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Drawing on managerial innovation model proposed by Abrahamson (1991), this chapter tries to gain a better understanding of how the UN SDGs have impacted the practice of sustainability reporting of Spanish public universities. Data were collected from a variety of sources, such as: several email structured interviews with university managers, an examination of the Chancellor letters of sustainability reports of Spanish public universities, a detailed reading of some sustainability reports and a consultation of the website of each Spanish public university. The findings reveal that there has been an increasing number of Spanish public universities that have started to publish stand-alone sustainability reporting since the appearance of the UN SDGs. According to Abrahamson's framework, our findings reveal that governmental-policy forces have shaped the sustainability reporting landscape in the Spanish public university setting, and their behaviour is mostly explained by the forced-selection and fad/fashion perspectives.

This study aims to investigate the facilitating conditions (FCs) and how these FC affect institutional repository (IR) sustainability practices in public universities in Nigeria.

A survey research design was adopted in this study. The study population comprised 542 librarians from public universities that have IRs across Nigeria. A sample size of 230 librarians was determined using Taro Yamane’s formula. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select the respondents in three stages, which were purposive, stratified and purposive sampling. A structured, validated questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential (simple and multiple regression) statistics at a 5% level of significance.

The result revealed that the availability of FCs (ßeta = 0.459, t(211) = 7.719, p = 0.000) has a positive and significant influence on IR sustainability in public university libraries in Nigeria. The F-test (1, 223) value of 59.582 shows that there is sufficient evidence to substantiate the model’s usefulness in explaining IR sustainability. The R² (0.211) indicates that 21.1% of the variation in IR sustainability is explained by the availability of FCs in public university libraries in Nigeria. The finding suggests that the availability of FCs is a vital predictor of IR sustainability in public university libraries in Nigeria. The result also depicts that out of the eight parameters that measure the availability of FCs, it was current awareness of IR that had a positive and significant influence on IR sustainability.

This study concluded that ICT skills and FCs are contributory factors to IR sustainability practices by librarians in public university libraries in Nigeria. It was recommended that university administrators formulate policies that promote the sustainability of IR and provide adequate funds to support IR sustainability. Furthermore, the library management in public university libraries in Nigeria should drive content recruitment and create awareness of the IRs among students and faculty to ensure continued use.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to elicit perceptions of senior officers on the overall financial sustainability of their institutions; and, second, to examine senior officers’ perceptions on important revenue diversification and cost management practices.

The study employed a questionnaire survey with senior academic and administrative staff of the 20 public universities in Malaysia. In total, 275 questionnaires were distributed and 69 were returned, yielding a response rate of 25.09 per cent. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the general perceptions of the survey respondents on public university financial sustainability issues.

The study suggests that respondents are receptive of the financial sustainability challenges faced by their institutions. Respondents agree that increasing tuition fees may not be a feasible revenue enhancement strategy for public universities. Instead, all respondents agree that full utilisation of resources will be a key strategy that the universities can apply.

This study contributes to the limited research on the financial sustainability of public universities in developing countries. Findings of the study have implications for the financial management and governance of public universities in Malaysia and other countries facing similar fiscal challenges. The findings of the study also provide important empirical evidence for future work in the area.

This study aims to investigate the management of electronic records (e-records) in public universities in Malawi.

This study adopted a case study research design that made use of predominantly qualitative research methods. Data was collected at three study sites, namely, Mzuzu University, Malawi University of Science and Technology and the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences. A purposive sample of three officers per institution (and nine in total) comprising executive officers, deputy university registrar, records clerk, information and communication technology (ICT) directors and ICT manager was attained. The researcher personally conducted the interviews with the research subjects with the aid of interview guides. Observations were also done, whose findings were recorded in the observation protocols. The data collected was transcribed in MS Word, coded and analysed thematically.

This study concluded that e-records are at high risk in public universities in Malawi. Irrespective of this situation, this study found that there were some areas for e-records to potentially thrive in public universities in Malawi.

This study covers three of the six public universities in Malawi. Although public universities in Malawi have similar governance structures, there are some noticeable differences that distinguish one institution from the other. It is, therefore, possible that findings made in this study may not completely represent the prevailing situation in all public universities.

Studies of this nature have not been done before in public universities in Malawi. It is, therefore, hoped that besides filling the existing knowledge gap, its findings will contribute to policy and practical interventions that will lead to efficiency of the universities involved.

Outsourcing has become part of organizational strategy for achieving efficiency and effectiveness. This study aims to examine outsourcing and public universities’ performance in Nigeria, the mediating effect of trust.

The study used 353 respondents as sample size drawn from 12 public universities across the six geo-political zones of the country. The study used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using ADANCO 2.0.1.

The study found significant relationships between outsourcing and quality of teaching and research (core activities) and outsourcing and the quality of other activities (non-core). Also, the study found a significant relationship between outsourcing and low-cost. While the study supports the position of transaction cost economics and relational theories, in contrast, it has not supported the core competence theory. Generally, the study found that outsourcing significantly affects public universities’ performance in Nigeria, and trust partially mediates the relationship.

