Institutional Governance and Service Excellence in Higher Education: A Public Administration Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70062/icsshi.v2i2.73Keywords:
Accountability, Higher Education, Institutional Governance, Public Administration, Service ExcellenceAbstract
The growing demand for transparency, accountability, and measurable performance has transformed higher education institutions into complex public organizations required to deliver reliable and stakeholder-oriented services. Within this governance-driven environment, institutional governance plays a fundamental role in shaping service excellence and institutional legitimacy. Drawing on a public administration perspective, this study examines how governance dimensions influence academic service performance in higher education. This research employs a qualitative descriptive-analytical design. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, document analysis, and institutional observations involving university leaders, academic administrators, faculty members, and students. The analysis focuses on governance dimensions—transparency, accountability, participation, effectiveness, and responsibility—and their integration into institutional systems such as performance management, quality assurance, and digital infrastructure. The findings reveal that governance frameworks are formally established through regulations and digital systems; however, their operational integration remains uneven. Transparency improves service reliability when supported by consistent information management, while accountability mechanisms tend to emphasize procedural compliance rather than performance-based evaluation. Stakeholder participation is institutionalized but largely consultative. The study concludes that service excellence in higher education is a governance-driven outcome that requires systemic alignment between governance principles, institutional capacity, and performance management processes. Strengthened governance integration enhances service reliability and institutional legitimacy.
Downloads
References
Aldridge, S., & Rowley, J. (1998). Measuring customer satisfaction in higher education. Quality Assurance in Education, 6(4), 197-204. https://doi.org/10.1108/09684889810242182
Altbach, P. G. (2004). Globalization and the university: Myths and realities in an unequal world. Tertiary Education and Management, 10(1), 3-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/13583883.2004.9967114
Bowen, G. A. (2009). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27-40. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Deem, R., Hillyard, S., & Reed, M. (2007). Knowledge, higher education, and the new managerialism: The changing management of UK universities. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199265909.001.0001
Denzin, N. K. (1978). The research act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2011). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147-160. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101
Harman, G. (2004). New directions in governance and management of higher education: The changing role of the state. Higher Education Research & Development, 23(1), 101-107. https://doi.org/10.1080/0729436032000168509
Harvey, L., & Green, D. (1993). Defining quality. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 18(1), 9-34. https://doi.org/10.1080/0260293930180102
Hénard, F., Diamond, L., & Roseveare, D. (2012). Approaches to quality in higher education: A literature review. OECD Publishing.
Hood, C. (1991). A public management for all seasons? Public Administration, 69(1), 3-19. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1991.tb00779.x
Kvale, S., & Brinkmann, S. (2009). InterViews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767(85)90062-8
Marginson, S., & Considine, M. (2000). The enterprise university: Power, governance and reinvention in Australia. Cambridge University Press.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Oduro, G. K. T., & MacBeath, J. (2003). Traditions and tensions in leadership: The Ghanaian experience. Cambridge Journal of Education, 33(3), 441-455. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764032000122030
OECD. (2017). Education at a glance 2017: OECD indicators. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/eag-2017-en
Osborne, S. P. (2006). The new public governance? Public Management Review, 8(3), 377-387. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719030600853022
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Rhodes, R. A. W. (1996). The new governance: Governing without government. Political Studies, 44(4), 652-667. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.1996.tb01747.x
Ryan, J., Scott, G., & Tissington, P. (1998). The role of student participation in university governance. Quality Assurance in Education, 6(4), 188-195.
Shattock, M. (2006). Managing good governance in higher education. Open University Press.
World Bank. (1994). Higher education: The lessons of experience. World Bank.
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.
