Sustainable strategic planning in Italian higher education institutions: a content analysis

Abstract

Purpose This study aims, first of all, to analyze the extent to which Italian higher education institutions declare their mission statements in their official documents; then, to examine their content; and finally, to investigate whether mission statements include considerations on sustainability dimensions. Design/methodology/approach After a theoretical background on the new strategic approach adopted by higher education institutions and the related disclosure of their mission statements, the study deepens their sustainable perspective presenting the concepts of social engagement and knowledge transfer from a literary point of view. Then, a documentary analysis on the content of Italian universities’ official mission declarations will be conducted, to understand the role they play in society, by individuating their actual interest in sustainable dimensions. Findings Findings suggest that 36% of the 98 Italian universities state their engagement in societal issues, but only 3 of them mention sustainability targets in their mission declarations. Research limitations/implications The study is limited, exclusively based on what higher education institutions share and, in terms of future perspective, the aim can be to investigate further official documents, especially for what concerns sustainability reports. Practical implications Practical implications regard the denounce of weak attention paid by Italian universities to sustainability, with the aim to foster them to increase connections with the external world, aware of the centrality of their role within society. Originality/value In a context that is not yet completely investigated, the originality of the paper regards the intent to study the sustainable propensity that characterizes the Italian higher education system.

A Systematic Review of University Social Responsibility in Post-Conflict Societies: The Case of the Great Lakes Region of East Africa

“…Finally, our study findings indicated that GLREA universities which posted, mentioned, and defined specifically their VMS count 37% of all 30 selected universities in the study. These findings are consistently found in Italian HEIs (Fantauzzi et al, 2021 ).…”

“…These authors argued that the twin terms are vital strategic tools which direct institutional planning, establish work scope, determine strategic operations and purpose, create values, establish and define institutional commitments and outcomes, and help institutions focus on what truly matters to all of its stakeholders. In other contexts (i.e., the US, the UK, and Europe as a whole), scholars analyzed data collected from different websites and found that the twin terms do not only provide necessary information about a university, but also attract its key stakeholders (Ahmad & Masroor, 2020 ; Fantauzzi et al, 2021 ). Lee and Park ( 2021 ) emphasized that VMS present universities’ images and portray them as public good producers and globally competitive strategic actors.…”

“…Lee and Park ( 2021 ) emphasized that VMS present universities’ images and portray them as public good producers and globally competitive strategic actors. Unexpectedly, Fantauzzi et al ( 2021 ) researched the Italian HEIs’ commitments to sustainability by analyzing their VMS, both archived and posted on their websites and found that 37% of 98 institutions stated their specific components of engagement with society, but only 3 of them mentioned their sustainability targets in their VMS.…”

Universities’ Social Responsibility through the Lens of Strategic Planning: A Content Analysis

“…Therefore, from this framework, and responding to the call from academics for more studies on SR in universities, this paper contributes to the previous literature with a study on the principal management tool through which universities nowadays establish and manage to set their strategic objectives regarding the issues of SR: the strategic plan. Following prior studies (Fantauzzi et al 2021;Sangiorgi and Siboni 2017) we adopted a qualitative approach applying the content analysis technique (Low et al 2015) to a selected sample of strategic plans issued by Italian universities. Based on these observations, this study addressed the following research question: RQ.…”

Effects of Sustainable Strategic Planning Applications in Primary Schools on the Effectiveness of Total Quality Management Practices

“…In a context where the concept of sustainability has become so important, representing one of the columns of social and economic development and a new challenge to excellence for any school that is widely accepted to play a teaching role, teachers and administrators have been called to extend their activities, presenting themselves as operators for social change [32].…”