Institutional attention to European policy agendas: exploring the relevance of instrumental and neo-institutional explanations

Ozoliņš, Modris; Stensaker, Bjørn; Gaile-Sarkane, Elīna; Ivanova, Liene; Lapiņa, Inga; Ozoliņa-Ozola, Iveta; Straujuma, Anita

doi:10.1080/13583883.2018.1459820

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…The research shows also that some universities in Europe include references to EU policies in their strategies (Ozoliņš et al , 2018). Some references can also be found in the EFQM excellence model, for example, developing cooperation, managing university governance, quality assurance and introducing innovations.…”

Section: Sustainability and Development Of Quality System In Higher Education Contextmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…The literature review indicated some of the activities a university may consider for organisational sustainability: identify quality and sustainability leaders at all university levels (Marshall et al , 2017); ensure higher management support (Tuominen, 2011a, 2011b; Ozoliņš et al , 2018); ensure personnel awareness about sustainability activities (Tuominen, 2011a, 2011b); focus on stakeholders needs (Zink, 2007; Lapiņa et al , 2015; Marshall et al , 2017; Degtjarjova et al , 2018); ensure comprehension of the main sustainability elements (Tuominen, 2011a, 2011b; Ņikitina and Lapiņa, 2017); integrate sustainability in the university’s strategy (Mežinska et al , 2015; Zeps and Ribickis, 2016; Cazeri et al , 2018); develop a CSR strategy (Cazeri et al , 2018); identify and measure sustainability KPIs (Radoslav and Jankalova, 2016; Medne and Lapiņa, 2019); analyse KPIs results and compile an improvement plan (Tuominen, 2011a, 2011b; Iljins et al , 2017); and benchmark sustainability best practices (Dupada et al , 2013). …”

Section: Sustainability and Development Of Quality System In Higher Education Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sustainability of a university’s quality system: adaptation of the EFQM excellence model

Medne

Lapiņa

Zeps

2020

IJQSS

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Purpose Modern trends show that universities are searching for new solutions to increase efficiency and improve quality by considering approaches of quality system development that link with strategy and include extensive analysis of risks, processes and stakeholders. The approach that best fits the institution has to be in line with the institution’s strategic objectives, quality culture and policy and key performance indicators. The purpose of this paper and case study is to discover if sustainable development may be achieved by using an appropriate quality system development approach, such as the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) excellence model. Design/methodology/approach To analyse sustainability and development of the quality system adapted in a higher-education institution, a literature review of different quality management approaches and models was performed. The research includes a case study of the university’s quality management framework based on an adapted EFQM excellence model emphasising on strategic development in the context of sustainability. The key focus of the research is to discover how universities could better focus on sustainable development and benefit from a quality system based on an adapted EFQM excellence model. Findings Literature analysis indicated that some of the sustainability development activities a university may use are possible to be integrated through quality system models and development approaches. The findings from the literature suggest that the EFQM excellence model may provide a management framework and a comprehensive overview of a university for identifying necessary improvements and promoting the implementation of advancement activities on the road to sustainable development. The principles of the EFQM excellence model may guide in setting a strategic focus on sustainable development of universities. Originality/value Sustainability and sustainable development of a university are analysed in terms of quality aspects of higher education, and the research results reveal the main sustainability elements to be analysed and implemented through a university’s strategy and improvement processes. The Riga Technical University quality system called “RTU Excellence Approach” development analysis is given as a case study.

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Section: Sustainability and Development Of Quality System In Higher Education Contextmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Sustainability and Development Of Quality System In Higher Education Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability of a university’s quality system: adaptation of the EFQM excellence model

Medne

Lapiņa

Zeps

2020

IJQSS

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“…Educational bodies adjust their curricula to prepare graduates for challenges in the volatile environment where entrepreneurship skills have become more demanded over the last decades. Many higher educational institutions (HEIs) foster their entrepreneurial ecosystems by re-mastering study programs or conducting projects that include students, academic staff, and business representatives (Manning, 2018;Ozolin ¸ s et al, 2018) to enforce cooperation between educational institutions and the industry. The steps are required to increase the value of human capital and consequently contribute to the growth of entrepreneurial companies, as researchers are unanimous -education, new firms, and business services are strongly correlated to each other and make an impact on the quality of the ecosystem (Stam and van de Ven, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual entrepreneurial orientation: comparison of business and STEM students

