QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN UNIVERSITIES 5.0 THROUGH SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS: PERSPECTIVE OF STRATEGIC ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP

Abstract

This article elaborates on the transformation of universities' roles in the context of the transition to the concepts of Industry 5.0 and Society 5.0, which leads to the need to rethink approaches to higher education quality. Modern universities go beyond the limits of primary missions, are connected with the production and dissemination of knowledge, and are active agents of social progress, sustainable development, and of higher education, which are supplemented by the parameters of sustainable digital transformation. We analyse the evolution of the criteria of quality in the sphere development, inclusiveness, environmental responsibility, digital transformation, and the level of satisfaction of the participants of the educational process. The necessity for the expansion of traditional models of quality management with the principles of Quality and Human-centric Management is substantiated. A model of quality management in Universities 5.0 which is based on digital transformation and sustainable innovations, human capital management, and structural units, which combine transformational, strategic, and operational elements, is presented. Special attention is paid to the achievement of the third and fourth missions of universities within the Quintuple Helix model. The methodological framework of this research contains the theoretical provisions of quality management, innovations management, public governance, digital economy, the concept of sustainable development, etc. The theoretical framework of this paper is defined by agreement with the Quintuple Helix Innovation Model, the paradigm of Quality 5.0, and the stakeholder theory. The methodological tools include system, integration, process, and competence-based approaches, as well as methods of analysis, comparison, observation, and generalisation. The scientific value of this paper consists in the formation of the author's concept of quality management in Universities 5.0 as a multi-level system, which combines value statements, technological tools, and socio-institutional factors to achieve strategic academic leadership in modern conditions.