Transformation of the Higher Education systems of Eastern European developing countries through organisational learning: the case of Bulgaria”.

Abstract

Purpose
This thesis aims to fill the gap in the existing literature of organisational learning and social innovation by examining the transformation of the HE systems in the Eastern European developing countries.

Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected from system actors within the Bulgarian higher education system. Fortysix semi-structure in-depth interviews were conducted with three groups of participants: topmiddle university management, academics and policy makers/experts in 2016-2017. Three methods of analysis were applied for answering the three research questions: thematic analysis, multi-level analysis and cause-effect analysis. Results were validated by data triangulation.

Findings
The results of the study suggest that the lack of shared vision is the primary cause that leads to the other challenges faced by the HE system in Bulgaria. Surprisingly, the individual and system barriers are associated with organisational learning, while the organisational barriers are associated with the globalisation and the inequality. Result suggests that the economic and the political are the external factors that have the greatest impact on the transformation of the system, while the collaboration and interaction are the internal factors with the greatest impact.

Research limitations/implications
This study fills the gap in the literature on social innovation by providing qualitative empirical research, which is deficiency as most of the studies that examine social innovation are mainly review or conceptual. However, this paper uses a single-case study approach, which makes this research less generalizable to wider populations of the developing countries.

Practical implications
The findings of this study also offer strong implications for the potential to use the organisational learning theory to make predictions on the both system and organisational transformations in the real world, which might go beyond the HE context.

Originality/value
This thesis provides a holistic approach in examining the transformation of the higher education system. It offers deep understanding of both the phenomenon and the context.

Keywords: Organisational learning, social innovation, higher education, multi-level analysis

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Identifiers

ORCID for Jonathan Klein: orcid.org/0000-0002-5495-8738

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