In recent decades, many higher education systems around the world have been exposed to institutional mergers. While the rationale for mergers has often been related to issues of improved quality, effectiveness and/or efficiency at the institutional level, fewer studies have analysed how mergers may affect institutional diversity within the higher…

Universities are often portrayed as, and have been found to be, quite stable organizational forms where it is difficult to initiate and implement change. However, numerous empirical studies have also found that universities are undoubtedly changing both due to internal developments and external dynamics. The paper explores this seemingly…

One can, in principle, identify numerous arguments for mergers in higher education (HE), including efficiency, diversity, quality, and regional needs. This diversity can be explained by the growing societal interest in the sector, not least concerning the contributions from HE to society at large. However, research on merger processes has tended…

The aim of the article is to provide a framework in which the organisational impact of external quality assurance (EQA) can be assessed. Based on existing studies of the impact of EQA in universities and colleges it is suggested that greater systematisation of how impact is measured is needed for a better understanding of how EQA can be used as a…

While the establishment of quality assurance has been seen for decades as the most significant instrument to secure and enhance the quality of teaching and learning in higher education, the concept of developing more specific learning outcomes has in recent years attracted much interest, not least due to the creation of national qualification…

Global university rankings currently attract considerable attention, and it is often assumed that such rankings may cause universities to prioritize activities and outcomes that will have a positive effect in their ranking position. A possible consequence of this could be the spread of a particular model of an "ideal" university. This…

Universities worldwide are facing enormous strains as a result of increased external expectations where global visibility should be mixed with local and regional utility. In debates on the future of higher education, becoming an entrepreneurial university has been highlighted as a novel--although perhaps a more hybrid--way to deal with this…

Much research has been undertaken to investigate the cultural, structural and, to some extent, the economic effects of mergers in higher education. However, surprisingly little research has been done on why higher education institutions decide to merge. This article identifies and discusses a number of structural factors that may play a role when…

This article discusses how teaching excellence is prescribed by policy-makers and perceived by higher education institutions in the national competition for teaching excellence ("Wettbewerb Exzellente Lehre") in Germany. Teaching excellence has become an important topic around the world. Its importance can be seen in the increase in…