۱٫ Introduction

۲٫ HEIs and innovation and entrepreneurship

۳٫ Methodology

۴٫ Case study

۵٫ Roadmap to entrepreneurial university

۶٫ Conclusions

Acknowledgements

References

The paper discusses the entrepreneurial university as a trend in the development and transformation of higher education institutions (HEI). The debate is about the different possible approaches to entrepreneurship for HEIs, the reason, relevance and the importance of an entrepreneurial university, which are the entrepreneurship components and what are the mission, objectives, strategies needed to become an entrepreneurial university. A case study of a university is considered, with the analysis of a survey results. A proposal for a roadmap is also presented, illustrating the way to become an entrepreneurial university.

Introduction

Entrepreneurial university is a trend in the development and transformation of higher education institutions (HEI) (Sam & Van Der Sijde, 2014; Baker, 2015; Thorp & Goldstein, 2013). The debate is about the different possible approaches to entrepreneurship for HEIs, the reason, relevance and the importance of an entrepreneurial university, which are the entrepreneurship components and what are the mission, objectives and strategies needed to become an entrepreneurial university. Although there is no official definition of entrepreneurship, the following one has evolved from the work done at Harvard Business School and is now generally accepted by authors: “Entrepreneurship is the process of creating or seizing an opportunity and pursuing it regardless of the resources currently controlled” [Timmons et al., 1994]. The entrepreneurial function can be conceptualized as the discovery of opportunities and the subsequent creation of new economic activity, often via the creation of a new organization (Reynolds et al., 2005). Today’s higher education institutions are being assessed by the ways in which they respond to the social and economic needs of the society. Besides education and research, there are many other issues to be addressed.