Impact Assessment for the Year 2018
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Impact assessment for the year 2018 November 2019 2 IMPACT ASSESSMENT 2018 UNIVERSITY OF AGDER - SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND LAW UNIVERSITY OF AGDER - SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND LAW IMPACT ASSESSMENT 2018 3 Defining impact The school’s mission informs the way we define impact. We bring several high-quality inputs to this effort: We Our mission statement is: ‘We co-create knowledge are part of a modern and well-funded public university Our system for We complement this in-depth section with more by applying international, innovative and responsible that offers faculty members designated time to do current highlights from the recent year, and we draw perspectives’. We implement this mission by educating research and to engage with stakeholders. Our strong measuring impact on both qualitative and quantitative methods when responsible professionals with a global mindset and portfolio of faculty members has over the past few years generating the necessary data for this. Three sources innovative attitude, as well as by doing relevant research been bolstered by the recruitment of several high calibre The impact assessment follows a set structure where are particularly important here: a) the university runs a that allows us to collaborate with strong international researchers. The high number of applicants to our we report on how our activities have produced positive large-scale quantitative survey of recent graduates that partners. We also implement this mission by interacting courses ensures that the students who enter our school effects, changes or benefits for our stakeholders in offers a number of indications on how our educational closely with businesses, state institutions and civil are bright and motivated. Finally, an important asset areas associated with responsible, innovative and offering has impacted on our graduates as well as the society to develop and disseminate knowledge. in its own right is our long standing and collaborative international dimensions. It ends with a presentation impact they generate in their new professional roles; relations with a number of business and government of some basic metrics related to our graduates and to b) the annual development conversation between In our strategy we are aiming to build a distinct profile stakeholders in our region and beyond. our research. The impact assessment is intended to scholarly staff and their managers, places emphasis in the Norwegian market for business education as serve as a supplement to the Quality report’, which is on recording and discussing the employee’s research, a university-based and innovative business school, The concept of co-creation captures the mode of submitted by the school to the university board every engagement and outreach; c) we have a regular offering attractive international and practice-oriented cooperation in many of these relationships. We see spring. newsletter that the management issues to all staff, here experiences to our students. This work is informed by co-creation as the development of knowledge in most of our prominent research and outreach activities our vision, which is to be regionally connected and close partnership with our stakeholders, and we place Given our emphasis on co-creation it is very are noted. This makes the newsletters from one full year globally engaged. We want to further strengthen our particular emphasis on creating knowledge that has important for us to trace the impact of our intellectual a valuable source to consult. close cooperative relations with regional actors and relevance and use for our partners and the wider contributions in general, and that of our research further develop our ties to international partners. society. in particular. We believe the best way to investigate We note that time is a challenge when reporting on the impact from our research is to trace the interplay impact. Our activities may have direct and immediate Given this framework the impact we aim for as a between research and wider social and political impact, or they may unfold later and be more long term. business school has a particular set of features. processes in in-depth qualitative case studies. Each Activities and visible impacts from the past year receive Broadly speaking, impact has to do with how our AACSB annual impact assessment has one or more in-depth priority in our annual impact assessment, but we will research and other intellectual output contribute case studies. In this year’s report we present our impact also use the opportunity to highlight impact stemming to the academic fields we operate in, as well as the accreditation through four cases: from activities prior to the year of reporting. difference our research, teaching and other activities 2018 was the year in which our meticulous efforts make for businesses, government entities and the wider towards becoming an AACSB accredited business 1. Students co-creating with the public sector: A society. Our mission compels us to narrow this broad school culminated, and early 2019 we proudly received collaboration with Grimstad municipality understanding to one where we aim for strong impact the official confirmation of initial accreditation. We in academic fields associated with the terms ‘innovative’, believe that our recently acquired status will contribute 2. A much needed outside perspective: Reflections ‘international’ and ‘responsible’. to enhancing the impact of our work. Being an after 26 years of working with students and accredited business school makes us more visible companies Our key stakeholders in this are our students, academic both nationally and internationally and contributes peers in relevant scholarly fields, as well as businesses to expanding our network and to attract high calibre 3. The true international student: Internship in and government entities. It is particularly important scholars. The continuous improvement of our Scandinavian Enterprises in High-Growth to contribute positively to entities residing in our own educational offer will hopefully enable our candidates to Economies region, although entities at national and international make an increased impact on society. levels are also relevant. 4. Behind the property listing: 15 years of real estate economics 4 IMPACT ASSESSMENT 2018 UNIVERSITY OF AGDER - SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND LAW UNIVERSITY OF AGDER - SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND LAW IMPACT ASSESSMENT 2018 5 Mission and impact • The School of Business and Law did also receive Innovative funding from the Regional Research Fund Agder The school places strong emphasis on innovation. for another project: “SERVATION: Servitization and Around twenty percent of our scholarly staff has strategic transformation”. This is a collaboration innovation or entrepreneurship as one of their main between several regional businesses and research areas of specialisation. We offer a master’s programme institutions, aiming to develop new service-oriented in Innovation and Knowledge Development and we business models. have two centres in this field: Centre for Advanced Studies in Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) and • The school was granted funding for its first project the Centre for Entrepreneurship. Autumn 2020 we will under the EU Horizon2020 programme through launch a new master’s programme in Entrepreneurship, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation fulfilling a need in our region. Staff Exchange (MSCA-RISE). The project «Open Innovation – Research Translation and Applied For the previous year we note considerable impact in Knowledge Exchange in Practice through University- this field, examples include: Industry-Cooperation” aims to establish an • Data from the national student survey international network of organizations that work with Studiebarometeret (Study Barometer) released open innovation, either from a practical or a research in 2018, showed that students in the master’s point of view. programme in Innovation and Knowledge Development gave the programme a top score: • As part of an Entrepreneurial Consortium consisting 4.8 out of 5, well above the mean of 4.1 for study of six top universities in Norway the University programmes in this category. One student of Agder had the pleasure of hosting the 2018 emphasises the close contact with working life Entrepreneurship Summer School in June. The throughout the studies, combined with small classes summer school is an Entrepreneurship accelerator and close follow-up as reasons for the success. programme to strengthen entrepreneurs and small companies’ expertise and scale-up potential and is a • Through funding from the programme for Research- part of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) based Innovation in the Regions, one of our assistant Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program professors, Knut Erik Bonnier, lent his services to (REAP). There were 48 participants at the summer Andersen Mek. Verksted, a mechanical engineering school, including entrepreneurs, academics and other company in Flekkefjord. Two of our master’s students stakeholders. worked with him, writing their master’s thesis about lean and efficiency improvement of this company’s • Associate Professor Jon P. Knudsen was a member of planning phase. the Expert Committee for the Regional Reform, which handed in its report in early 2018. The committee • The Department of Working Life and Innovation was established after the resolution to implement the received NOK 3 million from the Regional Research regional reform, where 19 counties were reduced to 11. Fund Agder for a three-year project.