institutions. The creation of technological, economical and social innovation requires new types of actions and collaboration from institutions of higher education as well as from their management, teachers and researchers. Co-creation of innovations is both the process and outcome. It requires action and application in context. This book is an interesting and multifaceted report of higher education institutes and their actions of the field of innovation. Same themes and challenges are met on different levels everywhere. Management and enthusiastic developers find their solutions within their own context. The cases presented in this book are a rich review of solutions created on three continents. Innovative actions and their best practices of are presented and international collaboration and networking are also explored. In Finland Universities of applied sciences are an important part of innovation networks and their regional impact is remarkable. With this book ARENE wants to participate to debate over innovation co-creation and innovation policy nationally and internationally. ARENE hopes that this book works not only as source of discussion but also encourages actors to new innovative actions between higher education institutions and their partners in the knowledge society. Ritva Laakso-Manninen.... Tapio Varmola Chairman..... Chairman Rectors Conference of.... ARENE R&D Group Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences ARENE Foreword

9 Foreword

10 Introduction Universities are among the oldest institutions in the world. Until the last century their tasks remained unchanged: education and research. Recently a new task is added to this: service to the community, or outreach activities, or knowledge transfer, or research valorization. Not only has this third task many names, it also has many faces old faces and new faces, because of the recent changes in society: from an information society into a knowledge society. A knowledge society creates shares and uses knowledge for the prosperity and well-being of its people (Wikipedia). In such a society universities operate. Traditionally speaking the role of a university is to create knowledge, but it has lost its prerogative as the sole contributor to knowledge production and to share knowledge via education. The use of knowledge is, tradionally, the prerogative of industry and that has changed too. Universities face new challenges and opportunities of in the knowledge society. There are several, just to name some of them: There is a growing competition for students between universities;... not all universities are the same and not at every university has the same emphasis; There is a need to increase the amount of external funding for all... university tasks, e.g. curriculum reform toward competencies in stead of just knowledge There is a general expectation that universities contribute to the innovation system and processes on regional, national and international levels; Universities are seen as the incubators for entrepreneurship and... disruptive innovation (often referred to as commercialising research results and/or research valorization). As one significant producer of knowledge universities are also in centre of innovation systems, but there are also many other large producers of knowledge like for example large global firms. Also small firms, particularly knowledge intensive ones, are considered to be important actors in innovation networks as well, just as consultants and private research organisations have their role. For universities the question in not only how to create usable research knowledge or find the needed knowledge, but how to become a partner and act in dynamic innovation networks and how to combine knowledge from several sources and co-create it with other organisations to contribute into innovativeness of industry and society as whole. This requires a multidisciplinary approach and research into applications combined with market intelligence. In innovation there are also two kinds of processes (Lester and Piore 2004). There are goal oriented processes where targets are known and then there are more open ended processes for searching of new strategies, markets, challenges and goals. Higher education institutes are supposed to be an actor in both types of networks and processes. Higher education is also supposed to help others to innovate, not only to innovate itself. This creates expectations and also higher education institutions are expected to have new Introduction

