Development of University-Business Collaboration activities across Europe and Vietnam

Author(s):

Camino Ferreira(presenting / submitting)Javier Vidal María José Vieira

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 10 C, Entrepreneurial Universities and Valorisation

Paper Session

Time:

2016-08-25

15:30-17:00

Room:

NM-J109

Chair:

Georgeta Ion

Contribution

The concept of University-Business Collaboration (UBC) is understood as linkages or transactions between universities and business based on common benefits and formal agreements, irrespective of their types of activities involved, their scope or formality (Mora, Detmer, & Vieira, 2010). This collaboration includes all types of interactions (direct and indirect, personal and non-personal) between these institutions and organisations for reciprocal and mutual benefits whose include collaboration and commercialisation in R&D, mobilities of students and academics, lifelong learning and curriculum development, and other activities related to entrepreneurship and governance (Healy, Perkmann, Goddard, & Kempton, 2014). The success of the cooperation between universities and business is considered the ideal driver of knowledge-based economies and societies (Davey, Baaken, Galan Muros, & Meerman, 2011). In the case of universities, the importance of this cooperation and the expectation to develop a wider range of linkages with stakeholders lies in enhance regional innovation systems (Miller, McAdam, & McAdam, 2014).

UBC at university level, known as “Third Mission”, enables universities to further develop their research and innovation, education and social missions (Borrel-Damian, Morais, & Smith, 2014). While there is no a common definition of what “third mission” comprises, this term concerns all kind of university activities beyond teaching and research (Vorley & Nelles, 2008; Görason et al., 2009) and other university capabilities outside of the academic contexts (Tuunainen, 2005). For these institutions, the fact that they could cooperate with the external environment is a way to prove their relevance and, in the economic aspect, a form of securing additional funding (Koryakina, Sarrico, & Teixeira, 2015).

It is conceptually difficult to separate the areas that are within UBC, but all of them are characterised by highly collaborative, sharing and co-creation between the university and business mainly in three areas (Mora, Ferreira, Vidal, & Vieira, 2014; Vidal, Vieira, & Ferreira, 2014):

Technology Transfer and Innovation: this dimension involves activities to serve society to offer technology transfer services (consultancy, patents, spin-off, start-up companies, etc.). This is the result of the research conducted at universities into a non-academic environment (in cooperation with external partners or not) based on the generation or use of knowledge which may results social and commercial benefits at local, regional, national or global levels (E3M project, 2012a).
Lifelong learning/Continuing Education: continuing education and training is part of lifelong learning and may encompass any kind of education (formal, informal or non-formal). This aspect is crucial for the employability of individuals (CEDEFOP, 2008). At university level, this dimension mainly includes programmes of continuing education courses related to leisure or professional interests.
Social Engagement: this dimension overlaps the previous areas and is extremely broad, since this "social" term is a useful synonym for describing the fundamental idea of the Third Mission concept (Trencher, Yarime, McCormick, Doll, & Kraines, 2014). One of the key social engagement activities is volunteering, but also this dimension involves activities such us social consultancy, using expertise to solve problems for the public; educational outreach, running the more informal kind of learning programmes; or services and facilities, and putting resources to work for society (E3M Project, 2012b).

There is considerable trend to promote the collaboration between universities and society at large, especially with business, understanding by this term, all types of public and private enterprise organisations for profit, irrespective of their size, economic sector or ownership. Considering that, the objective of this paper is to describe the UBC activities of European and Vietnamese universities for having an overall picture of this collaboration and how these activities are developed, which is part of the Erasmus+ project: Supporting Entrepreneurial Development in the field of IT in Vietnamese HEIs (ICTentr)”.

Method

This paper is focused on the discussions on the state of the art of UBC activities in European and Vietnamese universities. In order to enhance the relevance of Higher Education and to improve the structure and organisation to increase collaboration with the business and the community, a group of European universities from Finland (University of Turku), Ireland (Dublin Institute of Technology) and Spain (University of León) in cooperation with three Vietnamese universities (Hanoi University of Science and Technology, University of Danang and Ho Chi Minh University of Technology), develop the Erasmus+ project “Supporting Entrepreneurial Development in the field of IT in Vietnamese HEIs (ICTentr)”, supported by the EACEA of the European Commission. One of the main purposes of this project is to improve of a more consistent way of communicating with the regional business and other actors (UBC). These activities help the universities to increase the work-life relevance of teaching through joint projects with the industry as well as to commercialize their research output, reinforcing the capacity of the universities to network effectively with the community supporting scientific cooperation and knowledge transfer. For reaching this goal, all universities participating in this project have elaborated a content analytical inventory of their UBC activities with different approaches: 1. In order to be used as examples of good practices, reports elaborated by EU partner universities have detailed the governance model, the financial structure and the main outcomes of such activities, focusing on the success factors of their activities. 2. Vietnamese universities have prepared a report on current UBC activities at their own university focusing mainly on the problems they are facing and, in addition, interviewing local business representatives and local organisations to identify their needs. This methodology has been applied in other European projects in which University of León (Spain) has been partner or coordinator of them. In these projects, UBC activities have been analysed considering both contextual factors in the country/region and institutional factors that affect the development of these activities. These projects are: 1. Tempus Programme, 2012-2014: Developing Third Mission Activities in Albanian Universities (U3M-AL). 2. Alfa Programme, 2012-2014: Linking Universities with your Environment for Sustainable Social and Economic Development (VINCULAENTORNO). 3. Life Long Learning Programme, 2009-2012: European Indicators and Ranking Methodology for University Third Mission (E3M). 4. Life Long Learning Programme, 2008-2010: GOODUEP Good Practices in University – Enterprise Partnerships.

