scholarly journals Greening higher education? From responsibilization to accountabilization in the incorporation of sustainability in higher education

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 208-222
Author(s):  
Nikos Macheridis ◽  
Alexander Paulsson

Purpose This study aims to investigate how sustainability has been incorporated – or mainstreamed - in a school at one university through techniques of responsibilization and accountabilization. Design/methodology/approach Inspired by the extended case study methodology, the authors participated, observed and analyzed two audit-inspired processes, whose aims included ensuring that sustainability was integrated into the educational process. Findings By following two audit-inspired processes, the authors show how teachers were asked to respond to open-ended survey questions and by doing so emerged as responsibilized subjects. Although the teachers were given lots of space to interpret the concept of sustainability and show how it was translated into the programs and courses offered, the teachers were made accountable as established organizational hierarchies were reproduced when responsibilization was formalized through techniques of accountabilization. Research limitations/implications The analysis moves beyond the instrumental epistemologies characterizing much of the positivist-oriented research in higher education. As with all studies, the authors study also has methodological limitations, such as involving a single higher education institution. There is a general need for more empirical research in this area in order to build theory and to understand whether the concepts of responsibilization and accountabilization can also be applied in other higher education contexts. Practical implications The study shows that higher education administrators engage in processes of responsibilization and accountabilization through formalized processes of interpellation, as documents and self-assessment exercises tie teachers to organizational contexts. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that introduces the concepts of responsibilization and accountabilization as social relationships in higher education governance.

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred Huan Zhi Chan ◽  
Mohd Dahlan Malek ◽  
Ferlis Bahari

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify higher authority organizational stressors encountered by higher education deans. Design/methodology/approach This current research employed a qualitative approach utilizing a contextual paradigm with a multiple case study methodology. Findings Out of ten investigated deans in a public higher education institution in Malaysia, nine reported experiences of organizational stressor elements arising from higher authority. Three non-overlapping subthemes were systematically discovered. Practical implications Successful identification of these higher authority organizational stressors has implications for higher education management policies. Policies that reduce or eliminate these stressors may create a positive and progressive environment for deans and the higher education field. Originality/value This study will thus serve to promote a deeper understanding of higher authority organizational stressors encountered by higher education deans.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Simões Santos ◽  
António João Pina da Costa Felician Abreu

AbstractEducation sector, and particularly, Higher Education Institutions (HEI), is nowadays an increasingly competitive sector, where the HEI’s success, relies on stakeholder’s recognition, along with their capacity to attract funding, to achieve sustainability.To attends such demands, HEI tends to incorporate into their strategy, Internal Quality Assurance Systems (IQAS). Additionally, and according to some works, existed on literature, HEI should follows a logic of continuous improvement, through the services provided to their stakeholders, where EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) model, arises as an alternative solution to be considered.However, and although the success achieved with this model on private sector, there are no certainties about the results of their implementation in HEI, since some of the adopted models have a set of techniques based on theories, sometimes incompatible within HEI nature.Therefore, and by using the case study methodology, it is intended to analyze the feasibility of an IQAS implementation, based on the EFQM model, in an Engineering School in Portugal.For this purpose, they are identified some advantages and difficulties found within its implementation, as well as ways to overcome them, contributing therefore with some answers for a better EFQM implementation into a HEI in general.


Author(s):  
L. Levytskа ◽  
N. Postoiuk

The essence of the phenomenon of "value orientation", "formation of student value orientations" has been revealed n the article. The "professional values" as an integrated multi-level education, the coordinate system and the corresponding regulations of the professional's specialist activity have been substantiated. It has been established that professional values of student youth include professional responsibility, the essence-content content of pedagogical work, its moral aspect, principles and professional relations. The functions of value orientations and peculiarities of their formation in the professional training of future specialists of higher education institution of Ukraine have been determined. The peculiarities of students' values n higher education institutions have been revealed. The criteria (cognitive, motivational, activity, personal) and levels (low, average, sufficient and high) of professional-value orientations of students have been determined. The model is developed and pedagogical conditions of formation and development of students' value orientations in the educational environment of the higher education institution have been substantiated: formation of positive motivation for the profession and necessity of ethical regulation of their own professional actions; updating of educational and methodological support and substantive content of future specialists' professional training (due to the development and implementation of the special course and enrichment of the content of professional disciplines with an axiological component); ensuring systematic and comprehensive self-assessment of professional activity, self-knowledge concerning the acquisition of groups of professional values. It was established that the mechanism of formation of value orientations in students of higher education institution includes the stages: perception; response (subordinate, voluntary, satisfaction response); assimilation of professional values (acceptance of values, prevalence of professional values, conviction); organization of professional values (conceptualization of professional values, organization of a system of professional values); use of professional values (internalization of professional values, use of professional values in activities).


2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Rinaldi ◽  
Alessio Cavicchi

Purpose This paper aims to understand the motivations driving cooperative behaviour between heterogeneous stakeholders in place-branding activities, focusing on contract-based and relation-based cooperation constructs. Design/methodology/approach The longitudinal case study method is used to help understanding how the investigated network has evolved over four years from an attempt to build a regional umbrella-brand to a network contract between 13 enterprises. Findings The findings suggest that the relationships of trust and shared values among stakeholders are essential to foster cooperation, but also that contract-based governance complements a relation-based governance, enhancing the performance of the alliance. Research limitations/implications The main limitation is related to the case study methodology, as results are strongly dependent on the specific characteristics of the stakeholders and the geographical area analysed. Social implications The role of stakeholders in building a place brand is increasingly important. When analysing cooperative behaviour drivers, more attention should be paid to such intangible assets as social, human, relational and organisational capital. Originality/value This longitudinal case study emphasises that for success in place-branding activities, contract-based cooperation can be particularly useful at the beginning of a network alliance, while relation-based cooperation ensures the strength and continuity of the partnership but it takes time to develop. Responsible leaders, working as relationship facilitators/enablers, are important to keep network members engaged, by creating trust and favouring mutual beneficial relationships between stakeholders.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariane Lemos Lourenço ◽  
Mara Rosalia Ribeiro Silva ◽  
Rafael Santana Galvão Oliveira

