Higher education in the market place: milestones for the long-term institutional competitiveness

Abstract

Higher education institutions face a number of challenges in the context of globalisation, joint political priorities, and growing international competition. In order to react to these challenges universities must rethink their strategies for service provision. This article discusses provision of educational services in four dimensions: innovativeness, entrepreneurship, creativity, and flexibility, and it analyses their implications on institutional competitiveness. Competitiveness in this article is mainly discussed through service quality and price but other parameters such as attractiveness for students and international visibility are touched as well. On the theoretical level the article highlights how different institutional initiatives impact competitiveness from a student’s perspective.