Ernesto Tavoletti

Higher Education Excellence and Local Economic Development: The Case of the Entrepreneurial University of Twente

Abstract By tradition or intellectual necessity, universities pursue a main objective: increasing and transferring knowledge that is internationally relevant for the whole of mankind. But new powerful socio-economic forces are demanding universities to be engaged in regional economic development and their knowledge to be relevant in terms of local employment, university spin-offs and growth. These two objectives are traditionally considered as not complementary or even mutually exclusive. Through a case study regarding the Dutch University of Twente, this article shows that local economic relevance and international excellence are not incompatible objectives: they were not at the University of Twente; they can be reached even in a new born and poor endowed university, located in a peripheral, depressed and not industrialized countryside. This article argues that a strong entrepreneurial vision and the adoption of a different concept of knowledge may be the key for other small and peripheral European universities, in order to reach both local economic relevance and international excellence. The article will contribute and enrich the regional studies debate, introducing to it some higher education policy issues and ideas.

Governance Shifts in Higher Education: A Cross-National Comparison

The article aims to interpret and compare recent governance shifts in higher education across several countries, both at the central government level and at the institutional or ‘corporate’ level. In order to do that it reviews the most significant literature about alternative theoretical models of governance in higher education and uses these models to interpret changing governance across several nations. It suggests the existence of a general tendency towards a ‘new managerialism’ governance model in Western Europe. In order to explain this tendency special attention is paid to countries in the forefront of governance innovation. The traditional continental European model is a term of comparison.

Characterizing agile supply partnerships in the fashion industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate high-involvement and short-term supply relationships, known as agile supply partnerships (ASPs), and explores the conditions that support the development of such inter-organizational relationships. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative exploratory research design was followed, based on in-depth case studies of Italian fashion footwear manufacturers and their relationships with key suppliers. Findings – ASPs appear to be most relevant in supply material categories which have a high impact on the appearance or functionality of the product. Conversely, in supply categories with a low impact, long-term partnerships are preferred. Four main characteristics of ASPs are identified: they are part of a portfolio of relationships to balance the rigidities of long-term strategic partnerships; they have project-like features; they are developed from a network of pre-qualified suppliers; they are recurring and intermittent rather than continuous or isolated o...

Higher education and high intellectual unemployment: does education matter? An interpretation and some critical perspectives

Today, the study of regions is central to academic analysis and policy deliberation on how to respond to the rise of the knowledge economy. Regional Economies as Knowledge Laboratories illustrates how newer types of regional analysis – utilising scientometrics, knowledge services measures and university networks, and concepts such as knowledge life cycles, experimental knowledge creation, and knowledge ethics – are leading to a perception that regional economies increasingly resemble knowledge laboratories.

Business model innovation in emerging economies: leveraging institutional voids

The role of entrepreneurship as an agent of innovation and economic growth has drawn considerable attention in the literature on strategy and emerging economies. An uncertain institutional environment has been argued to impede opportunities for innovation. In many cases, large, resource-rich business groups fill these voids. However, what has been unclear is how resource-poor entrepreneurs, who do not have a large resource base, mitigate the challenges posed by a weak institutional environment. The present study focuses on how entrepreneurs in emerging economies exploit institutional voids and develop business model innovation. Additionally we investigate if all types of institutional voids can potentially become opportunities for entrepreneurs or is there a distinction between the types of institutional voids that may exist. We follow an inductive, multiple case research design. The research setting is the energy industry in India. The chapter endeavors to link the literature on institutional voids and innovation and propose a framework explaining how institutional voids represent opportunities for business model innovation.

Matching Higher Education with the Labour Market in the Knowledge Economy The Much-Needed Reform of University Governance in Italy

It is argued that in the knowledge economy and in the context of the current restrictions on public finance, matching the output of higher education with the needs of the labour market is not simply one of many key issues for policy makers addressing the sustainability of higher education: it is ‘the’ issue. As the sources of funding for universities are almost entirely domestic and, in most countries, primarily governmental, politicians are expected to ensure that increasing public investment in higher education is justified in terms of the benefits accruing to the domestic workforce and investors. In so doing, they must avoid disrupting the international, free community of scholars and students engaged in the pursuit of knowledge and, thus, destroying the historical source of wealth creation that academia represents. This article considers the current debate in Europe and recent research on the interactions between universities and labour markets. The reform of university governance in Italy, regarded as much-needed and overdue, is evaluated in this context; and the assumptions on which such reform might be based, and the potential for aligning higher education more closely to the labour market, are examined.

