Search

Purpose: Prosperity and growth of emerging economies rely heavily on the innovativeness of higher education institutions (HEIs) and their ability to provide employable graduates with entrepreneurial competencies and flexibility in the assessment of their progress in gaining knowledge. The innovativeness of the higher education system is not always reflected through optimal educational content, innovative study programs, skills improvement, assessment methods, etc. The study aims to analyze and evaluate how selected internal factors, reflected in organizational support for innovativeness of HEIs, and external factors reflected in government support for innovativeness of HEIs determine the innovativeness of HEIs, as one of the key determinants of economic prosperity. Design/methodology/approach: The authors analyzed three facets of higher education innovativeness, i.e. graduates' employability, entrepreneurial competencies and new ways of assessment. The sample included 664 students from the University of Kragujevac, Serbia, and the University of Maribor, Slovenia. The authors applied structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine relations. Findings: The results clearly show that in order to become the driver of development in emerging economies, universities must act in different directions, focusing on different organizational drivers of innovativeness, such as academic autonomy of teachers, student participation in curricula design, enhancing new ideas and compensation system, provide resources etc. Organizational support and government for innovativeness of HEIs affect students' entrepreneurial and social skills, creative thinking, leadership, interactive competencies and knowledge-skill-attitude. Assessment tasks and associated learning should be redesigned to enable students to be involved in the evaluation of their work. Originality/value: The study strives to reduce the research gap identified in the field of researching the drivers of innovativeness in higher education and offers implications for emerging markets regarding various factors that determine the innovativeness of HEIs and consequently contribute to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in emerging markets. Originality derives from the fact that even though the authors have explored HEIs in Serbia and Slovenia, the results are fully transferrable to other former socialist states, considering their similar socio-economic and educational background. Results of this research complement the understanding and provide new knowledge for further development of innovativeness in HE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to prove that it is possible and necessary that higher education institutions develop appropriate competencies of students during the learning process as required by the practice if teachers use the systemic approach and cybernetics knowledge. The authors especially research the importance of competence entrepreneurship and how to stimulate entrepreneurship by developing competencies of creativity, teamwork and communication. Design/methodology/approach: Based on systems theory, transversal competencies entrepreneurship, creativity, teamwork and communication, as well as their interdependence, were requisitely holistic selected. In the selection of diverse contemporary learning methods, the authors started from an action research approach that implies learning by doing, i.e. participation of students. With the use of statistical methods, the authors showed that a cyber-systemic requisite holistic learning action approach based on interdependence of teacher and students learning process results in innovation of researched transversal competencies. Findings: Based on two quantitative and qualitative researches of 96 students' competencies, the authors found out that when using contemporary learning methods, the desired results can be achieved. In described learning process everyone involved gained: both the teacher and the students. Research limitations/implications: The survey does not include verifying the usefulness of developed competencies in practice. Also, the study only covers the findings of the research study of one academic year. Practical implications: The research is important for the practice of higher education, as it demonstrates that the teacher is with a targeted focus on the selected viewpoints able to effectively improve students' competencies. Social implications: If higher education's institutions take a strategic decision to target improvement of the transversal competencies of students, they will be easier and faster to employ, and practice will get more relevant employees. The economy will be more efficient and effective. Originality/value: According to the authors' knowledge, no research measures the development of selected transversal competencies using the contemporary learning methods, based on cyber-systemic learning action approach. The authors found out that the methods used have influenced the final results, which show that all measured students' transversal competencies have improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]