11 competences and processes on areas of innovation and productive collaboration. New types of partnerships based on trust and openness are needed to collaborate. Knowledge creation in research requires many times long lasting partnerships but innovation requires also dynamic networking. This requires balancing between two worlds. In the search of new innovations higher education institutions also must be able to connect to new research, knowledge creation networks and innovation networks at the same time. In the future there is also need to connect to more application and users of the knowledge and technology. All this affects the ways how teaching and research are organised. All together new ways that build interaction with other actors and between the processes in house are to be developed. Changes affect also to recruitment of new people. Industry wants to hire people who have good contacts to industry; universities want to have researchers who can have good relations to industry, are ready, able and willing to mentor students to become entrepreneurs and teachers who want to use new teaching methods. Changes all over: On of the most demanding challenges universities face is to manage this change. There is not only a need to entrepreneurially change (Clark 1998), but to sustain such an entrepreneurial change in Universities (Clark 2004). Institutional changes may be slow, but innovative trials can often be done fast. The challenges for higher education institutes are similar than in change management in general: Firstly, how to decide what kind of change is needed, Secondly, to decide what partners can be attracted to collaborate and create the change together, Thirdly, how to start the change and Forth, keep the momentum and sustain the change. Changes are needed both on strategic and operational levels. Change management requires great leadership competencies. Schattock (2003) observed that leadership is most likely to make the difference for successful universities. New metrics to measure success are also needed. Metrics for the new task should be more based on entrepreneurial impact. Students are a true asset for higher education institutes. One of the key issues is how true entrepreneurship and innovation can be brought to curricula and campus and how to increase entrepreneurial and innovative spirit on the campus. Students can also be an important chain in collaboration with industry and co-innovation. Those who can reveal the true talent of students may be the winners of the future innovation game. This in not to be done alone but together with world class partners in society. University interaction with industry and other universities: knowledge circulation The above supposes the circulation and exchange of knowledge that leads to learning for all parties involved. Universities can learn from industry and visa versa in many domains; the implementation of what is learned, we call innovation. 10 Introduction

12 Innovative actions within universities can be done in collaboration with (large and small) industry. There is a need to increase interaction to be more innovative and impact the regional and national innovation ecosystem. These interactions can lead to: innovations and innovating research, modelling innovation processes in new ways participation in innovation networks a new role in the innovation ecosystem, to improve innovative climate in universities There are plenty of opportunities to improve collaboration with other universities and knowledge producers to improve performance. University and Innovation: about the contributions This book describes what can be done at universities to increase innovativeness and entrepreneurial actions on regional, national and international levels. There solutions can be innovative educational solutions, new public private partnerships, new programs and curricula, innovative learning environments and innovative pedagogical solutions and collaborative applications research. These can be done together with industry and stakeholders, not alone any more. These means are used to add agility, accelerate learning and increase knowledge creation. In this book there are 12 contributions all addressing the topic of innovation. The contributions can be divided over three main areas of innovation: Educational and Institutional Reform Regional and Transregional Engagement Co-Creation of Entrepreneurship and innovation In educational and institutional reform (Laine, Van der Heide and van der Sijde, Grundling and Steynberg, Powell, McGowan and Bridge) we see that the outside world of the university (industry and other sectors of activity) is brought into the academia. The academic curricula are enriched through the engagement with entrepreneurship and industry. Students are prepared for an entrepreneurial life after their university education. The contributions grouped under regional and transregional engagement (Rauhala, Baken and Schröder, Tulkki, Ruuskanen, Del Anno and Peruta) have in common that the universities combine both research and education in their activities to transfer knowledge to industry and SMEs. Finally, the contribution to the theme co-creation of entrepreneurship and innovation (Taatila and Vyakarnam, Gras, Lapera and Moreno, Jussila, Pirnes, Rajala and Hagino) The universities and their activities that are described in the cases present their activities to set up specific research centres with and for the industry and SMEs. All together, as the contributions illustrate, an innovative university is more Introduction 11

13 than entrepreneurial university. It connects not only to knowledge creation networks and entrepreneurship, but also to industrial innovation networks. The university is becoming part of all these types of networks and activities. The aim of an innovative university is to make a contribution to society and industry, braking down the ivory towers, bridging the gap between knowledge creating and its application: the university is an active and not a passive player in the open innovation arena. The role of the future higher education institutes is to design and engage, in partnerships with society, industry and SMEs world-class academic curricula, world-class education and world-class research. All this aims to provide students with state of the art knowledge and competences for a career in industry, SME or as an entrepreneur and for universities to be a partner and a major player in the open innovation system. References Clark, B Creating Entrepreneurial universities. Organizational Pathways of Transformation, IAU Press, PERGAMON. Clark, B Sustaining Chang in Universities: Continuities in case studies and concepts. Open University Press. Lester, R. and Piore, M Innovation - the Missing Dimension. Harvard University Press. Shattock, M Managing Successful Universities. Open University Press. 12 Introduction