Chinese OFDI to Germany in the Environmental Industries: a Multiple Case Study

Abstract Purpose Chinese foreign direct investments (FDI) to developed countries, such as Germany, seems to follow unique rules, which are different to traditional international business (IB) practices in terms of entry modes, speed of internationalization, and target countries. To shed light on these unique rules, we analyze motivation and location choices of FDI from China to Germany by describing a sample of five companies from the environmental industry. Methodology/approach A multiple case study research design is adopted. The study is based on five Chinese companies investing in Germany in the environmental industry through FDI (Greenfield Investment and Merger and Acquisition). Chinese managers were interviewed on the basis of semi-structured questionnaires. Findings According to the main findings from the interviews, when investing in Germany, managers take into account a series of factors. Chinese firms go global for traditional motives such as market-seeking purposes and with the aim of improving their production process through skills and know-how acquisition. Additional motives, such as labor cost and fiscal incentives are not considered relevant as factors for internationalizing. Entry mode choices are mainly driven by legal factors in the environmental industry. Originality/value The analysis is conducted at industry level with the aim to contextualize the results within the environmental sector. The case studies are focused on Chinese investments in Germany.

European Entry Decisions in China: The Role of Cultural Perceptions

This chapter investigates to what extent and how perceptions of culture affect European investment decisions to China. First, it analyzes managers’ perceptions of “culture.” Secondly, it examines whether European managers’ perceptions are based on a European culture or on national cultures, and whether intra-China cultural differences are considered. We adopt a multiple case study research design composed of a panel of six European companies investing in China in the green tech industry. We use quantitative and qualitative analyses and a three-step data collection process. Results show that: (1) managers’ perceptions vary over time, between the pre- and post-market entry operation; (2) the cultural aspect is not considered by European managers before approaching China; (3) only after entering the Chinese market, European managers realize the relevance of culture; (4) they perceive China as a single entity rather than intra-China cultural differences; (5) when approaching China, European managers’ perceptions are based on a national culture (intra-Europe) rather than a common European culture; (6) the cultural dimension goes along with language, which, in specific cases, is perceived as a higher hurdle than culture.

A Social Psychological Perspective on the Perceptions of Cultural Differences

Building on social psychology and international business literature, this chapter aims at raising managers’ awareness on the opportunity to capitalize on cultural differences in cross-cultural business contexts. This work is based on survey data and interviews to European managers investing in China through FDI in the environmental industry. First, this work investigates managers’ perceptions of culture within the multidimensional concept of psychic distance, which is a 12 dimension-based construct. Second, it explores what culture stands for our managers following our findings, which show the relevance of the cultural dimension over the others. Third, we propose and illustrate the sociocognitive value of an intercultural laboratory as a potential “structured business practice” addressed to those early-stage managers who are about to approach the firms’ host country. The failing ethnocentric view is a common perspective adopted by managers in cross-cultural business settings. Therefore, the idea behind this chapter is to help international managers overcome this view and leverage on an inter-individual and collective construction of knowledge, stimulated by the intercultural laboratory activities based on group work. The focus is on “opportunities”—rather than “distances”—generated by cultural diversities. Next to this, enhancing the “dialogue” between different cultures as well as different research areas is a key approach in cross-cultural business settings, not only for managers having different cultural backgrounds but also for scholars belonging to different discipline areas of research.

Connecting Students and Firms to Win in Emerging Markets: The Master in Relations with Eastern Countries

Professional schools for business, medicine, engineering, and law are established in order to produce research and teaching that are relevant for practice. Despite concerns that practitioners often fail to adopt the findings of research (Van de Ven, 2007), there is very little doubt that a training in medicine, engineering, or law is essential in order to be a physician, an engineer, or a lawyer. The same, however, cannot be said for business. In fact, not only has the gap between management science and practice been widening more than in other professional schools, making academic research less useful for solving practical managerial problems (Bartunek et al., 2001), but even the teaching in business schools seems to be of little use for managerial practice (Rubin & Dierdorff, 2009), leading some to claim that ‘the only business that could seem to benefit would be the business school business!’ (Murray, 1988: 71). Another convincing argument is that teaching in business schools can even be very harmful for managerial practice (Mintzberg, 2004). The most enlightening proposals for innovative teaching that is relevant for practice are enlisting co-teaching courses where one of the instructors is an executive or former executive, hiring colleagues with professional experience, encouraging clinical, qualitative research and case studies (Pfeffer, 2007), and creating development activities to improve the practice of management (Mintzberg, 2004). These latter activities have been qualified as the ‘experiential learning’ approach in education, and the effectiveness of the approach has been proved empirically (Nadkarni, 2003).