Engagement and collaboration vision, culture and attitudes

This blog post is part of a series exploring the factors within the key themes that contribute to university readiness for engagement, as identified by the Engagement Readiness Investigation Report. 

Organizational culture shapes all traits of organizations, including soft (beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, customs, etc.) and hard factors (structure, policies, rules, the provision of staff, training, technology, and other resources, etc.). In order to transition to an organizational environment that is ready to engage with external partners, it is necessary for HEIs to have a well-developed collaborative culture which includes institutional willingness for change, openness, flexibility and trust. 

Read the whole article to find out more about: 

• strategic orientation towards engagement and meaningful social impact 
• administrative structure and policies that facilitate engagement 
• collaboration-attuned hiring and career advancement policies.

Link to the blog post: https://engagementready.eu/2022/03/31/open-adaptive-and-collaborative-organisational-culture/  

Link to the Engagement Readiness Investigation Report: https://engagementready.eu/engagement-readiness-investigation-report/  

The Engagement Readiness Toolkit offers you quick tips for improving your organization’s engagement readiness level. If you don’t have the time to go through any other material, you can at least take this syntesized piece of advice with you through the day and reflect on it in your work. 

This one, as all suggested quick tips, is based on the Engagement Readiness Investigation Report, available for download on the Engagement Readiness Monitor website. 

This study attempted to examine the effect of organizational commitment on employee engagement among universities’ administrators in public universities of Malaysia. For the purpose of the study, data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 400 participants consisting of administrators in public universities in Malaysia. Collected data were analyzed using partial least square (PLS) structured equation modeling with the support of SMART PLS 2.0. Findings revealed that affective commitment and normative commitment has significant effect on employee engagement while continuance commitment was not found to have any significant effect on employee engagement. The outcomes of this empirical study will help in designing appropriate human resource management policies to improve the engagement level of administrator at all public universities in Malaysia.

Reference: Ruslan, R. I., Islam, M. A., Noor, I. M., Mat, N., & Amiruddin, A. A. (2019). Organizational Commitment And Employee Engagement Among Administrators In Public Universities In Malaysia. Sains Humanika, 11(2-2).

Link to the full article: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335686068_Organizational_Commitment_And_Employee_Engagement_Among_Administrators_In_Public_Universities_In_Malaysia

Think about what have you read; how can you use what you learned to improve engagement readiness?

The interview data was used to create two case studies – one for a charity and one for a private sector organisation. Both organisations were ‘advanced’ in their management development journey, that is, they had considered most of the factors found to be important for the success of the management development programme and had therefore reached higher levels in the maturity framework. A further, third case study was also developed. This describes an organisation that took part in the first stage of the research in 2014, as a result of which they received a gap analysis report. In 2015–16 the organisation took part in an action-learning process, designed to help it take action to focus on the identified gaps in their management development approach. The writeup of this case study therefore contains in-depth information about how and why they adapted and evolved their management development programme. 

Link to the full case study: cipd.co.uk/Images/developing-managers_2017-case-studies_tcm18-18366.pdf 

This case provides an excellent example of a formal university strategy that explicitly encourages engagement and collaboration. 

Gdansk University of Technology is one of the oldest universities in Poland; however, in recent years it has opened itself up to the economic and social changes and demands of the environment, becoming an important actor in the regional economy. The university’s new strategy strongly encourages cooperation with business and the commercialisation of research results. An important role of supporting UBC is played by several tacit and explicit processes and structures that are changing the perception of the university in the regional innovation and economic development. In this context, the newly established Centre for Knowledge and Technology Transfer (CKTT), and the Excento Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) drive the technological commercialisation activities of the university. 

Link to the full case study: https://www.ub-cooperation.eu/pdf/cases/E_Case_Study_Gdansk.pdf 

Think about what have you read; how can you use what you learned to improve engagement readiness?

The management of a HEI could contribute to the building or strengthening of a culture of engagement by consciously steering HEI’s human resources towards engagement within a consistent management model. How to do this? Find out by reading the section “Managing the human resources for engagement readiness” of the blog post The Human Factor in Higher Education Institutions’ Engagement. The conclusions in the blog post were made by analysing Jamk University of Applied Sciences’ conducted expert interviews for the Engagement Readiness Investigation Report. 

Link to the blog post: https://engagementready.eu/2021/09/14/the-human-factor-in-higher-education-institutions-engagement/  

Download the full Engagement Readiness Investigation Report: https://engagementready.eu/engagement-readiness-investigation-report/ 

Think about what have you read; how can you use what you learned to improve engagement readiness?

The Engagement Readiness Toolkit offers you quick tips for improving your organization’s engagement readiness level. If you don’t have the time to go through any other material, you can at least take this syntesized piece of advice with you through the day and reflect on it in your work. 

