The role of entrepreneurship development in universities to promote knowledge sharing the case of vietnam national university hanoi

THE RO LE OF ENTREPRENEƯRSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN UNIVERSITIES TO PROMOTE KNOWLEDGE SHARING: THE CASE OF VIETNAM NATIONAL ƯNIVERSITY HANOI Dinh Van Toan*, Hoang Van Hai, Nguyen Phuong Mai V

THE RO LE OF ENTREPRENEƯRSHIP

DEVELOPMENT IN UNIVERSITIES TO PROMOTE

KNOWLEDGE SHARING: THE CASE OF

VIETNAM NATIONAL ƯNIVERSITY HANOI

Dinh Van Toan*, Hoang Van Hai, Nguyen Phuong Mai

Vietnom Nationol University Hanoi 144Xuan Thuy, (au Giay, Hon oi

*dinhvantoơn@vnu edu vn

ABSTRACT

!n the modern economy, effective knowledge sharing is being considered as a break- through soỉution to enhance competitive advantage and strengthen the position o f enterprises and the economy

as weỉl In a developing country ìike Vietnam, through training research actìvities and trans/erring scierìtific research resuìts, universities are contributing significantly to knowledge sharing and development However, activities to share and transfer knowledge within universitoes andfrom universities to enterpríses are evaluated to have some shortcomings Many research topics and research resu ìts are not reỉated to the reaỉ situation o fth e economy and responsive to the needs

ofth e appìicable research results On the contrary, som egood practical research results are not implemented and commercialized to bring benefits to enterprises and scientists as a means o f socio-economic development One o fth e reasonsfor this situation is that the structure

Common Platform to a Sustainable Society in the Dynamic Asia Paciíĩc I 27

and management o f universities in Vietnam is still affected heavily

by the bureaucratic and inactive way o f thinking This is a typical management process o fa bu reau in the subsidy system and the "ask - give" mechanism Furtherm ore, there is a lack o f entrepreneurship in universities to promote the knowledge transfer and sharing process Therefore, this paper /ocuses on anaìyzing the current situation o f knowledge sharing in the university and from the university to the society with the case study o f Vietnam National University Hanoi, and the role o f entrepreneurship development in the promotion and enhancement ofknowIedge sharing.

In terms o f scientiỊic contribution, through literature review

o f previous studies, this paper clarifìes the concept and contents o f

"entrepreneurship development" and "academic erìtrepreneurship" and their role in knowledge sharing frorrt universities to the industry and society Resuìts o f the case study at Vietnam N ational University rev eal

that the actuaì impact o f entrepreneurship development in universities

on knowledge sharing is still limited due to several external reasons Therefore, it is necessary to have policies and/avorabỉe mechanism that promote knowledge sharing through entrepreneurship deveìopment

In terms o f practical contribution, some proposed suggestions are applicable in Vietnam urìiversities to perfect the university governance model and promote knowledge sharing in the new development period Keỵwords: Knowìedge sharing, entrepreneurship development, academic entrepreneurship.

OBỊECTIVES OF THIS STƯDY

This paper focuses on analyzing the current situation of knowledge sharing from the university to the industry and society with the case study of Vietnam National University Hanoi, and the role

of entrepreneurship development in the promotion and enhancement

of knowledge sharing Based on VNU’s secondary data and primary data from in-depth intervievvs vvith key managers of VNU, research

28 I Asia Pacific Coníerence on lnformation Management 2016

results shovv that entrepreneurship formulation and development

in universities as well as policies and mechanism to govern the organization using business management approach is a íactor that promotes knovvledge sharing and enhancing innovation management vvhich contributes to socio-economic development There has been an increasing trend of the results of entrepreneurship development and its contribution to knovvledge sharing in Vietnam National University Hanoi However, the entrepreneurship development process still has some shortcomings and challenges Its role in knovvledge sharing and research results transfer is limited due to several reasons This paper proposes some suggestions to university governors to enhance entrepreneurship development, improve management mechanism tovvards business management spirit in order to promote knovvledge sharing and contribute to socio-economic development

