Higher Education in The Gulf Quality Drivers Excerpt Only

“I love this book!
The topics are relevant to the current higher education landscape,

especially on matters related to quality education. The structure and discussions are
easy to understand and so insightful, indeed”.
Jennifer Buzarang, Ebina City Board of Education
“This book gives a detailed and thorough insight into the current higher education
landscape of the Gulf. I particularly found the analysis and discussions around how
to create a true knowledge economy in the Gulf especially interesting. Definitely
recommend this book to policy makers”.
Professor Adel Sharif, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University
of Surrey
“This is a comprehensive book which tackles issues of quality education in the Gulf
by focusing on both regional and international drivers. The authors present key con-
temporary issues enabling readers to understand the full picture. A must for anyone
interested in quality education in the Gulf!”
Dr. Serge Gabarre, Head of French Section, University of Nizwa, Oman
“This book covers a wide range of topics, both relevant and timely, to higher edu-
cation (HE), particularly in the GCC countries. Aspects addressed include quality,
management, innovation, opportunities, and challenges, to name a few. Chapters pro-
vide critical insight, internationalisation for quality enhancement, drivers, discussion
pertaining to university rankings, and benefits of scholarship programmes & funding.
Strongly recommend reading to get an in-depth view of the current HE situation”.
Dr. Sadiq M. Sait, Professor and Director of Research, King Fahd University of
Petroleum & Minerals
“This insightful book provides a comprehensive view of higher education in the Gulf
region to quality management stakeholders. Contributions from local experts concisely
report on achievements on a case basis addressing specific situations while voicing cur-
rent issues and challenges that remain to be tackled for each country”.
Dr. Cecile Aline Gabarre, Assistant Professor,
University of Nizwa, Oman
“The question is what drives in quality in Gulf Higher Education? This book brings
together many answers to this question. Whether by pursuing innovation as a vehicle for
improving quality, or focusing on internationalisation as another strategy or emphasis-
ing the importance of ranking. The editors solicited syntheses of research on these topics
from outstanding scholars with a variety of views. Every public policy maker should
have this book. Also, academics and practitioners alike will find much to stimulate their
thinking in this book”.
Dr. Ahmed Rageh Ismail, Director of MBA Programme,
School of International Business, Egypt-Japan
University Science & Technology
“This analysis of quality drivers in HE in the Gulf looks an empirical depth in 12

excellent chapters at aspects of innovation enhancement, corporate identity manage-
ment, internationalisation and quality enhancement, scholarships as a quality driver,
funding quality improvement and many other aspects; a stimulating and solidly
grounded, very insightful volume”.
Dr. Ghazi-Walid Falah, Editor-in-Chief, The Arab World Geographer
“What an amazing book! It comprehensively discoursed the quality factors of higher
education in the Gulf countries. The stakeholders in the education sectors across the
Gulf countries, policy makers as well as general public would find the information in
the book very useful. Therefore, I strongly recommend the book”.
Dr. Iyanda Ismail A., Assistant Professor, College of Business
Administration, University of Fujairah
“This book is very fruitful to understand the historical development of quality assur-
ance in higher education in Gulf and other Asian countries. This has successfully
argued how globalisation and internationalisation of the higher education is a cru-
cial factor to improve its quality”.
Professor N. Sumberzul, Mongolian National
University of Medical Sciences
“This book is a must-read for everyone who works in a higher education field. It
covers a range of topics including academic programs, quality prospects, quality
enhancements as well as empirical investigation of students’ opinion. Especially, the
impact of internationalisation on the quality assurance in Mongolia and Oman was
noteworthy”.
Tungalag Ser-Od, Head of Research, Training and Foreign Relations Section,
The State Dental Center of Mongolia
“This book is a must-read for anyone considering Higher Education in the Gulf. The
comparative studies of higher education quality assurance in this book have given
great insights how important it is to ensure autonomy of QAAs in Asian countries”.
Saruul Erdem, Senior Specialist,
Mongolian National Council for Education Accreditation
“This thought-provoking book on higher education in Gulf and quality drivers will
offer you not the mere concept yet the insightful examples. Excellent resource for
educators to understand the development and challenges of the quality assurance in
the Gulf as well as other Asian countries”.
Byambasuren Vanchin, MD, PhD
“This book explores the important topic of higher education in the Gulf and
in doing so identifies regional and non-regional drivers of quality assurance. As
higher education becomes increasingly gloablised this book provides a vital source
for understanding the current challenges and future opportunities for the Gulf
region”.
Professor Angelos Stefanidis, Head of Department Computing & Informatics,
Bournemouth University
Higher Education in the Gulf
This authoritative edited volume examines the drivers of higher education in

the Gulf region. It offers insightful analyses and examines contemporary ped-
agogical, management, strategic, and relevant issues on quality education that
confront higher education institutions.
Written by higher education specialists, curriculum developers, and policy
makers from diverse international backgrounds, the book analyses issues affect-
ing the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, with a particular focus on
Oman and Saudi Arabia. It is divided into regional and non-regional drivers and
considers drivers as potent enablers of a management system and educational
structure at the intersection of quality education and quality management in
higher education. Chapters include discussion of organisational, management,
and policy issues including strategic innovation, internationalisation, quality
assurance, and global rankings of higher education institutes. The book includes
discussion of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic on teaching and
learning policies, practices, and programmes.
This book will serve as an essential reference for quality management in higher
education institutions in the Gulf, and will be highly relevant reading for aca-
demics, researchers, and students of higher education, education management,
and quality education in the Gulf region.
Reynaldo Gacho Segumpan is Head of the Department of Business Adminis-

tration, Rustaq College of Education, Ministry of Higher Education, Sultanate
of Oman. He has several research and book chapter publications on higher edu-
cation and social sciences.
John McAlaney is Associate Professor in Psychology, Bournemouth University,

UK. He is Chartered Psychologist and Chartered Scientist and has worked exten-
sively to develop links between education, research, and professional practice.
Routledge Research in Higher Education
A Comprehensive Critique of Student Evaluation of Teaching

Critical Perspectives on Validity, Reliability, and Impartiality
Dennis Clayson
Community Engagement in Christian Higher Education

Enacting Institutional Mission for the Public Good
Edited by P. Jesse Rine and Sandra Quiñones
Management Behaviours in Higher Education

Lessons from Education, Business, and Sport
David Dunbar
The Impact of Higher Education Ranking Systems on Universities

Kevin John Downing, Petrus Johannes Loock, and Sarah Gravett
Humanizing Grief in Higher Education

Narratives for Allyship and Hope
Edited by Nicole Sieben and Stephanie Anne Shelton
Human Resource Perspectives on Workplace Bullying in Higher Education

Understanding Vulnerable Employees’ Experiences
Leah P. Hollis
Higher Education in the Gulf

Quality Drivers
Edited by Reynaldo Gacho Segumpan and John McAlaney
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/

Routledge-Research-in-Higher-Education/book-series/RRHE
Higher Education
in the Gulf
Quality Drivers
Edited by Reynaldo Gacho Segumpan

and John McAlaney
First published 2022
by Routledge
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To those who inspired us and to those who
will be inspired...
Contents
List of tablesxi
List of figuresxiii
Prefacexiv
Acknowledgementsxvi
List of contributorsxvii
List of editorsxxiii
Introductionxv
PART I
Regional drivers of quality education 1
1 Corporate identity management among

Higher Education Institutions in the Gulf3
BAHTIAR MOHAMAD AND RIDWAN ADETUNJI RAJI
2 Pursuing innovation as a strategy for improving

quality of higher education: Challenges and
opportunities facing GCC countries16
SEUNGAH S. LEE AND CAMERON MIRZA
3 A critical insight into the Gulf Higher

Education landscape: A National Innovation System
would enhance the role of Higher Education
as an effective vehicle for developing a
Knowledge Economy32
MALAK HAMDAN AND CAMERON MIRZA
4 Quality enhancement through internationalisation

at GCC universities47
MARIAM ORKODASHVILI
x Table of contents
5 Global rankings as yardstick of quality of

higher education: Voices from Gulf-based academics64
REYNALDO GACHO SEGUMPAN AND JOANNA SORAYA ABU ZAHARI
6 Quality drivers in Gulf higher education: Conclusion80

JOHN MCALANEY
PART II
Non-regional drivers of quality education 83
7 How did the largest overseas scholarship programme

in history narrow the gender capabilities gap
in Saudi Arabia?85
ABDUL GHAFFAR MUGHAL
8 Quality prospects in higher education: A case of Oman109

KHURAM SHAHZAD AND MUHAMMAD REHAN SHAUKAT
9 Funding quality of higher education in Oman123

MOUZA SAID ALKALBANI AND AHMAD BIN TOUQ
10 How internationalisation facilitates the development

of national quality assurance of higher education in
Mongolia and Oman137
BOLORSAIKHAN OMBOOSUREN AND ORKHON GANTOGTOKH
11 An empirical investigation of students’ opinion

regarding effectiveness of entrepreneurship education
in Saudi Arabian universities154
ANIS UR REHMAN AND SAMINA FAZLI
12 Quality drivers in Oman and Saudi Arabia: Conclusion173

