UNIVERSITIES IN THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY: STRATEGIES TO INCREASE THEIR COMPETITIVENESS

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of universities in the knowledge economy and the designed strategies to increase their competitiveness. Universities are knowledge intensive organizations characterized by high densities of knowledge and intelligence, whose role in the knowledge economy becomes dominant in society. As a result of this challenge universities should adapt their governance and mission to the new requirements and to increase their competitiveness in the global market of higher education services. This is a conceptual paper, but it is based on a critical analysis of the literature in this domain, a high level of personal experience and expertise in academic management, and a significant research performed in the fields of knowledge management and intellectual capital in organizations. In the knowledge economy, knowledge becomes a strategic resource and universities should be aware of this new development and focus their visions and missions on increasing efficiency in knowledge creation, knowledge transfers toward students and community, and in developing strategic thinking models in the mind of students. That means that students should become active participants in the knowledge processing and develop their skills for strategic thinking and decision making. The paper presents also the problem of evaluating the intellectual capital of universities and shows the shortcomings of many models proposed so far for intellectual capital measuring and reporting. The main shortcomings come from the metaphorical approaches used for explaining the concept of knowledge and that of intellectual capital. The paper presents the organizational knowledge dynamics and the intellectual capital dynamics frameworks. Based on understanding these frameworks, the paper discusses three main strategies designed by universities to increase their competitiveness: introducing new knowledge management programs and degrees, increasing knowledge creation and transfer toward the business environment, and intergenerational learning. For each strategy the paper presents its purpose and specific way of implementation.