Managing Resources and Relations in Higher Education Institutions: A Framework for Understanding Performance Improvement

Abstract

Changes in social systems demonstrate that various structural disadvantages have jointly led to increasing competition among higher education institutions (HEIs) in many countries, especially Taiwan.Institutional administrators must recognize the need to understand how to improve performance and consistently outperform other institutions. Building on two theoretical frameworks that link antecedents and institutional performance, this study examines the relationships among institutional resources, social capital, and performance within Taiwan' s HEIs and the mediating role of institutional resources. By using structural equation modeling (SEM), we tested the multi-group model in three diverse HEI sizes: large, medium, and small. The results showed that each higher education institution, as a function of its history and past success, had different slack resources available, and these resource combinations were shown to be a relevant factor in explaining inter-higher-education-institution variance in each outcome. Considering HEI sizes, even small HEIs can enhance their performance through consolidating existing internal social capital and strengthening external social capital.

Antecedents of corporate reputation with employees in higher education institutions: a systematic review

“…Previous studies in the corporate world connect social capital with the performance of an organization, and other studies reveal that social capital is related to corporate reputation (Kirkbesoglu, 2013). However, social capital was tested as a mediating variable between corporate reputation and HEIs performance in Taiwan (Ho and Peng, 2016) and between corporate social responsibility and corporate reputation in South Korea (Joo, 2020). Both studies confirmed social capital significantly influenced corporate reputation in HEIs context.…”

“…Previous studies show that investment in social capital translates into a positive managerial reputation (Kirkbesoglu, 2013). Within the context of HEIs, Ho and Peng (2016) examined the relationship between institutional resources, corporate reputation and performance in Taiwan. The findings indicated that corporate reputation mediated the relationship between social capital and institutional performance.…”

Factors Affecting Human Resource and Infrastructure in the Universities of Indonesia

“…The teaching staff is one of the internal resources that will improve the performance of higher education institutions. To create value and improve university performance, the role of the teaching staff is very necessary (Ho & Peng, 2016). The expertise of human resources and infrastructure in this study will enhance the reputation of the university.…”

Exploring the need for stakeholders' engagement through social networking sites to build the reputation of higher education organisations

“…It also depends on how well the organisation's other stakeholders, both internal and external, consider it to be fulfilling the commitments it has undertaken (Harvey, Morris, & Müller Santos, 2017). In this sense, proper management of its stakeholders has to be fundamental for an HEO given that reputation not only affects its student intake, but also its admission standards and research performance (Ho & Peng, 2016), and indeed, in the long term, its very survival as an institution (Lafuente-Ruiz- de-Sabando et al, 2018).…”

“…In consequence, there is a need to evaluate the real utility of SNSs for HEOs (Ho & Peng, 2016), and to consider the role that SNSs can play as a means of communication in forming part of an HEO's social media strategy (Szwajca, 2017). In such an approach, it is necessary to focus explicitly on engagement as part of the conceptual choice because fostering stakeholders' engagement with the institution is a sine qua non for building reputation as one of the organisation's values (Ji, Li, North, & Liu, 2017).…”