All different? All equal? differentiation of universities’ mission statements and excellence initiatives in Germany

Jungblut, Jens; Jungblut, Marc

doi:10.1093/scipol/scw082

Cited by 13 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In Germany, there are several notable studies focused on the content of universities’ official declarations (Hladchenko, 2013; Kosmutzky and Krucken, 2015; Jungblut and Jungblut, 2017). Beyond the mere description of university’s identity and objectives, mission statements are used to define the competitive environment of each institution (Kosmutzky, 2012).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Fantauzzi

Colasanti

Fiorani

et al. 2021

IJSHE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Fantauzzi

Colasanti

Fiorani

et al. 2021

IJSHE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Mission statements are thus a good example of the formal structure of universities that may have little to do with the actual activity structure of the organization (Meyer 2002;Kosmützky and Krücken 2015). According to this view, publishing mission statements is only a window-dressing reaction from universities (Jungblut and Jungblut 2017).…”

Section: Mission Statements As Formal Structure Elementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reinventing the third mission of higher education in Germany: political frameworks and universities’ reactions

Berghaeuser

Hœlscher

2019

Tert Educ Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Higher education systems are changing due to trends of funding pressures, increasing social demands and growing numbers of students. Even though teaching and research are still considered as the pivotal functions of universities, other activities such as technology transfer, lifelong learning or social engagement have broadened the scope of their actions. These activities, labelled as third mission, are supposed to strengthen the impact of science in society and epitomize the changing role of universities. In Germany, the federal government and the states announced different programs aiming to foster these activities, e.g. the BInnovative Hochschule^or Real-world Laboratories. In this article, we first want to develop a definition framework of third mission. In two further steps we analyze how politics and policies in Germany have framed the concept in the last few years and how public universities are responding to this in their formal structure. We use approaches of neo-institutional theory according to which organizations such as universities create institutionalized structures and reflect institutional rules in order to maintain legitimacy. As an example of organizational formal structure we analyze mission statements of public universities. Using computerbased qualitative content analysis, we assess to what extent these universities take up the third mission. Our results show that most universities mention the third mission in their mission statements. However, the focus is mainly limited to economic impact and (technical) knowledge transfer. Much less emphasis is put on civic engagement or further education issues.

show abstract

“…Universities also incorporate their "market" strategies and core values in their mission statements. Some studies were carried out on the mission statements of universities; however, many mission statements in universities were found to be too simplistic and general for providing a clear future direction (Newsom and Hayes, 1990;Woodrow, 2006;Bingham et al, 2001;Jungblut and Jungblut, 2017).…”

Section: Mission Statements Of Higher Education Institutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What do mission statements reveal about the values of top universities in the world?

Breznik

Law

2019

IJOA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Mission statements are perceived as effective strategic tools and foundations of an organization's objectives, driving the development of strategic plans to meet the established goals. A vast number of studies have investigated mission statements in industry; however, little is known on how mission statements affect institutes in the higher education sector. Every university is intrinsically different, with its own mission and goals. This study aims to explore how mission statements make the difference among universities, by understanding the values delivered by the mission statements. Design/methodology/approach This study attempts to understand the core values of universities through a content analysis of the mission statements of the top 250 universities worldwide. Findings The results show four core dimensions in university mission statements, namely, “Education Philosophies”, “Strategic Orientation”, “Social Responsibility” and “Values to Stakeholders”, while the most common core values are “Research”, “Educate” and “Student”. Research limitations/implications Mission statements offer insightful venues for the analysis of the strategic directions of universities. The results show that top universities present their core values through their mission statements. Some mission statements are more service-oriented (towards students) and some are more social-oriented (towards society and stakeholders). These mission statements are communicated to various stakeholders. “Education philosophies” are communicated to educators and students, “Social responsibility” is to the society, “Values to the stakeholders” are towards the different parties involved in the education system and the last one “Strategic orientation” is for the strategy setting. Originality/value This paper proposes a new methodology of mission statement studies, covering not only studies on mission statements but also the internationalization strategies of universities, which attract attention from academics and education researchers.

show abstract

All different? All equal? differentiation of universities’ mission statements and excellence initiatives in Germany

Cited by 13 publications

References 29 publications

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

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

Reinventing the third mission of higher education in Germany: political frameworks and universities’ reactions

What do mission statements reveal about the values of top universities in the world?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About