Exploring Intrapreneurial Activities in the Context of the Entrepreneurial University: An analysis of five EU HEIs

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are actively encouraged to strive toward entrepreneurial university status to enable them to deliver their third mission and create entrepreneurial graduates. To achieve these goals, HEIs engage in a wide range of entrepreneurial activities. In this paper, we pos...

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Veröffentlicht in:Technovation Jg. 129; S. 102893
Hauptverfasser: Henry, Colette, Lahikainen, Katja
Format: Journal Article
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2024
Schlagworte:
Entrepreneurial activity
Entrepreneurial university
HEI
HEInnovate
Higher education institutions
Intrapreneurship
Intrapreneurships
Research focus
Research questions
Third mission
University education
Intrapreneurship
Third mission
Entrepreneurial university
HEInnovate
HEI
ISSN:0166-4972, 1879-2383, 1879-2383
Online-Zugang:Volltext
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Zusammenfassung:Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are actively encouraged to strive toward entrepreneurial university status to enable them to deliver their third mission and create entrepreneurial graduates. To achieve these goals, HEIs engage in a wide range of entrepreneurial activities. In this paper, we posit that many of these activities could be categorized as intrapreneurship rather than entrepreneurship. We further posit that considerable benefit may be garnered by focusing on intrapreneurial activities if universities and HEIs are to progress and sustain their entrepreneurial university status. Our research focus is driven by assumption-challenging because, to date, scholarship has tended to attribute entrepreneurial university success solely to entrepreneurial activities, largely neglecting the intrapreneurial behaviours that drive them. Our core research question asks: What activities do HEIs engage in as part of their entrepreneurial university journey, and which of these could be categorized as intrapreneurial rather than entrepreneurial? We draw on a unique data set and adopt an in-depth, qualitative approach to critically examine the entrepreneurial activities of five HEIs in Finland, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain to highlight their intrapreneurial dimensions. Our findings make three important contributions: First, we enhance understanding of the nature and scope of the activities in which HEIs engage as part of their entrepreneurial university journey; second, we offer an analytical framework to highlight the intrapreneurial dimensions of activities traditionally deemed to be entrepreneurial; third, we signpost scholars toward promising avenues of future research in the context of intrapreneurship and the entrepreneurial university. •Entrepreneurial HEIs engage in a range of different entrepreneurial activities.•HEI entrepreneurial activities have strong intrapreneurial dimensions.•Many entrepreneurial activities could be categorized as intrapreneurial or hybrid.•Intrapreneurship may appeal more to academics due to lower risk and more support.•3rd mission effectiveness could be enhanced by promoting intrapreneurship to staff.
ISSN:0166-4972
1879-2383
1879-2383
DOI:10.1016/j.technovation.2023.102893