INSTITUTIONAL POSITIONING OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: A CONCEPTUAL AND EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract Chapter 3 Studies on university agency have been largely informed by the debate between the influence of environmental forces and important of managerial rationality, often neglecting the role of an organisational dimension. The paper starts filling this gap by investigating how this meso-level of analysis influences the processes of institutional positioning. The broad concept of organisational dimension has been operationalized through three variables: the organisational structure, identity, and centrality. Four case studies, two Italian and two English universities, have been selected to empirically examine the relationship between these three variables and positioning processes. The findings highlight how specific values of the organizational structure, identity and centrality can positively support institutional efforts like positioning. However, these relationships cannot be considered as deterministic since some potential intervening factors might, at least theoretically, modify their expected directions.

Abstract Chapter 1 While institutional positioning has emerged as a central theme in the debate on university organizational actorhood, its determinants have not been consistently addressed. Our extensive literature review highlights two implicit assumptions: either positioning is shaped by environmental forces or it is designed by top management. Addressing the mixed empirical findings found in the literature, this paper argues that the organizational dimension, conceived as a meso-level intervening variable, helps understanding more thoroughly the drivers of positioning and contributes to the outline of a theoretical framework accommodating both environmental and managerial hypotheses. We conceptualize and operationalize the organizational dimension along three components: organizational structure, organizational identities, and organization centrality. Material and non-material resources can be found across these three components influencing university trajectories and positions. The paper contributes to the current debates on the transformation of higher education and, more broadly, to a more in-depth understanding of strategic agency of organizational actors.