Expected Outcomes

The resulting reports of the ICTentr project, give the opportunity for having a general discussion about benefits of UBC activities and its main dimensions: Technology Transfer and Innovation, Lifelong Learning or Continuing Education, and Social Engagement, their development and future in universities of Europe and Vietnam. There are common gaps for implementing policies that encourage UBC activities both in the European and Vietnamese universities, establishing different strategies in their relationship with the environment and business. The consolidation of these UBC activities in European and Vietnamese universities participating in the ICTentr project is to a greater or lesser extent a reality, primarily in the case of technology transfer, entrepreneurial and innovative activities. However, the other two dimensions (lifelong learning/continuing education and social engagement), belonging to the term Third Mission, are less developed and promoted in these universities, especially in regard to social engagement activities, which depend fundamentally on the context and the volunteering culture of the country. Considering the main factors for the success of UBC activities, both in European and in Vietnamese universities, there is a common trend that in most cases UBC activities have emerged from individual initiatives that have flourished in favourable and, generally, in unfavourable contexts and have contributed to a progressive change in reluctant academic cultures about linking universities and society. Therefore, all these institutions have a relevance university policy and strategy towards UBC activities, which have produced changes in the role of universities in their regional economy, existing important differences in the type and extension of these activities depending on the context.

References

Borrel-Damian, L., Morais, R., & Smith, J. H. (2014). University-Business collaborative research: goals, outcomes and new assessment tools. Brussels: European University Association. CEDEFOP (2008). Terminology of European education and training policy. A selection of 100 key terms. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Davey, T., Baaken, T., Galan Muros, V., & Meerman, A. (2011). Study on the cooperation between Higher Education Institutions and public and private organisation in Europe. Science to Business Marketing Reseacrh Centre. E3M project (2012a). Conceptual Framework for Third Mission Indicator Definition. Retrieved from http://www.e3mproject.eu E3M Project (2012b). Green Paper. Fostering and Measuring “Third Mission” in Higher Education Institutions. Retrieved from http://www.e3mproject.eu Görason, B., Maharajh, R., & Schmoch, U. (2009). New activities of universities in transfer and extension: multiple requirements and manifold solutions. Science and Public Policy, 36(2), 157-164. Healy, A., Perkmann, M, Goddard, J., & Kempton, L. (2014). Measuring the impact of University-business cooperation. Luxemburg: Publications Office of the European Union. Koryakina, T., Sarrico, C, & Teixeira, P. N. (2015). Universities´ Third Mission Activities. Challenges to extending boundaries. In E. Reale & E. Primeri (Eds.), The transformation of university institutional and organizational boundaries (pp. 63-82). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Miller, K., McAdam, M., & McAdam, R. (2014). The changing university business model: a stakeholder perspective. R&D Management, 44(3), 265-287. Mora, J. G., Detmer, A., & Vieira, M. J. (2010). Good Practices in Univeristy-Enterprises Partnerships GOODUEP. Retrieved from www.gooduep.eu Mora, J. G., Ferreira, C., Vidal, J., & Vieira, M. J. (2015). Higher Education in Albania: developing Third Mission activities. Tertiary Education and Management, 21(1), 29-40. Trencher, G., Yarime, M., McCormick, K. B., Doll, C. N. H., & Kraines, S. B. (2014). Beyond the third mission: exploring the emerging university function of co-creation for sustainability. Science and Public Policy, 41, 151-179. doi: 10.1093/scipol/sct044 Tuunainen, J. (2005). Hybrid practices? Contributions to the Debate on the Mutation of Science and University. Higher Education, 50(2), 275-298. Vidal, J., Vieira, M. J., & Ferreira, C. (2014). Developing Third Mission Activities in Albania. León: Universidad de León, Servicio de publicaciones. Vorley, T., & Nelles, J. (2008). (Re)Conceptualising the Academy: Institutional Development of and beyond the Third Mission. Higher Education Management and Policy, 20(3), 119-135.

Author Information

Camino Ferreira (presenting / submitting)

University of León

Department of Psychology, Sociology and Philosophy

León

Javier Vidal

University of León, Spain

María José Vieira