Effectiveness and Sustainability Indicators in Higher Education Management

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The idea of the paper is interesting. However, the paper must be improved. The authors need to argue better about their contribution to the literature and how they conducted the study to provide this contribution.

In the abstract, the authors argue that the survey was “applied with all Professors and employees of two teaching centers at the Federal University of Santa Catarina”. However, in the methods section they state that “The sample was characterized as non-probabilistic convenience (adherence), through online collection (e-mail) for all servers of these centers, as well as a personal approach to collect the responses.” – Why these two centers were selected? This must be justified. All the invitations were answered?

The introduction must be improved. There are texts not related to the study goals and details that do not present references. Authors must contextualize the theme, show the relevance of it and the gap in the literature they aim to fulfil – all this information must be based on the literature and indicated in the text. After this, the authors should present the research goals.

There are several paragraphs in the introduction that seems that the authors are presenting their opinion about the topic. A scientific text must be based on reliable data.

The manner the study goals are presented is focused on analysing the reality of the UFSC. But how these findings are useful for researchers, universities and policy makers? Theoretical and practical implications must be presented in the abstract and throughout the text, specially in conclusions.

The text of the hypotheses must be reviewed. It seems that there are hypotheses without a text with justification (e.g., H5 is presented as H4 in the text – this is not the only case). Present the hypothesis in the text and then present the hypothesis.

The bases of some hypotheses are weak. Authors must explain better, based on the literature, why they established each path of the model.

The figures’ resolutions are low. Authors need to improve them.

What are the observed variables presented in the model? They must be clearly presented in the paper.

 

There is no debate with the literature after the results. 

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thanks for the review. We confirm that we have carried out all requested revisions.  

Attached is the word file showing all changes that we have made.  

Thank you in advance and we are at your disposal for any questions.

Here are the improvements we've made to the article, given the revisions that have been noted.

We ordered the English proofreading service.

The results obtained show that the construct leadership, focus on the student and society have a direct effect on strategic planning and an indirect effect on the effectiveness of management. In addition, the constructs of transparency and management by competencies have a direct effect on work processes.

This research aims to contribute to the constant search to improve the management of higher education institutions.

Thus, the goal of this research is to analyze the determining factors of the effectiveness of higher education management at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. The idea is to create a model with a set of criteria for excellence in the management of universities. It was chosen to use the Baldrige Excellence Model, as the model aims to respond to the need of Higher Education Institutions by combining results of national development and innovation, through best practices adopted in management.

The choice of this research topic is because strategic planning positively impacts the effectiveness of university management. Having said that, it is possible to say that management is a necessary practice for the proper functioning of any institution, especially in universities, because using the right strategies, the university can evolve in the educational field, opening new opportunities, lines of research, expanding infrastructure, among other things. Therefore, the goal of this work is to analyze the antecedents of the effectiveness of higher education management considering the Baldrige Excellence Model, and as a consequence to promote an improvement in this sense.

In the context of higher education, teaching has undergone revisions and changes. There were changes in the professor’s career, expanding the activities commonly associated with these professionals, notably teaching, research, and extension, due to the deepening of the performance culture, which denotes the overvaluation of knowledge as a new form of capital accumulation [9].

The new scenario in which Higher Education Institutions operate has created the need for constant analysis of the organizational environment and adopting competitive positioning that provides these companies a leadership position. Leadership can be achieved when creating a competitive advantage, for example, by reducing costs or by developing a differentiation. To achieve this goal, it is still necessary to develop the ability to predict the future of the sector. In other words, an organization has no possibility of success without an articulated vision of the opportunities and challenges it will face. Higher Education Institutions need to manage educational policies for scholarships, internationalization, and evaluation [10].

Badri et al. found in their work that much research is carried out in ​​the educational field, on teaching mechanisms and quality; however, there is still a need to produce works that demonstrate the effectiveness of quality programs and processes in the organizational results of an educational institution [11].