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

DEVELOPMENT AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING IN UNIVERSITIES

Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial activities and

entrepreneurship development in university context

Entrepreneurship as a field of study is relatively young (Cooper

et al., 1 9 9 7 ) The deíinition of entrepreneurship has evolved from a trait or supply side (who is the entrepreneur) to a context or demand side approach (the iníluence of firms and m arkets on how, where, and why new en terprises are íounded) (Thornton, 1 9 9 9 ) The literature

on entrepreneurship and development defines entrepreneurship as the creation of new econom ic activity (Low and MacMillan, 1 9 8 8 ; Shane and Venkataraman, 2 0 0 0 ) , often resulting in the creation of new organizations (Schumpeter, 1 9 3 4 , p 66; Gartner, 1 9 8 9 ; Reynolds,

1 9 9 9 ), or the pursuit of innovation (Schumpeter, 1 9 3 4 ; for a review, see VVennekers and Thurik, 1 9 9 9 ; Davidsson et al., 2 0 0 1 )

From the w ork of Birch (1 9 8 1 ), entrepreneurship was measured

in terms of size - i.e., small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)

Common Plaưorm to a Sustainable Society in the Dynamic Asia Pacific I 29

Yet, if entrepreneurship is the creation of new organizations, it is not consistent to measure it in terms of existing firms Now the focus is on the phenomenon itself given data availability not only on new firms creation (Reynolds et al., 2 0 0 1 ) but also on the entrepreneurial process

- i.e the gestation, birth, and growth of firms (Reynolds, 2 0 0 0 )

Most economic, psychological and sociological research points to the fact that entrepreneurship is a process and not a static phenomenon Entrepreneurship is more than just a mechanical economic íactor (Pirich, 2001) Entrepreneurship has to do with change and is also commonly associated vvith choice-related issues Existing definitions of entrepreneurship often relate to the íunctional role of entrepreneurs

and include coordination, innovation, uncertainty bearing, Capital supply,

decision-making, ownership and resource allocation (Friijs et al., 2002).One operational deíinition of entrepreneurship that successíully synthesizes the functional roles of entrepreneurs is that of Wennekers and Thurik (1 9 9 9 ]: "the maniíest ability and willingness of individuals,

on their own, in teams within and outside existing organizations, to perceive and create new economic opportunities (new Products, nevv production methods, new organizational schemes and new product- market combinations) and to introduce their ideas in the market, in the face of uncertainty and other obstacles, by making decisions on location, form and the use of resources and institutions." Entrepreneurship is, hence, essentially a behavioral characteristic of a person Entrepreneurs may exhibit it only during a certain phase of their career or only vvith regard to certain activities (Carree and Thurik, 2002)

In response to colleges and universities becoming increasingly intersected with the private marketplace (Slaughter and Leslie,

1 9 9 7 ; Slaughter and Rhoades, 2 0 0 4 ), a large body of literature has emerged that addresses the implications of this "corporatization”

of the academy (e.g., Clark, 1998; Etzkowitz, 2 0 0 2 ; Geiger, 2 0 0 4 ; Kirp, 2 0 0 3 ; Slaughter and Leslie, 1 9 9 7 ; Slaughter and Rhoades,

2 0 0 4 ; VVashburn, 2 0 0 5 ) The application of entrepreneurship and

30 I Asia Paciíic Coníerence on Iníormation Management 2016

associated principles and practices is commonplace in this literature Etzkowitz ( 2 0 0 2 ) used entrepreneurship as a primary descriptor

of the transformation of MIT as a result of clear collaborations and alliances with private industry and governmental bodies Clark ( 1 9 9 8 ) conceptualized the "entrepreneurial transformation” of five European research universities in the direct context of these institutions íinding innovative methods for reducing heavy reliance on governmental support and subsequent oversight

The academic entrepreneurship may have some different forms Typically, these enterprises are closely related to the cycle of research - experimentation - transfer - practical application - commercialization

On the other hand, academic entrepreneurship can be established as a start-up of small and medium scale to cope with high risk

