Activities Related to Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Academic Setting: A Literature Review

Abstract

In the knowledge-based society, universities have assumed new missions and relations in order to contribute to economic and social development, normally discussed under innovation and entrepreneurship concepts. This chapter aims to explore relevant scientific literature in what concerns the activities related to innovation and entrepreneurship in the academic setting. It reports early results of a systematic literature review considering articles published on Web of Science, in which both bibliometric and content analysis are being conducted. Content analysis of a set of articles aimed to identify characteristics of universities that endure into innovation and entrepreneurship, and the activities related to innovation and entrepreneurship in the academic setting. Turns out that characteristics are mainly associated to the concept of the entrepreneurial university, in with changes occurring within universities and on their relations within the knowledge-based society are discussed. Both the internal changes and relations are related to the need of universities to contribute to regional socioeconomic development throw the creation, dissemination and application of knowledge, and to the need to support its own sustainability. More than 20 different activities related to innovation and entrepreneurship within universities were identify. They are related to regional socioeconomic development, and to the sustainability of universities; to individuals within universities, to the university itself, and to the relation of the university with its surroundings; to the process and results of knowledge creation, knowledge dissemination and knowledge application; to profit-gain of the university or its partners, and to social development of the communities surrounding the university; and to fulfilling the universities missions and to their relations within the knowledge based society. Empirical studies should be conducted in order to verify if all these activities in fact contribute to innovation and entrepreneurship in the academic setting, and if there are other activities eventually not listed by the analyzed literature.