CONTINUING EDUCATION AS A FORM OF UNIVERSITY–INDUSTRY COLLABORATION: CASE LAPPEENRANTA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, FINLAND

摘要

Universities of technology have traditionally collaborated extensively with industry in the area of research. In continuing education, however, systematic collaboration is still rather rare. In a knowledge-based economy, even production is moving towards the service sector and all work is becoming more knowledge-intensive. The value and success of a company is more than ever based on intellectual capital: “brainpower” and the capability to use and develop internal and external resources to create new solutions and business performance. Companies invest in developing individuals' knowledge and skills through continuing education, but new knowledge and skills are not fully utilized at the organizational level. In university continuing education, there is still a great deal of unused potential both from the company's and the university's perspective. In today's knowledge-based economy, university continuing education can develop capabilities needed in society. It is a challenge for both universities and companies to develop systematic collaboration that benefits both parties. From a university's point of view, continuing education may be seen as a means to disseminate research results quickly into practice and thus strengthen their impact on society and economy, which is or will be a performance indicator for universities. So far, little research has been carried out on university continuing education as a form of systematic university-industry collaboration and as a means to develop a company's intellectual capital. The aim of this paper is to understand the advantages and value of university continuing education as a form of university-company collaboration and how to to develop it further for the benefit of both parties. This is a case study of continuing education at Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT). LUT has over 20 years' experience in continuing education and keeps developing this area in order to keep up with the rapidly changing environment. This topic has been discussed previously in the ICPR 17, 18, and 19 conferences from different perspectives.