Balancing countervailing processes at a Lithuanian university

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 327-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liudvika Leisyte ◽  
Mantas Vilkas ◽  
Egle Staniskiene ◽  
Daiva Zostautiene
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Organisational Learning ◽  
Academic Excellence ◽  
Central Administration ◽  
Higher Education Institution ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand how the countervailing processes for enhancing academic excellence based on professional norms are balanced out with the market-oriented processes of standardisation and performance management in a university. Further, the authors aim to explore how and if organisational learning occurs in balancing these processes. Design/methodology/approach The longitudinal, inductive three-year study of a higher education institution in Lithuania was used to understand how a higher education institution based on the norms of academic excellence was balanced out with the market-oriented processes and what mechanisms of leaning took place during the process. The authors drew upon three data sources – archival materials, observation and interviews with academic staff and administrators – to capture the processes of rebalancing and learning. Findings A complex balance is observed between the strive for academic excellence and market relevance. Market relevance has been the dominant reform tone for the central administration of a Lithuanian university (LTU), while maintenance of academic excellence prevailed among academic staff. The LTU manages the countervailing processes by standardising, financialising, surveying and disciplining. The rebalancing resulted in dissent from the academic community. Organisational learning could be observed in the example of the introduction of a new examination procedure, while it could not occur during the process of new performance management system introduction. The process led to mutual distrust between the academic staff and the management of the LTU. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on organisational learning in higher education, showing how an eager entrepreneurial university engages in the reform process and how it engages in the complex balancing of countervailing processes of academic excellence and market relevance. The authors contribute with empirical evidence on how rebalancing processes in a professional organisation works and what limitations it faces. The study shows the vital multi-stakeholder involvement and understanding of the process of change. The authors further contribute to the discussion on the adoption factors of performance-based systems and the process of institutionalisation using a longitudinal perspective as called for in previous research.

scholarly journals Analysis of Tinto’s student integration theory in first-year undergraduate computing students of a UK higher education institution

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 97-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandros Chrysikos ◽  
Ejaz Ahmed ◽  
Rupert Ward
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Retention ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Integration Theory ◽  
First Year ◽  
Higher Education Institution ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Student Integration ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Uk Higher Education

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.

Building quality culture in higher education

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 331-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liselott Lycke ◽  
Ingrid Tano
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Higher Education Institution ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Culture ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Control Education ◽  
Functional Teams ◽  
And Control

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.

scholarly journals Academic Staff Perceptions toward Implementing Total Quality Management Principles

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Naail Mohammed Kamil ◽  
Loutfi Boulahlib ◽  
Mohammed Borhandden Musa ◽  
Shafeeq Hussain Vazathodi Al-Hudawi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Management ◽  
Total Quality Management ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Subjective Norms ◽  
Total Quality ◽  
Higher Education Institution ◽  
Academic Degree

Purpose-This study examines the attitude of academic staff in one higher education institution in Malaysia towards the implementation of total quality management principles, and how that affects the intention to implement total quality management in the university. It also highlights the impacts of several demographic variables on the implementation of total quality management in the university.Design/methodology/approach-The study used survey data drawn from 149 academic staff selected using stratified random sampling techniques. Regression analysis was used to analyse data.Finding-The findings demonstrate there is a positive significant correlation between attitude toward TQM implementation (customers and stakeholders, employee engagement and teamwork, continuous improvements and total degree of attitude) and the intention to practice TQM among sampled institution faculties.Concerning the correlation between the subjective norms and intention, the analysis manifests that there is no significant correlation between the subjective norms of TQM and the intention to practice TQM principles among institutional staff.Furthermore, the study also found that there are no significant differences in the attitude towards implementation of total quality managementprinciples due to the variables of gender, nationality, marital status, work experiences, the faculty and job positions with the exception of academic degree, where significant differences are shown.Value/originality-Since the study reports the understanding of academic staff of a higher education institution toward the implementation of total quality management principles, top management in the tertiary sector may find the findings and conclusions useful when planning for the implementation of total quality management principles.

scholarly journals Employability outcomes for university joint honours graduates

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Pigden ◽  
Andrew Garford Moore
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Higher Education Institution ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Highly Skilled ◽  
Employment Rates ◽  
Cent Point ◽  
The Uk