REYNALDO GACHO SEGUMPAN
Index 177
Tables
2.1 Summary of national innovation policies across four

GCC countries and role higher education institutions
play in contributing to and/or implementing the policies 19
3.1 Expatriate contribution to the labour force 33
3.2 Number of patent applications in GCC from 1988 to 2014 35
3.3 Global Innovation Index rankings (2016) 35
3.4 Innovation Input Sub-Index in 2016 36
3.5 Response to question: Please indicate how much you
agree or disagree with this statement: Students are
graduating from GCC universities without relevant skills 41
3.6 Response to question: Does your institution teach
entrepreneurship to any benefit? 41
3.7 What kind of opportunities exist for staff and
students to engage in innovation practices within
the university? 42
4.1 Effects of internationalisation as perceived by academic
and administrative staff in October 2018 59
4.2 Effects of internationalisation as perceived by academic
and administrative staff in April 2019 59
4.3 Effects of internationalisation as perceived by students
in October 2018 59
4.4 Effects of internationalisation as perceived by students
in April 2019 60
4.5 Perceptions of quality by students 60
4.6 Perceptions of quality by administrative and
academic staff 61
5.1 Profile of the participants 72
5.2 Phases of thematic analysis in analysing the data 73
7.1 Saudi Arabia gross enrolment ratio by sex, tertiary
(% of tertiary school-age population) 87
7.2 Primary and secondary channels compared 92
7.3 KASP awards by type of sponsorship and gender: 2005–2017 95
xii List of tables
7.4 Students graduating between 2005 and 2017 by type
of sponsorship and gender 97
7.5 KASP primary scholarship holders’ top ten chosen
fields of study (2005–2017) 97
7.6 KASP primary and companion scholars by academic
level: 2005–2017 99
9.1 The governance of the higher education system in
Oman (Al’Abri, 2019) 124
9.2 Causes of financial deficit 131
9.3 Self-funded education 132
9.4 The development of continuing education 133
9.5 Correlations between self-funded education
and development of continued education 134
10.1 Cases 141
10.2 Comparison between ESG, international and
national standards, and criteria 145
10.3 SWOT analysis of the current accreditation performance 146
11.1 University/Institution 162
11.2 Gender of respondents 162
11.3 Qualification of respondents 162
11.4 Impact of management education on development
of entrepreneurial skills 163
11.5 Qualification vs. perceived extent to which present
management education system develops knowledge
of business planning 163
11.6 University/Institution vs. perceived extent to which
present management education system develops knowledge
of problem recognition and solution development 164
11.7 Qualification vs. perceived extent to which present
management education system develops knowledge
of process from idea to realisation of a start-up 164
11.8 University/Institution vs. perceived extent to which
present management education system develops
knowledge of process from idea to realisation of a start-up 165
11.9 Hypotheses test results 166
Figures
7.1 Total outbound internationally mobile tertiary students

from Saudi Arabia. 86
7.2 Total unemployment rate (15+) by sex and education
level - first quarter 2018. 88
7.3 Saudi economic participation rate (15+) by sex and
education level (%). 88
7.4 Channels to study abroad. Primary and secondary channels
of KASP scholarships for Saudi students. 91
7.5 KASP primary and companion scholarship awards
by gender 2005–2017. 95
7.6 Gender distribution of scholarship awards to study
abroad by type of support: 2005–2017. Distribution
of scholarship awards to study abroad by gender and
source of finance for 2005–2017. 96
Preface
Quality education requires us to redefine the parameters of education in such

a way as to cover certain basic knowledge, values, competencies, and behaviours
that are specifically attuned to globalization but reflect the beauty and richness
of our diversity expressed in different forms of belief, spirituality, culture, and
language. The challenge is to develop education systems that balance local,
national, and global aspirations in the context of our common humanity.
Ministerial Table on Quality Education
Paris, UNESCO, 3–4 October 2003
Passionate about quality education, the editors and writers of this book have
forged synergy in order to come up with this volume. The book is an amalga-
mation of selected research studies that were presented during the 10th Gulf
Research Meeting (GRM) at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
on 15–18 July 2019. There were a few stand-alone and concurrent workshops
that were held in Cambridge, one of which was our session (Workshop No. 8)
titled, Quality of Higher Education in the Gulf: Quo Vadis? where we served
as the Workshop Directors. GRM is a platform for researchers and scholars to
discuss topics about, and related to, the Gulf affairs across multi-disciplinary
perspectives. It is spearheaded by the Gulf Research Centre, a non-profit think
tank, which operates in Jeddah, Geneva, and Cambridge, in cooperation with
the University of Cambridge.
As Directors of the abovementioned Workshop, we proposed the idea of com-
ing up with an edited volume of selected papers that could be useful to under-
graduate and graduate students, as well researchers specialising in or embarking
on studies in Gulf higher education, quality education in Gulf higher educa-
tion institutions, quality management in higher education in GCC countries,
and issues on quality management in the Gulf. Everyone was enthused and the
cycle of reviews and polishing of the papers formally took shape. Finally, 10
papers have reached the culmination of our international and inter-disciplinary
collaboration.
This book presents an analysis of quality education drivers in Gulf higher edu-
cation institutions, in particular, in the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia as cases in points. It unveils a unique interface between “quality”
Preface xv
and “management” in the context of higher education in the Gulf, covering
a variety of drivers (issues, challenges, enablers) relevant to the contemporary
academic landscape of the region and its neighbours. In the preparation of this
book, we were guided by our commitment and aspiration expressed in the acro-
nym, FRIEND: the first one is Focus – this volume is a special publication that
centres on quality drivers in the Gulf; next is Relevance – the publication is per-
tinent and timely as HEIs in the Gulf (Oman and Saudi Arabia as cases in this
volume) grapple with quality education as well as the COVID-19 pandemic; we
also project International orientation – the papers reflect discussions that link
the Gulf with its Asian neighbours; while writing, we have the End-users in
mind – the readers are of utmost priority in the preparation of this volume where
the style of writing, language used, and presentation of data are suitable for gen-
eral end-users; we also injected Novelty – the book provides fresh perspectives
on quality drivers which are backed up by researches; and finally, we take pride
in our Diversity (and inclusivity) – the authors have diverse cultural backgrounds
and their insightful perspectives have been infused in the discussions.
We fervently hope that our modest contribution to the body of knowledge on
quality drivers in HEIs will be useful to researchers, academicians, policy mak-
ers, students, and all others who are curious to learn and to embrace wisdom.
The Editors
Reynaldo Gacho Segumpan
John McAlaney
Acknowledgements
We hereby acknowledge the substantial contributions of the authors of this vol-

