Financial sustainability in Malaysian public universities: coping with or embracing change?

Abstract

PurposeThis paper explores the institutionalisation of a financial sustainability agenda in Malaysian public universities.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses semi-structured interviews and document analysis. New Institutional Sociology and the institutional logics perspective are utilised to frame the study and explain findings.FindingsThe findings reveal that universities manage the conflicting academic and financial logics to co-exist to ensure legitimacy and survival. By compartmentalising the functions of key divisions and through loose coupling, universities are able to support dual logics.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper provides university management and policy makers with insights into how leading universities in Malaysia cope with a financial sustainability agenda.Originality/valueThe present study documents how universities cope with and respond to government reforms and budgetary cuts in the context of a developing country, Malaysia. Most prior research in the area focuses on individual or organisational responses. This paper examines organisational-level responses but goes deeper to understand how universities, through three key divisions; bursaries, corporate strategy divisions and faculties manage to enable the multiple logics to co-exist through compartmentalisation and loose coupling.