Strategic Planning in British Higher Education Institutions: Qualitative Analysis

This thesis project examined and evaluated the strategic management for sustainable development in order toto deal with the environmental challenges within the British Higher Education. By employing interpretivism philosophy, this study used qualitative methods to measure the effectiveness of strategic management for sustainable development and coping with the external environmental challenges. Using convenience, snowball, and referrals the university staff in five different universities of the UK were approached. Total 22 one-on-one face-to-face interviews were conducted with the employees working in the top management. It is followed by 12 focus group interviews with professionals, consultants, and strategic partners of the universities. It is found that economic, social, and environmental dimensions are most frequently considered for sustainable development of the British Higher Education Institutions. Furthermore, competitiveness, organisational objectives and survival are major themes emerged from this thesis. Corporate strategy including stability and growth are used frequently to deal with the environmental challenges. It is also found that differentiation, focus, and overall cost leadership strategies are effectively used by the UK higher education institutions. Equally important is operational strategy and higher flexibility in operational strategy enables universities to deal with environmental challenges. Panel discussion confirmed, student engagement and relationship with all the stakeholders are vital for the UK institutions to ensure it remain sustainable in the competitive market. Furthermore, there is higher uncertainty at the moment now in the higher education market of the UK because of various factors such as limited job market and career opportunities, new legislation, student loan, student engagement and Brexit. Based on the findings, the OITGA strategic framework is proposed to these universities.