Kultura innowacyjności jako wyzwanie dla współczesnego uniwersytetu
Culture of Innovation as a Challenge for Today’s Universities

Summary/Abstract: RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: This study seeks to identify the risks and opportunities for, as well as the role and position of, today’s universities in relation to the challenges posed by the culture of innovation. The culture of innovation can be described both as an environment in which academia operates, and as a way to organise universities. It will be analysed from three basic perspectives – financial, social, and symbolic, while taking into account any subtypes. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHOD: The study will be a discussion of different notions and concepts. This is a theoretical analysis and builds on the relevant advancements in sociological theory. It is intended to revisit the notion of culture and to associate it with innovation. This will help identify some specific areas within, and versions of, the culture of innovation that can be faced by today’s academia. THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: This study has three parts. The first introduces the notion of innovation culture and identifies the areas of analysis based on the proposed definition. This stage proceeds to describe approaches to, and two perspectives on, the culture of innovation, namely individual and systemic. These more or less correspond to the sociological distinction between atomism and holism. Stage two describes the types of innovation cultures based on the notions of originality and organisation. These are used in stage three to explore the culture of innovation in relation to universities. RESEARCH RESULTS: The primary results of this study are the identified risks and opportunities related to the challenges faced by today’s universities in their efforts to foster the culture of innovation. Risks and opportunities can be found both in the environment in which academia operates, and in its normative, organisational, and technological structures. CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Final conclusions and recommendations are made to build universities of the future. These are to be both organisations and communities, which take advantage of the opportunities offered by the culture of innovation, while also addressing the associated risks.

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