The entrepreneurial orientation of university departments and its relationship to the incidence of commercial activity

The extant literature contains a wide array of studies investigating entrepreneurial orientation in private sector organizations. Entrepreneurship is now seen as a potential approach towards improving the performance of public sector organizations such as universities (Morris and Jones 1999; Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada 2001). With the rising importance of the commercialization of knowledge from universities, a number of studies have examined the role of universities in new venture formation, incubation and consulting. There remains, however, a need to determine if entrepreneurial orientation (EO), defined as organizational level entrepreneurship, affects the incidence of commercial activity at Canadian universities. Using the five-step scale development approach suggested by Churchill (1979), the researcher developed and validated a scale measuring entrepreneurial orientation within university departments. The measure was used to evaluate a model that posits a positive relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and university commercial activity. The improved understanding of these forces within universities may result in an increased commercialization of university research.; This study develops an improved understanding of entrepreneurial orientation within universities. The construct of EO at universities was defined and clarified using in-depth interviews with 40 faculty members from four universities in Southern Ontario. This exploratory research yielded items, which were then examined for inclusion in the exploratory factor analysis. The new findings were further evaluated using structural equation modeling.; Respondents defined university EO from the perspectives of four themes: organizational culture, outcomes of entrepreneurship, people, and current emphasis. In addition to the four themes, exploratory study findings point to unconventionality, risk-taking, opportunity recognition, and external orientation as the dimensions of EO. More importantly, potential participant-generated items became available for use in the subsequent confirmatory study. While examining the relationship between EO and its dimensions, this study also provides evidence for previous theoretical suggestions that EO is a single latent construct with a number of inter-correlated dimensions.; The confirmatory study analyzed sample data to evaluate the proposed model. Once the scale was purified, data were evaluated for use in factor analysis. A three-factor result was found to be an acceptable parsimonious solution. After this finding was confirmed through structural equation modeling, the factors were named and analyzed. Study results supported both hypotheses, demonstrating that EO is a latent variable with interrelated dimensions and that EO is positively related to departmental performance.; The findings of this study contribute to an understanding of the dynamic capability approach, within the framework of resource-based theory. This examination of the precepts of this theory in a university environment exposes the role of dynamic capabilities in public sector organizations. The scales developed herein will prove to be a valuable tool for university administrators. In addition to pointing to unconventionality, risk-taking and external orientation as the dimensions of EO in university departments, this research also provides a tool for administrators to measure the level of each dimension in their universities. An enhanced understanding of the interrelationships of these forces will allow Canadian universities to achieve higher levels of commercialization, benefiting local communities through increased new-venture creation.