Corporate Governance and Sustainability in HEIs

Abstract

Corporate governance (CG), initially associated with private organizations, has been adopted by higher education institutions (HEIs). These are being managed more as firms in this post-standardization phase, in which the commercialization of higher education, competition and selective choice, finite resources and sustainable development (SD) have become major requirements for accountability and action. Principles of CG can collaborate and guide the process of making universities sustainable. The chapter analyses the effects of CG on the creation of a culture of sustainability in universities. In doing so, it analyzes the websites of public HEIs in EU-15 countries for a set of social responsibility indicators and investigates the impact and practices of two young Portuguese universities regarding United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. The results point out that CG and SD principles tend to guide the strategy of most public HEIs in the EU-15, confirming that they have made a commitment to good governance and sustainability.

Citation

Oliveira, R.d., Leitão, J. and Alves, H. (2020), "Corporate Governance and Sustainability in HEIs", Sengupta, E., Blessinger, P. and Yamin, T.S. (Ed.) Introduction to Sustainable Development Leadership and Strategies in Higher Education (Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Vol. 22), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 177-191. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2055-364120200000022016