Factors influencing a productive research management environment at two merging higher education institutions in South Africa

Abstract

In this case study, employing mixed methodology, the topic of research management at two merging higher education (HE) institutions in South Africa was investigated. The overall goal of the study was to identify factors that influence a productive research management environment at the merging institutions in order to design a new research management system. In the quantitative phase of the study a theoretical model of factors that influence research output was tested and refined through the results of a survey administered to 948 academics. Furthermore, a factor analysis produced an empirical model, which also supported the qualitative findings. Both the theoretical and empirical models were tested for factors that predict research output. Based on the one-way analyses of variance, ‘Age’; ‘Years employed in HE’; ‘Job seniority level’; ‘Commitment’; ‘Individual skills and competence’; and ‘Professional activities’ significantly predicted research output. A regression analysis of the theoretical model indicated that both ‘Professional activities’ (83.46%) and ‘Individual skills and competence’ (94.52%) have a high prediction rate of the dependent variable ‘Research output’. Furthermore, ‘Individual skills and competence’ is relatively uncorrelated with ‘Professional activities’, which indicates that both independently predict research output. A logistic regression analysis indicated that for the empirical model the factor ‘Tangible factors’ predicts research output better for non-research-active academics (91.4%) than for the research-active academics (33.3%). Therefore, the research output of the active researchers is predicted by factors other than ‘Tangible factors’.

In the qualitative phase of the study, twenty (20) unstructured interviews with senior managers were conducted and analysis utilizing Atlas.ti was done.

The findings of the research, although directly applicable to the two case institutions and the merged institutions that has resulted, provide insights into the design of research management systems and institutional research development at higher education institutions.

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