PLANNING FOR INNOVATION AND DISRUPTION IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT - Higher education strategic planning in a VUCA world

Oct 15, 2026

Higher education faces an escalating mix of economic uncertainty, public accountability demands, and globalization, compounded by emerging technologies that can be difficult to learn and costly to manage. University leaders confront shrinking financial support while needing to prevent technological obsolescence and to serve growing needs for lifelong learning in a digital economy. Strategic planning is presented as essential for institutions to adapt, remain competitive, and address sustainability pressures and changing educational models, especially in a VUCA environment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

The Changing Landscape of Higher Education

Economic and technological pressures

Lifelong learning and digital economy

The VUCA World

Characteristics of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity

Leadership requirements and equity considerations

PLANNING FOR INNOVATION AND DISRUPTION IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT MICHAEL D. RICHARDSON Columbus State University WENDI JENKINS Columbus State University PAMELA A. LEMOINE Columbus State University ABSTRACT Higher education faces its greatest combinations of challenges: economic uncertainty, accountability and globalization: overlaid by emerging technologies. University leaders face the twin trials of dramatic decreases in public financial support and the increasing cost of resources to avoid technological obsolescence. Technologies continue to evolve that will disrupt higher education in the future. The challenge for traditional universities whose concentration historically has been the production of knowledge in the form of human capital, research, and scholarship is to be able to tap into the expanding need for lifelong learning. Access to higher education will be a necessity for job mobility and economic success. Survival for universities requires modification and adaptation. Traditional educational paradigms have changed and the physical university is now a combination multi-dimensional education model. All these changes demand planning, specifically strategic planning, if higher education institutions are to be competitive and ultimately successful. THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF HIGHER EDUCATION Higher education has faced many challenges since its meager inception (Altbach, 2004). However, higher education today faces its greatest combinations of challenges: economic uncertainty, accountability and globalization overlaid by emerging technologies that are intimidating to learn and formidable to administer (Rabah, 2016; Tierney, 2014) . Higher education institutions are attempting to develop the capacity to adapt and modify to the new models of knowledge and information (Lane, Lemoine, Tinney & Richardson, 2014) . Therefore higher education is often depicted as an “industry,” operating in a highly competitive global marketplace (Marginson, 2006) . The challenge for traditional universities whose concentration historically has been the production of knowledge in the form of human capital, research, and scholarship is to access the expanding need for lifelong learning in a digital economy (Guri-Rosenblit, Sebkova & Teichler, 2007; Staley & Trinkle, 2011) . While the need for education is growing, the sustainability of all the forms of postsecondary education is a concern (Duderstadt, 2000; Graves, 2010) . “In all modern contexts”, Graves (2010) points out, “education is now the primary vehicle for practicing Educational Planning 11 Vol. 24, No. 3 the principle of social equity (by enabling equal opportunity) and for ensuring collective socioeconomic security and ensuring against its collapse”(p. 28) . Higher education is at a defining moment in America facing challenges from all aspects of society (Lemoine, Hackett & Richardson, 2016b) . Listening to the discussion of today, one senses that very few people in America are content with the higher educational system (Slater, 2015) . Rising costs, uncertainty of jobs following graduation and questions concerning the continued value of higher education contribute to a chorus expressing concern about the future and sustainability of higher education in America (Bonk, 2009) . Why has this phenomenon occurred? Many in higher education have not responded to the threats of globalization, innovation and disruption (Altbach & Knight, 2007; Demillo, 2015) . In the middle of the twentieth century, American education was the envy of the world, but today it ranks below most of the industrialized nations of the world (Pucciarelli & Kaplan, 2016) . Organizational and political leaders should address the concerns and plan for a changing, dynamic, and multidimensional future to be globally and locally competitive (Alagaraja & Li, 2015; McClure, 2016) . Economic considerations related to international competitiveness have become a significant stimulus behind the internatio

FAQs

Why must higher education leaders focus on strategic planning?

Because institutions face economic uncertainty, accountability pressures, globalization, and emerging technologies, all of which require planned adaptation to remain competitive and sustainable.

What does VUCA mean in the context of higher education?

VUCA—volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity—describes a rapidly changing higher education environment where turbulence and disruptive conditions have become a new normal.

What traits are required of higher education leaders in a VUCA world?

They need to be activist, adaptive, and flexible decision-makers capable of addressing diverse and economically disadvantaged student needs while navigating divisive social and educational problems.

Oct 15, 2026

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