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Over the past few decades, the higher education landscape underwent dramatic changes, causing strain on higher education institutions (HEI) worldwide. The academic debate is filled with very well-argued accounts of these developments. Advances in information and communication technology (ICT) add an additional layer to this already complex reality. Against this backdrop, it is necessary that the question of managing and administering HEI today be rethought. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive computing, augmented, virtual and mixed reality (R+), Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, bear the promise to effectively assisting HEI administrators in navigating their institutions through the period of profound change. This chapter offers a brief account of that.

When the repercussions of COVID-19 were being absorbed by the world, the higher educational institutions (HEIs) were conceiving of strategies to run educational institutions on remote basis too, including the challenges linked with the teaching–learning as well as the management and other departmental needs. Leaning itself on the teaching–learning tectonic shifts amid the COVID-19 climes, the study reviews the status of “readiness” of the HEIs in Oman while bearing this in mind that the usage of information and communications technology (ICT) for distance learning and conventional learning has been considered as one of the parameters to judge the “quality” of the HEIs in Oman.

Documentary analysis alongside an in-depth reading of the quality audit reports sourced from the Oman Academic Accreditation Authority, which are publicly accessible are being referred for driving home the arguments in the study.

The study concludes that despite the case being in favor of distance learning from early on, the same doesn’t get reflected in the conclusions derived in the research conducted for assessing the teaching–learning mechanisms during the COVID-19 period. Therefore, the HEIs’ “readiness” in terms of ensuring the smooth transitioning to the remote learning pedagogical arrangements for meeting the challenges of the COVID-19 wasn’t efficacious.

The present study may be followed up with an understanding as to how the HEIs of Oman need to incorporate the perspectives of all the concerned stakeholders for the refurbishment of the teaching–learning process, especially in times of contingencies.

Apart from the policy-makers, the management of the HEIs of Oman needs to appreciate the need to be proactive and appreciative of the inclusion of ICT tools and techniques in the mainstream pedagogical settings.

Notwithstanding the emphasis upon the preparedness and readiness for tackling the challenges posed by the COVID-19 for the HEIs in Oman, no study has attempted to delve into the issue succinctly—the present study fills this gap.

This study aims to examine the impact of social media (SM) on the interactivity among teachers, among students and between students and teachers for sustainable academic performance and for achieving sustainable development (SD) in higher educational institutes. This study also investigates the moderating impact of knowledge creators (KNC) and knowledge seekers (KNS) on the collaborative learning environment using SM.

With the help of Vroom’s expectancy motivation theory (1964), collaborative learning theory and other theories, a theoretical model has been developed. This theoretical model has been tested using the structural equation modeling technique with 375 participants taken from different educational institutes. The respondent-–participants were both teachers and students.

The study found that SM plays a significant role in achieving SD al goals and enhances collaborative learning activities among teachers and students to improve academic performance to achieve SD in higher educational institutes. Also, the study highlighted that both “knowledge creators” and “knowledge seekers” have effective moderating impact on the linkage between “intention to use SM for knowledge sharing” and “collaborative learning using social media” to achieve SD al goals.

With the inputs from expectancy-instrumentality-valance theory and collaborative learning theory and existing literature, a theoretical model has been developed conceptually. Later, the model was successfully validated with an overall high explanatory power (72%) of this model. As the sample of the study do not represent a global representation of the population, thus the findings cannot be generalizable.

This study has provided valuable inputs to the SD practitioners and educational policymakers to formulate appropriate policies that enable SD al activities in higher educational institutes. This study also provides food for thought to the policymakers about the role of KNC and KNS toward the collaborative learning environment in achieving SD al goals in higher educational institutes.

The theoretical model developed in this study is unique. This study shows how both “knowledge creator” and “knowledge seeker” play a significant role toward collaborative learning and helps to achieve SD in higher learning institutes and improves their performance. The overall predictive power of the model is 72%, which also shows the effectiveness and uniqueness of the proposed model.

This paper aims to identify the relationships among critical success factors (CSFs) for lean six sigma (LSS) implementation in higher education institutions (HEIs).

An extensive literature review was conducted to design the survey instrument, which the authors later administered in Mexican public HEIs to identify the existing relationships among the CSFs and their impact on the benefits obtained from implementing LSS projects. The data were empirically and statistically validated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Additionally, the authors applied the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique on SPSS Amos to validate the nine hypotheses supporting the research.

The results suggest that the success of LSS projects in HEIs is highly bound to a serious commitment from top management and several interrelated factors.

The main limitations of the study are that the research is cross-sectional in nature and regional in focus. Namely, the data used to validate the structural model were gathered from a small representative subset of the study population – i.e. Mexican public HEIs – and at a specific point in time.

The results reported here represent a reference framework for HEIs worldwide that wish to continuously improve their processes through LSS improvement projects.

This study proposes a statistically validated model using the SEM technique that depicts the relationships among LSS CSFs in HEIs.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are critical in the sustainability agenda, not only as catalysts for promoting sustainability practices but also because their activities have substantial social, economic and environmental impacts. Yet there is limited research that examines their sustainability performance. This paper aims to investigate the factors that are associated with sustainability performance in HEIs. Specifically, drawing from the stakeholder theory and exploiting Ullmann’s (1985) conceptual framework, this study examines the association between sustainability performance and stakeholder power, strategic posture and financial slack resources.

The authors draw the sample from the People & Planet University Green League Table for the period 2011–2019 and use the generalised estimating equations for the modelling approach.

