Industry and Higher Education

Recent corporate and academic scandals have led to decreasing levels of trust and confidence in many organizations. Whether the organization is a college or university, a government agency, a private company or a public corporation, the establishment and maintenance of trust is essential to both short-term success and long-term efficacy. This article deals with how managers and leaders can work to establish trust in their organizations via such strategies as fostering behavioural consistency, behavioural integrity, sharing of control, effective communication and demonstration of concern for employees. Also included are strategies of maintaining and enhancing trust, how the level of trust in an organization affects the individual as well as the entire enterprise, and the consequences of losing organizational trust.

Universities are increasingly encouraged to take a leading role in economic development, particularly through innovation. Simultaneously, economic development policy itself is increasingly focused on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), creating overlapping interactions in the roles of government policy, universities and SMEs and the processes of innovation creation and dissemination. This paper examines issues arising from these developments and relating to the key stakeholders (industry, government and universities in particular), the enabling mechanisms (network governance, relevant education, training and learning, and suitable structures), and local and cross-local links. The authors then use quantitative analysis of 450 SMEs in the UK to begin to evaluate the roles of universities and highlight areas for further theoretical development.

This is the first of two articles in which the author shares experiences gained from the development and delivery of a business/industry project-based capstone course. The course integrates research, proposal development and design experience based on knowledge and skills acquired in earlier coursework. The course also incorporates standards and realistic constraints. Preparing students for ‘real world’ practices is an integral part of the curriculum for many engineering and technology programmes. Such preparation can involve numerous approaches to simulate realistic experiences, including engaging students with real-world external clients who might use their work. These practices offer the challenge of identifying and selecting suitable projects as well as developing the means to evaluate effectively the learning outcomes related to students' participation in such projects. This paper has two main parts. Part 1 concerns the process of project solicitation and communication with clients during different phases of the capstone project life. The difficulties encountered and the means of reducing their negative impacts are also addressed. Part 2 includes the development of the students' learning outcomes and the tools used to measure them. The second paper, also published in this issue of Industry and Higher Education, addresses some of the key factors in enhancing student learning in teams.

This is the second of two articles in which the author shares experiences gained from the development and delivery of a business/industry project-based capstone course. The course integrates research, proposal development and design experience based on knowledge and skills acquired in earlier coursework. It also incorporates standards and realistic constraints and draws on combinations of all intended academic knowledge and skill outcomes. To succeed in this course, students must demonstrate professional competence through the accomplishment of work activities for business and industrial clients. They are required to collaborate as a team to apply their knowledge, think critically and complete activities. They face many of today's competitive challenges to industry, business and government. This second paper addresses the challenges and rewards of working in a team setting and the ways in which the capstone course structure contributes to students' enhanced learning. The first paper, also included in this issue of Industry and Higher Education, examines the processes of project selection and assessment.

Information systems strategy is an increasingly important component of overall business strategy in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The need for readily available and consistent management information, drawn from integrated systems based on sound and upgradeable technologies, has led many senior company managers to review the business case for root-and-branch systems replacement. However, implementing new information systems (IS) is not easy and many projects fail or fall well short of expected outcomes. Key to successful implementation is getting the strategy right in the first place and then implementing it in a controlled manner to ensure the delivery of benefits. This article discusses three IS projects in different SMEs, where the UK's Knowledge Transfer Partnership scheme has been used to transfer relevant expertise from the university sector to help with strategy development and systems implementation. The experience has led to an outline method for IS strategy development for SMEs and guidelines for the adoption and adaptation of mainstream project management and software package evaluation tools. It is hoped that this will help other SMEs to achieve IS strategy development and implementation more effectively in terms of timescale, cost control and benefits delivery.

Various vocational training methods, most of which overlap with lifelong learning programmes, are being used to address the problem of unemployment – an issue of vital importance, especially for developing countries. This article examines the introduction of a modular certification project in Turkey supported by EU training funds. The objective of the project is to enable people who are unemployed to find work and people in employment to improve their professional skills and competences, and therefore their opportunities. The researchers observed the employment status and development of the 245 people who received a certificate. They found that 89% either had found work in a sector consistent with their training, thanks to their participation in the project, or had to taken up a different position in their current field of employment.

The exploitation of knowledge and experience is increasingly important to companies operating in the globalized economy, faced with intense competition and striving to make headway in difficult markets. If such exploitation is important for existing companies, able to develop their own knowledge from previous experience, it is critical for new ventures that have no direct real-world experience on which to draw. Would-be entrepreneurs now operate in a very different business environment from that of their predecessors and they need new forms of entrepreneurship education and new methods of pre-launch trial and analysis for start-ups. The transition from ‘nature’ to ‘nurture’ in the approach to and perception of entrepreneurship, coupled with the increasingly engaged economic role of higher education institutions and research centres can be manipulated effectively to improve the prospects for success of high-expectation entrepreneurs. This article demonstrates how Curley and Formica's model of the experimental laboratory for would-be entrepreneurs responds to the new business environment and the new thinking.

Curley and Formica introduce a new concept for high-expectation start-ups, involving the use of ‘laboratory experiments’. These experiments prepare potential entrepreneurs for the challenges they will face by providing a combination of interactive business experience and an opportunity to deepen their knowledge of their future markets. This article argues that a database providing information about previous start-ups could be of great use to the would-be entrepreneur and would enhance the value of the experimental phase. The database would provide instant access to information that would contribute to the experimental process. Ready access to the histories of previous start-ups would help new entrepreneurs to learn from the successes and failures of others. In this respect it would increase their chances of turning their ambitious business ideas into practical realities outside the simulation bubble.