Importance Of Management Reports In The Decision Making Process In The Higher Education System

In the last fifty years the importance and scope of the higher education institutions has changed drastically. Higher education institutions are faced with growing demands both in teaching and research activities. Moreover, higher education institutions have entered a wide range of financial and institutional reforms that mostly relate to the process of internalization, strengthening of institutional autonomy, increasing competitiveness and achieving financial sustainability. Quality implementation of mentioned reforms demands that managers use quality and comprehensive information, not just from external reports but also from internal management reports. In the context of the aforementioned issues, this paper explores the theoretical and practical importance of management reports in the decision-making process in the higher education system. Authors have examined the usage of management reports within higher education institutions in Croatia through empirical research that was conducted in the year 2014. The questionnaire was sent to all HEIs in the Republic of Croatia, more precisely to the Deans of HEIs. Appropriate statistical methods, including descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and regression analysis, were used for processing and interpreting primary data. Moreover, the obtained results were also compared with the results of similar previous research. The authors have confirmed the main hypothesis that management reports are not sufficiently used in the decision-making process at Croatian higher education institutions.