Merle Jacob

Entrepreneurial transformations in the Swedish University system: the case of Chalmers University of Technology

Abstract Since the beginning of the 1990s, Sweden has been transforming its national research policy into policy for innovation. One of the bottom up responses to this top d initiative has been an attempt on the part of some Swedish universities to transform themselves into entrepreneurial institutions. This paper uses a case study of one particular Swedish University; Chalmers University of Technology’s transformation process to reflect on the new research policy. Chalmers’ journey is examined against the backdrop of the changing national climate for universities as well as local factors within the university itself. The case confirms existing knowledge in that it shows that creating an entrepreneurial university takes several years as both infrastructural and cultural changes are necessary to achieve success. The case also shows that despite the long history of public–private in Sweden, the new emphasis on commercialisation and commodification of knowledge creates some degree of role uncertainty for universities. The paper concludes that one of the elements required for Swedish innovation policy is macro (policy vision and implementation) and micro (university organisation) level flexibility and diversity.

From sponsorship to partnership in academy-industry relations

One practical result of the advent of the knowledge society has been an increased reliance on academic-industry partnerships as important sources for the creation of economic value. This paper argues that this renewed emphasis on knowledge has led to a shift in the nature of the relations between the academy and industry from sponsorship to partnership and the formation of new research institutions that allow researchers and practitioners to engage in continuous rather than problem based dialogue. These developments are illustrated by providing a case study based on the experience of one research team with its industrial partners. The paper presents results pertaining to some of the issues and challenges raised by continuous dialogue in partnerships, and emphasises the creative yet demanding implications of close collaboration between the two communities.

Policy understanding of science, public trust and the BSE–CJD crisis

The article investigates how institutional factors can produce risk using the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)-Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) crisis in Britain as a case example. The paper focuses on the way policymakers understand science, and the role of precaution in issues of high uncertainty. It is argued that the failure to fully appreciate the complexity of the BSE-CJD situation resided in institutional arrangements that predisposed decision makers to adopt a counter productive approach in handling situations of high scientific uncertainty on the policy level. The article will demonstrate how these factors played out in the BSE-CJD crisis.

Utilization of social science knowledge in science policy: Systems of innovation, triple helix and VINNOVA

The objective of this article is to analyse the utilization of two academic narratives about innovation policy in policy discourse by examining the policy statements issued by one Swedish agency that was specifically set up to promote innovation policy, the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems, VINNOVA. The main findings of this analysis show that the deployment of the examined academic narratives in policy discourse is not accidental nor is it only limited to a role of legitimating policy decisions. The article shows that although the linear model of knowledge transfer has long been discredited, the notion of knowledge utilization is still useful to policy analysis and may be successfully deployed to understand what lies behind the assertions of mutual interplay between science and policy that characterize contemporary attempts to depict this relation.

Sustainable development and deep ecology: An analysis of competing traditions

It has been argued that existing perspectives on the environmental crisis can be divided into two broad categories (deep and shallow). Deep ecologists have used this typology to argue that mainstream perspectives on the environment are shallow and overly preoccupied with pollution control and resource degradation. This paper argues that the deep/shallow typology is biased and misleading because it: (1) obscures the fact that shallow ecology is comprised of several internally differentiated and disparate perspectives and (2) it favors the deep ecology perspective by creating the impression that the human-centered nature of the shallow perspective is incompatible with the fundamental changes required to address the environmental crisis.In order to test these claims, we compared deep and shallow perspectives on the environmental crisis using the North American expression of deep ecology and the Brundtland version of sustainable development and steady-state economy as exemplars. From this we were able to make the following conclusions: (1) deep and shallow ecology perspectives are best visualized as part of a continuum of perspectives on the environment that emerged from a long-standing critique of Western development, (2) that the descriptions of the etiology of the environmental crisis offered by sustainable development and deep ecology are incomplete, and (3) although both traditions are presently regarded to be in direct opposition, they have much to learn from each other.

Experience vs expertise

This article builds on data from case studies of two companies in two different industries to show how local and tacit notions of what is knowledge determine what types of intra‐organizational mechanisms for knowledge transfer are preferred in a given company setting. The article proposes that these tacit and informal views about knowledge constitute a knowledge culture which may in turn be used to assist managers in making informed choices with respect to knowledge management tools. A number of other conceptual and practical management implications are derived from this comparative case study.

Rethinking Science and Commodifying Knowledge

Several commentators have remarked that universities are now under constant pressure to promote the commodification of knowledge produced by faculty and students. Although academic opinion on the implications of the drive to commodification remains divided, there is a general consensus that at the very least it has the potential to change the conditions for conducting science. This article provides an analysis of the debate and practices associated with the commodification of knowledge produced in universities. The article concludes that the commodification of knowledge is part of a global process of commodifying everything and that academics are both promoters and victims of the commodification of knowledge.

Scientific mobility and international research networks: trends and policy tools for promoting research excellence and capacity building

One of the ways in which globalization is manifesting itself in higher education and research is through the increasing importance and emphasis on scientific mobility. This article seeks to provide an overview and analysis of current trends and policy tools for promoting mobility. The article argues that the mobility of scientific labour is an indispensable prerequisite for building capacity and world-class excellence. Many of the newly emerging economies have been able to leverage themselves to advantageous positions in the global scientific economy through the skilful deployment of international research networks. Mobility is still a mixed blessing since scientific labour, like other scarce resources, has a tendency to cluster towards the centre. However, given advances in communication technology and the presence of good research infrastructure, a core group of networked researchers can go a long way towards helping a country with modest scientific resources achieve world-class excellence.

From Stockholm to Kyoto and beyond: A review of the globalization of global warming policy and North–South relations

Abstract This paper provides a historical overview of the role of North–South differences in expectation and priorities in determining how international negotiations about global warming have been framed and implemented. Our analysis looks at two themes: the problem of technology transfer and knowledge inequity and the persistence of the G-77 as the point of departure for Southern action within the context of environmental negotiations. Our argument is that the North and South remain divided on the consequences of linking environment and development for future policy on conserving the global commons. In particular, the problem of accepting the burden of readjustment appears to be politically unacceptable to both North and South.

Boundary work in contemporary science policy: A review

This paper looks at the role of boundary work in contemporary science policy. The paper argues that one of the consequences of policy efforts to bridge gaps between science and society is the proliferation of boundary work as new categories have to be constructed and reified in order to make room for particular policy initiatives. In this process of eroding and remaking boundaries, the power to divide, categorise and classify forms a significant starting point for a re‐structuring of social, economic and political relations between science and policy.