Benefits Resulting from Maintaining a Relationship between Economic Universities and Their Alumni: the Case of the Warsaw School of Economics

Authors

  • Andżelika Kuźnar Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie, Kolegium Gospodarki Światowej, Instytut Ekonomii Międzynarodowej
  • Joanna Żukowska Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie, Instytut Przedsiębiorstwa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24917/20833296.161.8

Keywords:

alumni, friend-raising, fundraising, good practice, university

Abstract

Alumni are more and more often perceived as the most important asset of a university, crucial for the implementation of its strategic goals. Polish economic universities, in comparison to American and many European ones, have much to catch up on in this area. The problem is not only that funds are too small in relation to the needs. There is a lack of systematised knowledge about the possible benefits of maintaining a relationship between universities and alumni, as well as the lack of developed models for this cooperation. The aim of the article is to assess the benefits of cooperation between universities of economics and their alumni taking into account the benefits for the university, its alumni and present students, and to identify good practice in this area. The research method was based on the analysis of the results of a survey conducted online from 28 universities in 19 countries. An additional source of information was the literature, websites, a diagnosis of the situation at the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) and the experience of the authors who have visited some of the foreign universities. As a result of the analysis, it was found that universities are aware of the benefits of maintaining relationships with alumni. The quality of this cooperation is not satisfactory and action is necessary to organise it better. In the case of the SGH, which has been subject to a detailed analysis, there is no clear definition of the goals for maintaining relationships with alumni. The priority should be to develop a long-term strategy leading to organising these relations and outline a desired model of cooperation.

Author Biographies

Andżelika Kuźnar, Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie, Kolegium Gospodarki Światowej, Instytut Ekonomii Międzynarodowej

Andżelika Kuźnar, associate professor at the Institute of Economics of the International Collegium of World Economy of the Warsaw School of Economics. Her research interests focus on international economics. She conducts research on international trade (knowledge products, services, high technology goods), trade policy, economic integration and multinational companies. She is an author and co-author of textbooks, monographs and scientific articles, and an editor of academic monographs. In 2018, her book International trade in knowledge products was awarded the Prof. Edward Lipiński Prize by the Polish Economic Society. She lectures on international economics, multinational companies in the world economy, and services in the world economy. She is also a guest lecturer abroad (among others at Toulouse Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Université Catholique de Lille). She was a Dekaban-Liddle Senior Fellowship scholar. She completed academic internships at the University of Oxford, University of Glasgow and University of Strathclyde.

Joanna Żukowska, Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie, Instytut Przedsiębiorstwa

Joanna Żukowska, associate professor at the Unit of Business Environment at the Institute of Enterprise at the Warsaw School of Economics. She holds the International Trainer Certificate in the field of training, learning and development issued by Edexcel and BTEC Professional Qualifications. Long-term coach. Head of Postgraduate Studies at the Academy of Professional Coach. Scientific supervisor of the Student Acceleration Scientific Association. She specializes in strategic personnel management, coaching, marketing communication, creating customer relations. Her main area of research interest is strategic personnel management, with particular emphasis on the theory and concepts for measuring the forms of employee competence development. She completed internships at the University of Bologna and the University of Fordham in New York. She has lectured at Toulouse Business School, ISCAP Porto, Vilnius Business School, ISCTE Lisbon, Budapest Business School, Universita Degli Studi di Firenze and others.

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Published

2020-06-24

How to Cite

Kuźnar, A. ., & Żukowska, J. (2020). Benefits Resulting from Maintaining a Relationship between Economic Universities and Their Alumni: the Case of the Warsaw School of Economics. Entrepreneurship – Education, 16(1), 95–105. https://doi.org/10.24917/20833296.161.8

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2020): The role of entrepreneurship in education and in the development of organisations and spatial systems

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Articles

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Articles are published under the terms of the Creative Commons License (CC BY-ND 4.0; Attribution– NoDerivs).

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