Universities in the global knowledge economy: the eclectic paradigm

As institutions of knowledge generation and diffusion, in the course of their activities universities should take into account not only the level of an organization or a country but also that of individual knowledge transformation, whereby creating favorable conditions for developing creativity of both graduates and academic staff who form the basis of the intellectual capital of the university and the country. While functioning in the global competitive climate, the national intellectual capital is a factor of socio-economic development and international competitive status of individual countries. During decades the concept of university has been evolving toward determining the operation mode of a university as that of an institution providing mass education, carrying out fundamental and applied researches as well as largely participating in local, national and global development. However, the university operation paradigm remains eclectic. Equal relationships between universities, government and industry in a knowledge-based society are well-defined by the concept of triple helix innovation systems engaging NGOs. World-class universities tend ever more to incorporate the feature of an entrepreneurial university actively competing in the global academic domain.