The study, such as any other research, has limitations. The study is only limited to public universities and the research has not included students in its survey.

Managers of public universities are always looking for ways to reduce costs and enhance the quality of their activities. This study has demonstrated the relevance of outsourcing activities in Nigerian Public Universities. Therefore, managers should focus on outsourcing in areas that have not been outsourced but have the potentials of efficiency and effectiveness if outsourced. Furthermore, the study broadens the understanding of promoting an environment of trust in outsourcing; therefore, managers should encourage trust with their vendors to achieve the desired outcomes of outsourcing.

This study examines the mediating effect of trust on the relationship between outsourcing and public universities’ performance in Nigeria empirically, drawing on the core and non-core activities of the universities. The study has contributed to the discourse on outsourcing and public universities’ performance in Nigeria. The study also unveiled the contribution of outsourcing activities in public universities in Nigeria, and how trust as a uni-dimensional construct mediates in achieving outsourcing that contributes to the public university system. Finally, the study also contributed to the understanding that universities can outsource some of their core competences and achieve performance.

This paper aims to critically review intellectual capital (IC) accounting research and practices in European public universities, specifically in Spain, Austria and Italy. These three countries represent the majority of IC accounting research related to universities.

This study critically reviews a selection of university-based IC accounting research, applying Alvesson and Deetz’s (2000) critical perspectives of insight, critique and transformative redefinition.

The analysis reveals that European public universities follow the Humboldtian model of higher education, integrating a third mission to society into their traditional roles as teaching and research institutions. This study explored how the emergence of a third mission for the university was conceptualised. This study also provided insights, critique and a transformative redefinition to advance IC as a strategic resource in European public universities.

The findings provide academics and policymakers with insights, critique and a transformative redefinition of IC as a strategic resource for European public universities to meet future challenges in an ever-changing world.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the challenges impacting performance management implementation (PMI) in public universities in Uganda.

The philosophy underpinning this study was the pragmatic world view. A mixed methods approach was adopted. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used. The phenomenology strategy through interviews conducted with purposively selected top administrators of a selected public university; and a cross‐sectional survey strategy administered to academic staff in four public universities, using a disproportionate stratified random sampling technique, were applied.

The findings reveal that the major challenges impacting PMI in universities in Uganda could be categorised as: lack of a formal performance management environment; limited employee engagement/communication problems; institutional systems and structural constraints; and institutional governance challenges. Among the enlisted challenges the specific items on which respondents had the highest level of agreement are: limited motivation and staff morale; limited and uneven cash flows; and poor physical infrastructure.

Knowledge of the challenges impacting public universities allows managers to pay close attention to the critical challenges, thereby taking precautionary measures on how to minimize and overcome them.

This study is an empirical contribution to the literature on institutional performance management, specifically with regard to challenges of PMI in public universities in Uganda.

This study aims to answer the research question of how a calculative regime for public universities is implemented, how and under which conditions its symbolic use emerges and what kind of unintended consequences occur over time.

The empirical material presented in the paper derives methodically from a longitudinal qualitative research approach analyzing higher education systems (HES)-reforms in Austria. To better understand the consequences of the organizational changes in line with the new legal framework, 2 series of qualitative interviews in 2011/2012 and 2016/2017 on the field level and the organizational level were conducted.

Identifying two enabling consequences from the tactical behaviors of resistance and symbolic use, i.e. new processes of communication and horizontal network building, allows for theory-building with a focus on the dynamics how accounting begins, then next becomes an established infrastructure, is then destabilized and re-elaborated before it becomes, again, an infrastructure which is different from before.

Although the findings are based on a national empirical context, they are linked to the international discourse on HES in transition and the role of calculative regimes including performance measurement and management attitudes and instruments. They are relevant for an international research community open-minded toward differentiated case studies in a longitudinal perspective on HES-reforms.

When reflecting on their own specific settings governing bodies and practitioners managing the transition of HES may find insights from longitudinal case studies inspiring. The dynamics initiated by new calculative regimes installed need a sensitive framework to handle dissent, resistance, tactical behaviors and changes in power relations between the field level and the organizational level.

This is a unique longitudinal case study of the Austrian HES and its public universities in transition.

Examines the training needs of practising professional librarians in the Kenyan public university libraries. There is a general, but false assumption, in this sector that professional librarians who have attained the minimum professional qualifications need no further training on the job. Many changes have taken place and many more are likely to occur, which are likely to affect the working environment of librarians. Librarians must be trained in preparation for managing such changes. Suggestions for sources of funding are given. The specific training needs of practising librarians are described.

This paper aims to investigate the relation between the creditworthiness of US institutions of higher education and their student selectivity (i.e. demand and quality).

The authors study whether the impact of student selectivity differs across public vs private universities; across the credit quality of the given public university’s state; and across the level of state appropriations for the given public university.

The authors find that student quality and demand measures are significantly associated with their corresponding institution’s creditworthiness, especially for private universities.

For public universities the association is weak and, contrary to the expectations, does not depend on the state credit quality or level of state funding. The findings are robust to the inclusion of control variables.