知识经济时代大学职能的嬗变(english)

Functions Variance of universities in Knowledge Economy Era Suo Bai-min Wang Jia-bin (School of Economy and Management, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, China) Abstract: With the coming of the knowledge economy, knowledge management begins to influence throughout the society. High education as one of the major parts in Nation Innovation System introduces the innovative management model into universities and research thoroughly knowledge producing, storing, disseminating and innovating within the universities. This article compares functions and value models between traditional universities and universities in knowledge economy era, then argues the functions variance of universities in China after combining knowledge management with high education, and in the end, states the trend of Chinas universities development in future after implementing knowledge management. Keywords: knowledge management; high education; function; variance 1 Introduction With the coming of 21st century, our society enters the time of new economy based on knowledge. As a special kind of resource, commodity, tool or instrument, knowledge is bringing into play a more and more important role throughout the course of society and economy life. The effective management for knowledge will influence all kinds of society life. As the important component of Nation Innovation System (NIS), high education is no exception. For the moment, many universities have begun to think much of theoretic research on knowledge management, which manages knowledge and completes management in knowledge. Knowledge management is becoming a new view-angle of high education reform. As a base of knowledge production, dimension, innovation and application in high education, universities will be successful models of knowledge management. Knowledge management in universities not only succeeds to and combines traditional management theories and models, but also develops and innovates them. Thus, systemic research on universities knowledge management issues in new historical period will help us hold universities development direction better, traditional functions variance after implementing knowledge management and the trend of universities development in future. 2 Summarizations of universities traditional functions Value of high education is relation to high education system. Different levels and kinds of universities make up of high education system. University is the hypostatic undertaker of implementing the value of high education.1 University embodies the value of high educationthe special society systemby implementing its functions. In common sense, functions of university include three perspectives: teaching, science research and serving society. Function is the roles of organizations, communities or society systems. For them, their functions determine by their members activities and property, but not by imaging subjectively or by man-made giving. So do functions of university. Teachers and students consist of members of university. They mostly engage in activities of teachinglearning and science research, which produce three functions of university. 2.1 Teaching function of university Teachers in university impart knowledge of science and technology so as to improve educatee capacity, moral character and body making, and launch all kinds of by activities of “teachinglearning” for facing social requirement. 2.2 Science research function of university Activities of science research in university mainly include academic science research, applied science research, development research and tutoring students to carry through work of quasi-science research, etc. 2.3 Serving society function of university University implements its functions of fostering persons with ability for society, developing science and technology, and solving all kinds of social problems from politics, economy, culture and education. 2.4 The dynamic model of universitys traditional functions Under the traditional economic pattern, university embodies itself value by fig.1 model. From this model, we can see that teaching and science research are main functions of university, and that social function brings into play action basing on them. From the history and actuality of the universitys functions, three functions of university didnt come into being with the universitys birth. They arose, developed and changed gradually with the development of society and economy, progress of science and technology and extending increasingly territory and changing increasingly activity property of person in university. Fig.1 dynamic model of universitys traditional functions 3 Change of universitys functions under driving by knowledge management With the coming of knowledge economy era, because knowledge has been the inside headspring and power of economic growth, university, as the principle part of knowledge innovation, begins to walk out the tower of ivory from the edge to the center of social life, play the important role in social and economic life and gradually turn into power of social development. During this course, university change itself organizational structure and management model continuously, consequently its functions inevitably arises revolutionary change. 3.1 Influence of knowledge economy to university 3.1.1 University will transform from teaching organization to combination of teaching and science research, ultimately to the entity of industrialization. Indubitably, teaching is always the foremost and the most radical function of university. But, with knowledge economy gradually penetrating to every aspect of social life, university continuously extends its functions. Universities of the developed country have founded a new management model high-tech industrial incubatorthat combines teaching, science research and industry, and influence and promote improvement of economy. These successful experiences tell us that if it needs to adapt improvement of knowledge economy, university should enter the center of economic activities from its edge and endeavor to realize economicalization and industrialization. Thus, change of university functions is the essential requirement of knowledge economy. 