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From Envisioning to Managing Educational Development and Organizational Innovation

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Transformative Perspectives and Processes in Higher Education

Part of the book series: Advances in Business Education and Training ((ABET,volume 6))

Abstract

In light of growing complexity and volatility in the world, universities are challenged to tackle connected, ill-defined problems in need of innovative solutions. Yet higher education finds difficulty in organizing initiatives to address such issues and continues to structure solutions in traditional, hierarchical, and restrictive ways. In order to confront these changes and remain a relevant part of society, a mid-sized European university has started to challenge itself, the manner in which it conducts education and the group of people to whom it offers education. To achieve this goal, a bottom-up project structure was adopted, giving lower-level faculty members the autonomy, money and time to experiment and explore unorthodox methods. The research presented in this chapter details the perspectives and experiences of this unique project team, and outlines capacities needed and relevant questions to consider in dealing with wicked problems.

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Acknowledgment

We thank the project initiators and project members for their time to be interviewed. We would also like to thank Marian Svenson for her input on the topic of ‘wicked innovation at universities’.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Research and Development, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Katerina Bohle-Carbonell & Amber Dailey-Hebert

  2. Department of Adult and Continuing Education, Park University, 8700 NW River Park Drive, Parkville, MO, 64152, USA

    Amber Dailey-Hebert

Authors
  1. Katerina Bohle-Carbonell
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  2. Amber Dailey-Hebert
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katerina Bohle-Carbonell .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Park University, Parkville, Missouri, USA

    Amber Dailey-Hebert

  2. Park University, Parkville, Missouri, USA

    Kay S. Dennis

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Bohle-Carbonell, K., Dailey-Hebert, A. (2015). From Envisioning to Managing Educational Development and Organizational Innovation. In: Dailey-Hebert, A., Dennis, K. (eds) Transformative Perspectives and Processes in Higher Education. Advances in Business Education and Training, vol 6. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09247-8_4

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