Cristina Moreno-Carmona

Foundation of Pablo de Olavide University,

Seville, Spain

E-mail: cmorcar@fundacion.upo.es 

ORCID 0003-3478-7887

Are university management teams strategic stakeholders within higher education institutions? A clinical study

José Manuel Feria-Domínguez

Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, Pablo de Olavide University

Seville, Spain

ORCID 0001-9573-8347

Rafael Merinero-Rodríguez

Department of Sociology, University of Pablo de Olavide

Seville, Spain

ORCID 0002-3472-6956

Abstract.  The purpose of this paper is to analyze the strategic role played by the University Management Teams (hereafter, UMTs) as a key internal stakeholder for the successful performance and sustainability of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Regarding the UMTs, we focus on four main dimensions: profile (background and professional experience), response to a dilemmatic situation, training needs (technical and managerial skills) and strategic management orientation. By using MAXQDA (v.10) data analysis software, we apply a qualitative methodological approach, based on in-depth semi-structured and reflexive interviews with a sample of UMTs belonging to a young small-sized Spanish university, characterized by its trajectory and involvement in strategic management. We found some consensus regarding the main drivers of the UMTs managerial performance, where the seniority in the academic position, institutional engagement, previous training on management (mentorship), professionalization and strategic thought are crucial to ensuring a more flexible, adaptive, competitive and sustainable HEI in the long term.

Received: January, 2021

1st Revision: February, 2022

Accepted: March, 2022

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2022/15-1/9

JEL Classification: I23, M12, M14, M53

Keywords: university strategic management, university stakeholders, university management teams (UMTs), training, strategic thought