scholarly journals Operationalizing public value in higher education: the use of narratives as an alternative for performance indicators

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luc Salemans ◽  
Tjerk Budding
Keyword(s):  
Applied Sciences ◽  
Higher Education ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Public Value ◽  
The Public ◽  
Universities Of Applied Sciences ◽  
Dutch Universities ◽  
Value Concept

AbstractMore than 25 years after Moore’s first introduction of the public value concept in 1995, the concept is now widely used, but its operationalization is still considered difficult. This paper presents the empirical results of a study analyzing the application of the public value concept in Higher Education Institutions, thereby focusing on how to account for public value. The paper shows how Dutch universities of applied sciences operationalize the concept ‘public value’, and how they report on the outcome achievements. The official strategy plans and annual reports for FY2016 through FY2018 of the ten largest institutions were used. While we find that all the institutions selected aim to deliver public value, they still use performance indicators that have a more narrow orientation, and are primarily focused on processes, outputs, and service delivery quality. However, we also observe that they use narratives to show the public value they created. In this way this paper contributes to the literature on public value accounting.

Competitive advantage, what does it really mean in the context of public higher education institutions?

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haijing Helen de Haan
Keyword(s):  
Applied Sciences ◽  
Higher Education ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Research Universities ◽  
Public Higher Education ◽  
Competitive Strategies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Universities Of Applied Sciences ◽  
Job Function

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically investigate the discourse on “competitive advantage”, a concept that has been widely applied in the public higher education sector, but rarely defined and conceptualised. Design/methodology/approach – In order to get some insightful understanding about how “competitive advantage” is actually manifested in the life and activities of public higher education institutions (PHEIs), it is necessary to obtain data about the perceptions held by education practitioners in different sub-sectors and at various job function levels. In total, 73 interviews at 16 Dutch PHEIs were conducted in the period of 2009-2011. Findings – By studying the diversified meanings, 13 elements were identified in constructing the competitive advantages sought by PHEIs, and, more importantly the significance of each element is rated and ranked. Furthermore, this research discovered that the research universities and universities of applied sciences perceive this concept differently; also, the practitioners holding different job functions gave divergent meanings to this term. The clarification of this container concept “competitive advantage” leads to the conclusion that the business way of defining “competitive advantage” should be critically reviewed and verified in the context of the public higher education sector. Research limitations/implications – This study used just two parameters for the selection of individual respondents: their job function and the length of their working experience. Further studies that adopt different selection parameters are, therefore, encouraged as offering the potential to further enrich our knowledge about how competitive advantage is perceived and put into practice. It is hoped that the findings from this research offer some guidance in developing a framework for such further studies. Practical implications – The sectorial differences revealed by this study can help research universities and universities of applied sciences design their competitive strategies more suitable with their specific characteristics. The job function level differences shown by the research findings can help institutions to identify and close the gaps between the central level and faculty level in their strategic planning and implementation. Originality/value – The clarification of the container concept “competitive advantage” is unique in the current educational management literature, particularly in both qualitative and quantitative ways. The comparisons between two institutional types and two job function levels may help PHEIs to effectively design competitive strategies according to their specific institutional characteristics and by understanding the gaps between the central and faculty level.

scholarly journals The Nature of Social Work Research by Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences : An Overview

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Martine Ganzevles ◽  
Daan Andriessen ◽  
Wilke Van Beest ◽  
Tine Van Regenmortel ◽  
Jaap Van Weeghel
Keyword(s):  
Applied Sciences ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Universities Of Applied Sciences ◽  
Dutch Universities

scholarly journals Higher education teachers’ descriptions of their own learning: a large-scale study of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 1284-1297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aija Töytäri ◽  
Arja Piirainen ◽  
Päivi Tynjälä ◽  
Liisa Vanhanen-Nuutinen ◽  
Kimmo Mäki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Applied Sciences ◽  
Higher Education ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Large Scale Study ◽  
Universities Of Applied Sciences

Translating Researchers’ Experiences into Training on Research Integrity at Universities of Applied Sciences (TETRIAS)