2.1.2 University will transform from traditional “knowledge warehouse” to modern “knowledge factory”. University that owns many talents, plenty of knowledge and new thought is the important palace of preserving knowledge. Core of knowledge economy is creation and reproduction. In era of knowledge economy, if a nation or a organization want to create much more wealth, it must produce new knowledge, new technology, new thought and new management method increasingly. University just owns many superiorities of knowledge creation and knowledge production, such as subjects, researchers, and information and academic communication. So, university in knowledge economy has not only been the “knowledge warehouse”, but also been the important cradle of new knowledge, new technology, teachers students teaching transferring knowledge production 生产, 产 science research creating knowledge serving society internalization diffusion university society specialists techniques new thought and new management. That is to say, university will be “knowledge factory” 3.1.3 University will transform from academic “tower of ivory” to “drive headspring” of promoting social development From the history of high education development, university has gone through the seedtimes as follow: at first, it dissociated out of economic activities. With development of economy and improvement of society, it began to be close to economic life, cultivated specialists for society, developed science and technology and turned into the important impetus of economy development. With the coming of knowledge economy, intercourse and infiltration between knowledge And economy increasingly boost up, trend of knowledge of economy and economic trend of knowledge is in evidence increasingly. In the end, university has been the “drive headspring” of modern society and make for the economic center from the edge of economy. 3.1.4 From scientific research institution to high-tech park2 In the era of knowledge economy, production and innovation of knowledge is the base of economic development, while it is key for economy development to change knowledge fruits into real-life productivity. In the past, science and research activities in university break away from market seriously. Return on science and technology production is low, only twenty percent or so. And applied productions are twenty percent of spread production; therefore rate of use is only about four percent. This makes china either be most short of science and technology productions, or waste maximum them. In 1980s, America implemented strategy, which combined university and enterprise, and built a lot of scientific industrial parks, which depended on persons with ability in universities, and predominance of science and research, such as “silicon vale”. This made America keep ahead other countries in economy. Hence, in order to meet the challenge of knowledge, Chinas universities must strengthen transformation, popularity and application; build high-tech industrial parks that combine universities and enterprises, research and innovation. University will not only be the headspring of creating knowledge, cultivating persons of ability and transmitting culture, but also be the headspring of national economic growth and radiation of high new tech. 3.2 Knowledge management in university Influence of knowledge economy to high education is shown by activities of knowledge management of university. Knowledge management in university that is different with those in enterprise has itself developmental characteristic. We can study knowledge management in university by using research fruits and successful experiences of enterprises for reference and linking administrant disciplinarians and particularity of university itself. 3.2.1Definition of knowledge management in university Knowledge management in university involves that university realizes sharing of explicit knowledge and implicit knowledge by identifying, acquiring, transmitting, learning, creating knowledge in the activities of teaching, scientific research and serving society, and integrates itself knowledge resources by restoration, process, development and production of knowledge, improves its ability of adapting changeable environment and implementing innovation with collective intelligence and enhances the central competitive ability of university ultimately. 3.2.2 Characteristics of universitys knowledge management Universitys knowledge management that bases on creating knowledge with knowledge and creating value with knowledge enhances quantity of knowledge held by teachers and students and ability of creating value with knowledge through utilizing knowledge in effect. As well known, knowledge has value and can create value. In university, knowledge is either inputs, or outputs, and its particularity deriving from multiplication of knowledge and its value. It is important objective of universitys knowledge management that how to realize marginal value increasing of positive circulation in the circle of “input-output” and improve productivity of knowledge. 3 Universitys knowledge management is the course of accumulating, floating, sharing and creating knowledge between teachers and students. It includes sharing, accumulating and utilizing knowledge, best practice and learned experience, setting up the intranet and extranet of university, coding explicit knowledge and expressing implicit knowledge. Universitys knowledge management is a new method of facing modernization, world and future. Knowledge economy is the outcome of highly developed information technology, while it will promote improvement of information technology. In the era of high informationalization and knowledge- intensive, university, as the most important “knowledge factory”, should keep up with the time needs and satisfy the need of modernization at all times, meanwhile, university also should be managed to adapt unify of world economy in order to realize international cooperation, management, communication and sharing to people, money, matter, information and knowledge in the university. 