Development of an entrepreneurial university

Natia Gochashvili

Journal number 1 ∘ Natia Gochashvili ∘
Development of an entrepreneurial university

journal N1 2025

Expanded Summary

An entrepreneurial university is an institution where knowledge-based entrepreneurship gains qualitatively new opportunities for economic growth, employment promotion and competitiveness enhancement. In this context, entrepreneurial universities play an important role as a knowledge producer and knowledge disseminator.

Universities and entrepreneurship have much in common and are mutually complementary. Partnerships between them can be mutually beneficial, which can be achieved under the conditions of a properly established and structured collaborative framework, shared values, flexibility and the development of reasonable programs.

Developing a university culture for collaboration in industry should be an institutional priority. Partnerships are most successful when the cooperating parties have complementary assets and shared values. It is important that the collaborating parties build a consensus based on a clear understanding of how both parties can create synergies and deliver value before entering into a partnership. Universities can lay the groundwork for startups to succeed, but student entrepreneurs (and even faculty entrepreneurs) need to take the first step to market. Universities can increase the chances of their students succeeding. Another way that universities can nurture their entrepreneurial ecosystems is by providing spaces for entrepreneurial teams to meet each other, other entrepreneurial teams, mentors, and other companies. These spaces also provide an attractive place for universities to engage with the corporate world. Universities can help startups by offering simple intellectual property rights regimes.

A holistic approach to entrepreneurship can be mutually beneficial for universities, entrepreneurs starting in academia and industry. And with motivated and connected experts dedicated to fostering different types of relationships, university-industry partnerships can lead to exceptional results.

The paper highlights the interplay of internal and external factors that drive the development of entrepreneurial universities in the direction of teaching, research and solving entrepreneurial tasks. The article presents strategies, the implementation of which will benefit society in terms of creating qualitatively new business initiatives in educational institutions and increasing the scale of employment.

The entrepreneurial university plays an important role as both a knowledge producer and disseminator. In this sense, an entrepreneurial university can be defined as an environment that has a common strategy, which is oriented towards being the best in all its activities (e.g. having good finances, selecting good students and teachers, conducting quality research) and strives to be more productive and creative in education and research.

The missions of entrepreneurial universities are oriented towards teaching, research and performing entrepreneurial activities simultaneously in order to contribute to social development and economic growth.

The development of a university culture for collaboration with industry should be an institutional priority. An entrepreneurial university needs managers with leadership qualities. Managers and academics are actors who participate in the internal transformation of traditional universities. Other important factors are financial resources, which demonstrate the autonomy of the university from the state. It is worth noting that a diversified funding base means that the university has increased its income from sources such as government support, research contracts, campus services, student fees, etc. These resources allow for expansion to meet social demands.

Nowadays, the university culture is slowly changing and the academic entrepreneur is considered a role model that can positively influence the university community. Also, this process requires strategic actions that promote entrepreneurship, which are associated with monetary and non-monetary incentives.

The construction of internal factors is significantly determined by capabilities and resources. In particular, the most critical factors are related to alliances and resources. They are related to the commercialization of technologies. In this way, the organizational structure would adapt to these changes in order to create an interface between the university and industry. In this sense, new hybrid structures have emerged in the university, such as foundations, science parks and specialized offices.

The entrepreneurial university is a tool that not only provides a workforce and added value with the creation or transformation of knowledge, but also improves the values and attitudes of the individual towards these issues. Each university community is unique and its attitude towards entrepreneurship is determined by a combination of factors. In addition, other factors need to be analyzed in the conceptual model presented in the paper; for example, an in-depth analysis is needed on the impact of formal factors such as specific legislation, initiatives, incentives or other strategies developed by regional governments to promote entrepreneurship and innovation. Further research is also needed on informal factors, the impact of social dynamics of entrepreneurship on the configuration of entrepreneurship and the reception of academic entrepreneurs in the region.

Keywords: entrepreneurial universities, institutional economics, resource-based view, higher education, knowledge transfer technology transfer.

