Strategic Planning, Leadership, Resource Management, and Quality Assurance as Drivers of Institutional Performance in Higher Education: The Mediating Role of Academic Quality

Abstract

Higher education institutions are increasingly pressured to enhance academic quality while improving institutional performance amid resource constraints, regulatory accountability, and rising stakeholder expectations. This study investigates the effects of strategic planning, leadership, resource management, and quality assurance on academic quality, as well as the specific indirect effects of these institutional capabilities on institutional performance via academic quality. Drawing on the Resource-Based View, a quantitative cross-sectional design was implemented with 350 academic and administrative personnel from public and private higher education institutions. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire assessing six reflective constructs and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The measurement model demonstrated satisfactory indicator reliability, internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. The structural model accounted for 62.4% of the variance in academic quality and 51.8% of the variance in institutional performance. Strategic planning (β = 0.214, p < 0.001), leadership (β = 0.267, p < 0.001), resource management (β = 0.158, p = 0.001), and quality assurance (β = 0.301, p < 0.001) were positively associated with academic quality. Academic quality, in turn, showed a strong positive relationship with institutional performance (β = 0.720, p < 0.001). Significant specific indirect effects were observed for strategic planning (β = 0.154, p < 0.001), leadership (β = 0.192, p < 0.001), resource management (β = 0.114, p = 0.002), and quality assurance (β = 0.217, p < 0.001) on institutional performance through academic quality. Quality assurance was identified as the strongest antecedent of academic quality and produced the largest indirect effect on institutional performance. These findings highlight academic quality as a key explanatory mechanism linking institutional management capabilities to broader institutional performance and emphasize the importance of integrating strategic planning, leadership, resource allocation, and quality assurance to support academic improvement.