Enterprise University

Throughout the industrialised world, universities have undergone remarkable changes since the mid-1980s. In Australia, interest has been intense, and publication of The Enterprise University was very timely. First published in 2001, it was the first systematic study of the Australian system since the momentous Dawkins reforms ten years earlier. The book is grounded in case studies of most of the major Australian universities: the authors interviewed a large number of senior managers. They also have taken account of global trends and have prepared the book in the light of international research on the university as an institution. The authors contend that the modern university can be understood as an 'enterprise university', characterised by corporate-style executive leadership. In a hard-hitting conclusion they propose novel policies and directions for Australia's higher education system.

'This is a very good book indeed, penetrating in its analysis, firmly based on recent empirical work and measured in its tone … full of interesting and enlightening material … If you want to understand the university you work in, and why it is that way, and what you can do about it, and why you should bother, this well-researched, well-written and well-produced book is a great place to start.' Australian Universities' Review, 'The real value of reading this book lies in its dual capacity to offer not only a close analysis of current executive, institutional and research power in university governance in those institutions studied, but also a global post-mortem, so to speak, of how universities have come to a state where their roles have become worrying unstable and their identities fragile, usefully elaborating the history of higher education in Australia as a specific case in point … There are many who would find this book of value. From the point of view of relevance, any professional who works in a university, or has governance within or of a university, would find it illuminating, as would too our political leaders I suspect. A further and final pleasure to note is the elegance, and sometimes wit, with which this book is written.' Higher Education