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Title:
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LESSONS LEARNT FROM AN ONLINE PILOT STUDY
ABOUT STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT AT A HIGHER
EDUCATION INSTITUTION |
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Author(s):
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Thokozani Kachale, Wegene Demeke, Christos Chrysoulas and Imed Romdhani |
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ISBN:
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978-989-8704-48-1 |
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Editors:
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Miguel Baptista Nunes, Pedro Isaías and Philip Powell |
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Year:
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2023 |
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Edition:
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Single |
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Keywords:
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Strategic Alignment, On-Line Data Collection, Lessons Learned, Middle Management, Pilot Study |
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Type:
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Full Paper |
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First Page:
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21 |
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Last Page:
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28 |
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Language:
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English |
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Cover:
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Full Contents:
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click to dowload 
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Paper Abstract:
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This article is a report on the lessons learned when conducting an interpretive case study in a developing country. From the
literature review, it was apparent that there are few reported lessons from pilot studies about strategic alignment in higher
education institutions from a middle management perspective in the developing countries. The aim of this article is to fill
that gap. The pilot study was conducted to assess the feasibility of collecting data from Malawi, one of the countries with
low internet access in the world. The case study organisation was a university that had been identified during the time that
governments across the world had imposed travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pilot study involved
evaluating the feasibility of collecting data online using the Luftman questionnaire for assessing maturity level for
organisations and the use of Microsoft Teams for conducting online interviews within the context of a country where the
majority of the population do not have internet access, and English is the de facto lingua franca. Among the lessons learned
were the need for researchers to be careful to match case study organisations to research topic, the need to support
participants understanding questionnaires in qualitative case studies to minimise risk of drop out and ensure participants
understand any technical language being used, the effect that external factors such as weather might have on a study, and
the limitations of automatic voice recognition for interview transcription. |
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