O estabelecimento da orientação empreendedora no ambiente acadêmico : transformações institucionais em universidades no Brasil e na Suécia

Abstract

The topic of entrepreneurial orientation has found broad support in the literature related to the fields of strategy and entrepreneurship. In this study, entrepreneurial orientation is assumed as a corollary concept of the strategy field, especially of the approach based on organizational adaptation or managerial intentionality. Regarding the empirical field, universities are in a relevant and little-explored context in the study of strategic action, considering the constantly challenging environmental dynamics, due to the need for a closer relationship with the society as a whole. In order to answer the environmental changes and to interfere in their own environmental dynamic, universities have been moving towards new organizational models, especially the entrepreneurial or innovative university, which has been used in different economic and social realities. In this context, this research aims to analyze the establishment of the entrepreneurial orientation in the academic environment, based on theoretical propositions and institutional transformations accomplished by universities in Brazil and Sweden towards an entrepreneurial university model. Methodologically, this research focuses on a multiple or comparative case study, of qualitative nature, and set on three universities: two in Brazil, the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) and the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), and one in Sweden, Lund University (LU). As a direct data source, on-site interviews were conducted with several managers from the researched universities. Secondary data were also collected from institutional websites and documents, as well as books, papers, etc. The results show the key role played by the strategic management of the researched universities in establishing an entrepreneurial orientation, based on the indeterministic perspective of the environment. The three cases researched present several actions and mechanisms of innovation and entrepreneurship towards an entrepreneurial university model, through recurrent entrepreneurial behaviors over time. The cases also reveal an origin link of the third academic mission with the research activities and meaningful rooting in the surrounding environment.