Capitulo 12

Muchas universidades pierden su enfoque estratgico a largo plazo, haciendo breves errores psicolgicos a largo plazo. Europea y la educacin superior de los EE.UU. (HE) y organizaciones de investigacin han sido sometidos a un proceso de profundas transformaciones en las ltimas dcadas y para aumentar su rendimiento del capital intelectual. The level of a countrys state of competitivity is directly related to its level of intelectual capital performarce and the new focus is threefold. 1- Increasing emphasis on the multi- function of the Higher Education

institutions: An intensification of industry academia relationships has added to the important traditional functions of universities: knowledge generation (research) and knowledge transmission (teaching). Higher priority is now given to their social dimension, getting involved in social exclusion problems, gender issues and environmental protection, just to name a few (EAU, 2005, 2007). This refers to activities whereby universities address social welfare needs and private or public economic objectives (Molas- Gallart, 2005 ). Although the latter concept is now a major issue in the HE debate , the notion is still very ambiguous and differs greathy from one university to another, depending on the configuration of activities, the territorial embedding and the countrys institutional framework (Ladero, 2007). Teaching and research are still important objectives, but their scope is much larger. Teaching includes the establishment of lifelong learning mechanisms and the provision of specialized courses to cover a wide variety of IC demands. Curiosity- driven research is as ever very important but research aiming at providing short- term practical solutions to all types of problems is also a must. Innovation is central to IC competitiveness and growth, and universities are committed to improving innovation capacities; the ability to work with different partners is thus essential to create the necessary networks. These multiple roles in a single university are creating serious internal tensions. New mechanisms are required to deal with them. 2- Towards greater institutional autonomy: Governments are urget, on the one hand, to give universities sufficient autonomy to deal with these challenges, and, on the other, to provide the adequate funding to undertake the tasks ( EUA, 2005, 2007). Regulatory provisions to encourage private funding and to allow the combination of public and private funds are also considered necessary, since the design of a coherent institutional strategy directly depends on minimum degree of financial autonomy (Bonaccorsi and Daraio, 2007). Obviously, more autonomy means more accountability, to allow all the partners to assess the institutions performance.

3- Need of new management and reporting instruments: To cope with multiple

missions and fulfill their accountability duties, HE institutions need to improve management and reporting mechanisms. As Chatterton and Goddard ( 2003, p.19) recognize, `responding to the new demands requires new kinds of resources and new forms of management that enable universities as institutions to make a dynamic contribution to the development process They must compete more for teachers, researchers, students and funds and get used to managerial procedures and producing reports which allow internal and external bodies to evaluate their performance. Most contemporary neuroscientists and management scholars are proposing that higher education organizations should use intellectual capital (IC) framework as a heuristic tool to aid them in their new management challenges and diffuse their intangibles resources and activities to their stakeholders and society at large. The IC framework provides a profound knowledge basis for understanding and reporting on organizational performance and providing greater transparency and accountability. It also address different stakeholders simultaneously, providing a better view of how collaboration and networking are key drivers in the value- creating process of private and public organization. For more than a decade, Austria has been re- shaping the HE sector to make universities more competitive, efficient and autonomous. The University Organization Act 1993 (and its amendments of 1997 and 2001) aimed to provide universities with more institutional autonomy and the University Organization and Studies Act 2002, focused on enhancing university research and teaching performance by using resources more efficiently, making changes easier, promoting creativity and individual initiatives, and becoming a more active, independent and critical intellectual authority (Elena, 2007). A major consequence was the introduction of IC reports recognizing that the the efficient use of IC is essential for a university` performance . The Federal Ministry, in collaboration with the Conference of Rectors, selected the final set of indicators. Their detailed list, plus the structure of the ICR were published by an order in February 2006. A relatively short list indicators (around 40) was defined to show, on the one hand, general information on the universities, such as people teaching and researching in the different fields, and results in the terms of, for example, PhD theses, scholarships, and external funds accrued. On the other hand, other objectives were agreed to through consensus, and additional indicators assessing their performance were defined. Their purpose was to measure things like graduates success in the labor market, the relative importance of lifelong learning courses increased researcher qualifications, etc. Agreement on an indicators definition was easier to arrive at the relative weight it carried

when funding was allotted. It was agreed to encourage the improvement and dynamics of IC oriented performance. Charles Handy, author of widely acclaimed book The Empty Raincoat, which focused on making sense of the future of work, emphasizes that intangible assets will mean different things to different companies and will be measured in different ways. It should be kept in mind that, in the business world, if anything is seen as a business opportunity, then numbers and measures will emerge. Handy points out that many boards of larger companies now have separate committees for social policy, ethics, remuneration and the environment. All companies, he states, should be required to undergo an annual social audit. H