Hybridization of financing as a transition strategy to transparent, accountable, and efficient university management: The case of Ukraine

Abstract

The development of universities in Ukraine requires explicit proposals for the financial component under the hybrid forms of management. A hybrid form is created by combining functional and product divisions, i.e. university staff are required to work on many projects, study programs, and report to multiple managers under a hybrid organizational structure, but not only to the chief of department and the vertical managers over them. The development of universities as public state institutions or as public institutions with the prevailing private financing requires a detailed examination and justification of the possible concourse ways. The study aims to present the theoretical analysis of the hybridization of financing in Ukraine, its ways, abilities, and benefits. This paper presents the findings of a systematic review of the academic literature, as the extant literature has seldom explained what hybridity signifies when it occurs and how it is shown, nothing to say about the practical case, especially in counties like Ukraine. The paper suggested a fine-grained understanding of what constitutes the hybrid nature of financing for a Ukrainian university. Practical use of hybridization of financing in university allows creating a reliable institutional framework for the development of financial autonomy, which is confirmed by analysis of the six largest universities in Ukraine in 2010–2020. Accordingly, this study suggests ways forward by revealing questions toward a better understanding of the hybridization in the higher education of Ukraine. AcknowledgmentThis paper is done in the framework of the grant project “Financial stabilization of classical universities in the context of the global consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic” funded by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine “Science for Human Security and Society” (2020-2021).