ume. Without their scholarly works, this publication would not have come into
fruition.
We are also indebted to the Gulf Research Centre, chaired by Dr. Abdulaziz
Sager, for providing us the logistic and technical support, which made it possible
for all authors and editors to converge during the 10th Gulf Research Meeting
in July 2019 at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, the venue where
our journeys began and where the inspiration to come up with this book sparked.
Grateful acknowledgement is also extended to Dr. Oskar Ziemeles, Director
of Cooperation, Gulf Research Centre; Emilie Coin, Editor for Education,
Psychology & Mental Health Research, Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group;
Swapnil Joshi, Editorial Assistant, Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group; and the
anonymous reviewers of our book proposal and the peer reviewers of the revised
manuscript.
We are thankful to our family members and loved ones for sustaining our
dreams and desires.
The Editors
Reynaldo Gacho Segumpan
John McAlaney
Contributors
Chapter 1
Bahtiar Mohamad is an Associate Professor of Corporate Communication and
Strategy at Communication Department, School of Multimedia Technology
and Communication, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). With a Bachelor’s
degree from National University of Malaysia, a Master of Science from Uni-
versiti Putra Malaysia, and a PhD from Brunel University London, United
Kingdom, Bahtiar has been serving UUM for approximately 16 years. His
research and publications are in the areas of corporate identity, corporate
image, crisis communication, and corporate branding from the point of view
of public relations and corporate communication. Bahtiar has published over
100 research papers in reputed journals and conferences and has authored,
co-authored, and edited 8 textbooks. He is Member of Institute of Public
Relations Malaysia, European Communication Research and Education
Association, World Communication Association and Pacific & Asia Com-
munication Association. He is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Faculty of
Business, Curtin University, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, and Asian
Institute of Cambodia and also the Academic Advisor for Universiti Sultan
Zainal Abidin, SEGi University, and Kolej Universiti Poly-Tech MAR A.
Ridwan Adetunji Raji is an Assistant Professor of Integrated Strategic Communi-
cation at the College of Communication and Media Sciences, Zayed University,
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates where he teaches Media Planning and Man-
agement, Media, Communication and Society and Communication Research
Methodology. He earned a PhD in Media Management from the Universiti
Utara Malaysia. He has won international research grants and presented in inter-
national conferences on issues revolving around Sustainability Image Develop-
ment and Sustainable Consumption among Youth, Green City Identity, Social
Innovation, and Corporate Identity. The findings from his previous studies
have been published in refereed journals such as Journal of Marketing Commu-
nication, Journal of Promotion Management, Journal of Research in Interactive
Marketing, and Malaysian Journal of Communication. Prior to joining Zayed
University, Ridwan was a Visiting Senior Lecturer at Universiti Utara Malaysia.
xviii List of contributors
Chapter 2
Seungah S. Lee is a PhD candidate at Stanford University studying Interna-
tional Comparative Education and Organisational Studies. Her research
focuses on the interplay between youth development, entrepreneurship, and
innovation as part of the wider national development agenda. Prior to her
doctoral studies, she worked in the Middle East designing teacher leadership
programmes, leading programme evaluation efforts, and building monitor-
ing and evaluation systems.
Cameron Mirza has vast international experience within the UK and Mid-
dle East, including working at the highest levels of reform. At the Depart-
ment for Education (UK) Cameron was responsible for establishing of the
young apprenticeship programme, led the review of diversity in the cur-
riculum with Sir Keith Ajegbo, and was the programme manager for the
cross-cutting respect action plan launched in 2005 by Prime Minister Blair.
Cameron was appointed director for strategy for higher education council,
Bahrain from December 2011 to May 2016 where he reformed the regulatory
framework, co-authored a national higher education strategy, and authored
the nation’s first industry-led graduate skills guide. In 2016, Cameron was
appointed Head of strategy at the University of Bahrain, leading the trans-
formation of the national university and leading the university to 23rd in the
2020 Arab university rankings, being ranked top 2% globally for employer
reputation and 213 globally in the Times Higher Education Impact Rank-
ings, which is based on the UN sustainable development goals. In 2019, Cam-
eron was responsible for the University of Bahrain becoming one of the first
universities in the world to adopt blockchain to issue certificates to students
and also established the nation’s first coding academy as well as a joint cloud
computing degree with AWS. In 2020, Cameron took up the post of Chief
of Party for the USAID pre-service teacher education in Jordan programme.
Chapter 3
Malak Hamdan is a former employee of the British Government’s Foreign
and Commonwealth Office with proven capability and achievement both in
the UK and overseas. She is currently Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship
and Innovation at the University of West London. Dr Malak Hamdan is a
senior operational leader who is also known for launching an organisation,
which brought international prominence to issues surrounding cancer and
birth defects of Iraqi infants, steering the major global representation and
networking efforts involved. She has a distinguished 18-year international
career across sectors, including INGOs, Government, Academia/STEM, and
Industry, and a wealth of expertise in entrepreneurship, innovation, strate-
gic planning, portfolio delivery, stakeholder engagement, and organisational
leadership. She is also a published author, presenter, and guest speaker glob-
ally for organisations including WHO, the UN Human Rights Council, UK
Government, and Ministries.
List of contributors xix
Chapter 4
Mariam Orkodashvili has been affiliated with several international institutions
such as the University of Pennsylvania; University of California, Berkley; Cal-
ifornia State University; Peabody College of Education, Vanderbilt Univer-
sity, USA; Tbilisi State University, Georgia; Georgian American University;
The Parliament of Georgia; Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology,
Halle-Saale, Germany; Education Research Institute in Washington, D.C.;
and Edinburgh University, Scotland, UK. Her publications have appeared
in SAGE Encyclopaedia of Theory (SAGE publications); Oxford Studies
in Comparative Education; International Perspectives on Higher Educa-
tion Institutions (Peter Lang Publishers); Sociology of Education (SAGE
publications); European Education: Issues and Studies (Taylor & Francis);
Comparative and International Education (Sense Publishers); International
Perspectives on Education and Society (Emerald Publishers, UK); The Jon
Ben Sheppard Journal of Practical Leadership (UTPB Publication); The
Journal of Democratisation (Heldref Publications); and Peabody Journal of
Education (Routledge: Taylor & Francis).
Chapter 5
Joanna Soraya Abu Zahari worked in various capacities in private business
organisations such as Johor Capital Holdings and Johor Investment Ltd.
before joining Universiti Utara Malaysia as a Research Officer. Currently,
she teaches business and management courses at University of Technology
and Applied Sciences in Ibri, Sultanate of Oman. She also taught at Salalah
College of Applied Sciences, Suhar College of Applied Sciences, and Rustaq
College of Education, Ministry of Higher Education, Sultanate of Oman. She
has published in journals including European Journal of Social and Human
Sciences, International Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences, and Asian
Journal of University Education. She has an Honours Degree in Accounting
and Master of Business Administration from MAR A University of Technol-
ogy, Selangor, Malaysia. She has been in higher education for 12 years now.
Chapter 6
John McAlaney is one of the editors of this volume.
Chapter 7
Abdul Ghaffar Mughal is a Visiting Scholar and a Lecturer at Northeastern
University. He comes with a highly diverse track record in economics with
more than 25 years of experience in teaching, research, and consultancy in
over 15 countries. He obtained his PhD from the University of Southern
California (USC) in 1999. He has taught at USC, Hanover College, Califor-
nia State University, and a number of international universities in Europe and
Asia. Dr. Mughal’s work includes research in international labour migration
and political economy of education. He has consulted for the World Bank,
xx List of contributors
USAID, Asian Development Bank, UNICEF and International Organisa-
tion for Migration, and AECOM. He was a member of the 2020 G20 Task
Force 7 on G20 Support for Sustainable Development Goals. He is the author
of “The Twin Deficit of Education in Pakistan: When Did Pakistan Miss the
Boat?”. Currently, Dr. Mughal has been working on a book project on the
Political Economy of Muslim countries.
Chapter 8
Khuram Shahzad is an academician with extensive integrated experience on
teaching, training, and administration. Currently, he is serving as a senior
lecturer in Muscat College, Sultanate of Oman. He holds Master’s degrees
in project management and marketing. He is a certified Project Management
Professional (PMP) of Project Management Institute (PMI), USA and an
Associate Fellow of Higher Education Academy, UK. His research interests
include quality in higher education, stakeholder engagement, risk manage-
ment in procurement operations, brand positioning, and investigation on
psychosocial stressors.
Muhammad Rehan Shaukat holds Master’s degrees in e-business, business
administration, and marketing. He has more than 10 years of interdiscipli-
nary experience in teaching and research and has diverse exposure in mul-
ticultural environment organisations. Currently, he is a faculty member at
University of Technology and Applied Sciences in Ibri, Sultanate of Oman.
He actively participates in conferences, seminars, webinars, and workshops,
particularly in the area of e-business. His research interests include e-market-
ing, higher education dynamics, project management, electronic business,
operations management, and e-commerce.
Chapter 9
Mouza Said AlKalbani holds PhD in Education, Innovation and Lifelong
Learning, Deusto University, Spain, 2017. She received her MA in TESOL,
Teacher Education, from Leeds University, UK in 2010. Currently, she is
an Assistant Professor in foreign languages at the English Department at
University of Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman. Previously, she worked as an Eng-
lish language teacher and as teacher trainer in Ministry of Education Oman.
Her research interests include Education system and administration reform-
ing; education and innovation; competency-based approach and quality of
higher education; teachers’ cognition and teachers’ development; and teach-
ing methodologies (curriculum development). She is a member of Athens
Institute for Education and Research.
Ahmad Bin Touq is an Associate Professor of Geography and Urban Sus-
tainability at United Arab Emirates (UAE) University. He holds a PhD in
Economic Geography with emphasis on Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) and Urban Planning, Indiana State University, USA; Master of GIS for
Development and the Environment with emphasis on Remote Sensing, Public
List of contributors xxi
Organisation and Urban Planning, Clark University, USA; and, B.S. Public
Affairs and Environmental Management, with emphasis on Public Finance,
Indiana University, USA. He worked as Supervisor of Teaching Assistant and
National Faculty Development Programme, Provost Office, UAE University
(2011–2013). Prior to this, he was at the Vice Provost for Research and Grad-
uate Studies.
Chapter 10
Orkhon Gantogtokh is Executive Director of the Academy for Higher Edu-
cation Development of Mongolia and has been actively engaged with higher
education (HE) reform processes of Mongolia with her research publica-
tions, advocacy papers, and involvement in the national level projects and
programmes to enhance the quality of HE. She completed an MSc in Higher
Education at the University of Oxford in 2016 and an MA in international
education and development at the University of Sussex in 2009. Her previ-
ous professional experience includes positions at the Ministry of Education,
Culture and Science as a HE Specialist, the London School of Economics
Enterprise as a Researcher, MNCEA as a Research and Partnership Manager,
National University of Mongolia as a HE Consultant, and the Institute of
Language and Civilisation as Director of Studies.
Bolorsaikhan Omboosuren is an Associate Professor at the Mongolian National
University of Medical Sciences (MNUMS) and works as Head of the Quality
Assurance Department. She graduated from the MNUMS as General Practi-
tioner in 1998, completed a Master of Public Health in 2005, and then PhD
in Medicine in 2012. Her previous professional experience includes Human
Resource Manager at Chingeltei District Health Centre and Obstetric and
Gynecologist at The State Research Centre of Maternal and Child Health.
She has actively participated in the establishment of the national QA system
in Mongolia and has been a Quality Assurance Evaluator since 2009.
Chapter 11
Samina Fazli is presently working as Principal, Al-Barkaat Institute of Edu-
cation, Aligarh, India. She holds a PhD in Education with specialisation
in English and has more than 16 years of teaching experience in the field
of Higher Education. She has contributed chapters in edited books along
with more than 10 publications in reputed journals. She has been convener
to National Seminar sponsored by ICSSR, New Delhi, India and Course
Coordinator to Refresher Program organised by CALEM, UGC, HRDC,
AMU, Aligarh under the scheme of PMMMNMTT. She has been an
Adjunct Faculty for Research Guidance at Pebble Hills University, Indian
Management Academy for Research Guidance since 2017. She has received
many academic awards and scholarships and completed a 15-day course on
Test Construction from CITO International under the Netherlands Fellow-
ship Programme.
xxii List of contributors
Anis ur Rehman is an Assistant Professor of Business Management at University
of Hail, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He has completed his PhD in Consumer
Behaviour and has a MBA in Marketing from India. He has successfully
completed an online course on Behavioural Economics in Action conducted
by University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has 12 years of experience
teaching Business Management at postgraduate and undergraduate levels. He
has published more than 30 research papers in various reputed journals (ISI,
Scopus) of business management and marketing. He is also the author of
a book on Effective Project Management in India, which was published in
Germany, and has contributed chapters in five edited books and presented 11
papers in various conferences and seminars.
Chapter 12
Reynaldo Gacho Segumpan is one of the editors of this volume.
Editors
John McAlaney, CPsychol, CSci, FHEA is Associate Professor in Psychology,

