Requirements for Implementing Excellence Management and its Role in Adopting Competitive Strategies

An Analytical Study of the Opinions of Faculty Council Members in a Number of Private Universities in Erbil.

Abstract

Objective: The current study aimed to determine the availability of the requirements for implementing excellence management at the universities under study, in addition to analyzing the relationship and impact of the requirements for implementing excellence management, represented by its dimensions (leadership, strategy, human resource management, relationships and resources, operations management, and student satisfaction), on the dimensions of competitive strategies, represented by (cost leadership strategy, excellence strategy, and focus strategy).

General Framework: The general framework of the study represents the study problem, which was defined by raising several questions about the nature of the relationship and influence between the independent variable (excellence management) and the dependent variable (competitive strategies). To this end, a hypothetical plan was designed for the study, expressing three main hypotheses. To verify the validity of the hypotheses, all were subjected to multiple tests. The study used a questionnaire as a means of obtaining data.

Study Methodology: The study adopted a descriptive analytical approach, describing the main and sub-variables to analyze the relationships and influence between the variables. The study population represents (9) private universities in Erbil. (5) of these were selected to represent the study sample after other universities declined to participate. The number of respondents reached (105) members of the college councils in the study sample. The hypotheses were tested through a set of statistical analyses and tests using the computer program (SPSS V.22).

Conclusions and Suggestions: The study reached a set of main conclusions, including the existence of a significant, positive relationship at a high level between excellence management and competitive strategies at the macro and micro levels. This confirms the benefit the universities studied benefit from employing excellence management application requirements in adopting competitive strategies. Furthermore, there was a positive, significant effect of the excellence management application requirements variable on the competitive strategy adoption variable, as revealed by the analysis indicators at the macro level. The regression results also indicated an effect for each dimension of excellence management application requirements (leadership, strategy, human resource management, relations and resources, operations management, and student satisfaction), respectively, on the adoption of competitive strategies. The study proposed a set of proposals, the most important of which is the need to capitalize on the strong relationship between the requirements for implementing excellence management and the adoption of competitive strategies, and to direct this relationship toward serving the universities under study.