Bridging the divides: a case study of collective action across Scottish university business schools to support small business

Abstract

Support for small business is widely acknowledged as a complex issue of interrelated economic resilience and sustainability. Despite an established literature on the mechanisms through which university business schools support business, few studies have focused on relations between business schools in matters of such national importance. Our qualitative case study contributes to this limited stock of empirical knowledge by following a consortium of 16 university business schools and associated public bodies in Scotland, as they develop a national business support programme. A Networks of Practice (NofP) lens allows us to identify three processual components crucial in developing relations between entrepreneurial universities: acknowledging drivers, establishing relationships, and building a vision-based reference. These three components reveal tensions and challenges as a network of common interest forms. Fresh theoretical insights are offered on the nature of the entrepreneurial university and role of vision to bridge a fragmented higher education environment.