This one, as all suggested quick tips, is based on the Engagement Readiness Investigation Report, available for download on the Engagement Readiness Monitor website. 

The article offers an analysis of the organizational culture at a higher education institution as in the case of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, conducted in order to study the students’ involvement in this culture and to draw conclusions as to what organizational culture principles are internalized by the students. The study used survey methodology and the OCAI (Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument) tool. The article’s content is based on the methods of analyzing, synthesizing and aggregating the data acquired during the empirical study. The article concludes that, in the students’ opinion, a hierarchy culture prevails at the university and that the students potentially expect some changes in the style of that organizational culture; it should be pointed out that this piece of diagnostics sets the direction for further development in terms of which the progress of the university’s organizational culture will have to be consistently adjusted and stimulated. 

Reference: Vasyakin, B.S., Ivleva, M.I., Pozharskaya, Y.L., & Shcherbakova, O.I. (2016). A Study of the Organizational Culture at a Higher Education Institution (Case Study: Plekhanov Russian University of Economics (PRUE)). International journal of environmental and science education, 11, 11515-11528. 

Link to the full article: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1121254.pdf  

Think about what have you read; how can you use what you learned to improve engagement readiness?

As universities promote and implement technology transfer activities, it has become increasingly important for universities to pinpoint university-, college-, and department-specific factors that enable academic technology transfer activities. The paper proses that within academic institutions a culture of entrepreneurship is the most important factor in generating economic gains from university entrepreneurial activities. It posits that differences in entrepreneurial culture across universities partially accounts for the variations in entrepreneurship outcomes between universities. It further proposes several factors which, when combined, create a culture of entrepreneurship which other universities could model in order to promote academic entrepreneurship.

Find out more from the full article (not open-access online): Osiri, J. K., McCarty, M. M., & Jessup, L. (2013). Entrepreneurial culture in institutions of higher education: impact on academic entrepreneurship. Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 16, 1.

Go through the following slides to find out how an HEI could foster a culture of engagement through the creation and use of role models.

This case provides an excellent example of an institution that embraces a culture of collaboration and engagement at all levels of the organization. The driver for the institution to grow this culture is to develop successful and impactful graduates. 

The Management Centre Innsbruck (MCI) in Austria strategically engages with employers to improve teaching and learning and enhance student employability. From the top-level of the institution to the bottom, MCI embraces cooperation with industry as a means for developing graduates who possess the knowledge they need to succeed and make significant contributions in their fields and in society at large.  

For this reason, MCI approaches their business partnerships very strategically. They invite specifically-chosen members in industry into the university as partners in the development and delivery of their programmes. This has benefits for both sides. Firstly, students benefit from having curricula aligned with the needs of the industry with material being delivered directly from professionals in-practice. This generates a more direct path to employment. Businesses benefit from having graduates who are job-ready as well as being able to better scout and win top student talent. 

Link to the full case study: https://www.ub-cooperation.eu/pdf/cases/W_Case_Study_MCI.pdf 

Think about what have you read; how can you use what you learned to improve engagement readiness?

Culture provides the main background of knowledge increase. As an important sub culture, academic culture has a large impact on the development of knowledge creation. This research studies academic culture and knowledge management in higher education system. For the purpose of study, a sample including academic scholars and experts (academic staff members) was chosen using objective sampling and interviewed. Interviews continued until implicit effective cultural aspects and factors on the knowledge management of academic staff members were identified and described. Qualitative stage of current study led to the identification of effective cultural factors on knowledge management. Additionally, the constructs of knowledge culture in higher education system was identified considering research theoretical bases and findings.

Reference: Sarmadi, M. R., Nouri, Z., Zandi, B., & Lavasani, M. G. (2017). Academic culture and its role in knowledge management in Higher Education system. International journal of environmental and science education, 12(5), 1427-1434.

Link to the full article: http://www.ijese.net/makale_indir/IJESE_1907_article_5973295d0b247.pdf

Think about what have you read; how can you use what you learned to improve engagement readiness?

Knowledge sharing is a significant component of success in knowledge management. In Saudi Arabia, knowledge management is often lacking when it comes to knowledge sharing adoption, especially between academic staff. This research aims to investigate various factors of knowledge sharing adoption for eLearning communities in Saudi Arabia and to examine the effect of culture as a moderating role on the relationships between these factors and academics’ attitude. Therefore, a framework is aimed at sharing knowledge within the eLearning communities is developed. Data has been collected from public universities in Saudi Arabia. Partial Least Square approach has been applied to analyse the data. The results show individual factors (such as openness in communication, interpersonal trust) and technology acceptance factors (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) significantly influence knowledge sharing attitude, while the relationship between people self-motivation and knowledge sharing attitude is insignificant. Subjective norm and attitude significantly impact behavioral intention toward knowledge sharing adoption in Saudi universities’ eLearning communities.