EKONOMISTI The international scientific and analytical, reviewed, printing and electronic journal of Paata Gugushvili Institute of Economics of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University

DOI: 10.36172/EKONOMISTI E ISSN 2346-8432 Print ISSN 1987-6890	Journal number 1 ∘ Natia Gochashvili ∘ Development of an entrepreneurial university journal N1 2025 Expanded Summary An entrepreneurial university is an institution where knowledge-based entrepreneurship gains qualitatively new opportunities for economic growth, employment promotion and competitiveness enhancement. In this context, entrepreneurial universities play an important role as a knowledge producer and knowledge disseminator. Universities and entrepreneurship have much in common and are mutually complementary. Partnerships between them can be mutually beneficial, which can be achieved under the conditions of a properly established and structured collaborative framework, shared values, flexibility and the development of reasonable programs. Developing a university culture for collaboration in industry should be an institutional priority. Partnerships are most successful when the cooperating parties have complementary assets and shared values. It is important that the collaborating parties build a consensus based on a clear understanding of how both parties can create synergies and deliver value before entering into a partnership. Universities can lay the groundwork for startups to succeed, but student entrepreneurs (and even faculty entrepreneurs) need to take the first step to market. Universities can increase the chances of their students succeeding. Another way that universities can nurture their entrepreneurial ecosystems is by providing spaces for entrepreneurial teams to meet each other, other entrepreneurial teams, mentors, and other companies. These spaces also provide an attractive place for universities to engage with the corporate world. Universities can help startups by offering simple intellectual property rights regimes. A holistic approach to entrepreneurship can be mutually beneficial for universities, entrepreneurs starting in academia and industry. And with motivated and connected experts dedicated to fostering different types of relationships, university-industry partnerships can lead to exceptional results. The paper highlights the interplay of internal and external factors that drive the development of entrepreneurial universities in the direction of teaching, research and solving entrepreneurial tasks. The article presents strategies, the implementation of which will benefit society in terms of creating qualitatively new business initiatives in educational institutions and increasing the scale of employment. The entrepreneurial university plays an important role as both a knowledge producer and disseminator. In this sense, an entrepreneurial university can be defined as an environment that has a common strategy, which is oriented towards being the best in all its activities (e.g. having good finances, selecting good students and teachers, conducting quality research) and strives to be more productive and creative in education and research. The missions of entrepreneurial universities are oriented towards teaching, research and performing entrepreneurial activities simultaneously in order to contribute to social development and economic growth. The development of a university culture for collaboration with industry should be an institutional priority. An entrepreneurial university needs managers with leadership qualities. Managers and academics are actors who participate in the internal transformation of traditional universities. Other important factors are financial resources, which demonstrate the autonomy of the university from the state. It is worth noting that a diversified funding base means that the university has increased its income from sources such as government support, research contracts, campus services, student fees, etc. These resources allow for expansion to meet social demands. Nowadays, the university culture is slowly changing and the academic entrepreneur is considered a role model that can positively influence the university community. Also, this process requires strategic actions that promote entrepreneurship, which are associated with monetary and non-monetary incentives. The construction of internal factors is significantly determined by capabilities and resources. In particular, the most critical factors are related to alliances and resources. They are related to the commercialization of technologies. In this way, the organizational structure would adapt to these changes in order to create an interface between the university and industry. In this sense, new hybrid structures have emerged in the university, such as foundations, science parks and specialized offices. The entrepreneurial university is a tool that not only provides a workforce and added value with the creation or transformation of knowledge, but also improves the values and attitudes of the individual towards these issues. Each university community is unique and its attitude towards entrepreneurship is determined by a combination of factors. In addition, other factors need to be analyzed in the conceptual model presented in the paper; for example, an in-depth analysis is needed on the impact of formal factors such as specific legislation, initiatives, incentives or other strategies developed by regional governments to promote entrepreneurship and innovation. Further research is also needed on informal factors, the impact of social dynamics of entrepreneurship on the configuration of entrepreneurship and the reception of academic entrepreneurs in the region. Keywords: entrepreneurial universities, institutional economics, resource-based view, higher education, knowledge transfer technology transfer.