Bournemouth University, UK. He completed his PhD at the University of
West of Scotland, where he explored the social psychological factors associ-
ated with risky alcohol use. He has since expanded his research to include psy-
chological determinants of other risk behaviours including gambling, digital
addiction, and cybersecurity. He has secured funding in the form of grants
and several match-funded PhD studentships to further develop these research
areas. His work has been used as the basis for policy documents within the
British Psychological Society and he has advised industry, charity, and gov-
ernment bodies in the UK and internationally.
He co-developed and is currently the Programme Leader for the BSc
(Hons) Cyberpsychology degree at Bournemouth University. This British
Psychological Society accredited degree is one of the first of its kind in the
world and reflects the increasing importance of this emergent area of psy-
chology. Having spent a period as Head of Education within the Department
of Psychology at Bournemouth University he is an advocate of quality edu-
cation and has been involved in several initiatives to improve student out-
comes and employability opportunities. His approach in his work in all
aspects of his position embodies the Fusion concept that underpins activity at
Bournemouth University, which refers to the coming together of education,
research, and professional practice to advance knowledge and enrich society.
Reynaldo Gacho Segumpan, CMgr FCMI, CSci, FHEA was the Head of the
Department of Business Administration, Rustaq College of Education, Min-
istry of Higher Education, Sultanate of Oman. He was an Associate Profes-
sor at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) where he served as UUM’s Deputy
Director of the University Teaching and Learning Centre and Deputy Direc-
tor of the Executive Development Centre. Currently, he is affiliated with the
University of Technology and Applied Sciences in Ibri, Sultanate of Oman.
Dr. Segumpan is a Chartered Manager and Chartered Fellow (CMgr
FCMI) of the Chartered Management Institute, UK; a Chartered Scientist
(CSci) of the Science Council, UK; and a Fellow of the Higher Education
xxiv List of editors
Academy (FHEA), UK. He was a Delegate to HPAIR 2018 at Harvard
University, USA and went twice to the University of Cambridge, UK for the
Gulf Research Meeting in 2018 and 2019.
He has researched and published on higher education, communication and
media, human resource management, leadership, and business in the UK,
USA, Italy, Switzerland, Australia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, India,
Mongolia, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, and
Thailand. He holds a PhD and a Doctor of Communication (Chancellor’s
List), three Master’s degrees (MMgt, MEd, MA), and a BEd (Magna Cum
Laude). He has been in the academia for almost 29 years.
Introduction
Quality education does not exist in a vacuum. Consideration of social, eco-

nomic, political, cultural, historical, and geographical diversities within and
between nations is crucial determinant of quality in a given society.
Workshop 1B report, 47th International
Conference on Education of UNESCO,
Geneva, 8–11 September 2004
Quality education is a fluid concept, which connotes a gamut of meanings. This

relative nature of “quality education” deserves attention in order to understand
it in a more encompassing lens, especially in the context of managing higher
education (HE) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (comprising
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates). What
are the drivers of quality education? Can quality education be managed? If so,
how? In the GCC region (interchangeably referred to as “Gulf” for citation
brevity), how do higher education institutions (HEIs) define and address quality
education? What issues are they grappling with as they tackle “quality”? What
are the ramifications of these issues to their raison d’etre? These are the pivotal
questions that provided impetus to this work.
This edited book emerged from the necessity to have a reading space and a ref-
erence material on quality drivers in Gulf-based HEIs, an economic powerhouse
with pulsating higher education development. From the initial plan of targeting
HEIs in the Gulf, the final submissions comprise papers revolving around qual-
ity drivers in the context of the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia. The multi-national cadre of contributors has simplified the language
while maintaining research scholarship throughout the book so that readers can
grasp easily the flow of discussions on up-to-date issues and challenges faced by
Gulf-based HEIs in exploring quality drivers.
The articles have been themed into two: Regional Drivers and Non-Regional
Drivers. “Drivers” are construed here as potent (and potential) enablers of a
management system and educational structure or process, which collectively
weaves at the intersection of quality education and quality management in
higher education in the Gulf with the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia as cases in points.
xxvi Introduction
The theme of Regional Drivers incorporates organisational, management, and
policy issues drenching Gulf-based HEIs as a whole. In this publication, Bahtiar
Mohamad and Ridwan Adetunji Ranji discuss the importance of corporate
identity management (CIM) as a strategic tool for enhancing the competitive-
ness and global rankings of HEIs in the Gulf. According to Seungah Lee and
Cameron Mirza, HEIs in the GCC countries should utilise innovation as a stra-
tegic tool for quality improvement. Another complementary analytical work was
done by Malak Hamdan and Cameron Mirza, who proposed a national innova-
tion system to enhance the role of higher education in the Gulf as a knowledge
economy. Mariam Orkodashvili argues that through internationalisation, HEIs
in the Gulf can enhance their competitiveness and ultimately raise the quality
of higher education. In the paper of Reynaldo Gacho Segumpan and Joanna
Soraya Abu Zahari, they highlight how GCC-based academics construe global
rankings and whether or not the latter could reflect quality of higher education.
On the other hand, the theme of Non-Regional Drivers explores Gulf
country-specific and other interwoven issues. For instance, Abdul Ghaffar
Mughal examined and evaluated the scholarship programme of the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia from the perspectives of efficiency and equity. Khuram Shahzad and
Muhammad Rehan Shaukat explored how to instil quality education prospects
among HEIs in the Sultanate of Oman. Funding also emerged as another driver
of managing quality higher education. The paper of Mouza Said AlKalbani and
Ahmad BinTouq studied funding options for private HEIs in the Sultanate of
Oman. Bolorsaikhan Omboosuren and Orkhon Gantogtokh made an equally
interesting paper, which is a comparative analysis of internationalisation initia-
tives of the Sultanate of Oman and Mongolia; their findings demonstrate how
internationalisation could facilitate reforms in the context of the national quality
assurance system. Anis Ur Rehman and Samina Fazli focused on entrepreneur-
ship education in universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its implica-
tions for quality higher education.
Managing quality education is a continual process at the top of strategic
development and transformational agenda of HEIs, and GCC colleges and uni-
versities are not spared from this trajectory. If HEIs in the Gulf do not uphold
consistently the principles of quality management and do not embrace steadily
best practices, their raison d’etre may not come into fruition. This creates a gap
in research and in HE management and as such, it is imperative that a reference
material specific to the GCC Region be written in order to introduce current
and relevant practices that interweave with quality HE in the context of the
GCC countries. Examining drivers of quality higher education in the Gulf, in
particular, in the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, provides
an avenue for policy makers and academic scholars to explore regional factors –
and beyond – that hinge on the transformation landscape of Gulf-based HEIs.
Part I
Regional drivers of
quality education
1 Corporate identity management
among Higher Education
Institutions in the Gulf
Bahtiar Mohamad and Ridwan Adetunji Raji
Introduction
The economy boom enjoyed by many Arabian Gulf countries over the last decade
has afforded them the resources, technologies, and innovations to develop their
education sector and advance their quality of higher education. Accordingly, the
Gulf is fast becoming a global hub for international branch campuses and a host
to a growing number of state-of-the-art public-funded universities. However,
despite the emboldening governmental policies, surplus funding, and positive
ambitions towards developing the region’s educational standards, reports have
shown that many of the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Gulf are
laggards in beefing up their quality, reputations, and global rankings (Madichie,
2015). For instance, there are more than 270 Gulf-based universities (Romani,
2009) ranging from public, private, to international branch campuses from the
United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Australia, only a few of
which appeared within 1000 positions in the QS World University Rankings of
2018 down to 2020. As such, it is imperative to take a critical look at the role
of Corporate Identity Management (CIM) of HEIs in the Gulf as a probable
strategic tool for improving the competitiveness in higher education industry in
the Arabian Gulf, fostering the marketability and attractiveness of the region as
a destination for quality higher education to potential students, reputed faculty,
and researchers as well as improving the world rankings of universities in the
Gulf region.
Given that the phenomenal increase in the reformation of global universities
from a “republic of scholars” to a “stakeholder university”, has intensified the
competitiveness in the higher education market. There is an expansive body of
marketing and communication literature on the importance of CIM for HEIs
as a strategic tool for presenting and organising universities’ “communication,
design, culture, behaviour and structure” (Gumport, 2000; Melewar, 2003;
Melewar & Akel, 2005; Melewar, Foroudi, Dinnie, & Nguyen, 2017; Wæraas &
Solbakk, 2009). Therefore, balancing between the investments on educational
standards and the management of corporate identity is essential for developing
a viability and marketability of universities’ products and services (i.e. academic
programme). However, education ministries, policymakers, and academic have
4 Bahtiar Mohamad and Ridwan A. Raji
paid minimal attention to the critical questions on “how CIM of HEIs comes
into play in the face of the growing fierce competition among HEIs in the Gulf?”
Additionally, “how has CIM of HEIs in the Gulf been affected by the present
COVID19 pandemic disruption to educational services and values?”
Therefore, while concentrating on the HEIs in the Arabian Gulf Corporation
Council, this chapter aims at expanding the understanding of CIM of HEIs by
reviewing the definition and importance of CIM for HEIs and highlights the
essential factors responsible for developing CIM of HEIs in the Gulf. Hence,
the following sub-sections of the chapter discuss the definition of CIM in the
context of HEIs, review the role of CIM as the solution for survival of HEIs in
the Gulf, underscore the essential factors of CIM programmes, and end with
general thoughts on the implications of CIM of HEIs in the Gulf.
Defining CIM in the context of HEIs