Ņikitina

Licznerska

Ozoliņa-Ozola

et al. 2022

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PurposeThe present study has been designed with the aim to determine whether there are differences in individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) between students, doing their major in business studies and the ones whose areas of study are science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).Design/methodology/approachThe theoretical research methods comprise the review of secondary sources to build a sound theoretical framework for the research activities. The empirical research method is a survey in Latvia and Poland applying non-parametric inferential statistical methods as well as linear regression analysis to investigate which factors and components contribute to EO orientation development among different groups of students, and, thus, verify the research hypotheses.FindingsThe yielded research results demonstrate that there are significant differences between business and STEM students when they analyze their IEO. It turned out that STEM students obtain significantly lower scores for risk-taking and innovation but higher for proactiveness. Additionally, it was detected that the chosen field of study affects students’ perception of educational support, thus, influencing their innovation, proactiveness, and risk propensity characteristics.Research limitations/implicationsIn this research, the authors focused on exploring IEO among business and STEM students in Latvia and Poland, hence the findings cannot be one-to-one applied to other countries.Practical implicationsThe topicality of the theme is determined by the fact that changes in external environment require higher educational institutions (HEIs) in Latvia and Poland to foster their entrepreneurial ecosystems and re-master study programs both for business and STEM students as well as conduct projects that include students, academic staff, and business representatives – the transformation is necessary to create positive attitude towards entrepreneurship among the students and help them to consider entrepreneurial career path later.Originality/valueFactors and components which contribute to IEO development among different groups of students are under-researched in the Baltic countries, experiencing systemic transformation. The authors believe that universities can use the analysis of their students’ IEO to allocate their resources in a better way, adjust curricula to the real needs of students and facilitate entrepreneurship.

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“…Quality is one of the most strategic drivers of higher education (Rossouw & Goldman, 2014). Modern managers, including management of higher education institutions (HEIs), are actively analysing directions of industry development and looking for solutions to ensure that the organization meets the requirements of the industry, the stakeholders, and education policies (Dahlgaard-Park, 2008;Iljins et al, 2015;Iljins et al, 2017;Ozoliņš et al, 2018;Straujuma et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Affecting Students’ Understanding of the Quality of Higher Education

Degtjarjova¹,

Lapiņa²

2021

Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2021

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Students are the main stakeholders in the higher education area so their involvement is closely related to the quality of higher education. There are a lot of factors that affect the understanding of the quality of higher education. Factors are used for quality planning, assessment, assurance, control, improvement etc. The research question is: what factors affect students’ understanding of the quality of higher education? The research was conducted in two stages. During the first stage of the research, the concept of the quality of higher education was analysed by using literature review and focus group discussion. During the second stage, a questionnaire was developed and students of the Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management of Riga Technical University (RTU FEEM) were surveyed, the results of students’ survey were analysed by using Spearman rank correlation. The research shows that there are three groups of factors that affect students’ understanding of the quality of higher education: factors related to the study process (SP), support and resources (SR), and external factors and results (EFR). As a result of correlation analysis, SP factors have more internal correlations within the group, while SR and EFR factors more correlate with each other. The most significant factors that affect students’ understanding of the quality of higher education are the quality of educational content and professors’ competence. Some trends were observed: (1) factors with a small number of correlations have more internal correlations than intergroup correlations; (2) the more important is the factor, the greater is the number of relationships, and vice versa; (3) the more important is the factor, the closer are relationships, and vice versa. There is one exception recognised in the research: although the factor ‘Quality of educational content’, according to the students, is the most important factor, the correlation analysis shows that it has no statistically significant correlations with other factors.

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Institutional attention to European policy agendas: exploring the relevance of instrumental and neo-institutional explanations

Cited by 5 publications

References 25 publications

Sustainability of a university’s quality system: adaptation of the EFQM excellence model

Sustainability of a university’s quality system: adaptation of the EFQM excellence model

Individual entrepreneurial orientation: comparison of business and STEM students

Factors Affecting Students’ Understanding of the Quality of Higher Education

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