^aCranfield School of Management, Cranfield University, Cranfield BEDS MK43 0AL, UK. E-mail: colin.pilbeam@cranfield.ac.uk

Abstract

Universities operate in both a market and in an institutional setting defined by government. For many universities, the latter is the dominant source of support. The discourse on the entrepreneurial university emphasizes the universities position in a market and does not adequately reflect the dominance of the institutional setting. This paper argues that the five entrepreneurial universities used by Clark to identify significant traits may have been less influenced than many by the institutional environment. By taking an organizational configuration perspective, it is possible to discover a role for Mintzberg's 'technostructure' within the university. Functioning as the interface between the university and the state, this element of organization design allows the university to retain legitimacy and so access to significant resources, while allowing the 'academic heartland' or 'operating core' to develop entrepreneurial habits.