|
3.1.10.1. LSE Enterprise
Back in 1992, the LSE’s director asked one of its alumni to look into additional fundraising through academic outreach (read: academics working outside the university). Consequently, the alumni entrepreneur started projects, which eventually led to the creation of the university’s commercial arm with the mission to exploit LSE’s expertise and intellectual resources on the market. It provides tailored education for business and individual executives, conference services, as well as facilitating commercial consultancy services executed by LSE experts.
Characteristically, it was the initiative of an entrepreneurial alumnus, who wanted to tap into the university’s expertise, which initiated the discourse that finally led to the commercial subsidiary’s Enterprise LSE Limited (ELSE) creation (LSE management 53). The company’s executive recounts that in the beginning, academics were reluctant to sell themselves, but over time, culture changed, and through the continuous efforts of ELSE to add value for the scholars, the services built up a good reputation. After a “reasonably flat” (ibid.) growth rate in the first years ELSE had a turnover of 4,5 million pounds of which 1 million profit went to the LSE and 1,5 million have been paid to the academics. Due to the improvement its acceptance climate, ELSE hopes to accelerate its growth to about 20% in 2007.
One of the key assets for ELSE is the LSE Experts service which is produced by the Press unit and has been web-enabled by the website team recently. LSE Experts is a service making LSE scholars findable on the net. Each LSE academic has a personal site listing his specialties and areas of knowledge as well as his/her publications. This service has proven to be highly successful in marketing LSE to the media and private businesses.
3.1.10.2. Corporate Relations Unit
The corporate relations unit (LSE web) is responsible for finding and managing the School’s relations with big private sector ‘donors’. Most of the School’s research centres are financed or at least supported by a big corporation with a vested interest in good research & analysis in the particular area. For example Deutsche Bank is financing the School’s Centre for Analysis of Risk and Regulation and EDS’s Innovation Research Programme.
3.1.10.3. Institutionalization of Bright Ideas
A good example of how the LSE fosters the ‘bubbling up’ of new initiatives and the identification of opportunities is the staff suggestion scheme known as Bright Ideas (LSE web). Coordinated by a small group of volunteers under the auspices of the Director of Central Administration, opportunities for improvement are sent in by staff and then evaluated by the volunteers. The ideas that are assessed to be worthwhile and feasible are put into practice and the author receives 100 pounds.
A similar mailbox exists for complaints (LSE web.) Staff who find a risky or malicious practice without envisioning a solution can post their observation/complaint.
3.1.10.4. LSE Entrepreneurs student association
In 2004 some entrepreneurial LSE students were inspired by their peers at Oxford (http://www.bouncewithit.com/) and started a students’ association, which organises lectures, workshops and events meant to encourage and train fellow students to become entrepreneurs.
Two of LSE entrepreneurship society’s initiatives are especially worth mentioning: the Entrepreneurs’ Open Challenge (EPOCH) is a team rally where universities send a group of students, who then compete against each other in negotiation, sales, strategy and marketing ‘games’ (see http://www.epochuk.com/challenges/ to read about the concrete setup of the challenges). The other event is a variation of a business plan contest. The society’s version takes the format of a popular TV show where real entrepreneurs and their ventures are being portrayed as they attempt to negotiate partnerships and venture capital.
The entrepreneurship society is only one example of over 160 special interest groups setup by and for students to pursue their interests. This environment provides a host of opportunities contributing to the spirit of self-realization and self-fashioning that eventually permits to define one’s calling.
3.1.10.5. LSE’s Alumni - Focus on Entrepreneurship Event
Another pillar of LSE’s financial autonomy, donations by alumni (many of them also enthusiastically send their children to study), has been developed actively over the last years. The alumni also use the community as a resource. “Focus on entrepreneurship” (LSE web) is a networking and panel discussion showcasing events for LSE alumni. Here also, the ‘Dragon’s Den’ TV show was used as template. They describe the flow of the event like this: “A panel of three experienced entrepreneurs and business experts comments on showcase presentations from four budding entrepreneurs. The event will be interactive, with the audience very much involved in asking questions, and voting on their favourite showcase” (LSE web).
The Focus on Entrepreneurship event was initiated by two former LSE students who also created a non-profit Global network of entrepreneurs and professionals.
3.1.10.6. Web 2.0 - Employee commitment, Responsibility and Freedom of Speech
An interesting precedent was created when an LSE professor published a speech, which he had given to prospective LSE students in an open door session, on his personal blog (Guardian, 2006). The problem was that the scholar had raised the fact that at LSE the eminent scholars, who make up a good bit of the School’s prestige and subsequent attractiveness, are not very interested in teaching students, in fact most classes are held by PhD students. And as if this critical insight, which the School’s authorities of course understood to be disloyal slander, was not enough- the speech stood right next to an earlier blog post in which the professor was questioning why so few foreign academic staff at the LSE were promoted to senior positions.
This incident – the first of its kind – prompted the professor to ask for the creation of a blogging charter, which would guarantee freedom of speech. The director however replied publicly that: "The issue here is not a policy on blogging, it is whether a colleague can publicly abuse his employer and his colleagues without consequences." (Guardian, 2006). The instance has caused a vivid and controversial debate on the internet. To this researcher’s knowledge, the LSE has not developed a blog or other new media charter.
Users' Comments (0) 
|
|
|
