Business models of entrepreneurial universities in the area of vocational education - an exploratory analysis

Universities have become increasingly entrepreneurial during the last several years, and research still widely ignores the existence of independent entrepreneurial actions of universities. This paper specifically deals with entrepreneurial activities that universities have recently started to embrace. In detail, it focuses on vocational education, an innovation step that enables universities to generate additional resources. This paper applies a qualitative research approach based on case studies to explore the business models of entrepreneurial universities in the realm of vocational education. In particular, it deals with universities that offer their services in an international context. Our paper allows for a deeper understanding of the key decisions and choices related to the business model of entrepreneurial universities in the area of vocational education and identifies three business model patterns that universities can apply to extend their traditional business models and embark on an evolutionary path to satisfy the necessity of independently generating funds. Thus, this research not only sheds light on entrepreneurial activities carried out by universities in general, it also goes deeper by showing how these activities shape the business model.