CIM is viewed as a concept that involves activities that a company deliberately
implements continuously to achieve image branding among its external and
internal stakeholders. Existing measures of corporate identity often have a differ-
ent approach (Kennedy, 1977; Melewar & Saunders, 1999, 2000; Stuart, 1998),
depending on either internal or external stakeholders. In general terms, CIM
concerns the presentation and communication of the organisation’s design,
culture, structure, strategy, and behaviour to both the internal and external
stakeholders (Melewar et al., 2017). Melewar and Karaosmanoglu (2006) put
it simply as the management of corporate personality from within and among
the internal audience as well as communicating the organisation’s image to its
external stakeholders. Theorists have opined that insights from organisational
identification and visual identity (symbolism) managements are a better under-
standing of corporate identity from both its internal and external perspectives.
Thus, the reason why the body of literature on CIM can mainly be bifurcated
into internal and external perspectives. However, the chunk of CIM studies on
HEIs have mostly been from the internal perspectives (e.g. Balmer, Johansen,
& Nielsen 2016; Nguyen, Yu, Melewar, & Hemsley-Brown, 2016). In Melewar
et al. (2017), CIM in the context of HEIs was defined as the means of dif-
ferentiating among the various competing universities and influencing on the
stakeholders’ perceptions, motivating employees, and presenting the universi-
ty’s personality and image to every stakeholder, including the public, students,
employees, and board members.
The discussion of CIM within the context of internal perspectives of HEIs
in literature has evolved around the idea of organisational identity. In broad
terms, HEIs identity is referred to as what an individual thinks, feels, and per-
ceives about his or her university; it is suggested to be a commonly shared and
collective understanding of the distinctive characteristics and values of the uni-
versity. A clear definition of university identity is offered by Albert and Whetten
(1985) as what is unique, central, and enduring about the character of the uni-
versity. What any stakeholder of any company thinks of its products and services
Corporate identity management 5
determines the achievement of any modern business, particularly in the area of
organisational branding and image. While in the context of HEI, products and
services include an academic programme such as degree, master, and PhD. It is,
therefore, essential to see CIM dimensions in this context as comprising of the
entire university and consisting of both tangible and intangible identity. Thus,
corporate identity goes beyond visual symbols and how they are interpreted in
the articulation of the vision, mission, and philosophy of the company. The
philosophy of the university provides the actions, decisions, and policies, which
entail the main motivating tenets, principles, values, and assumptions (Collins
& Porras, 1991). This attribute of CIM is connected with the perspective of the
organisational study, which indicates that identity is shown through the shared
mission, values, and beliefs (Ashforth & Mael, 1989). Abratt (1989) stated that
the business philosophy of an organisation brings out the uniqueness of the
company to the construct of CIM. Balmer (1995) and Gray and Balmer (1997)
reported that the formal expression of corporate philosophy is the foundation
of the process of image management, which reflects the values, mission, and
philosophy that drive the corporate identity strategically. In order to convey a
sense of purpose and commonality, a mission statement can be used to express
the business philosophy (Collins & Porras, 1991; Cummings & Davies, 1994).
Therefore, the mission of a university provides a basis for their identity and high-
lights the main direction for employees’ conduct.
In addition, Schmidt (1995) posited that corporate identity has now been
recognised as a strategic and effective instrument capable of achieving economic
advantage. Therefore, significant numbers of universities are working hard to
build a recognisable and outstanding identity as “the ivory tower of academia”.
The characteristics of an efficacious corporate identity include having a reputation
for environmental and social responsibilities, reputation for high-quality goods
and services, a peaceful workplace, and robust financial performance (Einwiller
& Will, 2002). More so, the commercialisation of education has impacted the
need for corporate identity in the higher education business in order for univer-
sities to survive the continuously increasing international competition among
universities. Subsequently, HEIs have realised the need for developing formi-
dable identities to help in the alignment with investment attraction, employee
motivation, marketing strategy, and serve as a way their products and services
can be distinguished. Schmidt (1995) added that identity is presently recognised
as a useful tool to achieve competitive advantages in HEIs.
In accordance with the above-raised discussion, the following work defini-
tions are derived from the perspective of CIM: (1) The application, support, and
continuous maintenance of the visual system; (2) using any form of communi-
cation and global organisation symbol for pursuit and expression of image and
brand consistency; and (3) the approval of consistency in action via the diffusion
of the goals, values, and mission of the university. A comprehensive view of the
dimensions of corporate identity is taken by this definition, which requires inter-
nal management. The definition assumes that CIM indicates the articulation of
real factors that convey and establish a corporate image. Organisational symbols
should be included in such factors as they can be understood and transmit-
ted by external and internal stakeholders. Furthermore, the definitions assume
that CIM considers the integration of all communication approaches in order to
harmonise message and articulate organisation identity coherently. Lastly, the
definition similarly indicates what is unique and intrinsic about the university,
such as the norms and values of the university that can be shared and unified
by all stakeholders. The definition from the operational level shows that CIM
is a reflection of three intertwined dimensions: (1) Communications; (2) values,
philosophy, and mission; and (3) visual identity.
CIM: A solution for survival for HEIs in the Gulf