Best regards,

The authors

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper covers an important topic. However, it must explore to a much greater extent the contribution beyond the case study. I would like to invite the authors to develop a comprehensive literature review exploring other cases, and use this background to discuss the results (this part that is currently missing). It will increase the contribution of the study. 

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thanks for the review. We confirm that we have carried out all requested revisions.  

Attached is the word file showing all changes that we have made.  

Thank you in advance and we are at your disposal for any questions.

Here are the improvements we've made to the article, given the revisions that have been noted.

We ordered the English proofreading service.

The results obtained show that the construct leadership, focus on the student and society have a direct effect on strategic planning and an indirect effect on the effectiveness of management. In addition, the constructs of transparency and management by competencies have a direct effect on work processes.

This research aims to contribute to the constant search to improve the management of higher education institutions.

Thus, the goal of this research is to analyze the determining factors of the effectiveness of higher education management at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. The idea is to create a model with a set of criteria for excellence in the management of universities. It was chosen to use the Baldrige Excellence Model, as the model aims to respond to the need of Higher Education Institutions by combining results of national development and innovation, through best practices adopted in management.

The choice of this research topic is because strategic planning positively impacts the effectiveness of university management. Having said that, it is possible to say that management is a necessary practice for the proper functioning of any institution, especially in universities, because using the right strategies, the university can evolve in the educational field, opening new opportunities, lines of research, expanding infrastructure, among other things. Therefore, the goal of this work is to analyze the antecedents of the effectiveness of higher education management considering the Baldrige Excellence Model, and as a consequence to promote an improvement in this sense.

In the context of higher education, teaching has undergone revisions and changes. There were changes in the professor’s career, expanding the activities commonly associated with these professionals, notably teaching, research, and extension, due to the deepening of the performance culture, which denotes the overvaluation of knowledge as a new form of capital accumulation [9].

The new scenario in which Higher Education Institutions operate has created the need for constant analysis of the organizational environment and adopting competitive positioning that provides these companies a leadership position. Leadership can be achieved when creating a competitive advantage, for example, by reducing costs or by developing a differentiation. To achieve this goal, it is still necessary to develop the ability to predict the future of the sector. In other words, an organization has no possibility of success without an articulated vision of the opportunities and challenges it will face. Higher Education Institutions need to manage educational policies for scholarships, internationalization, and evaluation [10].

Badri et al. found in their work that much research is carried out in ​​the educational field, on teaching mechanisms and quality; however, there is still a need to produce works that demonstrate the effectiveness of quality programs and processes in the organizational results of an educational institution [11].

Best regards,

The authors

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

The work is very well planned. The methodology is adequate and has been correctly analyzed. Only the introduction and the Literature Review should be reviewed, since it is considered that the theoretical foundation is very basic and the research should be supported by a review of the more extensive bibliography. The introduction should give a broader view of the work done.

 

This article has carried out an analysis of the different factors that favor efficiency in university management. It focuses on a very specific context, the Federal University of Santa Catarina.

The methodology has been adequate, an extensive quantitative study has been carried out, which is the most appropriate for this context and this research.

It has been based on the Baldrige model of excellence and provides very interesting results for research.

As for the methodology, it is adequate for an investigation of this type. An adequate treatment of data has been carried out and they have been very clearly exposed.

However, the greatest limitation of the work is its theoretical foundation. Previous literature on this topic should be reviewed. The bibliography that is provided is limited and needs a greater foundation to justify the work and mainly the conclusions that are reached. Likewise, the introduction is not representative of all the work that appears later.

Therefore, a review of the introduction, the theoretical review as well as the discussion and conclusions is required to relate to a more complete bibliography.

For the rest, it is a good work that provides relevant information to educational research.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thanks for the review. We confirm that we have carried out all requested revisions.  

Attached is the word file showing all changes that we have made.  

Thank you in advance and we are at your disposal for any questions.

Here are the improvements we've made to the article, given the revisions that have been noted.

We ordered the English proofreading service.

