Rethinking the way a public university does business

IMPACT

Public universities are now expected to play a pivotal role in the knowledge economy/society, by being engaged, entrepreneurial and, more importantly, relevant to the wider society in which they operate. However, the challenge of complexity (partly arising from the embedded nature of public universities within the higher education, innovation, and other social systems) makes managing a public university remarkably difficult. This article suggests a way forward for creating resilient public universities capable of making the contributions expected of them. The authors recommend that universities position their business as services, embrace open service innovation, and redesign their business model to maximize shared value for society.

ABSTRACT

This article contributes to the current debate about the societal value of the public university and its ongoing viability and resilience, which has produced calls for such organizations to rethink the way they operate. The article synthesizes the complex challenges faced by the public university, and presents several propositions to overcome them, including shifting from (manufacturing) product-based to (knowledge) service-based thinking, moving from closed to open service innovation, embracing hard and soft approaches to risk management, and becoming continuous-learning organizations. The article generates discussion for future research into the study of innovation in knowledge-intensive services to build resilient public universities.

KEYWORDS:

• Higher education
• innovation
• knowledge-intensive services (KIS)
• public university
• public service
• shared value

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.