As demand grows for alternatives to the traditional model of earning a university degree based on coursework, a new model where universities grant degrees based on skills competencies is gaining momentum and credibility.
Entrepreneurial former Stanford students Kit Rodgers, Steve Garrity and Divya Nag discuss whether entrepreneurship can be taught or learned, and whether entrepreneurial skills come from innate qualities within an individual. Concepts explored include exposure to conducive environments, being entrepreneurially-minded as a member of a team, and the importance of pattern recognition.
Higher education is facing unprecedented levels of change – MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) providing remote access, new providers developing new approaches, students’ expectations and demands rising. These changes will increase competition and require radical innovation from existing organisations in order to survive.
As innovation becomes an important skill set, large organizations will seek to obtain training for their employees. We stand on the brink of an innovation training “land rush” with few rules and little information to identify the best programs. Evaluating an innovation training program is critical. Assess programs based on their depth, the experience of the trainers, the referenced body of knowledge and the inclusion of practical examples and hands-on exercises. Ignore certifications, because no standard exists.
The legacy of the industrial education model is strong. There is little dispute that the model must change at a system level, but progress towards and evolution of the needed changes are still glacially slow. Inspiring examples of a 21st century model are present today, but the imperative to build an education model that is open, connected, engaged and personalised has not yet reached its tipping point.
There has been a huge amount of growth in the outsourcing industry over recent years, so much so that it has become engrained in the way many large enterprises run their business. As the industry matures and the range of outsourcing services extends to higher value activities, client firms raise the bar regarding their expectations, seeking the delivery of high impact innovation from their vendors.
The University of Cambridge has partnered up with global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company in an active collaboration programme helping to find and develop potential new medicines, particularly in the areas of greatest need. Gianluigi Cuccureddu comments on the challenges and possibilities of the initiative.
In their new book The Innovative University Clayton Christensen and Henry Eyring explore why higher education is heading for disruption. As budget deficits and healthcare costs squeeze government support for higher education, enrollments at traditional institutions will steadily shrink. This will force the education sector to major changes and the students will come out winners, as is typical when disruption reshapes an industry. InnovationManagement asked the writers to elaborate on trends in higher education and the way education is delivered to students.
Higher education is heading for disruption. In the new book The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education From the Inside Out, Clayton Christensen and Henry Eyring explore why this is inevitable and what traditional universities and colleges can do about it. Professor Bill Fischer, himself an avid believer in disruption, reviews this book covering an extremely timely subject.
Today’s University is a rich resource for companies seeking game-changing technological breakthroughs. In this in-depth article Melba Kurman looks at the benefits of open innovation partnerships between companies and American university researchers.
From Science to Business on effective firm–university partnerships is a new book on the university-enterprise arm of innovation. Karin Wall talks with author Dr. Georges Haour, Professor at the executive education institute IMD.
As Vice Provost for Innovation at the University of Southern California and the Executive Director of the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation, Krisztina Holly is dedicated to helping students, academics and entrepreneurs make maximum impact with their ideas. Krisztina tells IM a bit more about her experiences.
Existing technologies, such as telecommunications, are often designed for the developed world. But an innovative focus is also urgently needed to address issues in developing countries. This is something that the Royal Institute of Technology, KTH, has acted upon and is sending students to Africa with the purpose to identify needs and develop innovative solutions. Read more in this interview with Professor Margareta Norell Bergendahl.
In today’s “knowledge-based” society, it is becoming increasingly imperative for companies to “mine” knowledge and technology generated by universities. Why? Because the outcome of such industry-university collaborations help companies create new activities and jobs.
Invented in Germany, marketed in the USA. This sums up in a nutshell how Germany often lets other countries chip in and capitalize on its research achievements. But now all that’s going to change. In an unprecedented cooperative venture, the three DAX giants BASF, Merck and SAP will be joining forces with the leading universities of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Karlsruhe and Darmstadt to set up an innovation platform. Its name is “InnovationLab” and its aim is to emulate Silicon Valley in the Rhine-Neckar region.
