۱٫ Introduction

۲٫ Background and the problem of the work

۳٫ The role of HE and its trends

۴٫ The purpose and the matrix of objectives

۵٫ Instead of conclusion

References

The purpose of this work is to confirm theoretical findings in the field of management of higher education (institutions) and contribute with our own findings on the elements, mechanisms and instruments that affect the quality and effectiveness of managing and organizing higher education at the national and institutional level, and thus contribute to a more efficient and effective higher education. This work will also clarify interdisciplinary connections between various segments of the above mentioned management of higher education (institutions) field, which has not been explained yet. In the introduction of the paper, the impact of higher education on economic development and on knowledge society is explained briefly. Further on, the background of the work is illustrated and the definition of the working problem is explained, which basically refers to the inefficiency of (mostly) publicly-funded higher education and lack of proper managerial solutions and skills at higher education institutions. Furthermore, the role of higher education and major trends in higher education are introduced and discussed. The main contribution of the paper is the matrix of higher education objectives which have to be realized in order to implement a successful higher education and institutions, mainly from managerial and financial perspectives.

Introduction

During the past few decades, European Higher Education (HE) has experienced radical changes in order to make the HE area more transparent and comparable, contribute to economic development, increased competitiveness and innovativeness and enable the transition to knowledge-based society. The key obstacles encountered on this path are limited public funds and scarce private financial resources. Thus, new and mixed financial resources and approaches to managing HE Institutions (HEIs), as well as appropriate HE policies and objectives are needed for HE objectives and mission to be attained more effectively, what demonstrates for instance Babnik et al (2014) among many others. It is clear that current public spending does not meet the growing financial needs and requirements of constantly developing and expanding HE systems, especially during and after crises. Many of them have therefore experienced: (an unwanted) transfer of costs of HE from the state to beneficiaries (in the form of charges and tuition fees) and, consequently, a certain level of privatisation of public HE and more favourable HE policies towards the private HE sector even in Europe.