The higher education sector of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries
has undergone a significant transformation over the past three decades to the
level where it is now playing a prominent role in the economic and social devel-
opment of the region. The motivation for economic diversification and transi-
tion from an oil-based economy to a knowledge-based economy opened doors
of huge investments and encouraged policies such as the adoption of different
internationalisation models towards the establishment of globalised higher edu-
cation sectors across the region (Baghdady, 2017). In articulating the recent and
somewhat ongoing successful transformations in the Gulf’s educational indus-
try, Madichie (2015) explained that, beyond being a beacon of economic and
social development, the business of higher education in the Gulf has grown
from knowledge reception to knowledge production. As a result of that, there
was a tremendous influx of various international educational institutions and
branch campuses mainly from the United States, Europe, and Australia estab-
lished across different states of the GCC countries including the Kingdom of
Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, State of Kuwait, State of Qatar, Sultanate
of Oman, and the United Arab Emirates (Wilkins, 2011). For instance, the
University of Wollongong from Australia, American University, and Michigan
State University from the United States of America, and Middlesex University
from the United Kingdom to mention but a few, all have campuses and compete
for market shares in the continually global higher education market of the Gulf.
Also, intending to ensure quality education, many state-owned and private uni-
versities enjoyed huge financial endowments from the government, resulting in
significant internationalisation and standardisation.
To put it simply, the Gulf HEI has fully expanded to become a standard indus-
try with many international reputed universities and standardised state-owned
and renowned private institutions as the key players. However, some sceptics
such as Buckner (2011) have shown concern over the sustainability of the inter-
nalisation of the state-owned universities and the marketisation of private and
international branch campuses in the Gulf citing challenges such as the plum-
meting governmental funding. Baghdady (2011) also argued that it is imperative
that key players in the higher education sector in the Gulf engage more actively
in their efforts for continuous improvement of their quality assurance initiatives
as students’ perception of their quality and standards is not at par with the
perception of international universities outside the shores of GCC countries.
Thus, all the players in the Gulf higher education market are now compelled to
focus on building viable reputation and globalised marketisation to attract top
scholars, recruit local and international students, and to market their products
and services. In other words, it is increasingly becoming difficult for those key
players to remain relevant in the Gulf higher education market and thus become
imperative for HEIs to increase emphasis on developing CIM programmes.
Consequently, Baker and Balmer (1997) stated that a growing number of
HEIs in the region have awakened to the reality and the imperativeness of build-
ing a recognisable and distinct identity as parts of their expansion and stra-
tegic growth. So far, their investments have been yielding positive outcomes.
Considering that world university ranking is a manifestation of a well-managed
corporate identity (Hazelkorn, 2007) and serves as one of the main measure-
ment factors of university’s standard performance, looking at the annual world
university rankings, there has been a sweeping number of universities across
different countries in the Gulf listed, and a good number of them ranked below
1000 positions (Salmi & Saroyan, 2007; Stensaker, 2005). Finally, consistent
with the limited available knowledge on the implementation of CIM strategies
to mitigate the challenges of HEIs of the Gulf, this chapter undertakes a cursory
review of the CIM mechanism and identifies the antecedents of CIM as well as
its consequences for HEIs in the Gulf.
Essential factors of corporate identity for HEIs

Based on a review of a multidisciplinary body of literature, this chapter discusses
the antecedent factors to CIM for HEIs in the Gulf by focusing on internal
brand, transformational leadership, and organisational culture, as presented in
the following sections.
Internal brand of HEIs and CIM

Internal branding means aligning brand values with employee behaviour (Aurand,
Gorchels, & Bishop, 2005; Hankinson, 2004; Vallaster and de Chernatony,
2004). Therefore, the behaviour of an employee reflects the internal brand of an
organisation (Burmann & Zeplin, 2005; Punjaisri & Wilson, 2007; Vallaster &
de Chernatony, 2005, 2006). Whisman (2009) argued that the internal brand-
ing of HEIs is an essential approach for setting attainable CIM agendas. Internal
branding can be achieved by aligning employees’ knowledge of organisational
values and brand in order to deliver the promises of the brand to the consumers
in their day-to-day operations and activities. Even though a strong corporate
brand can be built through various branding programmes that correlate with
the image, culture, and vision of the corporate body (Hatch & Schultz, 2001),
employees are determinant factors to the success of corporate branding activities
through their daily operations (Judson, Aurand, Gorchels, & Gordon, 2008;
Judson, Gorchels, & Aurand, 2006). More so, to enable employees to act in a
specific manner, the corporate structure has been tipped to be a driving force in
order to achieve strategic goals (Hatch & Schultz, 2001). Giddens (1979) stated
that structures are defined as the rules and resources drawn upon by the employ-
ees every working day. Besides that, Ivy (2001) and Naude and Ivy (1999) well
argued that the employees in a university have a significant influence on the
representation of HEIs to the society in terms of top-quality teaching, the rep-
utation of the staff, and outcomes of the research. In addition, both are said
to concern the fact that “individual members of a university are, by definition,
experts in their own right and so consider that they are the best judge of how to
fulfil this role” (Baker & Balmer, 1997, p. 367). Hence, more reason why it is
crucial to sensitise university staff and faculty on the values and mission of their
organisation to harness their activities and contributions towards the collective
goal of their institution (Stensaker, 2005).
Furthermore, “internal branding” is said to have emerged as the critical pro-
cess the brand values with the employee behaviour (Punjaisri & Wilson, 2007,
pp. 58–59). Thus, for a university to deliver the promises of their university
brand to the consumers in their day-to-day operations, the level of understand-
ing of the employees towards the brand and the intrinsic values of the univer-
sity are measured by the internal brand (Urde, 2003). For example, Ivy (2001)
mentioned that employees of HEIs are considered to be very important as they
represent the image of the university to the public, specifically in the area of
staff reputation and quality teaching. Therefore, one of the important focuses
of HEIs in the course of their ambition to develop a corporate identity that is
globally marketable is through the internal branding of the university (Judson
et al., 2006).
The role of transformational leadership in CIM of HEIs

Transformational leadership is for HEIs to have a model-like leader with a strong
influence on the followers to provide a sense of mission and a clear vision for
creating a positive identity. A leader is a person who can inspire, motivate, and
create a dedication to the joint mission that enhances the university identity
(Bass, 1997). This is the type of leadership that leads to a positive result in social
and individual systems. The main objective of this leadership type is to build fol-
lowers into leaders and increase the performance, motivation, and morale of the
followers through different kinds of mechanisms. These followers are challenged
and inspired by the leaders posing as their role models to take greater ownership
of their works. They understand both the weakness and strength of followers
and then align each follower to the task to optimise his performance.
According to Burns (1978) and Yukl (1998), in the theory of transformational
leadership, values and emotions mean “leaders and followers raise one another
to higher levels of morality and motivation”. Kohli and Jaworski (1990) corrob-
orated that passion is shown through transformational leadership to embark on
risks and accept occasional failure as a natural occurrence. Therefore, a leader of
HEIs must build trust among the employees in an organisation, which can be
accomplished through external and internal communication.
Burns (1978) describes transformational leadership as a process where the
leader and follower work hand in hand to achieve a higher stage of motivation
and morale. Burns argued on the difficulty in differentiation between leadership
and management and claimed that differences between the two exist in char-
acteristics and behaviours. Burns (1978) further asserts that significant change
is created in lives of people and in the organisation by the transformational
approach as the leadership style restructures the values and perceptions of the
employees and changes their aspiration and expectations. Bass (1985) extends
the concept of transformational leadership by explaining how the concept can
be measured and how it affects the performance and motivation of the followers.
The first way at which transformational leadership is measured is by the influ-
ence of the leader on the followers. To date, many meta-analyses from research-
ers have shown that a wide variety of performance results is positively predicted
by transformational leadership; the performance outcomes include individual,
group, or organisational-level variables (Bass & Bass, 2008).
Some authors, such as Burmann and Zeplin (2005) and Vallaster and de
Chernatony (2003), have agreed on transformational leadership to be very use-
ful in influencing the behaviour of the employee brand support. Additionally,
Northouse (2004) reported that leaders “who exhibit transformational lead-
ership often have a strong set of internal values and ideas and they are effec-
tive at motivating followers to act in ways that support the greater good rather
than their self-interest”. Leadership with transformational traits poses positive
impacts on the increase in the employee brand-building behaviour (Morhart,
Herzog, & Tomczak, 2009). Hence, for the achievement of a viable corporate
identity of HEIs, a transformational leader should possess excellent communi-
cation skills in creating enthusiasm and trust within the internal and external
stakeholders. Additionally, transformational leadership has been the primary
means of making changes in educational institutions for several authors (Bargh,
Bocock, Scott, & Smith, 2000; Fink, 2005; Leithwood, 1992). Bass and Avolio
(1990) note that “transformational leaders motivate followers to do more than
they originally expected”.
The functions of organisational culture in CIM of HEIs

