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Strategic agency and institutional change: investigating the role of universities in regional innovation systems (RISs). Regional Studies. Past analyses rooted in the thick description of regions successful in constructing regional innovation systems have given way to analyses more focused on the intentionality in these processes, and how actors in regions with their own wider networks can shape these high-level changes in regional fortunes. As part of this, place-based leadership has emerged as a promising concept to restore both agency and territory to these discussions, but it remains under-theorized in key areas. This paper contributes to these debates by arguing that there remains a reduction of agency to organizations, and that place-based leadership research needs to take into account organizational dynamics and interests in for bettering our understanding of the dynamics of place-based leadership in regional innovation systems.

In modern, knowledge-based societies, universities play an increasingly important role in achieving economic growth and social progress. Their traditional roles and missions are being broadened as to accommodate activities that facilitate engagement with various stakeholder groups. Universities do not want to be regarded as isolated and separated islands from their surrounding communities and have therefore developed internal mechanisms to bridge their activities with the needs and expectations of external actors. In this paper, we take stock of recent scholarly work and ongoing debates surrounding universities' third mission (TM). Broadly speaking, TM refers to the changing roles and functions of universities which, despite recent developments, have always been a matter of debate amongst academics and society at large.

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This paper investigates the accountability mechanisms introduced in the universities in the Nordic countries by building on a typology of accountability types. By utilizing survey data, it analyses how academics experience the changes in accountability mechanisms, and how they perceive the impact of these changes on their performance. The analysis shows that especially political/bureaucratic and managerial accountability demands have been strengthened. This development has fostered debates on how to measure academic performance. Some academics, more in Denmark than in the other countries, have experienced the development as a sign of mistrust.

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Public organizations face two seemingly contradictory pressures: on the one hand they have to handle more diversified demands from their environments; on the other hand they are increasingly required to act as strategic organizations and display coherent behavior. In order to shed light on the mechanisms available to public organizations to cope with this paradox, this paper investigates the strategic plans of four European universities over a ten-year period of major organizational change. It is argued that organizational identity can be instrumental to a congruent and credible self-representation of the university. In this way organizational identity is characterized by incorporating consistent narrative articulating compliance to diverse institutional frameworks, commitment to organizational distinctiveness, and creating a sensible rationale for strategic change. By this triple function, the communicated organizational identity moderates the risks of uncertainty in strategic planning, for instance in relation to the assessment of achieved objectives. The subtleties of the specific combinations of the three different functions and the implications for institutional leadership are explored.