14 Introduction 13

15 14 Introduction

16 Contributors of The Book Thomas Baaken (PhD, MA) holds a position as Tenure Professor in Marketing at the Münster University of Applied Sciences since Previously, after lecturing at the Free University Berlin he was appointed Professor for Marketing in Düsseldorf , Thomas Baaken held the position of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Vice-Rector) Research and TechTransfer at the Muenster University of Applied Sciences. He was responsible for Research Strategies and Programs, industrial liaison, entrepreneurial activities, links to the European Community, technology transfer, and the marketing of the university research as well as relationships and networks. In 2003/2004 Thomas lived in Adelaide, Australia as a Guest Professor for Technology Transfer & Management and Science Marketing at the Education Centre for Innovation and Commercialisation (ECIC), The University of Adelaide. Since 2002 he runs a government funded Science-to-Business Marketing Research Centre, which is based in Germany. Thomas was appointed as Leader of the European Union (EU) working group University Interaction with Industry, which published the Handbook Responsible Partnering A guide to better practices for collaborative research and knowledge transfer between science and industry under ProTon Europe. Thomas Baaken published more than 100 papers in important papers and his records of presentations are listing more than 130 positions and 21 countries and served in a number of highly ranked committees and expert panels on national and international level. Simon Bridge, Simon Bridge Associates, is a graduate Engineer from Cambridge, established his consultancy firm in 1993, after ten years with the Local Enterprise Development Unit, (LEDU) in Northern Ireland. Prior to joining LEDU he worked for many years for as an Engineer with Rolls-Royce in Bristol and subsequently in Harland and Wolff in Belfast. He has been an active supporter of the efforts of small to medium sized companies, new venture starts, government bodies, the education sector as well as voluntary and community groups in Northern Ireland to find ways to behave more entrepreneurially. He has also developed a significant profile at an international level, in Eastern Europe and southern Africa. Simon has a record of publications in leading international journals and is a lead author in the highly successful text Understanding Enterprise, Entrepreneurship and Small Business, now in its second edition and published by Palgrave MacMillan. He is visiting Professor in Entrepreneurship at the Northern Ireland Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. Davide Dell Anno is associate professor of General Management and member of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation PhD course teaching board, at Second University of Naples (Italy). He is involved on the RCC BioTekNet on the management and development department. His research areas are focused on entrepreneurship, innovation and knowledge transfer. As member of the scientific board take part in national and international research project and activities. He is member of the Contributors 15

17 Editorial Board of The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Managing Committee Member of the Scientific Board, Interdepartmental Centre on Research and Management of Second University of Naples. Maria Rosaria Della Peruta teaching Business Administration at Second University of Naples (Italy); her research interests are on Technology and Innovation Diffusion, Economics of Network Industries and Implications for Business Strategy, Diffusion Processes in Social Networks. Domingo-Rafael Galiana-Lapera. Domingo Galiana holds an MBA from the Manchester Business School. He has more than 15 years of experience in industry and consultancy sector, he moved to the University Miguel Hernández in 1997, and currently is the Director of the Observatory of Employment, supporting entrepreneurship among students. Moreover, he is lecturer of the Business Organization subject at the University as well as author of several books about employment of university students and graduates, quality and entrepreneurship. He has participated in projects on academic entrepreneurship such as Embryo, GlobalStart and StartSim. Furthermore, Domingo is part of the research group of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Project at the Valencian Community. José-María Gómez-Gras. Professor Gómez-Gras is Economist and holds a PhD on Business Studies. Since 1982 he has been Professor of the Business Organization and has specialized on Entrepreneurship. Currently is the Vice-chancellor for Economic Affairs, Employment and Industry Relations. Moreover, he is responsible for Business Organization Area of Studies at the University as well as author of several books on employment of university students and graduates, quality and entrepreneurship. He has participated in projects on academic entrepreneurship such as Embryo, GlobalStart and StartSim. Furthermore, Prof. Gómez leads the research group of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Project at the Valencian Community, as well as the Bancaja Entrepreneurship Chair. Jan Grundling lectures Entrepreneurship, Logistics and Research Methodology at Tshwane University of Technology (South Africa), is the Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship and is the Organisatiional Director of the Joint African Masters in Comparative Local Development. He trained in industrial psychology at the University of Stellenbosch and the University of South Africa, South Africa. His research interests include entrepreneurship, education, business development, business clustering and management of innovation. He has published extensively, including international reviewed articles, research papers and numerous chapters in books. Hiroo Hagino, PhD, is an associate professor at Tohoku Fukushi University, Sendai, Japan. His major research topics are elderly care and social service innovations. He also is an experienced teacher. 16 Contributors