The literature is replete with multiple sets of dimensions such as beliefs
(Chapman, Hayes, Sloan, & Fitzgerald, 2011), behaviour (Kotrba et al., 2012),
and values (Schneider, Ehrhart, & Macey, 2013) for organisational culture. All
these dimensions work as a sub-structure for management systems, behaviour,
and organisation management practices. Jin and Drozdenko (2010) buttress
that organisational culture contains concepts that guide the viewpoint of an
organisation towards customers and employees. Furthermore, Deshpande and
Webster (1989) defined organisational culture as the shared values and pattern
of beliefs that guide the employee to understand the organisational functions,
thus providing norms for behaviour in the organisation. Thus, with regards to
managing the identity of an organisation, the oversight function of organisa-
tional culture can be bifurcated into: Firstly, in conveying the message to the
employees, culture should be a pillar of communication; and secondly, when
solving problems, a positive attitude is produced among the members.
Globally, many universities have come under the increasing pressure to rapidly
adapt to changes in the political, technological, economic, and social forces from
their immediate environment due to the continuously growing transnational
education business (Cohen, 1997). Sporn (1999) added that the growth of the
educational reform was precipitated by the free movement of capital, increasing
staff and mobility, and the creation of a common market. According to Kezar
and Eckel (2002), early researchers emphasised the importance of the university
to have a distinctive culture that distinguishes them from others and espouses
the rituals and myths of the stakeholders of the university. It is, therefore,
more imperative at this juncture for HEIs in the Gulf to develop a differenti-
ating culture that shapes the patterns of beliefs, assumptions, practices, norms,
and values that guide the presentation and the perception of HEIs in the Gulf.
According to Cameron and Freeman (1991), the three sources of the university
culture are the beliefs, the values, and the assumptions of the founder of organ-
isational and the learning experience of members of the group as their organi-
sations expand. University culture also can be assessed by differentiating strong
and weak cultures (Sporn, 1996). Strong culture tolerates and actively encourages
discussion and debates on alternative and diverse strategies and views for quality
improvement of the solution to problem and decision-making (Bartell, 2003).
Additionally, the effectiveness of CIM programmes can also be strengthened
by organisational culture as it highlights positive values, beliefs, and behaviour
at all levels (both group and individual) in starting a fundamental identity for
the organisation. Such culture that permeates the effectiveness of CIM in HEIs
can be implemented in some corporate behaviours such as exchanging ideas and
information, problem-solving techniques, and decision-making processes across
colleges and departments.
Concluding thoughts
As the internationalisation and commercialisation of the higher education sec-
tor of the Gulf continue to blossom, so is the commercialisation of education
business continue to grow. The Gulf education sector has more or less developed
into a higher education hub with a growing number of international branch
campuses of internationally reputed universities as well as highly ranked private
and public universities. However, the lack of long-term strategies, such as the
development of viable corporate identity programmes, might hamper the ongo-
ing transformation. In an attempt to extend the understanding of CIM in the
context of HEIs, this chapter offers a dialectical review of the development of
HEIs in the Gulf and reviews three important strategies for beefing the CIM of
HEIs in the Gulf.
The discussions in this chapter offer a clearer understanding of the dimen-
sions that are relevant to the ongoing transformation in the Gulf education
sector. Thus, based on the review of studies on CIM, it can be concluded that
HEIs in the Gulf must start strategising towards the development of a corpo-
rate identity, which reflects in the goals, values, and mission of their institu-
tion. Accordingly, there must be a managerial shift towards the development
of the internal brand, transformational leadership style, as well as the organi-
sational culture of the institutions. Internal branding is an essential approach
towards developing a viable corporate identity in such a heavily competitive
market that can be achieved through the development of a specific marketing
image and proper alignment of employees’ behaviour, values, and organisa-
tional values and mission. Therefore, universities should invest more effort
and time in spreading information and communicating the unique goals and
mission of the university across the departments or units in universities to
enable the university staff to have a clearer comprehension of the brand val-
ues of their university and have the ability to reflect these values in the course
of their academic pursuit. In addition to that, investing in internal branding
activities will raise the possibility of academic staff to behave in a supportive
way towards the brand of their institution and support the marketisation of
their institution.
Additionally, this chapter highlights the role of transformational leadership
that encourages the development of professional and collaborative collegial cul-
ture and fosters academic developments on CIM of HEIs in the Gulf. Thus,
within the HEIs, the level of support for internal branding generated by the
employees can be influenced by the leaders’ transformational characteristics.
Further, transformational leadership has been the primary means of making
changes in educational institutions for several authors (Bargh et al., 2000; Fink,
2005; Leithwood, 1992). This also buttresses the fact that internal branding
activities can be facilitated or initiated by the transformational leaders creating
support for the employee brand. In another vein, employee brand support can be
partly influenced by the transformational leaders through the effect of internal
branding activities created by the leaders.
Furthermore, the significant effect of organisational culture to improve pos-
itive identity in organisations has been confirmed by the literature. HEIs are
expected to share similar or at least the same values with their institution (Trim,
2003). Therefore, the delivery of brand promises to organisational members is
as important as the brand promised to be delivered to their external stakeholders
(Boone, 2000; Judson et al., 2006). In the context of educational institutions,
employees who demonstrated behaviour that support university’s brand were
those who had a clearer understanding of their institutions’ rand values and
used these values in their work practices daily (Judson, Gordon, Ridnour, &
Weilbaker, 2009). Employees who do not understand the values of the insti-
tutions acted out their values more than their institutional values (Baker &
Balmer, 1997; Whisman, 2009). Without support from employees, the brand
message loses its credibility (Schiffenbauer, 2001).
Lastly, there are several positive implications for regulators and policymakers
of HEIs in the Gulf in investing in the practices of CIM, especially in the wake
of the detriments of COVID19 pandemic on education. Many experts have
argued that COVID19 have not only disrupted the fundamental values of edu-
cational services offered by universities, it has also complicated the marketability
of universities and education globally. Therefore, it is now essential than ever
for stakeholders and regulators in the Gulf to provide necessary supports and
develop encouraging structure and culture that enhance the management and
marketability of corporate identity of HEIs in the face of the current and loom-
ing challenges of COVID19 to students, educators, and universities themselves.
Therefore, managing the corporate identities of HEIs post-COVID19 should
not be delimited by the compulsory adjustments that many HEIs are imple-
menting in the delivery of educational services. Rather, and more importantly,
HEIs must consider offering concise communication and supports to students,
parents, and guardians on their adjusted policies, technological advancements,
and flexibilities towards making learning accessible and affordable to their stu-
dents during and post-COVID19 era. In other words, for efficient management
of corporate identity of HEIs during and after COVID19, HEIs must include
clear communication about their favourable alternative policy actions such as
improving on learning and teaching technologies, decreasing pass percentages,
and diversifying assessments in their CIM programmes. Also, CIM of HEIs
post-COVID19 era is a time when education ministries in the Gulf increase
their supports and empowerment of HEIs to be able to offer concessions and
scholarships to attract quality students and ensure continuous learning for stu-
dents who have been affected by the COVID19 disruption.
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Notes
1. See Table 7.3 for 2012–2017 data on the share of education in the Saudi budget.
Comparative data from 1991 through 2008 is available on the World Bank website:
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS.
2. By 2011–2012, Saudi Arabia became the fourth largest source of interna-
tional students in the U.S. Allahmorad Sidiqa and Sahel Zreik. (2020, April 6).
World Education News and Reviews (WENR). https://wenr.wes.org/2020/04/
education-in-saudi-arabia.
3. In constant terms, Saudi GDP in 2018 (SAR 2631) was almost nine times the Saudi
GDP in 1968 (SAR 288b).
4. Until 2002, girls’ education was under the supervision of the Department of Reli-
gious Guidance. This department was merged with the Ministry of Education in
2002 in the wake of the infamous incident in which 15 girls died due to a segregation
protocol strictly enforced by the religious police (Hamdan, 2005, p. 45). Most
universities accept both men and women, but instruction is provided in separated
campuses. The Islamic University admits men only. In 2019, King Fahd University
of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) began to admit women in some graduate
classes. (See footnote # 11 below).
5. General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). (2020). lm_2020_q2_tables.xlsx.
https://www.stats.gov.sa/sites/default/f iles/LM_2Q2020%20%28Press%20
release_EN%20%29.pdf.
6. According to the latest UNDP data on gender inequality, Saudi Arabia ranked
50/189 in terms of gender inequality in 2017, slightly lower than other GCC coun-
tries such as Qatar (47/189) and UAE (49/189).
7. According to the latest UNDP data on gender inequality, Saudi Arabia ranked 56
(with an index of .252) in terms of gender inequality in 2019, deteriorating from
50 in 2017, and significantly lower than that of the UAE (18 with an index of
.079) and considerably below average for OECD index of .205. UNDP. (2020).
Human Development Report: Statistical Annex Table5.pdf. UNDP. http://www.
hdr.undp.org/en/composite/GII.
8. On Saudi gender segregation in education, see Hamdan (2005), and Koyame-
Marsh (2017).
9. In 2019, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) began
to admit women in some graduate classes. The leading university in Saudi Ara-
bia, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) began to offer
some graduate courses to women only in 2019. For the first time in the history of
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, about 100 female students from
among more than 600 applicants started their postgraduate studies on Septem-
ber 1, 2019 in the disciplines of mathematics, computer science, business admin-
istration, after passing the criteria and admission requirements of the University’s
graduate systems. KFUPM. (n.d.). The 1st Female Graduate Batch Enrolled at
KFUPM. KFUPM. http://www.kfupm.edu.sa/departments/fed/default.aspx#:~
:text=The%201st%20Female%20Graduate%20Batch%20Enrolled%20at%20
K FUPM,and%20admission%20requirements%20of %20the%20University’s%20
graduate%20systems.
10. This section draws heavily upon the information on the MOE and SACM web-
sites (Retrieved August 20, 2018, from https://www.saudibureau.org/en/inside.
php?ID=16; SACM. History of K ASP – Three Phases. Retrieved August 20, 2018
from https://www.saudibureau.org/en/inside.php?ID=16.
11. Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau. K ASP Scholarship Programme: History. Retrieved
November 26, 2019, from https://www.saudibureau.org/en/inside.php?ID=16
(Despite the termination of educational linkages with Canada, the website had not
been closed at that time.). See also SPA. Saudi Embassy in UK launches cultural ini-
tiative. (2019, July 02). Arab News. https://www.arabnews.com/node/1519206/
saudi-arabia.
12. Oxford Business Group. Ahmed Aleissa, Minister of Education: Interview.
Retrieved February 10, 2019, from https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/
i nter v iew/ i nve st i ng-k now ledge-subhead i ng- obg-t a l k s-a h med-a lei s s a-
minister-education.
13. The number has fluctuated but has been as high as 500 advisors in Washington
alone (based on communication with Dr Mody Al-Khalaf).
14. MOE. ‫ رشوط السنة الثالثة عرشة‬Conditions for the Thirteenth Round. Retrieved February10,
2019, from https://departments.moe.gov.sa/Scholarship/RelatedDepartments/
KingSalmanScholarship/Pages/KSP13.aspx.
15. Al Arabiya English. (2016, June 16). Deputy Crown Prince Brings Good News for
Saudi Students. Al Arabiya English. https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-
east/2016/06/16/Deputy-Crown-Prince-brings-good-news-for-Saudi-students.
16. To what extent the initial investment requirement was enforced remains unclear.
Semi-structured interviews with alumni revealed that in the past students have been
reimbursed any cost they incurred prior to the obtaining of scholarship through
the secondary channel.
17. Semi-structured interviews with recipients show that role switching could be stra-
tegically employed. Those who intended to have their children educated in high
quality English medium schools abroad, could prolong their stay with role switch-
ing. Role switching is a rational strategy even when the companion spouse had not
originally planned to pursue a programme of study abroad.
18. Recently, the guardianship system has been largely abrogated. While women are
now allowed to travel without a male guardian, it is not clear when, or if, this would
relieve female recipients of scholarship of the necessity to have a male companion.
Saudi Gazette report. (2019, August 6). Mahram clause for women to study abroad
may end: Official. Saudi Gazette. https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/574102/
SAU DI-A R A BI A/Mahram-clause-for-women-to-study-abroad-may-end-
Official.
19. Co-op or cooperative education is a structured method of combining class-
room-based education with practical work experience.
20. Data analysis provided here is based on the data made available by the Saudi Minis-
try of Education (MOE). Quantitative information was corroborated by qualitative
information via semi-structured interviews with MOE and SACM officials. Twelve
semi-structured interviews were conducted with K ASP alumni as well as K ASP
students enrolled at the time of interviews.
21. Since the Third Phase was still underway as of this writing, and there is limited
available data to be analysed, the analysis here reflects patterns that emerged during
the first three years of the Third Phase.
22. If we add the approximately 11,589 added in 2018, the total number of awards
amounts to about 215,000. General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). (2018).
‫ الكتاب اإلحصايئ السنوي لعام‬2018 (Annual yearbook 2018). https://www.stats.gov.sa/ar/46.
23. Life sciences: Life science is one of the two major branches of natural science, the
other being physical science, which is concerned with non-living matter. The life
sciences or biological sciences comprise the branches of science that involve the
scientific study of life and organisms – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals
including human beings.
24. Anecdotal evidence shows that some students who otherwise were unable to qual-
ify for the award through the primary channel even borrowed money to self-finance
their study abroad in anticipation of receiving the award through the secondary
channel.
25. Danya Hajjaji (2018). Tareq Al-Thaqafi. (2020, September 22). How Saudi doc-
tors fight COVID-19 abroad. Arab News. https://www.arabnews.com/node/
1738191/saudi-arabia.
26. This point was made in an Atlantic Council conference as early as 2015. Saudi
Arabia’s Scholarship Programme: Generating a “Tipping Point”? Tuesday, July
21, 2015. Retrieved Jan 10, 2019 from https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/unused/
webcasts/saudi-arabia-s-scholarship-programme-generating-a-tipping-point/.
27. Welsh, Memili, Kaciak, and Al Sadoon (2014) observe, “Three out of ten women
completed their education abroad and are more likely to have postgraduate degrees”
(p. 5). Several news reports have highlighted the contribution of study abroad pro-
grammes to entrepreneurship. See, for instance: Deema Al-Khudair. (2019, July
12). The cafe that is bringing a taste of Saudi Arabia to South Korea. Arab News.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1524426/lifestyle.
28. Earlier this year, Saudi Arab announced amendments to the travel and civil status
documents system, allowing women to apply for passports and travel (when they
turn 21) without the need for a legal guardian. According to the amendments, all
Saudis under the age of 21 are required to have permission from their guardians
for obtaining travel documents. However, three categories of Saudi citizens under
the age of 21 have been exempted from this: foreign scholarship students, employ-
ees taking part in official trips abroad with a letter of consent from the employer,
and those who are married. As for foreign scholarship students, they need to pro-
duce a certificate from the Ministry of Education in this regard. Reuters Staff.
(2019, August 20). Saudi Arabia implements end to travel restrictions for Saudi
women. Reuters. http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/575062/SAUDI-AR ABIA/
Saudi-Arabia-implements-end-to-travel-restrictions-for-Saudi-women.
29. “A growing number of Saudi families are rejecting the stifling conception of propri-
ety and are allowing their daughters to pursue educational advancement and expo-
sure to other cultures, which suggests shifting norms in Saudi society” (Atlantic
Council, 2013).
30. Aseel Bashraheel. (2020, August 12). Scholarship students can resume their studies
remotely. Arab News. https://www.arabnews.com/node/1718141/saudi-arabia.
31. General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). (2020), op. cit.
32. See Sekiyama, T. (2020). The Impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on Stu-
dent Mobility from the Perspective of Education Economics. Creative Education,
11(04), 435.
33. Arne Duncan et al. (2020, September 5). Will Schools and Universities Ever Return
to Normal? Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/05/education-
schools-universities-future-after-pandemic/.
34. Iman Al-Khattaf. (2020, October 25). Saudi Arabia launches the “Path of
Excellence for Scholarships”. Alkhaleejtoday. https://alkhaleejtoday.co/sau-
di-arabia/5194606/Saudi-Arabia-launches-the-Path-of-Excellence-for-Scholarships-
with-32.html. MOE also announced a radical shift in Saudi policy towards interna-
tional branch campuses (IBCs). This initiative constitutes a major departure from
the long-standing policy.