Reference: Chandran, D., Alammari, A.M. Influence of Culture on Knowledge Sharing Attitude among Academic Staff in eLearning Virtual Communities in Saudi Arabia. Inf Syst Front 23, 1563–1572 (2021).

Link to the full acticle: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10796-020-10048-x

Note that the article is not open-access.

Think about what have you read; how can you use what you learned to improve engagement readiness?

On the following interactive cards you will find engagement motivators of staff. Turn the card to find an description of each motivator. The motivators are based on the UBC report 2018 (link below). 

Link to the UBC report 2018: https://www.ub-cooperation.eu/pdf/final_report2017.pdf 

Culture provides the main background of knowledge increase. As an important sub culture, academic culture has a large impact on the development of knowledge creation. This research studies academic culture and knowledge management in higher education system. For the purpose of study, a sample including academic scholars and experts (academic staff members) was chosen using objective sampling and interviewed. Interviews continued until implicit effective cultural aspects and factors on the knowledge management of academic staff members were identified and described. Qualitative stage of current study led to the identification of effective cultural factors on knowledge management. Additionally, the constructs of knowledge culture in higher education system was identified considering research theoretical bases and findings.

Reference: Sarmadi, M.R., Nouri, Z., Zandi, B. & Lavasani, M.G. (2017). Academic culture and its role in knowledge management in higher Education system. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 12(5), 1427-1434.

Link to the full article: http://www.ijese.net/makale_indir/IJESE_1907_article_5973295d0b247.pdf

Think about what have you read; how can you use what you learned to improve engagement readiness?

In this article, the authors present a conceptual framework of academic consulting and explore its impacts on universities and the benefits to innovating firms. They distinguish between different three types of academic consulting:

• opportunity-driven
• commercialisation-driven
• research-driven

Using this typology allowed the authors to evaluate the varying impact of different consulting activities on universities and firms. They found that consulting has limited impact on biasing academic research towards more ‘applied’ themes. Secondly, they found that consulting is positively associated with academics’ research productivity for research-driven and, to a lesser extent, commercialisation-driven consulting while involvement in opportunity-driven consulting has a negative impact. Thirdly, they differentiate between different functions of academic consulting for different types of firms. Commercialization-driven consulting allows firms to accelerate development along a chosen path of in-sourced technology. Research-driven consulting is used mainly by large firms in research-intensive sectors for externally informing and validating the direction of their R&D and long-term product development efforts. Opportunity-driven consulting is commissioned mainly by new technology-based firms seeking to compensate for lacking expertise or equipment.

Read the full article:

Perkmann, M. & Walsh, K. (2008). Engaging the scholar – Three forms of academic consulting and their impact on universities and industry

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.925.5075&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Knowledge sharing is the primary source of gaining competitive advantage and achieving long term success. Knowledge sharing is affected by many factors and the foremost of them is the culture of an organization. Organizational culture will help in developing the knowledge sharing practices among the members of an organization and achieve organizational objectives. The aim of the present study; firstly, to find out how the culture affects knowledge sharing in UTM (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia) and which of the cultural factors are more prevalent in developing knowledge sharing practices; secondly, to determine the level of knowledge sharing among the academic staff holding administrative positions in various faculties and departments of the university. Using quantitative approach, data was collected through survey questionnaire from a sample of 132 respondents. The analysis was carried out using descriptive and inferential statistics. Three of the dimensions of OC, workgroup support, information technology, and social interaction are found to be most significant in UTM, while reward system is found to be insignificant. Knowledge sharing is found to be high among academic staff holding administrative posts. The study concludes that organizational culture factors, workgroup support, information technology and social interaction are the most important factors that are helping in enhancing knowledge sharing in UTM. Finally, some recommendations related to the future studies are also included like investigating all levels and incorporating both administrative and academic staff, comparison with other public sector universities and between public and private sector universities.

Reference: Mahmoud, Mohammad & Md Rasli, Amran & Othman, Mohd & Sukati, Inda. (2014). The effect of organizational culture on knowledge sharing among academic staff holding an administrative position in university. Journal of Management Info. 1. 21-25.

Link to the full article: http://dx.doi.org/10.31580/jmi.v3i1.13

Think about what have you read; how can you use what you learned to improve engagement readiness?

Universities can motivate academics to engage by giving out special awards for public and industry engagememt. A good example is the The European Research Council’s (ERC) Public Engagement with Research Award.

Link to the website: https://erc.europa.eu/managing-your-project/public-engagement-research-award