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 33-33
Author(s):  
Susan Berentsen ◽  
◽  
Fenneke Blom ◽  
Rob van der Sande ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Applied Sciences ◽  
Training Program ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Research Integrity ◽  
Responsible Conduct Of Research ◽  
Important Place ◽  
Responsible Conduct ◽  
Universities Of Applied Sciences ◽  
Arts And Culture ◽  
Dutch Universities

"In the Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences (UASs) applied research is gaining an increasingly important place in their activities, not only as a means to improve teaching but as a means to develop innovations and professionalism as well. The establishment of a clear framework of research integrity is an important condition to foster the research environment. Up to now, in the UASs there is no specific training for researchers that helps researchers to develop the necessary competencies. This project seeks to address this issue by developing a training program on ‘Responsible Conduct of Research’. To identify what topics should be covered twelve researchers from six different UASs and seven different domains were interviewed (Economics, Arts and Culture, Pedagogy, Technology, Healthcare, Business Administration, and Bioinformatics). Their input resulted in a picture of the state of the art in integrity issues that the interviewees considered as important. Based on an explorative qualitative data analysis and the project team’s expertise tailored learning objectives and appropriate learning methods were formulated. The training program will likely be offered through the Association of UASs (Vereniging van Hogescholen) to all UASs in our country. "

A New Era of Accountability

2020 ◽  
pp. 251-274
Author(s):  
Marilee Bresciani Ludvik
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Institutional Performance ◽  
New Era ◽  
Economic Stimulation ◽  
The Public ◽  
American Higher Education

The clash of whether higher education should serve the public good or economic stimulation seems more alive than ever to some, and to others, it has come to an end. Not agreeing on the purpose of American higher education certainly makes it difficult to know whether educators are being responsible for delivering what is expected of them. Rather than reviewing the important debate that has already taken place, this chapter seeks to merge the two seemingly juxtaposed disagreements and discuss how bringing the two purposes together may influence how we examine accountability. As such, an inquiry model, including ways to gather and interpret institutional performance indicators for accountability is posited. Practical suggestions for implementation of this methodology are provided.

Englishization ‘under the radar’

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Dannerer ◽  
Martina Gaisch ◽  
Ute Smit
Keyword(s):  
Applied Sciences ◽  
Higher Education ◽  
Research Universities ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Statistical Information ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Traditional Research ◽  
Universities Of Applied Sciences ◽  
Strong Position ◽  
Policy Texts

Based on statistical information and policy texts, this chapter provides an overview and evaluation of the use and roles of English in traditional research universities and universities of applied sciences in Austria. While internationalization is interpreted and realized in different ways by different institutions, English functions as a central element. A factor supporting the widely unquestioned use of English might be found in the socio-economically strong position that German still enjoys in business, work-life, and higher education in Europe. This predominance is also noticeable in the utilitarian relevance awarded to both German and English in Austrian higher education, thereby failing to recognize the multi-layered relevance multilingualism could have in implementing internationalization policies that would go beyond Englishization practices.

Performance Indicators and Accountability in Portuguese Public Universities

2018 ◽  
pp. 210-233
Author(s):  
Augusta da Conceição Santos Ferreira ◽  
Carlos Santos ◽  
Graça Maria do Carmo Azevedo ◽  
Judite Gonçalves ◽  
Jonas da Silva Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
The Public ◽  
And Performance

The public sector in Portugal has undergone major reforms, coercing institutions of higher education into greater transparency in accountability and performance indicators. The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate the level of disclosure of performance indicators by the Higher Education Institutions in Portuguese Public Universities, with a special emphasis on the obligatory nature and to evaluate if there are factors that influence the level of disclosure. This study was based on the content analysis of the management or activity reports of the 13 Portuguese public universities to calculate de level of disclosure, and used the quantitative analysis based on the Least-squares regression on the investigation of factors that influence the level of disclosure. According to the data obtained, it can be concluded that Portuguese Public Universities discloses performance indicators imposed by law and voluntarily, and it was verified that the level of disclosure is influenced by the variables dimension, financing from other sources of funding and the ranking of web of universities.

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