**Management Challenge in the Entrepreneurial University and Academic Performance University and Academic Performance**

**Management Challenge in the Entrepreneurial** 

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.71754

Luis Antonio Orozco, Jeimy Paola Aristizabal and José Luis Villaveces José Luis Villaveces Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Luis Antonio Orozco, Jeimy Paola Aristizabal and

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.71754

#### **Abstract**

Universities with a market orientation, through transfer of technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship activities, corresponding to what is known as "the third mission," face several managerial challenges and tensions, among them, organizing professors in terms of activities and incentives, to balance their dedication to teaching, research, and the marketing of knowledge. In the aim to understand the open and equal access to learning in school management, orientation toward the third mission of some professors may have an impact on their students' academic performance insofar as they may put greater or lesser effort in educating. Literature and empirical studies evaluating the relationship between market orientations through entrepreneurship with the academic quality of professional education are scant. Using 114 higher education institutions (HEI) in Colombia as a sample and logistic and Poisson regression, we found that universities with higher undergraduate education quality results also have higher participation in entrepreneurial contests in a significant relationship. This suggests that universities that have good quality in academic education of students in their professional training are best prepared to assume the third mission.

**Keywords:** university, entrepreneurship, undergraduate, academic performance, faculty time, Latin America, Colombia

#### **1. Introduction**

It is well known that universities train students, do research, and have been incorporating third mission activities aimed at contributing to the economic development through innovation, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship. National policies, changes in legislation, university reforms [1, 2], investment funds for entrepreneurship [1, 3], financial groups [4, 5],

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

university entrepreneurship [6, 7], as well as the international university rankings [8] influence in the orientation of universities toward the entrepreneurial model.

This research extended the overview presented in Colombian chapter analyzing, in the light of the open and equal access to learning in school management, if higher education institutions that present better results in the 2013 Higher Education Quality State Examination—Saber Pro—of the Instituto Colombiano para el Fomento de la Educación Superior (ICFES) are well prepared to present better performance in entrepreneurship

Management Challenge in the Entrepreneurial University and Academic Performance

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.71754

197

This chapter has three sections: the first chapter presents a review of the literature on the entrepreneurship university and the tension between teaching and the activities of the third mission to propose the research question; the second section presents the methodology; and

The entrepreneurial university has its foundations on the activities to commercialize the new knowledge to steer economic growth [9, 11]. Universities introduced activities for knowledge transfer like counseling; contracted training and research, patenting, and licensing; development of infrastructures like technology parks; and promote the creation of new enterprises

However, in emerging economies like Chile [20] and Croatia [21], universities need much to be done to articulate resources for the development of the capabilities required for a better market orientation. As stated by Arocena and Sutz, "the Latin American idea of university highly values an active institutional compromise with social progress. (…) Consequently, many people inside and outside the university expect research groups to co-operate with dif-

Decisions on the adoption of entrepreneurial university in Latin America are not only the exclusive property and interest of universities but also concern the institutional pressures of their surroundings [20, 22, 24]. In addition to the global tension of the market orientation, to the detriment of the quality and autonomy of the university in Latin America [23, 25, 26], and to the pressure for privatization in the production of knowledge [20, 22], there is "a regionally specific tension between two notions of external involvement (…) fostered by the rise of a new set of market-dominated relations with governments and entrepreneurs" [22]. The market-oriented innovation and entrepreneurship university model are close to neoliberalism, emphasizing market power as the engine for development [1, 10]. As pointed out (see [27]), as negative aspects of this university model for Latin America, that education is considered as a good one buys in the market and that in a competitive environment, the university

**2. Development of the entrepreneurial university model in Latin** 

the third part presents the results, discussion, and conclusions.

ferent actors in tasks related to solving collective problems" [22].

must be a profitable entity demanding the reduction of free services.

As Arocena and Sutz argued in Latin America:

activities from 2004 to 2013.

**America and Colombia**

[12, 18, 53, 54].

As predicted by Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff [9], the entrepreneurial university model imposes itself as a global imitation phenomenon in which market-oriented universities become gradually involved [1, 10]. This seems to be an unavoidable trend, given the legitimization of higher education as the agent of national innovation systems, changes in copyright legislation, and the financing dynamics of innovation and entrepreneurship [11, 12].

The third mission has meant the managerial reorganization of university resources to create capabilities that enable the generation of transferable knowledge, especially in the creation of new organizations with which their value can be exploited. However, the incorporation of this third mission could represent major challenges for university management due to the need to strike a balance between teaching, research, and the marketing of its results [13].

