Democratization of University Management for Quality Higher Education

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to provide some insights for developing a high quality university through democratizing the contemporary university management practices. The high quality university has often the quality academic programs, quality teaching faculty members, and quality students for establishing high educational standards. The faculty of high quality universities engages in high quality research and produce high quality and quantity of new knowledge and publications. The graduates of high quality universities usually obtain high quality professional positions. They also generate the necessary physical and financial resources and endowments for supporting themselves. Those universities that develop these quality characteristics offer a high quality education. Democratization of the university management practices plays a key role for a university to develop a high quality education and become a high quality university. In this study, democratization process includes the ownership, the practice of sharing the authority and responsibility, group decision-making, horizontal network organizational structure and long term employment practices of university management. Those universities utilizing these practices together and acting collectively as a team are able to achieve a high quality education and become a high quality university. Democratization process will also help stakeholders of the university to establish close cooperation and relations with public and private institutions for financing the university. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the 8th International Strategic Management Conference