Strategies for academic leadership towards increasing productivity in higher education institutions; business education case

Higher education institutions face a lot of challenges in the contemporary context. Labour market is s strict evaluator of the graduates’ competences and skills and thus, of the study programmes. An attractive university is a university with a large demand for studies, with many partners and projects, with a high visibility at national and international level, with a considerable research production. At present, the lack of resources characterizes the difficult situation for decision making process which is a real challenge for the academic leadership. On one hand, the competiton requires the need of continuous development and of differentiation strategy while on the other hand, insufficient financial, human, material, informational resources, including time as a specific restriction generate huge opportunities and threats for institutions. Possibilities of being efficient are to be explored. The aim of this paper is to explore possible strategies to increase productivity in higher education institutions. Main objectives of the study are the following: a). to define productivity in higher education institutions, on the basis of the academics’ perceptions, as well as of students’ perceptions; b). to provide a diagnosis of the current state of the prductivity in higher education institutions; c). to contribute to new clarifications on leadership strategies for increasing productivity in higher education institutions. Based on the literature review, the paper reveal proper answers to questions, such as: what is productivity, how is it measured, what is its impact, which are the increasing possibilities in business context. The study methodology is also based on a questionnaire dedicated to the two groups of respondents – academics and students. Their perceptions are then compared in order to reveal the common view. Main output of the research include: a). A new conceptual clarification for the productivity in higher education institutions; b). A proposal of leadership strategies from business to academic environment.