In addition to the establishment of academic enterprises, entrepreneurship in university is also developed through entrepreneurial activities The entrepreneurial activities observed in the universities are multi-fold They include the establishment of business

corporations, overheads, consultancy, Service to the community and

even scholarship Thereíore, Yokoyama (2 0 0 6 ) stated that terms such as “entrepreneurial" and "entrepreneurialism" in the context of universities are not necessarily to be understood with the idea of proíit- gain, risk taking, and even commercial activities Rather, the study of Yokoyama signiíies the universities attitudes in attempting to "stand up" and be self-reliant "Entrepreneurial" activities in this deíinition could relate to the promotion of their accountability to society as a whole;

"entrepreneurialism" is the process by vvhich the universities become engaged in more entrepreneurial activities than vvere previously According to Yokoyama (2006), the entrepreneurship development

in universities led to the change in their governance mechanism

as vvell when universities become more and more entrepreneurial Consequently, some different entrepreneurial types of university are formed as a direct result of the entrepreneurial process (Table 1)

Common Platform to a Sustainable Society in the Dynamic Asia Paciíic I 31

Table 1 Five en trepren eu riaì types o f universities

- Increase of institutions’ discretion

- The introduction of entrepreneurial culture

A Prototype - Review in governance, management,

1 (e.g.: Tokyo leadership and internal íunding

University) - Set up of institutional strategic planning

- Emphasis on the signiticance of enhancing accountability

An Entrepreneurial-

oriented University

(e.g.: VVaseda

University)

- The extension of entrepreneurial activities

- Market-oriented institutional policy

- Contribution to regional economy

- Institutional self-determination

An Adaptive - Substantial amount of income from

Entrepreneurial external tunding

4 University (e.g.: - Market-oriented governance and

Surrey) - Integration of entrepreneurial and

academic structure

- Autonomous and self-reliant institutions

- Clear risk sharing and responsibilityamong actors involved in the

5 An Ideal Type entrepreneurial activities

- Integration of entrepreneurial and academic culture, and managerial and collegial culture in an institution with no conílict between them

Source: Yokoyama, 2006.

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Besides, entrepreneurial terminology has also applied to research

addressing particular market- oriented activities that occur within

contemporary higher education environments For instance, there exists

an extensive body of literature that relies in part on entrepreneurial terminology to analyze university technology transíer activities and associated outcomes (e.g., Bercovitz and Feldman, 2006; Bercovitz et al., 2001; Feldman et al, 2002; Owen-Smith, 2005; Owen-Smith and Powell, 2003) Similary, scholars such as Colyvas and Powell (2007) have framed

in the life sciences as illustrations of academic entrepreneurship The market-oriented behaviors and activities of students have also sometimes been identified as being entrepreneurial For example, Mars et al (2008) theoretically developed the role of the state-sponsored student entrepreneur through an exploration of cases of students using university- housed Capital as levers for creating individual business ventures This literature reveals how entrepreneurship is sometimes used to articulate

and deconstruct the commercial activities that begin vvithin colleges and universities and are later realized within the private marketplace

Knowỉedge sharing in university context

Knovvledge sharing (KS) and vvhich is also called knowledge transfer (KT) is defined as "an exchange of knovvledge betw een two individuals: One who communicates knowledge and one who assimilates it In knowledge sharing, the focus is on human Capital and the interaction o f individuals” (Paulin and Suneson, 2 0 1 0 ) Within the frame of reíerence, both "knowledge transíer” (KT) and ‘*knowledge sharing” (KS) are used and discussed interchangeably (Ịonson, 2 0 0 8 )

