MAKING ENGINEERING DEPARTMENTS ENTREPRENEURIAL: A DISCUSSION!

The concept of an “entrepreneurial orientation” is well established in the literature on the strategic posture of firms. Increasingly, large organizations are also turning to entrepreneurship in their efforts to become flexible and respond to pressures to “do more with less”. To understand what it means for engineering departments to be “entrepreneurial”, interviews with forty faculty members explored this issue. Transcripts of the interviews were analysed using content analysis software. Next, focus groups were employed to identify and establish face validity for the items developed. The results suggest risk-taking is the most important dimension in developing an entrepreneurial engineering department, and a strong requirement for its continued competitiveness. Further, study also supports the notion that entrepreneurial engineering faculty will develop higher levels of Industry collaboration, funding and reputation – leading to higher success for internal university stakeholders.