Measuring Innovation Competencies : An Approach for Developing Higher Education

Titelangaben

Buck, Christoph ; Wurzer, Elisabeth ; Hofbeck, Christoph:
Measuring Innovation Competencies : An Approach for Developing Higher Education.
2025
Veranstaltung: Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research Exchange (ACERE) 2025 , 10.02.-14.02.2025 , Adelaide, Australia.
(Veranstaltungsbeitrag: Kongress/Konferenz/Symposium/Tagung , Paper )

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Abstract

Innovation Competencies have become essential for individual and organizational success due to today’s competitive and fast-paced business environment. Higher education institutions play a critical role in developing these competencies in students and equipping them for the demands of the modern workforce. However, so far, universities do not focus on establishing innovation competencies but rather offer knowledge in a specific field. With this study, we offer a measurement instrument for assessing innovation competencies in students and, therefore, make the first move towards developing higher education to meet the needs of an innovation-driven economy. Drawing from the existing Innovation Competency Framework (ICF), we systematically focused on 41 items representing innovation competencies from an initial pool of nearly 600 items through a rigorous development process. These final items were included in a pre-test, in addition to further questions regarding demographics. The results were analyzed with a confirmatory factor analysis, an item-total correlation, and a calculation of the mean. The findings highlight the relevance of the tested items and offer insights into which steps need to be taken to develop the measurement instrument further.