Organising for Effective Academic Entrepreneurship

The contribution has three parts. In the first part the concept of academic entrepreneurship is explained, defined and put into the context of the entrepreneurial university. In the second part four cases are described: - (1) The Nikos case at the University of Twente: In Nikos teaching, research and spin-off activities are combined into one research institute. - (2) The NICENT case at the University of Ulster: NICENT is set up under the Science and Enterprise Centre activities in the UK. It focuses on education and training of students (undergraduates, graduates and post-graduates) and the stimulation of academic entrepreneurship in the academic constituency. - (3) The S-CIO case at Saxion Universities for Applied Sciences: In 2004 Saxion set up this Centre to have a one-stop shop for all entrepreneurial activities at the University. - (4) The Chair in Technological Entrepreneurship at Tshwane University: The focus of the Chair is on education of (under)graduate students in (technological) entrepreneurship and on the stimulation of entrepreneurship in the wider community. Each case has its own specific angle on academic entrepreneurship and in the thrid part the four cases are compared and analysed according to the model presented in the first part. Finally, some conclusions are formulated regarding the organisation of effective academic entrepreneurship

Share and share alike: Encouraging the reuse of academic resources through the Scottish electronic staff development library

This paper reports on the findings of a consultancy procedure conducted within the Scottish Higher Education staff development community and focusing on the reuse and sharing of communications and information technology resources for teaching and learning. While this consultancy was conducted primarily to inform the development of the Scottish electronic Staff Development Library (SeSDL), its findings, will be of relevance to colleagues working in the fields of staff development and C&IT and all those involved in the creation of shared teaching and learning resources. The consultancy identified general staff development demands, specific pedagogical requirements, and concerns relating to the provision, reuse and sharing of staff development resources. The SeSDL Project will attempt to address these demands through the development of a Web‐based resource centre, which will facilitate the reuse and sharing of high‐quality staff development resources. Library materials are stored in the form of granules which are branded with IMS compatible metadata and which are classified using a controlled educational taxonomy. Staff developers will be able to assemble these granular components to build customized lessons tailored to meet the needs of their own departments and institutions

Pacific leaders in open, online and distance learning

The Pacific is a vast region, with a diverse range of cultures and stretched geographical lands, which covers large territories and long distances. Open, online and distance learning (ODL) has always played a key role in providing access to education to remote and rural students and disadvantaged groups. In fact, it could be argued that without ODL, the levels of educational attainment in these regions would be much lower. However, there is work to be done, as some countries in the region still have infrastructure problems, such as Internet connectivity and availability, which directly impact access to online and distance learning. In this piece about Pacific leaders in ODL, I noticed that despite the fact that many leaders have or have had a formal professional base at their institutions, many have worked across different nations and in collaboration with several national and international organisations. Also, initially, ODL leaders were predominantly male, but it did not take long for their female counterparts to join in and be recognised. Encouraged by this journal's editorial board, I made sure that the ODL female leaders are well represented in this piece. This manuscript is divided in three sections; Australia, New Zealand and some small islands of the Pacific region. This is by no means an exhaustive list of ODL leaders in the region, but one that recognises the contributions of earlier theorists and some more current researchers and practitioners. Finally, it is also important to highlight that the large majority of the leaders recognised here are renowned academics, researchers, practitioners and leaders due to their success, leadership and contributions to ODL. Therefore, most of them have published extensively, been invited to present at conferences and other national and international events, and have worked as consultants for key ODL organisations and their partners, some during the course of their employment and/or after retiring. Their career and academic successes are very important, but here I would like to focus on some of their key contributions to ODL in the Pacific region.</p

Web 2.0 and micro-businesses: An exploratory investigation

This is the author's final version of the article. This article is (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here. Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.This article was chosen as a Highly Commended Award Winner at the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2013.Purpose – The paper aims to report on an exploratory study into how small businesses use Web 2.0 information and communication technologies (ICT) to work collaboratively with other small businesses. The study had two aims: to investigate the benefits available from the use of Web 2.0 in small business collaborations, and to characterize the different types of such online collaborations. Design/methodology/approach – The research uses a qualitative case study methodology based on semi-structured interviews with the owner-managers of 12 UK-based small companies in the business services sector who are early adopters of Web 2.0 technologies. Findings – Benefits from the use of Web 2.0 are categorized as lifestyle benefits, internal operational efficiency, enhanced capability, external communications and enhanced service offerings. A 2×2 framework is developed to categorize small business collaborations using the dimensions of the basis for inter-organizational collaboration (control vs cooperation) and the level of Web 2.0 ICT use (simple vs sophisticated). Research limitations/implications – A small number of firms of similar size, sector and location were studied, which limits generalizability. Nonetheless, the results offer a pointer to the likely future use of Web 2.0 tools by other small businesses. Practical implications – The research provides evidence of the attraction and potential of Web 2.0 for collaborations between small businesses. Originality/value – The paper is one of the first to report on use of Web 2.0 ICT in collaborative working between small businesses. It will be of interest to those seeking a better understanding of the potential of Web 2.0 in the small business community.WestFocu