18 Sjors van der Heide is an industrial engineer and a consultant in a private company. At the time of writing he was a researcher at Nikos, the Dutch Institute for Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship at the University of Twente. His MSc. Thesis he wrote on knowledge transfer. Irmeli Jussila is the dean of the School of Culture and Design in the University of Seinäjoki Applied Sciences in Finland. She has worked years as a designer and a teacher of design. She has always been eager to follow what happens in the research of innovation. Now in this work she uses innovation as a method in the leadership of cultural education. Kari Laine MSc. (El. Eng.) is a r&d project manager at Satakunta University of Applied Sciences in Finland. He s managing research and development projects with industrial partners and his research topics are higher education and industry interaction, knowledge intensive entrepreneurship and innovation. He has several publications on mentioned fields. He was previously director of transfer office at the university and responsible for its knowledge and technology transfer services for industry. He works now at the faculty of technology and maritime management and also teaches forecasting methods in master level programs. He has doctoral theses covering higher education and industry interaction under preparation. Matti Lähdeniemi Graduated (PhD) at University of Turku. Adj. prof. at Tampere University of Technology and at University of Turku. Presently working as dean of Technology and Maritime Management at Satakunta University of Applied Sciences. Accreditation assessor. Special fields: automation, image processing and IR-technology, sensors, quality and productivity. Director and consulting tutor of numerous industrial projects. Publications and lectures (industry, conferences) from above topics. Previous activities: professorships (Tampere University of Technology, University of Turku ), project manager in different industrial projects in Finland, Sweden, Germany and Japan. Board chairman or board member of several organisations. Pauric McGowan, Ph.D. is the Professor of Entrepreneurship and Business Development and Director of the Northern Ireland Centre for Entrepreneurship, (NICENT) based at the University of Ulster. He is responsible for the embedding of entrepreneurship in the curriculum of the University, particularly in faculties of Science, Informatics and Engineering. His research interests lie in the area of strategic marketing decision-making in entrepreneurial firms and the role of networked relationships. He lectures in the area of Strategic Marketing and Entrepreneurship, has published widely on the subject in many international journals and presented papers on the topic at research conferences in Europe and America. He is a member of the editorial boards of four international journals addressing issues of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development and is a member of the MCB Literati Club. He is a co-author of an international text on Marketing Contributors 17

