Entrepreneurial Competencies and Organisational Change—Assessing Entrepreneurial Staff Competencies within Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

Universities have become more entrepreneurial organisations in the past decades. However, the entrepreneurial competences needed for driving societal change have not been largely discussed in research literature. This paper sought to examine entrepreneurial staff competencies in the context of universities of applied sciences. A single case study from Finland, Tampere University of Applied Science, was selected. As the case institution has systematically developed an entrepreneurial strategy, the aim was to examine how entrepreneurial thinking and actions at individual and organisational levels were realised. The quantitative study involved 17 supervisors and 39 employees, and the survey took place in the Spring of 2020. The results indicate that the entrepreneurial strategy has been successfully implemented. Although both supervisors and employees evaluate themselves and the organisation to be entrepreneurial, internal communication should be further developed. Especially the provision of constructive feedback to support self-efficacy and self-esteem should be highlighted. As previous studies have stressed the challenges of integrating entrepreneurial behaviour in a ‘traditional’ academic context, these results provide insights for universities aiming to implement an entrepreneurial strategy, stressing psychological factors in the development of entrepreneurial competencies. Furthermore, we introduce a new theoretical approach to the discussion on the entrepreneurial university based on entrepreneurial competences.