Over the last three decades in the UK, successive Conservative and Labour governments have implemented policies and initiatives aimed at widening access to higher education. During the same period, entrepreneurship education has emerged as an important aspect of higher education provision, as it has in other industrially developed and developing…

This article summarizes the main findings and recommendations of a report published in December 2010 by the Irish Academy of Engineering (IAE). The report, representing the views of a committee of distinguished Irish engineers from a wide range of disciplines, addresses the role of engineering research in Ireland's economic development and the…

This paper suggests that the service mindset of academia needs attention to ensure that the potential of university-industry linkages for creating value is used strategically in building advantage in the increasingly competitive market for international higher education. Universities should clearly articulate the value of the higher education-…

This paper examines the educational implications of research collaboration between university and industry for the research training of doctoral students. It is concerned with the issues of how research training is constructed in such collaborations and what might be the effects of collaboration on doctoral students' learning. The study adopts a…

It is important that education and training programmes align with the needs of the professions they are designed to support. The culinary arts and hospitality industry is a vocational area that needs to be examined more closely to ensure that the skills and competencies taught are those that will actually be needed when students matriculate from…

This paper reports an investigation of governance issues in Italian academic spin-offs that arise from the need to balance the powers of two categories of partner: academic inventors and external investors (such as established companies and venture capital funds). The relationship between inventors and external investors, jointly pursuing a…

Knowledge sharing can enhance learning and help to build the knowledge workforce. This paper reports on a study of knowledge sharing behaviour among undergraduate students in Malaysia. Knowledge sharing was found to be influenced by the mechanisms used, various barriers to communication and the motivations behind knowledge sharing. The mechanisms…

For decades, entrepreneurs have been identified as critical change agents in socio-economic development. It is probably safe to say that some countries have had more success than others in the promotion of entrepreneurship; and in that context it can be argued that South Africa's successes are not yet clear. The promotion of entrepreneurship…

In its broadest context, "social entrepreneurship" refers to individuals and organizations that engage in entrepreneurial activities with social objectives. Whereas this concept and its constituent elements are well-researched and acknowledged in industrialized countries (such as the USA and UK) (Thompson, Alvy and Lees, 2000, p 328) and to some…

A challenge faced by management graduates in promoting intrapreneurship to achieve competitive advantage is the use of motivational techniques that build commitment to entrepreneurial behaviour. Despite the acknowledged importance of rewards to encourage innovation, there is surprisingly little empirical evidence to provide guidance on which…

The small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) sector has been widely recognized as an engine of economic growth in South Africa. The implementation of the National Small Business Strategy (NSBS) in 1995 established important objectives for the sector to address such problems as lack of access to markets and procurement, lack of access to finance…

It is estimated that 50-70% of all South African businesses are family-owned and that these businesses form the backbone of the South African economy, their qualities providing stability and resilience in the changing society of the nation. Succession is one of the biggest challenges for family business owners. Research shows that only 33% of all…

Procurement in the corporate world is increasingly complex, multi-faceted and interdisciplinary. This paper explores existing knowledge specifications relating to procurement management competencies and proposes a new procurement management competency framework (PMCF) and a competency-based postgraduate programme for postgraduate students in…

Employment of agriculture graduates in Iran is a major problem that needs to be addressed. There are three main issues: lack of robust strategies for linking agricultural higher education and the labour market, the lack of relevance of agricultural curricula to the real needs of the labour market, and diminishing levels of government services for…

This paper presents an attempt to overcome the contemporary obsession with "learning" and proposes that current practices in higher education are aligned too closely with the educational theories and practices developed within pre-university compulsory education. The author takes the position that higher education is substantially different from…