In recent decades, in developed countries, knowledge sharing (KS) has becom e a strategic issue: as source of funding for the university research and as a policy tool for economic development Actually, universities have always involved in KS activities, they are not something new, "somehovv" discovered in recent years, as argued

by scholars in the Triple Helix or Mode Two traditions (Etzkowitz

Common Plaưorm to a Sustainable Society in the Dynamic Asia Paciíĩc I 33

and Leydesdorff, 2 0 0 0 ; Gibbons et al., 1 9 9 4 ), vvho propose the idea

of a new academic revolution that is characterized by universities becoming involved in KS activities The interactions betvveen university professors (not necessarily the universities themselves) and companies, back to the development of the chemical industry in the nineteenth century (Meyer-Thurow, 1 9 8 2 ) Hovvever, in the recent decade, the new trend is institutionalization of university - industry linkages through the direct involvement of the university

The knovvledge can be shared from university to the industry and the society at large in several ways Some academic staff are heavily involved vvith companies through university offices devoted to KT, a signiíicant number are concerned mainly with teaching and research, but may carry out som e occasional consultancy The change is in the type of activities undertaken by academic staff (in response to new demands) and their relative importance and, therefore, the need to support, manage and organize them in a more efficient way In other words, the scale and complexity of the universities' activities has increased, moving from what we could deíine as "craft" production

to something more akin to "industriar production, although it is in only a limited num ber of institutions that we can see the hallmarks of industrial production In a university, KS activities often have two main forms The internal KS process can be started with expertise and ideas exchange in conferences or transfer of technology or patent betvveen the scientists with other VNƯ members or training activities that promote KS to students For the external KS process, the university may join in activities such as organizing conferences, setting up enterprise incubation, directly transfer knovvledge to businesses, or calling joint

venture to com m ercialize the research Products, etc.

Roles o f entrepreneurship deveỉopment in urtiversity

to promote know!edge sharing

During the past two decades, a series of empirical studies in America and Europe, vvhich analyze the main sources of knovvledge

34 I AstìPacificConferenceonlnformation Management 2016

creation, and knovvledge diffusion mechanisms show that the stock

of knowledge economy can contribute positively to the growth rate of economic growth, only if there are sufficient mechanisms for disseminating this knowledge and innovation throughout the production system Under the nevv theory of Business Knowledge Society (Audretsch, 2 0 0 9 ), entrepreneurship is one of the key mechanisms of transíers in the process of diffusion of knowledge In other words, entrepreneurship is a key driver of endogenous grovvth,

o r else, it represents the link betvveen Capital stock of knowledge and

technological opportunities since it turns the stock of knowledge into economic knovvledge (the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship)

We also observed some differentiation in the levels at which academic entrepreneurship was applied based on national and regional contexts In particular, scholars who studied higher education phenomena with an entrepreneurial dimension vvithin Asian, European, and Latin American settings commonly íòcused on systemic change Specifically, six studies (Bain et al., 1 9 9 8 ; Krucken et al., 2 0 0 7 ; Kvviek, 2 0 0 3 ; Ryu, 1 9 9 8 ; Santiago et ai., 2 0 0 6 ; Slantcheva, 2 0 0 3 ; Yokoyama, 2 0 0 6 ) íocused on systemic change that involved some entrepreneurial characteristics within these three global regions Generally, the systemic change studied were anchored in broad shifts based on resource dependencies, increases in the academy's autonomy from State governance, and enhanced focus on the abilities and capacities of higher education systems to contribute to national and regional economic development The research on American, Australian, and Canadian higher education contained vvithin our final sample of articles primarily focused on institution-level change that inđuded topics such as the institutionalization of technology transfer units and knowledge commercialization activities vvithin college and universities (e.g., Dill, 1 9 9 5 ; Duke, 2 0 0 4 ; Harman and Harman, 2004; Powers, 2 0 0 4 ) and university-industry cơllaboration (e.g., Anderson,

2 0 0 1 ; Bradshavv et al., 2 0 0 3 ; Fisher and Atkinson-Grosjean, 2002;