This study finds that stakeholder power, in particular, funding grant income, tuition fee income and student and staff numbers, are positively associated with sustainability performance. In relation to strategic posture, this study finds that sustainability performance is negatively associated with governing body independence and gender diversity, and positively associated with internal structures. Finally, regarding financial slack resources, this study finds that surplus income (staff costs) is positively (negatively) associated with sustainability performance.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research contributes to several existing literature focusing on the not-for-profit sector by documenting, for the first time, the role of stakeholder power, strategic posture and slack financial resources on sustainability performance.

The paper includes relevant implications for HEI managers and regulators for promoting sustainability.

These results contribute to the literature on the factors influencing sustainability performance.

The purpose of this study is to review university social responsibility (USR) using a well-known quantitative approach of bibliometric analysis. Compared to corporate social responsibility (CSR), USR is in its infancy stage, requiring further exploration of its meaning and impact toward higher education institutions (HEIs).

A total of 306 publications and 9,530 cited references were retrieved from the Web of Science database. Bibliographic coupling analysis was applied to uncover present themes, while co-word analysis was used to predict future trends.

Findings suggested that themes are centralized toward the impact of USR on HEIs. USR is important for HEIs to attain excellence in today's challenging business environment.

USR could develop HEIs into world-renowned institutions by establishing a good reputation and engaging with the broader community, locally and internationally. USR is regarded as HEIs' new value proposition in marketing its brand within the competitive environment in higher education.

This study is the first that reviews USR by extracting the knowledge structure and providing visualization on the implicit themes of the subject interest.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyze the context and concept of higher education for sustainable development (HESD) in Nepalese higher educational institutions (HEIs).

The research gathers facts and information both from primary and secondary sources. Five open-ended questions were developed to interview university high-ranking officials, such as VCs, registrars, deans and the chief of the planning division.

The inclusion of 17 sustainable development goals in the country’s Fifteenth Plan, national policy documents, and the University Grants Commission-led higher education reform programme provides sufficient context for HESD. In the absence of HESD literacy and a persuasive strategy, university leadership is less active in lobbying for SDG 4.7 with the government and funding agencies, university faculties and trade unions. In fact, both insights and initiatives to conceptualize HESD are lacking.

This study’s setting is distinct and the interpretation of the HESD concept is based on a small sample size. Thus, the generalization of its findings is intrinsically limited in the context of a country in the geographic region. However, the findings of this research provide practical insights to implement HESD in Nepalese HEIs.

This study is intended to inform and prepare the Nepalese academic community, urging HEIs to implement HESD with a well-defined plan of action. It contributes to the literature by considering how the current context and concept of HESD suites to promote sustainability in Nepalese HEIs, transforming the traditional academic structure and making academic leaders aware that HESD is only a means to an end.

This research is Nepal’s first study of its type with a broad understanding of the context and concept of HESD. It also provides information for HEI leaders on how to initiate the HESD acceleration process.

This study aims to explore the alignment between strategic plans of the Portuguese public higher education institutions (HEIs) and their perception of the integration of sustainability in education and curricula.

The strategic plans from 15 institutions were selected for content analysis; data about the integration of sustainability in education and curricula, from these HEI, were collected with an online questionnaire (self-report survey). Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed.

Strategic plans of the Portuguese public HEIs seem to not be sufficiently aligned with self-assessment integration of sustainability in education and curricula.

The classifications used in the content analysis were constructed and revised by the authors to reduce coder interpretation issues and subsequent bias in the results. However, some subjectivity could remain. The analysis of strategic plans and self-report surveys answered by top management, or a technician, does not assess the practices and sustainability implementation in education and curricula.

This study allows the self-report of already-implemented practices to be compared to the planned strategy of HEI governance in Portugal as stated in their strategic plans.

An analysis and respective insights on the lack of connection between strategic planning and self-report practices about sustainability implementation, using Portugal as a case study.

This study aims to examine the moderating effect of internal control on the relationship between internal quality assurance implementation and higher education institution (HEI) quality.

The study employed a survey method with hypothesis testing using partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique with a second-order analysis approach. The questionnaire survey was administered to 191 HEIs.

The results revealed that internal control and internal quality assurance implementations are positively associated with HEI quality. Additionally, internal control implementation strengthened the relationship between internal quality assurance and HEI quality.

This study adds to the body of knowledge on the moderating role of internal control in the HEI sector and its role in the non-economic aspect, namely, the HEI quality.

Nigeria has one of the highest graduate unemployment rates in Africa, and there is no comprehensive policy framework to address it. Evidence shows that integrating craftsmanship into higher education academic programmes can enhance graduate employability. Therefore, there is a need to integrate it into the built environment programmes at institutions in Nigeria. The built environment craftmanship (BEC) in Nigeria's HEIs may have had some challenges, although studies about these challenges are scarce. In this regard, the study investigated BEC's perceived encumbrances and proffered measures to integrate craftsmanship skills in Nigerian HEIs built environment programmes.

The research adopted a qualitative research design using a virtual interview approach to solicit data from 34 experts across Nigeria. An exploratory approach was used to engage selected HEIs in Nigeria and thematic analysis was adopted to analyse the collected data, and saturation was achieved.

The study findings indicate that integrating BEC in built environment programmes will enhance graduate employment. However, possible encumbrances like institutional frameworks, funding, infrastructural development and pedagogical and social-cultural issues were found to be affecting BEC's integration into built environment programmes at higher education in Nigeria.

Future studies should explore more detailed large-scale investigations about integrating craftsmanship into higher education institution (HEI) programmes.

Given the dearth of pragmatic studies on the built environment graduates' unemployment in Nigeria, this research contributes to the academic community debates on reducing graduates' unemployment via BEC in HEIs.