A study regarding change management in Romanian higher education institutions: an internal stakeholder's perspective

The marketing environment of today's higher education institutions can be depicted through several major trends like decreasing public funding, increasing competition and higher expectations from stakeholders, both internal and external. In order to maintain their vitality, universities must be able to respond promptly and wisely to major marketing environment trends, through a pro-active, consistent, intelligent and continuous organizational change process, due both to internal and external change drivers. This paper approaches some key issues regarding change management in higher education institutions and the way it should be reflected within their marketing information systems, as well as to reveal the factors which drive the need for change in such organizations. The paper was directed on researching the main internal stakeholders of a university, analyzing the partial results of two exploratory surveys meant to identify the need for organizational change and the potential sources of resistance from the point of view of students and, respectively, that of teaching staff. Reprinted by permission of Vilnius University, Brno University of Technology, and University of Latvia