19 and Entrepreneurship in SMEs, published by Prentice-Hall. He is a member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland. Prior to joining the University of Ulster, Pauric worked in education management, small business development, as a practitioner and as a business counselor, and in marketing consultancy. Hannu Pirnes, PhD (Econ.) is a principal lecturer at Laurea University of Applied Sciences. His major research topic is networking. He also has a long practical experience of management consulting. Eur Ing James A Powell OBE, DSc, CEng, BSc, MSc, PhD, AUMIST, FIOA, FIMgt, FRSA, FCIOB,. FASI, MInst D. is Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise & Regional Affairs) and Professor of Academic Enterprise, Salford University, UK. He is a Chartered European Engineer with specialisation in Design, Academic Enterprise, Human Communications and Team Building. Research areas include space and resource utilisation, design methods, the product introductory process, technology and knowledge transfer, multi-media for professional communications, partnering, cultural change, action learning, the information superhighway and simulation, including virtual reality. He was one time managing director of Britain s first commercial videodisc company and designer of the Menuhin Auditoria in Portsmouth. He was head of two very different university departments, architecture and manufacturing and engineering systems, a Deputy Dean of Technology and Dean of Postgraduate Studies before taking up the post as Director of Academic Enterprise responsible for Salford University s Reach Out initiatives into industry, commerce, the service industry, the voluntary sector and society at large. Arto Rajala, PhD (Econ.) is an associate professor at Helsinki School of Economics. His major research topics are service innovations and networking. He also has a long experience of teaching. Pentti Rauhala, President of Laurea University of Applied Sciences 1996, Vantaa, Helsinki Region. Adjunct Professor, University of Tampere Doctor of Education 1994, MA (Economics) 1970, Teacher in Vocational Education 1986, Executive Director, Municipality Federation of Vocational Education in Keski Uusimaa , Project Researcher, University of Tampere, , Executive Director, Union of Finnish Vocational Schools, , Official and the Chef of Planning Office, National Board of Vocational Education , President of Rectors Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences , Vice chairman of Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council FINHEEC Publications in the field of educational management and vocations and qualifications. Ms Inkeri Ruuskanen is the Dean of Faculty of Social Services and Health Care the Satakunta University of Applied Sciences. She has published reports of nursing 18 Contributors

20 know-how in nursing and social welfare. She defended her doctoral thesis in the University of Jyväskylä in the year Carsten Schröder (Economic Geographer) is the managing director of the private operating Research Transfer Agency of the Münster University of Applied Sciences LtD (Transferagentur der Fachhochschule Münster GmbH) since The university has bundled all operational research and technology processes in this independent agency. In his role Carsten Schröder also is coordinating several regional and line-of-business oriented innovation networks. Since 2007 Carsten is Member of the Board of Directors of the NRW Innovation Alliance, a strategic technology transfer unit of 24 universities in North Rhine-Westphalia. Before he started to work for the technology transfer branch of the Münster University of Applied Sciences in 2001 Carsten worked in the field of Issue-Management for the imug GmbH, an consultancy in Hannover, and for the German Foundation for Sustainable Environment Development in Osnabrück. Peter van der Sijde is associate professor of organizational studies at the VU University of Amsterdam. At the time of writing he was senior research at Nikos, the Dutch Institute for Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship at the University of Twente. His research interest are knowledge intensive entrepreneurship and university-industry interaction. He is member of the editorial boards of Industry and Higher Education, International Journal of Entrepreneruship and Innovation, International Journal of globalization and the Small Business, International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development, and the Tijdschrift voor Hoger Onderwijs. He is also a Visiting Professor at NICENT, University of Ulster. Lizl Steynberg lectures in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management in the Centre for Entrepreneurship at Tshwane University of Technology and is also an executive member of Recreation South Africa. Her main areas of interest are entrepreneurship, small business management and tourism. She trained at Potchefstroom University, South Africa. Her publications include various reviewed articles and chapters in books. As well as her local teaching commitments, she continues to enjoy the privileges of research, writing and lecturing at a national and international level. Vesa Taatila (Ph.D.) works as a researcher, developer and supports the learning processes at Laurea University of applied sciences. His primary areas of knowledge are innovation, competence and management. Previously, Dr. Taatila has made a long industry career in executive positions in Metso, Talent Partners and Sonera. Jaakko Tarkkanen has worked as the Vice President of Laurea University of Applied Sciences since He previously ( ) held positions in responsible planning and developing at Laurea s predecessor Espoo-Vantaa Polytechnic. Jaakko Tarkkanen s background is in the professional education of business and adminis- Contributors 19