Corporate real estate management in the retail sector: a study of the relationship between the management of the corporate real estate and corporate performance

Retail organisations have often been cited as being at the forefront of corporate real estate management. This research found that the retail sector can be characterised by diversity both in terms of the degree to which organisations are vertically integrated and in terms of the range of modes of retailing they engage in. This in turn led to highly diverse real estate portfolios. Given this diversity it may be surprising that the over riding strategy which the vast majority of sample firms adopted was focused on supporting the core retail activity. However the way in which they implement this strategy, again reflected the diversity in the sector. In terms of the future, the senior real estate managers were focusing on the medium term particularly looking at the way change would impact their functional strategy. This study provides a snap-shot of current practice and contributes to the debate however it also recognised that there is a need to answer the more fundamental questions

Evaluating Practice-based Learning and Teaching in Art and Design

The University of the Arts London is host to the Creative Learning in Practice Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CLIP CETL), which has funded a number of small course-based evaluative and developmental projects. These projects have been designed by course tutors in conjunction with the CLIP CETL team, who are evaluating them to better understand and extend the pedagogies of practice-based teaching and learning. Practice-based learning is a way of conceptualising and organising student learning which can be used in many applied disciplinary contexts. Such pedagogies we argue are founded on the claim that learning to practice in the creative industries requires engagement with authentic activities in context (Lave and Wenger 1991, Wenger 2000). This short paper will describe some of the initial evaluation and research activities in two colleges; identify and define practice-based activities in the context of the courses where the research is being carried out; identify emerging pedagogic frameworks; and discuss implications for further development. Activities identified in the projects undertaken include: Opportunities to develop students‟ direct contact with industry Simulating work-based learning in the University Event-based learning Enhancing professional practice and PPD The authors are seeking to elicit, analyse and evaluate what is often implicit in practitioner-teachers, and the experience of developing pedagogies for extending practice-based learning. We will be theorising from statements made by practitioners in semi-structured interviews and evidence provided in progress reporting from the project teams

Applied Research Through Partnership: the Experience of the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Research Observatory

Paper presented at a seminar on ‘Los Observatorios Regionales de Políticas Públicas como Herramientas de Gestión de Información: Una Aproximación al Estudio del Rendimiento Autonómico, at the Centro de Estudios de Gestión, Análisis y Información, Campus de Somosaguas, La Universidad Complutense, Madrid, 23-24 November, 2000 Ten years ago, a Regional Research Observatory (ReRO) was established to provide ‘clients’ in Yorkshire and Humberside with a single point access to a region-wide data and analysis service. The Observatory’s portfolio covered activities relating to applied research and consultancy, intelligence, education and training, publications and networking. The first part of the paper explains the concept of the Observatory as it was initially conceived as a form of partnership across all the universities in the region, outlines the structure of the organization that was created, explains the arrangements for operating the Observatory as a partnership initiative, and exemplifies the outputs and achievements during the first half of the decade. In order to facilitate its regional monitoring activities, ReRO constructed a Regional Intelligence Centre (RIC), a customised geographical information system in which to store key data sets and generate a range of statistical indicators for the region as a whole or its constituent parts. The second part of the paper explains the structure of the RIC and its contents. It argues that the main advantage that derives from the construction of such a centre is the value that is added to raw information through data handling and integration, through skilled interpretation and through the provision of new information, maybe in the form of forecasts of what is likely to happen in the future, as well as analyses of what has happened in the past. The third and final part of the paper explores some of the key issues and difficulties relating to the operation of the Observatory and considers some of the reasons that have accounted for its loss of momentum in the last few years. This has occurred over a period of increased political attention to regional administration and planning in the UK, exemplified by the creation of Scottish and Welsh Assemblies and the emergence of Regional Development Agencies and Regional Assemblies across England. A retrospective evaluation demonstrates a number of lessons that have been learnt and provides a number of useful guidelines to those attempting to establish similar structures elsewhere in the developed world

The Status and Development of Eco-businesses in Romania

The eco-businesses are poorly represented in Romania, in comparison with the average of EU. The increase of weight of eco-industries is among the development objectives in medium and long run. Romania has to implement a plan of 28 actions for promotion of eco-technologies and increase their competitiveness. Economic changes had main impact on ecological protection and on the general public as an entire. Almost all eco-food Romanian products are for export because inside the country it is only a small niche of consumers. The customers are that who used to consume this type of products on European markets, others see it as a trend and a third category is occasional consumers who introduce in their diet about 5-10 percent organic products There continue to exist obstacles in the manner of the expansion of this market such as the still low-scale production, a reduced range of products, higher prices (up to 150 % more) than for standard products, low level of consumer information and low promotion level. In spite of all these aspects it is a great potential in the medium and long term. An exploratory research was carried out in order to evaluate the state of Romanian ecological producers. The survey had 18 questions but here will be presented only some of the results. The aim of this exploratory research is to offer information for the set-up of a new eco-business. The Romanian eco-businesses understood the necessity of development and implementation of the latest patterns in order to assure a sustainable development of the business. The entrepreneurs are conscious about the poor state of it in comparison with other European companies.eco-business, eco-market, eco-product, exploratory research, sustainability, survey