The results obtained show that the construct leadership, focus on the student and society have a direct effect on strategic planning and an indirect effect on the effectiveness of management. In addition, the constructs of transparency and management by competencies have a direct effect on work processes.

This research aims to contribute to the constant search to improve the management of higher education institutions.

Thus, the goal of this research is to analyze the determining factors of the effectiveness of higher education management at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. The idea is to create a model with a set of criteria for excellence in the management of universities. It was chosen to use the Baldrige Excellence Model, as the model aims to respond to the need of Higher Education Institutions by combining results of national development and innovation, through best practices adopted in management.

The choice of this research topic is because strategic planning positively impacts the effectiveness of university management. Having said that, it is possible to say that management is a necessary practice for the proper functioning of any institution, especially in universities, because using the right strategies, the university can evolve in the educational field, opening new opportunities, lines of research, expanding infrastructure, among other things. Therefore, the goal of this work is to analyze the antecedents of the effectiveness of higher education management considering the Baldrige Excellence Model, and as a consequence to promote an improvement in this sense.

In the context of higher education, teaching has undergone revisions and changes. There were changes in the professor’s career, expanding the activities commonly associated with these professionals, notably teaching, research, and extension, due to the deepening of the performance culture, which denotes the overvaluation of knowledge as a new form of capital accumulation [9].

The new scenario in which Higher Education Institutions operate has created the need for constant analysis of the organizational environment and adopting competitive positioning that provides these companies a leadership position. Leadership can be achieved when creating a competitive advantage, for example, by reducing costs or by developing a differentiation. To achieve this goal, it is still necessary to develop the ability to predict the future of the sector. In other words, an organization has no possibility of success without an articulated vision of the opportunities and challenges it will face. Higher Education Institutions need to manage educational policies for scholarships, internationalization, and evaluation [10].

Badri et al. found in their work that much research is carried out in ​​the educational field, on teaching mechanisms and quality; however, there is still a need to produce works that demonstrate the effectiveness of quality programs and processes in the organizational results of an educational institution [11].

Best regards,

The authors

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors made some (few) improvements, however, most of the comments were not addressed:

- “The introduction must be improved. There are texts not related to the study goals and details that do not present references. Authors must contextualize the theme, show the relevance of it and the gap in the literature they aim to fulfil – all this information must be based on the literature and indicated in the text. After this, the authors should present the research goals.

There are several paragraphs in the introduction that seems that the authors are presenting their opinion about the topic. A scientific text must be based on reliable data”.

The introduction still does not present almost any reference. They are important to base the contextualization, relevance of the theme and to present the gap in the literature. If there is no reference and it is not related to the study findings, the text is based on the opinion of the authors and it is not expected from an academic article.

- “The authors need to argue better about their contribution to the literature and how they conducted the study to provide this contribution”. – not addressed

- “The manner the study goals are presented is focused on analysing the reality of the UFSC. But how these findings are useful for researchers, universities and policy makers? Theoretical and practical implications must be presented in the abstract and throughout the text, specially in conclusions”. – not addressed

- “The text of the hypotheses must be reviewed. It seems that there are hypotheses without a text with justification (e.g., H5 is presented as H4 in the text – this is not the only case). Present the hypothesis in the text and then present the hypothesis”. – not addressed

- “The bases of some hypotheses are weak. Authors must explain better, based on the literature, why they established each path of the model”. – not addressed

- “The figures’ resolutions are low. Authors need to improve them”. – not addressed

- “What are the observed variables presented in the model? They must be clearly presented in the paper”. – not addressed

- “There is no debate with the literature after the results”. – not addressed

 

Regarding this comment:

“In the abstract, the authors argue that the survey was “applied with all Professors and employees of two teaching centers at the Federal University of Santa Catarina”. However, in the methods section they state that “The sample was characterized as non-probabilistic convenience (adherence), through online collection (e-mail) for all servers of these centers, as well as a personal approach to collect the responses.” – Why these two centers were selected? This must be justified. All the invitations were answered?”