PurposeIn the UK, the vast majority of university students specialise and study just one subject at bachelor degree level, commonly known in the UK as a single honours degree. However, nearly all British universities will permit students if they wish to study two or even three subjects, so-called joint or combined honours degrees, internationally known as a double major. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether the study of a joint rather than a single honours degree had an impact on employment outcomes six months after graduation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analysed the complete data set provided from the Higher Education Statistics Agency Destination of Leavers from the Higher Education survey. The data were analysed to establish whether there was a difference in the highly skilled graduate employability of the joint honours students. The authors established whether there were any differences inherent in completing a joint honours degree in a post-1992 higher education institution, by nation within the UK or within a Russell Group higher education institution.FindingsThe authors found an approximately consistent 3 per cent point negative gap nationally in the highly skilled employment rates of joint compared with single honours graduates. This gap was at its lowest in the highly selective Russell Group universities (−1.52 per cent points) and highest in post-1992, vocationally oriented universities (−7.13 per cent points) and in Northern Ireland universities (−12.45 per cent points). Joint honours graduates of Scottish universities fared well, with a +3.09 per cent point advantage over the national average for joint honours. The authors found that universities that had a higher proportion of joint honours graduates generally had a lower employability gap between their joint and single honours graduates.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focussed on joint honours degrees in the UK where the two or three principal subjects fall into different JACS subject areas, i.e. the two or three subjects are necessarily diverse rather than academically cognate. Future work will consider the class of joint honours degrees where the principal subjects lie within the same JACS subject area, i.e. they may be closer academically, although still taught by different academic teams. This grouping will include, for example, pairs of foreign languages, some social sciences pairings such as politics and sociology, and pairings such as history and theology from the historical and philosophical subject area.Originality/valueThe potential disbenefits of studying for a joint honours degree are apparent in this study. Joint honours students may face organisational, academic and cultural challenges that require a positive, conscious and sustained effort to overcome, on both the part of the student and the higher education institution. In particular for graduates of the post-1992 universities, it appears that there is a negative relative impact on highly skilled employment. This impact is lessened if the university is Scottish (four-year degrees with in-built breadth of study) or where the proportion completing joint honours degrees is relatively high.

English instructors’ motivation levels in Islamic higher education

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Fauzan Ansyari ◽  
Fabio Oliveira Coelho ◽  
Kalayo Hasibuan ◽  
Dodi Settiawan ◽  
Masni Kamallia
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Higher Education Institution ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Schedule Flexibility ◽  
Financial Benefits

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the motivation levels of non-permanent English instructors (lecturers) in a university language centre (LC) and the factors with regard to what elements sustain their motivation to teach English and to remain in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) profession at an Islamic higher education institution. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory case study with a purposive sampling technique was employed in this study. Ten instructors (seven females and three males) aged between 26 and 40 years old participated (M = 29.6 year olds). The selected participants in the sample were instructors who had taught between three to nine years at the LC (M = 3.9 years), and interviews were the tools used to collect data. Findings Overall, LC instructors’ motivation is not internalised or less internalised into their self-concept. This can be seen from the results that show, respectively, instructors’ levels of no internalisation (42 per cent), less internalisation (40.5 per cent), more internalisation (11 per cent) and full internalisation (6.5 per cent). In total, 11 factors were identified: the influence of others, financial benefits, professional development opportunities, schedule flexibility, supportive working environment, social status and acceptance, a stepping stone for career advancement, networking, dedication, challenge and teaching as a calling. In general, it has been found that instructors are more externally than internally regulated or motivated. Research limitations/implications This study only employed interview to collect data and had only ten respondents. Originality/value Data were collected at the LC of an Islamic institution of higher education institution where instructors are non-permanently employed. The LC is a TEFL environment serving about 12,000 students a year. This study, therefore, allows for an understanding of instructors’ motivation in such context.

Dynamic capabilities, organizational learning and ambidexterity in a higher education institution

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 397-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Patricia da Silva Souza ◽  
Adriana Roseli Wünsch Takahashi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Higher Education Institution ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This paper aims to analyse how dynamic capabilities (DC) affect organizational learning (OL) in a Brazilian higher education institution (HEI) and how this relationship affects organisational ambidexterity (OA). Design/methodology/approach The research strategy involves a qualitative, single case study. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, documentary research over a 15-year period and nonparticipant observation. Data were analysed using narrative analysis. Findings The results show that founders and managers influence the activities related to sensing, seizing and reconfiguring DC. They interpreted the new opportunities and shared them with other individuals. Gradually, a collective sense about the new ideas was constructed. New academic and administrative routines were created and an OL process took place at the HEI, which resulted in a valuable balance between exploration and exploitation (OA) for the organisation. Originality/value The study offers insight into how DC, OL and OA can be related. Although each construct has its own independent definition, there are similarities between them. The case study demonstrates how these theories were affected, and the research, therefore, makes a new methodological contribution regarding how to study DC, OL and OA as an integrative phenomenon.

scholarly journals Employee Engagement Factors in A Higher Education Institution

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-200
Author(s):  
Ahmad Azmy
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Employee Satisfaction ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Academic Quality ◽  
Higher Education Institution ◽  
Supervisory Relationships ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Planning Culture

This reseach analyzed factors that correlated with employee engagement in a higher education institution. The object of this research was the lecturers and employees with the total of 100 people. There were measured on how to produce academic quality accompanied by excellent service to students. Dimensions used were compensation, leadership and organizational planning, culture and corporate communication, job environment, supervisory relationships, employee satisfaction and training, development, and resources. The process of collecting data was through the questionnaires. The research method used Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). In the results, all dimensions used have a significant influence on employee engagement because of p-values <0,05 and t-tables > t-statistics. The supervisor relationship dimension has the highest correlation of 66,5%, and employee satisfaction has the lowest correlation of 13,8%. Higher education institutions must increase employee engagement to maintain productivity and performance. Employee engagement is one of the keys to the success of educational institutions to produce exceptional academic quality and services for the entire academic community.

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