Rethinking the way a public university does business

This article contributes to the current debate about the societal value of the public university and its ongoing viability and resilience, which has produced calls for such organizations to rethink the way they operate. The article synthesizes the complex challenges faced by the public university, and presents several propositions to overcome them, including shifting from (manufacturing) product-based to (knowledge) service-based thinking, moving from closed to open service innovation, embracing hard and soft approaches to risk management, and becoming continuous-learning organizations. The article generates discussion for future research into the study of innovation in knowledge-intensive services to build resilient public universities.