Jørgen Gulddahl Rasmussen

Linking between Danish universities and society

In Denmark, third mission activities were for the first time explicitly formulated as mandatory in the University Act of May 2003, and the purpose of this paper is to analyze current third mission experiences from two younger Danish universities (University of Southern Denmark and Aalborg University). The two case studies show that third mission activities are perceived and implemented in different ways, depending on factors both internal and external to the university. Third mission activities are becoming more strategic for the universities and their collaboration partners, and the paper concludes that there is a need for universities, policy-makers and society in general to find a balance between commercialization and open access to university-generated knowledge, a balance between third mission activities aiming at industry demand and broader societal considerations, and a balance between the allocation of financial and other resources among the three missions. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Developing Universities - The Evolving Role of Academic Institutions in Denmark

From a traditional economic point of view, it may seem as a paradox that a small country (5.5 million inhabitants) with high wages, high taxes, a large public sector, a relatively low level of RD Christensen et al. 2008).

New rules of university governance in Denmark

In relation to the legislative activities in many parliaments in recent years regarding new rules of university governance this article tries to analyse how such new rules are implemented and used in daily practice at one specific university. In 1995 a survey study was conducted in a Danish university on the responses from the different internal university groups on the new Danish University Act of 1993. This article presents main findings in the ways the new law is interpreted and used by students, service staff, faculty and middle management. The study of the transformation of formal rules into daily management and cooperation practice shows that professional values, traditions and local culture have an important influence on the ways governance systems are seen and used. It appears that organisational change is slower and more contingency-oriented and incomplete than often imagined by legislators.

Mergers in Danish Higher Education: An Overview over the Changing Landscape

The Danish Higher Education landscape has experienced profound changes as a result of mergers over the past 15 years. All parts of the higher education system, including short-cycle and medium-cycle institutions, the university sector and the governmental research institutes (GRIs), have been involved in these processes, resulting in a considerable reduction in the number of institutions. However, the processes have differed in both timing and content across the different sectors. This chapter outlines the changes across three different higher education sectors – short, medium and long-cycle – and analyses the merger processes in the university and GRI sectors in more detail. Although there are important differences between the three sectors, it is argued that the similarities in development between these sectors are substantial. The chapter also analyses and discusses the specific Danish setting which enabled and supported the merger processes and highlights some of the major challenges associated with the actual processes.

Mergers between governmental research institutes and Universities in the Danish HE sector

ABSTRACT This article presents an analysis of the mergers in the Danish Higher Education (HE)-sector with a particular emphasis on the 2007 mergers involving universities and Government Research Institutes (GRIs). Furthermore, it follows the post-merger processes up to 2014/2015 at two Danish universities and examines the consequences of the changes seen from the perspective of the key stakeholders, the university managements and the employees. It is shown that the two cases differ in important respects, but also that the three groups of actors within each case have different views of both the processes and the outcomes. Finally, it is shown that it makes a significant difference whether a federal or a unitary structure is implemented after the merger, although each solution has both strengths and weaknesses.

When unforeseen event become strategic

Abstract This article acknowledges that strategising processes revolve around allowing for continual shifts in an uncertain environment to constructively shape the ways in which managers strategise. The research question pursued in this article is: ‘How do unforeseen events shape managerial strategising?’ The theoretical background for this article is inspired by research done within the strategy-as-practice and strategy-in-practice communities and uses concepts such as strategic intent, wayfinding/wayfaring and temporal work to explore how the managers from the small Danish Software Company cooperated with actors in the mining industry. This cooperation was initially perceived as an unforeseen event but, incrementally and retrospectively, it became strategic. The main theoretical and practice-anchored findings draw attention to the roles that unforeseen events can play in shaping strategising. These findings underline the significance of prioritising micro-founded actions carried out contextually by strategists when learning more about the who, what and how of strategising.

Different Faces of Danish Higher Education Mergers

This chapter looks at three selected cases of Danish university mergers in more detail: University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University and Aalborg University. Through these three cases the chapter shows how the Danish university merger processes – in spite of a common starting point and the same overall political incentives – have had a number of different faces across the sector. Whereas some mergers – in particular Aarhus University – have been large and comprehensive, involving a number of different types of institutions from different parts of the country, others have been more modest in scope – e.g. Aalborg University. In between these extremes is the merger involving Copenhagen University, which although comprehensive in scope only involved universities located in close geographical proximity. The chapter highlights a complex interplay between top down and bottom up dynamics and shows how individual institutions have translated and transformed the overall national objectives in order to make them fit with their own institutional goals.

Developing the Competence to Lead in Everyday Situations

The development and education of leaders receives much attention today. This is, for example, illustrated by the many opportunities for the same that leaders are presented for nearly every day in the media.

Changes in Organising and Managing Research in Universities: Reconstruction or Rediscovery

Abstract The ways in which research production is organised in contemporary universities are different both from the often commonly expressed view of the individual researcher discovering new knowledge working alone, and from the traditional professor‐assistants organisation as the basic research production unit. This article presents ‐ on the basis of an empirical study of social science research organising in four different universities ‐ a number of characteristics of how basic research organisation takes place. The most are described common features of such organisation models described. The factors constructing new more dynamic and integrated models in practice are analysed. And the demands for efficient university governance structures, to ensure the development of basic organisations which can produce short‐ and long‐term high quality and successful research, are discussed.

Bachelor Programs in Leadership: The Beginning of a Profession

Based on an integrative approach to practical wisdom and theoretical knowledge, the chapter proposes a bachelor program on leadership based on four somewhat controversial propositions: First, theoretical learning is relevant only to the extent that students have opportunities for applying theoretical knowledge in practice. Second, relevance is created by including extra-university communities of practice in teaching and education. Third, the major part of the curriculum is created by the students themselves in terms of analyses and practical experience emerging from the interaction with extra-university communities of practices. Fourth, in consequence, while a baseline of competencies is provided by the program, there is no uniform profile because each student specializes differently.