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“I love this book!

The topics are relevant to the current higher education landscape,

“This analysis of quality drivers in HE in the Gulf looks an empirical depth in 12

This authoritative edited volume examines the drivers of higher education in

Reynaldo Gacho Segumpan is Head of the Department of Business Adminis-

John McAlaney is Associate Professor in Psychology, Bournemouth University,

A Comprehensive Critique of Student Evaluation of Teaching

Community Engagement in Christian Higher Education

Management Behaviours in Higher Education

The Impact of Higher Education Ranking Systems on Universities

Humanizing Grief in Higher Education

Human Resource Perspectives on Workplace Bullying in Higher Education

Higher Education in the Gulf

For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/

Edited by Reynaldo Gacho Segumpan

ISBN: 978-1-032-00436-5 (hbk)

1 Corporate identity management among

2 Pursuing innovation as a strategy for improving

3 A critical insight into the Gulf Higher

4 Quality enhancement through internationalisation

5 Global rankings as yardstick of quality of

6 Quality drivers in Gulf higher education: Conclusion80

7 How did the largest overseas scholarship programme

8 Quality prospects in higher education: A case of Oman109

9 Funding quality of higher education in Oman123

10 How internationalisation facilitates the development

11 An empirical investigation of students’ opinion

12 Quality drivers in Oman and Saudi Arabia: Conclusion173

2.1 Summary of national innovation policies across four

7.1 Total outbound internationally mobile tertiary students

Quality education requires us to redefine the parameters of education in such

We hereby acknowledge the substantial contributions of the authors of this vol-

John McAlaney, CPsychol, CSci, FHEA is Associate Professor in Psychology,

Quality education does not exist in a vacuum. Consideration of social, eco-

Quality education is a fluid concept, which connotes a gamut of meanings. This

Defining CIM in the context of HEIs

CIM: A solution for survival for HEIs in the Gulf

Essential factors of corporate identity for HEIs

Internal brand of HEIs and CIM

The role of transformational leadership in CIM of HEIs

The functions of organisational culture in CIM of HEIs

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6 Quality drivers in Gulf higher education: Conclusion80

8 Quality prospects in higher education: A case of Oman109

9 Funding quality of higher education in Oman123

12 Quality drivers in Oman and Saudi Arabia: Conclusion173