Effect of the university’s entrepreneurial orientation on the academic’s entrepreneurial propensity

Abstract

This article addresses the following research question: does the entrepreneurial orientation of a university influence the entrepreneurial propensity of its academics? To answer this question, the authors conducted a two-phase study. First, based on a literature review of the entrepreneurial university and Nelles and Vorley’s theoretical framework on entrepreneurial architecture, they developed a conceptual model and research instrument to assess academics’ perceptions of the characteristics most likely attributed to the entrepreneurial university and their effects on an academic’s entrepreneurial propensity. Second, the authors used the research instrument to conduct a pilot study of the effect of a Canadian university’s entrepreneurial orientation on its academics’ entrepreneurial propensity. The pilot study, using the proposed methodology with detailed accounts of collecting, analyzing and interpreting the data, suggests that the proposed methodology is appropriate for measuring the relationship alluded to in the research question. Furthermore, the methodology can help university leadership in designing possible interventions to correct identified deficiencies in the university’s entrepreneurial architecture to stimulate academic entrepreneurship on campus.