Investigating the Economic and Social Participation of Universities in Society with a Focus on Business Models

 The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism of economic and social participation of universities in the framework of business models.

The approach of this research was qualitative, and it is called an applied research. Document analysis was used as the research method. The target group of this study consisted of all of the documents related to university business models and targeted sampling method based on criterion. After analyzing the documents, the findings will be discussed by a group of experts to validate them.

Findings in the framework of cooperation and economic participation of the university were presented in two parts of the process and influential elements, and each part of the various elements and components shows an aspect of the cooperation of universities and their businesses.  The analysis of the universities` business models shows that university can define its economic and social participation in society with one or more of its main functions (education, research, services), and act in accordance with them.  Academic business models can also be used to enhance the university's economic participation, to design future higher education scenarios, to identify innovation routes, and also to profound and multilateral examination of the university as an economic institution.

The results indicate that by examining the nature and components of the university business models, an appropriate framework can be provided for designing an optimal university business model with emphasis on the economic development of the region for research and higher education policies.