Common Plarform to a Sustainable Society in the Dynamic Asia Pacific I 35

Harman, 1 9 9 9 ) Thus, we found academic entrepreneurship to be a phenomenon that has been understood at differing levels of analysis that are at least partially dependent of national and regional contexts.One proposed explanation for the aíbresaid geographical differentiation is that the neo- liberal forces of economic globalization that began iníluencing Western higher education systems in the 1 9 8 0 s (Slaughter and Leslie, 1 9 9 7 ; Slaughter and Rhoades, 2 0 0 4 ) also more recently began permeating other, less-developed regions On the one hand, VVestern higher education systems such those in America, Australia, and Canadian have been incentivized at the national an d/or regional levels to respond to the implications of economic globalization over the course of the past several decades On the other hand, higher education systems in developing countries and regions remain in the earlier stages of responding to the shiíting social and economic conditions associated with globalization Thus, the disruption of Western higher education systems has become relatively stable vvith

scholarly focus now being íocused on entrepreneurial responses to globalization at the institutional and disciplinary/proíessional levels

of higher education Hovvever, the disruption of non-Western higher

education systems by the globalỉzation movement has remained active and thereby continues to capture the attention of higher education scholars Regardless o f the reason for geographical differentiation in the application of academic entrepreneurship to higher education scholarship, this observation illustrates the value of scholars remaining

attentive to the various levels of unit analysis as recommended by Low

and MacMillan (1 9 8 8 ), Martinelli (1 9 9 4 ) and Thornton (1 9 9 9 ) when conducting research that includes academic entrepreneurship

According to Wright et al (2 0 0 9 ), in addition to concerns about the nature of their human Capital, the ability of business schools to

fill knovvledge gaps in the development of academ ic entrepreneurship

is constrained by the institutional structures of universities which influence: the strategies of the university and the business school;

36 I Asia Paciíic Coníerence on Iníormation Management 2016

links between business schools, TTOs and scientists; and process issues relating to differences in language and codes, goal differences, incentives and revvards, expertise differences and the content of interactions We conclude that if business schools are to play a more prominent role in academic entrepreneurship there is a need to develop internal university processes and policies that promote rather than hinder internal knowledge flows betvveen business schools, TTOs

and Science departm ents.

The role of entrepreneurship development in KS can be seen in two ways Fỉrstly, enterprises in university bridge the gap betvveen scientists, the government and other external enterprises ỉn many different phases from transferring, trial production, selling patents or joint investment in new Products All these types of activities will directly affect KS process Secondly, the way we structure and run the university that is more and more entrepreneurial is also a signiíicant part of KS The reason is very simple that using output-períòrmance evaluation system, all parties wỉll gain beneíits These activities bring more beneíits to both parties

Figure 1 Research framework

From the literature revievv of entrepreneurship development and knowledge sharing, it is assumed that these two concepts are closely

Common Plaưorm to a Sustainable Society in the Dynamic Asia Pacitĩc I 37

linked together and the remainder of this paper is to use the case of Vietnam National ưniversity Hanoi to illustrate the following research framework (Figure 1)

EN TREPREN EURSH IP DEVELOPMENT AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING - TH E CASE STUDY OF VIETNAM NATIONAL

UNIVERSITY HANOI

As discussed in the previous part, entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial activities are increasingly important for the KS process of any academic institution In Vietnam National University Hanoi (VNU), the Board of management has long been concerned with the issue of how to promote entrepreneurship and use academic enterprises to transfer and share knovvledge from the university to the industry and society at large This section, therefore, discusses two main issues: (1) How entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial activities have been developed in VNU and (2) How entrepreneurship development has contributed to KS process in VNU

Facts and Ịỉgures ofentrepreneurship and entrepreneurial activities in Vietnam National University

Entrepreneurial activities include all kinds of activities that promote the entrepreneurship in an organization Currently, VNU has done some initial steps to promote KS by setting up three academic enterprises vvhich belong to three members of VNU, namely (1) Natural Science Ltd Co., (2) TASS Co., and (3) IMBT Biotechnology Jsc Three en terprises are very active in linking the university with the industry and society Furthermore, VNU is transforming the Center of Cooperation and Knovvledge Transfer into a Scientiíic and Technology Enterprise to promote knowledge sharing for the application of research results in practice We will look at main facts of entrepreneurial activities that have been carried out in the mentioned three companies and the results of these activities