Strategy as Dialogue and Engagement

Abstract

Interest in organisational strategy spans more than half a century and is a central topic in the business management and organisational literature (Miles et al. 1978; Chandler 2003). Within the organisational field of higher education, particularly in Northern Europe, strategic planning has only emerged in the last two decades or so, as a result of governmental reforms inspired by 'new public management' (Mouwen 2000; Rip 2004; Salminen 2003), leading to the rise of strategic science regimes. Strategy could be broadly defined as pertaining to 'a deliberate conscious set of guidelines that determines decisions into the future' (Mintzberg 1978,

Perception of strategies by university middle managers: is there any relationship with actual universities’ operations?

“…We are limited in understanding the practice of involvement (participation in the discussions, document development or formal approval). However, these results for Russian administrative staff are consistent with the Nordic universities’ survey, reported in Aarrevaara et al ( 2019 ).…”

“…The participation of academic and non-academic staff members in strategy formulation vary across institutions. For example, Aarrevaara et al ( 2019 ) shows that 60% of academics in Swedish universities have participated in strategy development, while in Norway only 40% reported so. Moreover, administrative staff is more engaged in strategy formulation than academic faculty.…”

Strategy adaptation for sustainable quality management in universities: a systematic literature review

“…Further, Medne and colleagues (2020) stated the necessity for integration of sustainability in a university’s strategy and present examples based on their case of a Latvian university, as follows: developing strategic objectives focused on ‘internationalisation’, ‘interdisciplinary projects’, ‘an integrated quality system’, ‘financial management’, ‘infrastructure development’, and ‘digitalisation in study, research, and valorisation processes’ (p. 39). Considering strategy development in universities, while many researchers have argued how strategies deeply influence the management system and daily practices in universities (Aarrevaara et al, 2019 ; Shah & Sid-Nair, 2014 ), Uslu ( 2018 ) exclusively picturised flexible strategies regarding changes in national/local demographics, local industry/business sectors, national higher education regulations, international higher education formats, and global/national economic conditions (p. 224).…”

“…It is a well-known fact that university leaders decide strategic priorities and develop various strategies targeting quality enhancement in their institutional activities and services (Aarrevaara et al, 2019 ). Parallel to directives by the leadership, assigned experts or unit managers will establish various institutional policies and practices as part of the quality management system (Medne et al, 2020 ).…”