ijems|editorial
InnovationandEntrepreneurial
UniversityEcosystems
inEuro-MediterraneanCountries
jakavadnjal
Euro-MediterraneanUniversity,Slovenia
jaka.vadnjal@emuni.si
https://emuni.si/ISSN/2232-6022/16.7-9.pdf
Universitiesthatareinnovativeandentrepreneurialarethosethat
adoptanentrepreneurialmanagementstyle,haveteachers,staff,
andstudentswhoactentrepreneurially,andengagewiththeirsur-
roundingenvironment(community/region)inanentrepreneurial
way.Assuch,auniversitywillincreasinglyplayanentrepreneurial
andinnovativerole.Byplanninganddevelopingtheirentrepreneur-
ialandinnovationecosystemstoproducesocietal,technological,
andeconomicvaluethroughresearch,teachingotherformsofhu-
mancapitaldevelopment,aswellasthedevelopmentofnewbusi-
nessesandentrepreneurialcapital,universitiescanhelpboostcom-
petitivenessandeconomicgrowth.Themainambitionofthepresent
specialissueofijemsistopresentseveralgreatinitiativesinEuro-
Mediterraneancountries.
Theinfluenceofvariouselementsofentrepreneurialeducation
onstudents’entrepreneurialmindsethasbeenthetopicofseveral
studies.Acasestudyofseveralyearsininnovativeformsofteaching
entrepreneurshipwithanemphasisonchallenge-basedlearningis
presentedinthearticleofD.Berginc,V.JoštLešerand,K.Kraškovic
fromSlovenia,inwhichtheauthorsanalysethechallenge-based
learninginterventionsandprogressinstudents’entrepreneurial
mindset.Seniorstudentsprovidedmoresolutionproposalscom-
paredtojuniorswhiletheirsolutionstotheproblemsthecompany
facedinthecasestudyweremoremulti-disciplinaryandintercon-
nected,thusexhibitingmorematurityandcomprehensivenessof
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[8]
JakaVadnjal
theoverviewofthesituation.Overall,studentsinthethirdyear
showedahigherdegreeofentrepreneurialmindset.
Thisentrepreneurialmindsetisoftendemonstratedbythepo-
tentialsuccessorsoffamilybusinesseswhohaveoptionstoproceed
withtheircareersasentrepreneurs,independentlyoftheexisting
familybusinesses,oraremoreinclinedtotakeoverfamilybusi-
nessesanddeveloptheirentrepreneurialcareerswithinthem.The
studybyA.KumeandF.JaupifromAlbaniapresentsimportant
findingsconcerningtheprofileofsubjectswithentrepreneurship
intentiontoestablishtheirownbusinesscomparedtothosewho
arewillingtobepartoftheirintergenerationfamilybusiness.
Asimilar,yetdifferentapproachwasdevelopedbyD.Y.Pavlov
andS.S.RuskovafromBulgaria,whoinvestigatedtheroleofauni-
versityandtherelevantministryandgovernmentsupporttomake
universitydepartmentsmoreentrepreneurial,whichcanalsobe
achievedthroughtheconceptoftheintergenerationalfamilybusi-
nessecosystemapproach.
Inaneweraofhighereducationmarkedbyinternationalrivalry,
universityrankingshavegrowninsignificance.Theiremergencehas
beenwelcomedwithagreatdealofskepticism,someenthusiasm,
andinstitutionaluneasiness.Theyarefrequentlycontentiousand
thesubjectofsubstantialdebate.Rankingsystemsareunavoidable;
thus,itiscriticaltoconsiderhowtheywillaffectthehigheredu-
cationindustryanditsstakeholders.TheauthorsM.Bojadjiev,I.
Mileva,S.PavlovaandV.KrliufromNorthernMacedoniaacknowl-
edgetheneedfordevelopingarankingsystemwithintheBalkan
regionandproposeanewrankingsystem,whichwouldtakeinto
accounttheambitionforamorecreativeandentrepreneurialorien-
tationstudyasanoutcomeofahighereducationinstitutioninthe
region.
Theearlyintroductionofthecorporategovernanceecosystem
seemstobeimportantforthepotentialgrowingentrepreneurial
venturesspinningofffromuniversitysupportinitiatives.Thepa-
perbyK.GladovičfromSloveniaaimstocomparethelegalframe-
workforcorporategovernanceinselectedeconomiestohighlight
theprogressmadesofaraswellastheshortcomingsoftheexisting
ijems

InnovationandEntrepreneurialUniversityEcosystems
[9]
framework.Thereareseveraldifferencesbetweencountriesincor-
porategovernanceapproaches:fromnationalapproachestoexer-
cisingtheownershipfunction;boardnomination,compositionand
efficiency;toequitabletreatmentofshareholders;implementation
oftheeudirectiveonnon-financialanddiversityinformation;rule
oflaw;sustainablegovernanceeffectivenessandinnovationscore.
Inthisspecialissuewehighlightcertaintheoreticalandempiri-
calstudiesontheeffectsofentrepreneurialecosystemsanduniver-
sityinnovationinEuro-Mediterraneannations.Wereceivedcontri-
butionsfromscholarsbelongingtomanymanagementandsocial
sciencesectors,andbelievethatthespecialissuepapersprovide
asignificanttheoreticalcontributioninkeepingwiththescopeof
ijems,alongwithasuitablemethodologicalapproach.
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