Innovation U 2.0 Reinventing University Roles in a Knowledge Economy

Abstract

Innovation U2,0 Reinventing University Roles in a Knowledge Economy by Tomatzky, L.G. and Rideout, E.C. 2014, Louis G. Tomatzky. 258pp.Innovation U2.0is a sequel to an earlier study also called Innovation Upublished in 2002 by the Southern Growth Policies Board; with some important improvements and updates. The 2002 version was the final work in a multi-year program of policy and practice benchmarking studies involved in linking universities to the knowledge economy at national, state and community levels. Version 2.0 has brought the toolbox of good practices at exemplary institutions up to date in a systematic and thorough way.The twelve years since the 2002 version was published have seen the good practices and policies identified become more the accepted ways of doing business than the exceptions. Business-university research collaborations, the licensing of university intellectual property, and the participation of educational institutions in new business start-ups have become more commonplace; and - as the case studies in version 2.0 illustrate - may have become more broadly distributed in the community of universities performing research.The institutions studied in version 2.0 differ to some extent from the institutions studied in the 2002 version. Each version covers 12 institutions, but six of those included in the 2002 version are missing, six are included in both versions, and six new institutions were added in version 2.0. The authors of version 2.0 developed a well-thought-out protocol for selecting their case-study institutions that included more objective criteria than was used in the 2002 version. Although it may be fair to argue that if some exemplary institutions were left out of version 2.0; those included provide a strong sample of best practices and best practitioners for use by organizational innovators at other institutions trying to up their games.In the introduction, the authors identify four audiences with a stake in universities' success at becoming and remaining active innovation U's:* University leaders; CEOs, vice presidents, and governing board members,* Change-oriented faculty members and leaders,* Leaders in technology-based businesses, and* Public officials who oversee expenditures of public funds for universities.Research managers and administrators will have opportunities to relate to people in each of these classes, and should find the concepts and practices identified useful in promoting change and organizational innovation, and should therefore be interested in this work.Elsewhere in the introduction, the authors identify the key issues upon which each of the case studies focus:* Organizational culture and institutional goals and aspirations,* Leadership,* Entrepreneurship,* Industry and community partnering, and* Technology transfer.The last three issues are identified as activities which tend to operate best in the case-study universities across internal boundaries inherent in academic institutions, and across the boundaries that have separated academia from other activities. Of particular note are the approaches to encouraging entrepreneurial activity as a boundary-spanning activity. At case-study universities, entrepreneurship was not confined to business-school curricula, but flourishes as a variety of what the authors call co-curricular activities involving community entrepreneurial networks, interest clubs, etc. …

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