Quality Assurance as a Designation Accelerator: Turning Audit Evidence Into Institutional Credibility for University Recognition of PHECs
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51137/wrp.ijsbe.566Keywords:
Entrepreneurial University, Private Higher Education, Dynamic Capabilities, Institutional Legitimacy, Innovation EcosystemAbstract
Private higher education colleges (PHECs) pursuing university designation face a dual challenge: expansion of innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) activity must occur alongside demonstrable, auditable quality assurance (QA) and institutional credibility. An integrated framework combining institutional legitimacy theory and the dynamic capabilities view is developed and applied to explain how entrepreneurial transformation unfolds under QA constraints. A qualitative single-case study of a South African PHEC (anonymised) draws on semi-structured interviews and organisational documents analysed through reflexive thematic analysis, supported by a capability coding scheme. Findings indicate that designation readiness is framed less as symbolic status seeking and more as a strategic lever for entrepreneurial growth and ecosystem positioning. Transformation is organised through six mutually reinforcing mechanisms: 1) QA-evidence engineering that converts compliance into learning and pragmatic legitimacy; 2) digital platform uplift as scalable innovation infrastructure; 3) entrepreneurial culture and incentive redesign to institutionalise intrapreneurship; 4) ecosystem orchestration across industry, government and civil society; 5) resource mobilisation through portfolio innovation (including modular and short-programme pathways); and 6) impact measurement routines that translate social value into reputational capital. Collectively, these mechanisms operate as feedback loops linking micro-level initiatives to macro-level legitimacy and strategic space. A capability–legitimacy explanation is advanced for entrepreneurial university emergence in teaching-led PHECs, with policy implications for differentiated designation pathways and proportionate accreditation processes that enable responsible experimentation without eroding academic standards.
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