Authors added the sentence “These two centers are very representative in terms of size,
number of professors and technical-administrative staff.”

Considering the number of universities and centers in Brazil, I strongly recommend that the authors remove this justification, because it is not reasonable. Maybe some justification regarding the management status of the centers or some other information that justify the survey?

Author Response

- “The authors need to argue better about their contribution to the literature and how they conducted the study to provide this contribution”.

Managing a university involves a wide variety of audiences to be served, which include students, faculty, employees, parents of students, government officials, and boards of directors. Generally, each of these parties has competing interests or expectations, which makes the work of higher education leaders especially challenging [1].

Thus, there is a demand for research in university sustainability and management that finds an adequate model, which is not necessarily focused on a business model based on profit, but that meets criteria of excellence for the improvement and effectiveness of higher education management.

 

- “The manner the study goals are presented is focused on analysing the reality of the UFSC. But how these findings are useful for researchers, universities and policy makers? Theoretical and practical implications must be presented in the abstract and throughout the text, specially in conclusions”.

These research brings several theoretical and practical implications involving sustainability of higher education management, because higher education institutions have been under pressure to improve their performance, and many governments have implemented new regulations that seek to professionalize universities in pursuit of excellence. So, this paper discusses one of the models in the academic literature focusing on the effectiveness of university management, encompassing quality improvement and excellence in management, the Baldrige Model. The results obtained show that the construct leadership, focus on the student and society have a direct effect on strategic planning and an indirect effect on the effectiveness of management. In addition, the constructs of transparency and management by competencies have a direct effect on work processes. Universities face a management challenge and demand new quality models.

- “The text of the hypotheses must be reviewed. It seems that there are hypotheses without a text with justification (e.g., H5 is presented as H4 in the text – this is not the only case). Present the hypothesis in the text and then present the hypothesis”.

Top management leadership is seen as a primary element of quality performance [15]. The Leadership criterion evaluates the practices of organizational leaders and the interpretation of these practices so that the strategic goals of an institution are achieved [2]. This must be verified through hypothesis 1.

H₁: Leadership positively influences strategic planning.

The analysis of Strategic Planning is considered the development of the preparation of Higher Education Institutions. For this, plans are evaluated as a key element, and goals and adaptations to environmental changes are also controlled, measuring the competence to adapt to changes [2]. This should be verified through hypothesis 2.

H₂: Strategic Planning positively influences the Effectiveness of Higher Education Institutions Management.

The focus on students and society is defined by the search for satisfaction and quality, promoting changes and development [16]. In the case of this research, which is applied in a public university institution, the clients are the students. The focus on students is verified through hypothesis 3.

H₃: Focusing on students and society positively influences strategic planning.

The Transparency criterion was adapted and chosen to be done this way, due to the growing importance of information on this topic in public management. Since the end of the 14th century, public management in Brazil is undergoing major changes, encouraged by social demands that demand greater efficiency, transparency, and effectiveness when applying public resources [17]. As this is a study in a public university, it is convenient to verify if this topic of discussion is being verified by the management and if it contributes to its effectiveness. This must be identified through hypothesis 4.

H₄: Transparency positively influences the work processes of Higher Education Institutions.

The Focus on Management by Competencies is a touchstone that relates to the development of knowledge, abilities, and attitudes of the people working in the Higher Education Institution. This being said, measures are sought on how to create a conducive work environment to develop better performance teams and ways in which these reverberations will directly influence the results [2]. Competency management includes individuals and teamwork, which can generate results for the effectiveness of management. Therefore, Competency Management is proposed in hypothesis 5.

H₅: The Focus on Management by Competencies positively influences the Effectiveness of the Management of Higher Education Institutions.

Focus on Operation is about the strategy in the possible ways in which the organization will operationalize the plans to respond to the demands in pursuit of the goals. This model criterion, in addition to analyzing the organization of current work processes and projects, seeks to innovate existing processes, predicting possible risks; with this, it intends to achieve the efficiency and sustainability of operations, to deal with emergencies too [2]. These processes are analyzed through hypothesis 6.