The adoption of the entrepreneurial university model could involve risks and challenges for the management of higher education institutions. Faculty members must make exchanges between the amounts of time devoted to improve teaching, conduct research, and perform the required activities to comply with the third mission [12, 14]. Although universities have established policies to balance faculty members' time for the performance of different activities [15]**,** we have found no empirical evidence of any assessment of the relationship between university results in entrepreneurship and those obtained by students in terms of academic quality.

Literature on entrepreneurial university can be summarized in four main topics: research and entrepreneurship, productivity of technology transfer offices, business start-up, and environments that foster network development for innovation, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship [16]. However, empirical research involving the role of teaching and its results in entrepreneurial universities is not common and is rarely used in discussions that have been conducted on the tensions between teaching—especially at the undergraduate level—and academic entrepreneurship.

As stated by Kitagawa [17], "further studies are needed which focus on the ability of different universities to deliver areas of expertise through various internal allocations of resources for teaching, research and commercializing their research." Likewise, Sam and van der Sijde sustain that "It is suggested that a review about the trends of universities in developing countries toward entrepreneurial universities be conducted for better understanding. Similarly, an empirical study is also needed to add to the existing body of knowledge due to the limited literature on entrepreneurial universities in developing countries" [18].

Actually, CINDA (Centro Interuniversitario de Desarrollo), RedEmprendia, and Universia launched the book *La transferencia de I+D, la innovación y el emprendimiento en las universidades. Educación superior en Iberoamérica - Informe 2015* in which Colombia has a chapter that presents the first landscape for the third mission in the higher education system [19]. This research extended the overview presented in Colombian chapter analyzing, in the light of the open and equal access to learning in school management, if higher education institutions that present better results in the 2013 Higher Education Quality State Examination—Saber Pro—of the Instituto Colombiano para el Fomento de la Educación Superior (ICFES) are well prepared to present better performance in entrepreneurship activities from 2004 to 2013.

university entrepreneurship [6, 7], as well as the international university rankings [8] influ-

As predicted by Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff [9], the entrepreneurial university model imposes itself as a global imitation phenomenon in which market-oriented universities become gradually involved [1, 10]. This seems to be an unavoidable trend, given the legitimization of higher education as the agent of national innovation systems, changes in copyright legislation, and

The third mission has meant the managerial reorganization of university resources to create capabilities that enable the generation of transferable knowledge, especially in the creation of new organizations with which their value can be exploited. However, the incorporation of this third mission could represent major challenges for university management due to the need to strike a balance between teaching, research, and the marketing of its

The adoption of the entrepreneurial university model could involve risks and challenges for the management of higher education institutions. Faculty members must make exchanges between the amounts of time devoted to improve teaching, conduct research, and perform the required activities to comply with the third mission [12, 14]. Although universities have established policies to balance faculty members' time for the performance of different activities [15]**,** we have found no empirical evidence of any assessment of the relationship between university results in entrepreneurship and those obtained by students in terms of academic

Literature on entrepreneurial university can be summarized in four main topics: research and entrepreneurship, productivity of technology transfer offices, business start-up, and environments that foster network development for innovation, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship [16]. However, empirical research involving the role of teaching and its results in entrepreneurial universities is not common and is rarely used in discussions that have been conducted on the tensions between teaching—especially at the undergraduate level—and

As stated by Kitagawa [17], "further studies are needed which focus on the ability of different universities to deliver areas of expertise through various internal allocations of resources for teaching, research and commercializing their research." Likewise, Sam and van der Sijde sustain that "It is suggested that a review about the trends of universities in developing countries toward entrepreneurial universities be conducted for better understanding. Similarly, an empirical study is also needed to add to the existing body of knowledge due to the limited

Actually, CINDA (Centro Interuniversitario de Desarrollo), RedEmprendia, and Universia launched the book *La transferencia de I+D, la innovación y el emprendimiento en las universidades. Educación superior en Iberoamérica - Informe 2015* in which Colombia has a chapter that presents the first landscape for the third mission in the higher education system [19].

literature on entrepreneurial universities in developing countries" [18].

ence in the orientation of universities toward the entrepreneurial model.

196 Open and Equal Access for Learning in School Management

the financing dynamics of innovation and entrepreneurship [11, 12].

results [13].

quality.

academic entrepreneurship.

This chapter has three sections: the first chapter presents a review of the literature on the entrepreneurship university and the tension between teaching and the activities of the third mission to propose the research question; the second section presents the methodology; and the third part presents the results, discussion, and conclusions.
