Internal and External Environmental Forces in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIS) for Sustainable Competitive Advantage: A Systematic Review of Literature

Higher education institutions (HEIs) play a very important role in the economy of any country because they shape future leaders. Like any industry, the higher education industry is faced with increased competition. Therefore, achieving competitive advantage and sustaining it has become more and more important for HEIs. A number of theoretical views have been advanced on how firms, including HEIs can achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. This systematic review of literature reviewed 60 articles extracted from Scopus, WoS, Research Gate and Google Scholar with the aim to review key theories, including, porter’s five forces, resource-based view (RBV), dynamic capabilities view (DCV), and the relational view (RV) and their application to the higher education sector. More specifically, the review sought to address the internal and industry forces in the environment of higher education institutions that influence their competitive advantages. This systematic review highlights five major internal resources, namely, physical resources, human resources, institutional reputation, rankings and collaborations. The study also highlights three significant indus forces from porter’s five forces, that is, the bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of substitute goods and rivalry among competing HEIs. The literature reviewed strongly indicates that higher education institutions need to enhance their performance in response to the evolving educational environment by developing adaptive strategies aligned with academic excellence.