As discussed in the previous section, in recent times, the development of entrepreneurial competences in universities have appeared as a response to curricular challenges (that require curricular components to be linked to behavioural and attitudinal components valued by the business world) 1, as well as challenges pertaining to business and/or organizational performance 2, 3, 4. This requires new working (professional, social and personal) scenarios in a new generation of workers, representing a bonus and differentiating element in human resource management. Thus, it is expected that university graduates show a wide range of technical, professional and behavioural skills, which potentiate individual values that in turn contribute to the quality of firms/organizations 5, 6. Furthermore, nowadays, a range of challenges impact on HEIs such as dwindling financial resources, demographic changes among the student population, the need to attract students and remain engaged with the community, etc. 7, 8.
Due to the growing emergence of these new challenges and therefore the need to establish an educational and entrepreneurial culture at the heart of universities, the adoption of cooperative networks appears as one possible response to these challenges by reinforcing resources of a diverse nature. To this end, universities engage in a wide range of networks and relationships with both private and public organizations, which serve as additional sources for collaboration and co-operation 9
In recent times, HEIs, along with other organizations, have felt the need to act jointly and in association, sharing resources that may be material, financial, technological or human. University networks can be a crucial strategy for overcoming the current constraints within HEIs, since they are considered to have a primary importance for the transfer of knowledge between universities, universities and young entrepreneurs and between universities and other actors 10, 11, 12, 13. Networks can take on activities that will exceed the capacity of individual institutions and the intention is often to establish a longer-term, more sustainable set of relationships than what is typical in university-to-university partnering arrangements 14.
In any type of network, it is assumed that two or more organizations are working together to solve common problems for a given period of interaction 15. In this sense, the notion of the network implicates the notion of cooperation. In fact, the term 'cooperation' has been described by various investigators as a cooperative relationship, strategic cooperation, network or collaboration, as well as the formal or informal communication agreements between two or more organizations that allow the parties involved to obtain mutual benefits from said cooperation 16, 17, 18. In reference to 19, it is stated that the result of this process can be designated symbiotic entrepreneurship, which they define as “an enterprising effort by multiple parties, each of which benefits from the joint effort, such that added value is created” (p. 110).
Cooperation networks are formed by a group of actors – people, services, organizations and countries – interacting and maintaining structural relationships, which can be familial, social, communicative, financial, strategic and/or commercial 20. A cooperation network consist of an agreement that establishes relationships that allow the different actors to not only reduce market uncertainty and turbulence, but also create advantages, with the view that the overall benefit is greater than the individual action. Cooperation networks can be established for various reasons. For 21, a partnership concerns agreements in which two or more partners share the commitment for reaching a common objective, joining all their capacities and resources and coordinating their activities to be successful. Cooperation networks serve as a response to globalization and growing market uncertainty and complexity, implying the sharing of knowledge and experiences, the reduction of risks and costs and the development of new technology 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27. More important in the context of HEIs, cooperation networks can be seen and used as a strategy or opportunity for learning new competences, i.e., embedding a partner’s know-how 28. In general, cooperation is seen as a means for developing an opportunity to learn new competences and knowledge.
Competence is defined here as the recognized ability to act responsibly, which implies the individual’s capacity to mobilize, integrate, transfer knowledge, resources and skills that add economic and social value to the organization 29. Organizational competence is defined as the ability to coordinate the distribution of the organization’s resources and capacities in an established direction in order to attain its objectives. These two definitions are set in the theory based on organizational competencies, which considers that competencies do not only lie with individuals, but depend on the organizational context and have a social and organic quality that often depends on shared experiences and interactions within the organization, so that this is seen as a complex, structured and dynamic combination of assets, organizational resources and competencies 30.
In 31 it is proposed that cooperation networks should be seen as learning opportunities, while several later studies have confirmed this point of view 32, 33. Learning networks are formed above all by partner organizations with the aim of learning from each other’s knowledge base 34. This type of cooperation serves as the basis through which organizations intensively interact and gradually absorb knowledge from their partners 35. As opposed to opportunistically stealing knowledge, learning networks allow for specified and encouraged knowledge. The knowledge network allows for the accumulation, storage and sharing of organizational knowledge. Through the interaction between different groups from different cultures, sources of learning and innovation are provided and in this way, the organizational structure and culture will also determine the capacity for absorbing inter-organizational learning 36, 37.
The most prevalent traditional methods for teaching entrepreneurship include the business plan, case studies, presentation and discussion of case studies and training by entrepreneurs who act as role models for the students 38. However, some authors consider these traditional methods of teaching entrepreneurship as lacking the innovation component 39, as not promoting entrepreneurial skills in students 40 and inhibiting the ability of teachers to take risks, to take on new practices and to implement new methodologies extended to new publics and new contexts (Gibb, 2002a), i.e., they do not promote entrepreneurial behaviour 41.
In 42, the importance of cooperation between universities and the business sector in terms of creating innovative pedagogical practices that able to develop fundamental capacities in young people for making them successful future citizens is noted. These authors consider that networks between schools/universities and the local community is essential for creating the foundations of an innovative and sustainable society. They focus on the learning processes, often in the form of cooperation networks and more flexible relationships between the university and other local institutions, corroborating the potential for moving the boundaries between systems of education, training and work, as pointed out by 43, within the pursuit a common goal – enabling young people both to develop work practices and to contribute to community development.
One approach in the field of teaching entrepreneurship is associated with preparing trainers to transmit more solid knowledge about the subject. When speaking about trainers linked to entrepreneurship, not only lecturers should be considered, but also a network of business-people, ex-students or even students with an entrepreneurial profile, all of whom can serve as models in classes 44. The impact of teaching entrepreneurship can be greater when we make a connection between theory and practice, which the above-mentioned network individuals can transmit during the learning process 45, 46. Educators responsible for teaching entrepreneurship tend to bring in outside examples to present diverse classes involving theory and practice, in this way improving the learning of entrepreneurship 47. In this way, the educator becomes more of a facilitating agent than a lecturer, as they provide students with wider experience in terms of transmitting knowledge about entrepreneurship 48. This fact is corroborated for the teaching of those students who have entrepreneurship as an intrinsic characteristic, as studies such as 49 prove that these students are searching for practical knowledge in addition to theoretical knowledge to formulate their business ideas.
Therefore, cooperation networks become a viable and stable strategy for achieving certain objectives that the organization might not be able to reach on its own 50. These objectives emerge as a result of the influence of the organization’s external environment (the organization’s social and economic surroundings), as well as its internal conditions 51, 52, 53.
Governments and international organizations alike are promoting multi-university networks as a mechanism for strengthening higher education in low- and middle-income countries, while also promoting the greater engagement of universities in high-priority national development issues 54. Concerning HEIs in developing countries, these objectives include both the improvement of entrepreneurship education and the development of more entrepreneurial and competent (qualified) institutions. In these countries, where entrepreneurial culture and knowledge is low as it pertains to historical and cultural circumstances, cooperative networks with other national and international institutions can foster the creation and dissemination of entrepreneurship knowledge and competences.
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