engleski

Change management and developmental strategies of Croatian universities

Due to constant changes in the societies in which they operate, today's universities must be able to track and manage any change that may affect them as integral parts of those societies. The aim of this study was to analyze whether the existence of plans of possible changes and workflows of their management in cases of their occurrence in the developmental strategies of the particular constituents of Croatian universities could have an impact on the effectiveness of change management at the universities. The study included 25% of public universities in the Republic of Croatia (University of Osijek and University of Pula), in the period from June to September 2015. The data from all the available sources regarding the developmental strategies of the particular constituents of the universities involved in the study had been collected and plans and workflows for change management in the data analyzed. The study revealed that every single of the analyzed strategic developmental documents lacks plans of possible changes both in internal and external circumstances that affect the activity of higher education institutions as well as it lacks workflows to manage those changes. Bearing in mind that the management of change in higher education is one of the key aspects of creating and maintaining the comparative advantages of universities this study points to the necessity of inclusion of change management in the functional and organizational structure of Croatian universities, which will strengthen their position in the global education network of the 21st century.

change management ; university ; developmental strategy ; Croatia

Due to constant changes in the societies in which they operate, today's universities must be able to track and manage any change that may affect them as integral parts of those societies. The aim of this study was to analyze whether the existence of plans of possible changes and workflows of their management in cases of their occurrence in the developmental strategies of the particular constituents of Croatian universities could have an impact on the effectiveness of change management at the universities. The study included 25% of public universities in the Republic of Croatia (University of Osijek and University of Pula), in the period from June to September 2015. The data from all the available sources regarding the developmental strategies of the particular constituents of the universities involved in the study had been collected and plans and workflows for change management in the data analyzed. The study revealed that every single of the analyzed strategic developmental documents lacks plans of possible changes both in internal and external circumstances that affect the activity of higher education institutions as well as it lacks workflows to manage those changes. Bearing in