Developing the Entreprneurial University: Architecture and Institutional Theory

This article supports the observation that the lack of integration of entrepreneurship research with institutional theory has limited the development of both traditions. To address this gap, we examine case narratives of 10... [ view full abstract ]

This article supports the observation that the lack of integration of entrepreneurship research with institutional theory has limited the development of both traditions. To address this gap, we examine case narratives of 10 entrepreneurial universities in 5 nations. Analysis focuses on the university-based entrepreneurial architecture dimensions of culture, leadership, systems, strategies, and structures while examining the impact of regional and national context at regulative, normative, and cognitive levels of analysis. We seek to address two research questions: How do universities interact with their institutional context in developing entrepreneurially; and What actors and forces are most important in motivating institutional change in developing a university’s entrepreneurial architecture? Our challenge as we present examples from the case narratives is to put conditions on our generalizations by operating at an “intermediate level” rather than seeking universal social laws or simply narrative descriptions.