Quality Assurance Driving Factors as Antecedents of Knowledge Management: a Stakeholder-Focussed Perspective in Higher Education

Similar to many other types of organisations, the successful development of higher education institutions generally depends on proactive multi-stakeholder management strategy. As a social responsibility of universities, quality assurance (QA) of higher education is already an established research domain. However, the issues that serve as driving factors in higher education’s quality are acknowledged in this vast knowledge stream in a dispersed way. An objective of this paper is to provide a quick snapshot of the major QA driving factors in higher education. Another objective here is to discuss the significance of these existing QA driving factors in higher education as prospective antecedents of knowledge management among the key stakeholders in the higher education sector and beyond. An inductive constructivist approach is followed to review the relevant QA driving factors from the extant scholarly views. A number of relevant factors are précised from the literature that would be instrumental to uphold quality in higher education. The discussion demonstrates that these factors are also significant to transfer and share knowledge between the key stakeholders not only for universities, but also for businesses, governments and other organisational stakeholders. The paper proposes a framework of the QA drivers’ application for meaningful knowledge transfer between diverse stakeholders and clarifies the framework’s managerial implications. This conceptual framework specifies different scenarios and perspectives of QA drivers’ application in the global education sector. The academic novelty is based on the inductive approach applied in the paper. QA practitioners will be able to follow these factors as steering phenomena to effectively assure quality, in relation to their multi-stakeholder relationships in higher education and beyond

An examination on the growth and sustainability of Australian transnational education

© 2017, © Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the dynamics facing transnational education (TNE) in Australia through literature review in three major areas: policy changes in Australia and major importing countries of Australian TNE, and recent development in online learning and the impact of the prevailing TNE models. The paper concludes by shedding some light on how these changes could affect the sustainability of the growth of Australian TNE in the future. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on review of literature and use of secondary data on TNE in Australia. The paper analyzes the external quality audit reports with focus on TNE. It finally analyzes the future sustainability of Australian TNE based on growth of higher education in Asia and emergence of online learning. Findings: TNE is experiencing growth in Australia. Based on the current model such as setting overseas campus and partnerships, the growth may not be sustainable. The emergence of online learning and developments in Asian higher education may pose increased risk and competition. TNE has been subject to external scrutiny through the external quality agency in past. The current compliance-driven quality assessment may put the transnational quality assessment at risk with increased focus on assessing the quality based on review of documentation. Originality/value: The paper is original and it is based on Australian TNE