IDENTIFYING THE NATURE OF PARTICIPATORY COMMUNICATION BETWEEN STAKEHOLDERS OF A UNIVERSITY INCUBATOR

Year 2017, Volume: 9 Issue: 2, 104 - 119, 01.06.2017

J Van Der Vyver C Van Der Vyver

Abstract

Participation and effective communication has become the normative approach
within the field of development communication over the last couple of decades. It
is reasoned that for development projects to be sustainable and truly contribute to
the development of communities, the communication within these projects must be
participatory in nature. Universities are under pressure from both the government
and the industry to help with economic development and deliver graduates that can
make a positive difference in their field of expertise. University business incubator
are business incubators located within a university, and facilitate and develop
conditions and support systems that ensure young entrepreneurs with new ventures
will function successfully. Business incubators support young entrepreneurs by
giving them access to affordable facilities and resources such as secretarial support
and office furniture. The Netherlands Initiative for Capacity Development in Higher
Education (NICHE) launched such an entrepreneurial support and development
programme on the North-West University’s Vaal Triangle Campus, South Africa
in February 2009. The bhive university incubator is a unit within Faculty of
Economic Sciences & IT with the main focus on bridging the gap between academia
and business.
This article investigates the extent to which communication between the different
stakeholders of the local university incubator is participatory in nature. It futher
focuses on determining if the development programme leads to sustainable
community development, social change and if the true needs of stakeholders are
addressed.
A qualitative research approach was used to collect the data, which included
interviews and content analysis. Interviews with various stakeholders, explored the premises of the nature of development communication for social change within the
bhive University Incubator. All documentation of the bhive, including initails
planning documents and agreements between South Africa and the Netherlands
were scrutinised during the content analysis. The participant – observer research
method was also used, for approximately 2 years, to gain insight into the daily
activities within the bhive.
The research findings revealed that within the larger paradigm of heteroglossia, a
element to successful and effective dialogue within development projects, there is
alot of room for improvement. This study concluded by presenting the various areas
for improvement and offered theoretically grounded recommendations.

Keywords

Business incubators, communication for social change, communication management, development communication, participatory communication, participatory approach, stakeholder management, university incubators.