H₆: The Focus on Operation positively influences the Management Effectiveness of Higher Education Institutions.

Lastly, the Baldrige Excellence Model works with the last hypothesis, verifying if all the previous criteria impact the effectiveness of the management of the body analysed. Then, hypothesis 7 is created:

H₇: There is a correlation between the constructs of the structural model and the Effectiveness of the Management of Higher Education Institutions.

 

- “The bases of some hypotheses are weak. Authors must explain better, based on the literature, why they established each path of the model”.

Top management leadership is seen as a primary element of quality performance [15]. The Leadership criterion evaluates the practices of organizational leaders and the interpretation of these practices so that the strategic goals of an institution are achieved [2]. This must be verified through hypothesis 1.

H₁: Leadership positively influences strategic planning.

The analysis of Strategic Planning is considered the development of the preparation of Higher Education Institutions. For this, plans are evaluated as a key element, and goals and adaptations to environmental changes are also controlled, measuring the competence to adapt to changes [2]. This should be verified through hypothesis 2.

H₂: Strategic Planning positively influences the Effectiveness of Higher Education Institutions Management.

The focus on students and society is defined by the search for satisfaction and quality, promoting changes and development [16]. In the case of this research, which is applied in a public university institution, the clients are the students. The focus on students is verified through hypothesis 3.

H₃: Focusing on students and society positively influences strategic planning.

The Transparency criterion was adapted and chosen to be done this way, due to the growing importance of information on this topic in public management. Since the end of the 14th century, public management in Brazil is undergoing major changes, encouraged by social demands that demand greater efficiency, transparency, and effectiveness when applying public resources [17]. As this is a study in a public university, it is convenient to verify if this topic of discussion is being verified by the management and if it contributes to its effectiveness. This must be identified through hypothesis 4.

H₄: Transparency positively influences the work processes of Higher Education Institutions.

The Focus on Management by Competencies is a touchstone that relates to the development of knowledge, abilities, and attitudes of the people working in the Higher Education Institution. This being said, measures are sought on how to create a conducive work environment to develop better performance teams and ways in which these reverberations will directly influence the results [2]. Competency management includes individuals and teamwork, which can generate results for the effectiveness of management. Therefore, Competency Management is proposed in hypothesis 5.

H₅: The Focus on Management by Competencies positively influences the Effectiveness of the Management of Higher Education Institutions.

Focus on Operation is about the strategy in the possible ways in which the organization will operationalize the plans to respond to the demands in pursuit of the goals. This model criterion, in addition to analyzing the organization of current work processes and projects, seeks to innovate existing processes, predicting possible risks; with this, it intends to achieve the efficiency and sustainability of operations, to deal with emergencies too [2]. These processes are analyzed through hypothesis 6.

H₆: The Focus on Operation positively influences the Management Effectiveness of Higher Education Institutions.

Lastly, the Baldrige Excellence Model works with the last hypothesis, verifying if all the previous criteria impact the effectiveness of the management of the body analysed. Then, hypothesis 7 is created:

H₇: There is a correlation between the constructs of the structural model and the Effectiveness of the Management of Higher Education Institutions.

 

- “The figures’ resolutions are low. Authors need to improve them”.

Ok.

- “What are the observed variables presented in the model? They must be clearly presented in the paper”.

 

Table 2 presents the constructs and their observed variables.

