University entrepreneurship: entrepreneurial orientation, networks, market orientation, and sustainable development

Purpose The literature identifies the need to understand better the role of universities’ entrepreneurial orientation (EO), even while this remains an unexplored field. This study seeks to overcome this shortcoming and put forward empirical evidence on the EO of universities and it examines the moderating effects of networks, knowledge and trust, market orientation, and implementing sustainable development goals (SDGs) on the design and development of entrepreneurial universities. Design/methodology/approach To test the conceptual model, the authors used a sample of 125 questionnaires obtained from Portuguese higher education institutions, and it was deployed a structural equation model by a partial least squared as the estimation method. Findings The results show that the different dimensions of EO significantly influence the design and development of entrepreneurial universities. Furthermore, our findings show how market orientation and SDGs have moderating effects on the development of university entrepreneurship. Practical implications As for practical implications, the results point to the influence EO holds over entrepreneurial universities, and this causal relationship undergoes moderation by networks, knowledge and trust, market orientation and SDGs. As such, HEI rectors, deans and directors need to leverage these moderating effects, fostering human capital and universities’ active initiatives and policies to conceive and develop more entrepreneurial universities. Originality/value Our research model seeks to contribute to advancing studies on the EO of universities and assists in better understanding EO within the scope of influence of the third university mission as entrepreneurial institutions.