3.3 Knowledge management and changing of universitys function Changing of university s functions is impulse by implementing knowledge management in the activities of teaching, scientific research and serving society. Finally, knowledge management results in variance of universitys functions. 3.3.1 Knowledge management and variance of teaching function Teaching function is the most essential and primary function of university. Thus, knowledge management of university will influence teaching process firstly and arouse changing of teaching function. Two parts constitute teaching process: teaching knowledge of teachers and learning knowledge of students. With the knowledge management into teaching process, it begins to change. In the past, teachers are the principle part of the teaching activities. Teaching process is determined by individual knowledge level, holding knowledge quantity, speed of updating his knowledge and ability of knowledge innovation. But now all these are changing. Teachers begin to bring into play the leading action in the teaching process through teachers group. University depends on Knowledge Management System (KMS) and Knowledge Management Platform (KMP) for managing knowledge from teachers. Teachers can visit expert system on line and accelerate, communicate, renew and share knowledge resources of university inside. In a sense, teaching activities of teachers that are built on the base of making the best use of successful practice and failure lessons have been the high-level knowledge innovation. With the knowledge management into the teaching process, learning process also gets rid of the state and brings forth the fresh ceaselessly. In the past, students are the objects of teaching activities and obtain knowledge and skills of subjects and domains in teaching process. But now this has been changed. Students are the main body of teaching activities, while the role of teachers is heuristic and instructional. On the one hand, students may not only recur to teachers to learn knowledge, but also recur to KMS and Expert System (ES) on the Local Aero Net (LAN) to study on line. On the other hand, learning mode of students is changed from passive acceptation to active creation. That is to say, emphasis of universitys knowledge management has transferred to innovation education and improvement of students innovative ability. 3.3.2 Knowledge management and variance of scientific research function Scientific research is the course of knowledge production and creation of teachers and researchers in university. It also embodies the role of knowledge creation and innovation of university in knowledge economy era. Thus, knowledge management in scientific research is namely knowledge creation and knowledge innovation. We should understand adequately actuality, environment and need of universitys scientific research, build actively the atmosphere of promoting study, accelerating knowledge and sharing information, and bestir teachers and students to try to innovate knowledge. Organizing forms of scientific research of teachers and students are changeable. With the help of knowledge management platform and KMS, scientific research has been the collective activities across subjects and specialty. On the one hand, goal of scientific research that combines with subject construction has been the activity of knowledge creation and innovation. On the other hand, scientific research combines with social need tightly. This may not only provide expertise and knowledge for social production, but also create possibility for knowledge industrialization of university. 3.3.3 Knowledge and variance of serving society function Along with knowledge economy, universities transfer from the edge to the center of social and economic activities. Function of serving society converts from serving for society to leading direction of social development. During the course of the conversion, dominant activity of university turns into the course of managing, working and dealing in knowledge asset itself. 4 University is the important location of knowledge creation and preservation. Knowledge resource is either abundant, or complicated, and is preserved in the brains of teachers and stuffs in the form of implicit knowledge. As personnel flowing or poor management, knowledge assets missing are very severe. Therefore, university should protect its own knowledge assets in effect from the angle of protecting knowledge property right in order to realize benefits of university and society “double wins”. University, as the important part of Nation Innovation System (NIS), should exert predominance of its own knowledge resource adequately and in virtue of governments policy promote construction of science and technology industrial parks. Simultaneity, university should try to set up the technology strategic alliance with enterprises in order to develop and utilize knowledge assets and realize resource sharing of tangible assets and intangible assets. In the era of knowledge economy, learning and improving oneself diathesis are aims of people pursuing. And all these promote the universitys development. Not only is it the important aspect of universitys knowledge management, but also it is the new rising point of university converting serving society. 3.3.4 Relationship of universitys three functions after variance After variance driven by knowledge management, boundary among universitys three functions is faint gradually and come forth the crossing and penetrative trend. (Shown in Fig.-2) 4 Trend of high educations