Impact of goal congruence on higher education institutions’ performance quality
Abstract
Purpose
In India, national accreditation agencies stipulate that internal quality control in higher education institutions (HEIs) is to be institutionalized through internal quality assurance cells that are responsible for implementing and controlling quality systems. As the concept of goal congruence is central to a control process, this study aims to examine whether goal congruence is observed in such institutions. The impact of the absence of goal congruence on the quality of performance in higher education was also examined.
Design/methodology/approach
This cross-sectional study measured the impact of goal congruence or the lack thereof on the performance quality of HEIs as defined in the evaluation criteria of the apex accreditation agency, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council. Two hypotheses were tested using t-tests and regression analysis. Focus group discussions were conducted to elicit participants’ suggestions.
Findings
The results showed a lack of goal congruence between HEIs’ quality goals and their faculty’s personal goals, which adversely impacts the quality of their performance, as indicated by an average disagreement of 81% on a ten-statement scale. Goal congruence as an independent variable explained 63% of the variability in HEIs’ performance quality, and the results were statistically significant, indicating that lack of goal congruence is an important contributor to poor performance among HEIs.
Originality/value
Accreditation of HEIs is a global practice; hence, the findings of this study and the importance of goal congruence apply not only to India but also to HEIs globally.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Editor for this valuable support and cooperation in improving the manuscript.
Funding statement: No external funding was used for this study.
Data availability statement: The data set has been deposited with a repository and can be accessed from www.openicpsr.org/openicpsr/project/189062/version/V2/view
Conflict of interest disclosure: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest or competing interest of any sort with any individual or organization.
Ethics approval statement: The authors declare that the authors have carried the work ethically and further assure to comply with ethics related to processing and publication of the paper.
Permission to reproduce material from other sources: The authors have not used material from other sources.
Citation
Singh, M., Paliwal, J., Rao, M.K. and Raibagkar, S. (2024), "Impact of goal congruence on higher education institutions’ performance quality", Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-12-2023-0215
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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