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between empathy and social responsibility (SR) practices in a university organization in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Design/methodology/approach The research was qualitative, using case study methodology. The case study was about the Brazilian organization Ânima Educação, which is the greatest among the five largest publicly traded education companies in Brazil. Secondary data collection and content analysis was carried out. Findings As emotional response toward the problems caused by the pandemic, the company's leadership adopted an empathic behavior, allowing traces of its empathic culture to emerge. Empathy was expressed through the implementation of SR practices aimed at workers (policy of not firing in the first two months of the pandemic), at students (provision of technological apparatus, online classes, physical/psychological assistance and negotiation of late fees) and at the society (assistance to the elderly). Originality/value It was concluded that empathy can be taken as the emotional motivator for companies to engage in SR practices, especially in extreme circumstances in society, as the economic and health challenges that the world is experiencing with the COVID-19 pandemic nowadays. SR practices, in turn, can foster even more empathy in organizations, mobilizing leaders and their respective groups in the creation and implementation of new practices, thus demonstrating that the relationship between empathy and SR practices is a “two-way street.”


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 97-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandros Chrysikos ◽  
Ejaz Ahmed ◽  
Rupert Ward

Purpose Retention is one of the key performance indicators in university quality assurance processes. The purpose of this paper is to identify the causes leading to low retention rates for first-year undergraduate computing students in a UK higher education institution (HEI). Design/methodology/approach The study applies Tinto’s student integration theory, and connects it with the behavioural patterns of students. Data were collected from 901 students using Pascarella and Terenzini’s questionnaire (integration scales). This data were combined with student enrolment information and analysed using the structural equation modelling technique. Findings The study results indicate that Tinto’s student integration theory is useful in analysing student retention, but this accounts for only a modest amount of variance in retention. Nevertheless, important relationships amongst student’s initial and later academic goals and commitments have been identified through this new approach to analysing retention. The largest direct effect on retention was accounted for by initial goals and institutional commitments, followed by later goals and institutional commitments. In addition, the results show that academic and social integration constructs can have an influence on the student retention processes. When all, or some, of these relationships are operating towards students’ benefits, appropriate services or programmes, such as student support systems, can have their maximum benefits. Originality/value The authors mapped behavioural-related retention factors using a learning community lens. The study explored students’ social and learning experiences within the context of a UK HEI by employing Tinto’s model. This is the first time the model has been tested in this context.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charmaine Glavas ◽  
Shane Mathews ◽  
Rebekah Russell-Bennett

Purpose Technology has profoundly transformed the international business environment, particularly regarding the flow of information and the way in which knowledge is acquired and shared. Yet, the extent of this transformation is still underappreciated. The purpose of this paper is to examine how small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owner/founders acquire and utilize knowledge for internationalization via internet-enabled platforms. Design/methodology/approach The empirical analysis draws on multiple case study methodology to examine 13 Australian SME owner/founders and the knowledge they acquire from utilization of internet-enabled platforms. Findings The analysis reveals four differing types of internet-enabled experiences: “technical internet-enabled experiences,” “operational internet-enabled experiences,” “functional internet-enabled experiences,” and “immersive internet-enabled experiences.” The findings indicate that internet-enabled experiences can generate both explicit and tacit forms of knowledge for the pre, early and later phases of internationalization. Practical implications The findings provide a structured approach by allowing SMEs to “plot” themselves against the classification of internet-enabled experiences to denote their level of technological involvement, and for discerning the types of knowledge that can be acquired. The findings are particularly helpful for owner/founders, highlighting that internet-enabled platforms are affecting the ways in which knowledge can be acquired and applied to international businesses processes. Originality/value The findings extend the conventional notion of knowledge acquisition for international business by highlighting how information and knowledge can be acquired via internet-enabled platforms. The findings lay the necessary groundwork for building an evidence base and theoretically extending the concept of knowledge acquisition via internet-enabled platforms.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 331-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liselott Lycke ◽  
Ingrid Tano

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe an approach to build a quality culture within a higher education institution. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on Action research and a Case study. Findings The authors show the result of the mapped processes of a higher education institution, Management planning and control, Education, Research and Support, and describe how the mapping was performed, working in cross-functional teams. Further on, they discuss the result of the pilot and the plan for implementation. Originality/value A process-oriented approach in higher education institutions, with its complexity, creates opportunities for successful quality assurance and control when having an integrated quality assurance system.


Author(s):  
Viktoriia Shvyrka ◽  
◽  
Asia Lysohor ◽  

The article discloses the real state and prospects of the education of culture of communication of doctoral candidates for higher education in the educational process of an institution of higher education, which is considered as an integral part of the overall process of professional development of a future specialist. The results of the research of real state of students' culture of communication on the basis of cognitive, motivational and activity criteria are presented. The pedagogical conditions of education of communication culture of an institution of students of higher education are suggested. The stages of the implementation of pedagogical conditions are presented: adaptational, basic, advanced, which are designed to form knowledge of the characteristics of the communication process, skills and abilities of adequate communicative behavior in various situations of verbal and non-verbal communication.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document