Jackson Ndolo & Eunice Njagi  The State of Innovativeness Awareness of the Leadership of Kenyan Business Schools: Do they Influence Business Industry Practices? Jackson Ndolo  & Eunice Njagi

 Introduction The Kenya Vision 2030 is the national long term development blueprint that aims to transform Kenya into middle income country The Kenya Vision 2030 envisages a knowledge-based economy with a growth rate of 10% per annum. Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) are recognized as ingredients for the industrialization and economic diversification of the country. Kenyan universities, research organizations and colleges are required to drive the agenda through research and innovation

Universities could be sources of knowledge  SMEs in Kenya Kenya constitution and SME Act 2015 provide regulatory and institutional framework There are 1.56 million licensed SMEs and 5.85 million unlicensed businesses SMEs contribute 98% of GDP, 50% of workforce (7.5 million) and 25% of enterprises Innovation is vital for their survival; new products/services, practices Universities could be sources of knowledge

  Our Study All over the world universities have been sources of knowledge and innovations To foster university-industry cooperation, and hence the knowledge and technology transfer parties are paying a great attention to science and technology policies All Kenyan universities both public and private have innovation centers, participation of business schools in the center’s innovation activities is minimal We determine the innovation awareness score of Kenyan business school leaders and establish the influence of business schools on industry business practices by electronically sending a structured questionnaire to all 71 deans/some cases associate deans

Results A structured questionnaire was send electronically to 71 deans 28 respondents were found to be responsive i.e. 39.4% 78.6% (22 respondents 28) of respondents had at least a doctoral qualification and 92.85% had worked in the university for more than five years 64.3% had been involved in business innovation for more than ten years The results can thus be viewed as the opinion of experienced and well-educated respondents

None of the business schools can claim to have invented any business practice or policy in use to today.. 60% of business school leaders discuss business innovation issues at management level 100% of universities have innovation centers and innovation policies 100% of business school leaders agreed the needs of the industry influence their school curriculums 0% of business school leaders cannot claim to own any business practice or policy

Innovation Awareness Scores of Business School Leaders 10.7% of Kenyan business school leaders had high innovative awareness scores 89.3% of Kenyan business school leaders had low innovation awareness score Hypothesis H0 : Kenya business school leaders have a high innovation Score (6 - 10) H1 : Kenyan business school leaders have a low innovation score (0 - 5) Reject H0 and accept H1 (t=3.408 significant at 0.1% level of significance (28 df)

 Conclusions The innovation awareness score of Kenyan business school leaders is very low signifying a need for university management to nature an innovation culture through training and industry linkages It is the responsibility of business schools to produce innovative minded graduates and also innovations that influence government policies as well as business industry practices. Justifies need for joint projects, internships and seminars/Conferences for dissemination of business research and innovation information. There is a disconnection between business innovation in business schools and industry practices hence need for collaborative effort by both government (e.g MSEA), business schools and business so as to harness the power of innovation. There is need for policies for university-industry collaboration to pay attention not only to the input and output measures but look into the future and measure the possible effects of the created policies more so on business growth.