 

Table 2. Constructs and observed variables

Constructs	Observed variables	Authors
Leadership	Inspiration, Communication, Ethics, Training for team members	[1, 2, 15, 24, 25]
Strategic planning	Identification with the organization, Engagement with the organization, Support of the organization, Differentials of the organization, Adaptation to changes	[11, 24, 25]
Focus on students and society	Ombudsman, Student involvement, Loyalty, Attracting new students	[13, 16, 24, 25]
Transparency	Data collection and monitoring, Trust, Decision making, Organization strategy	[10, 12, 17]
Management by competencies	Skills, Compensation, Performance, Training, Turnover	[10, 12, 17, 22]
Focus on Operation	Freedom to change, Productivity, Rework, Operations in atypical situations, Suppliers	[2, 24, 25]
Management effectiveness	Monitoring results, Satisfaction, Achieving goals, Synchrony with planning	[25]

Fonte: Elaboração própria.

 

- “There is no debate with the literature after the results”.

This research presented a structural equation model that explicitly tests the relationships between leadership [1, 2, 15, 24, 25] and student focus and society [13, 16, 24, 25] in strategic planning, and the relationship between strategic planning and management effectiveness [25]. In addition, this model that was presented analyzed the causal relationship between transparency [10, 12, 17] and management by competencies [10, 12, 17, 22] in work processes, as well as the relationship between work processes [2, 24, 25] and management effectiveness. All coefficients found for the constructs showed a positive relationship. That is, all coefficients in the model have a positive impact. Thus, this research presents a synthesis of pillars to be observed in university management, in order to improve effectiveness and sustainability in higher education management. In addition, the model shows which of these variables most impact the effectiveness of university management [25].

It was observed how much the Focus on the student and society [13, 16, 24, 25] impacts on Strategic Planning, bringing to the manager the information that it is necessary to know what the student wants to better outline the work plan. The indicator Management by competences [10, 12, 17, 22] also stood out, having a strong impact on Work Processes [2, 24, 25]. The manager then has the information that allocating people according to their skills, bringing together those who best complement each other to achieve the objectives proposed by the planning, is relevant for the good performance of the work routine. The work process is strategic planning in action [25]. It is up to the manager to have this vision of getting to know the student and society that are impacted by the University, as well as getting to know its servants, so that they, in action, can meet the planning elaborated by the institution. It is interesting to note the importance of the work process linked to strategic planning, as previously discussed by authors [2, 24, 25].

As demonstrated by the observed variables, through the applied questions, it was possible to observe that the responding servers believe they have a good performance and perceive quality when it depends solely on their work [24,25]. Unlike when it's something that depends on the team or leadership. This is an important point to be worked on by the manager, as these are issues that can be resolved with training, resizing the team, improving communication, such as more frequent meetings and encouraging team conversations. This point is important to be observed, as it involves one of the indicators related to the new public management, originally addressed in this thesis: management by competencies. According to the literature [10, 12, 17, 22], competence is realized in action, and the professional is not competent alone. It becomes necessary to know with whom and with what a person is competent. So it would be this idea of allocating people, according to their competences, their skills, developing them individually, to then achieve the development of the organization.

The survey data also show that there is a perception that the information collected is not analyzed and used to improve management. In fact, it is not enough just to collect information and make it available on transparency portals, one must seek to use this data to aggregate when making decisions. For example, not leaving them just to demonstrate how something was used, but using this information for future events. Transparency is not an end in itself, but an instrument to achieve management efficiency [24, 25].

 

“In the abstract, the authors argue that the survey was “applied with all Professors and employees of two teaching centers at the Federal University of Santa Catarina”. However, in the methods section they state that “The sample was characterized as non-probabilistic convenience (adherence), through online collection (e-mail) for all servers of these centers, as well as a personal approach to collect the responses.” – Why these two centers were selected? This must be justified. All the invitations were answered?”

Data were collected from a survey and applied to Professors and employees of two teaching centers at the Federal University of Santa Catarina.

Authors added the sentence “These two centers are very representative in terms of size,

number of professors and technical-administrative staff.” Considering the number of universities and centers in Brazil, I strongly recommend that the authors remove this justification, because it is not reasonable. Maybe some justification regarding the management status of the centers or some other information that justify the survey?

Ok. This justification was removed. Thank you very much for all comments.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 3

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors made several improvements in the paper. The implications should be presented in the conclusions section too.