Higher Education Strategic Responses to the Discoveries of Natural Resources in Mozambique - A case study of Eduardo Mondlane University

Abstract

The response strategies of public universities and the emergence of oil in Mozambique are areas of study that are under-researched. As a result, this thesis aims to contribute to the theoretical discussions on the strategic behavior of organizations, in particular the Higher Education Institutions, when facing environmental pressures. The thesis focuses on the strategic responses of Higher Education Institutions to the environmental pressures, in the context of the natural resources in Mozambique, and in particular the emergence of oil. It explores how the Eduardo Mondlane University’s internal actors perceive and respond to environmental pressures, through the analysis of their preferences and aspects that may have an influence on the organizational choices in the next five years. This study is qualitative in its approach and has an embedded case study design. The main sources of data are based on nine semi-structured interviews and on document analysis. The research employed a thematic approach for the analyses. The analytical framework proposed by Oliver (1991) is adopted for this study, along with the Institutional Theory and the Resource Dependence Theory. The main findings reveal that: 1) The main source of institutional pressures are related to the capacity to deliver training and research programs, and to design curriculum/ programs for the required expertise in the oil field, and to the lack of resources; 2) There is a multiplicity of constituents involved in the institutional pressures; 3) The constituents expect training of qualified manpower for the industry, with more programs and better conditions; 4) The control of the pressures is exerted via voluntary diffusion, although policies have to be followed and data for post-graduation thesis is difficult to access; and 5) The core activities count on the support of the cooperation partners. The findings also reveal that a strategic vision is in place to address the institutional pressures, with the establishment of, for example, the Petroleum Institute in Mozambique. The patterns of responses to the institutional pressures suggest a mix between compliance to the rules and regulations and a more active response. However, managing institutional pressures and external (inter)dependencies is, perhaps more than ever before, the biggest challenge for Higher Education Institutions in the current times.