Knowledge management in university management teams and its effects on the institutional quality assurance system: empirical evidence from Chile

The doctoral thesis titled: “Knowledge management in the management teams of universities and their effects on the assurance of institutional quality: empirical evidence from Chile”, has as main objective to explore the nature of the relationships between the process knowledge management in top management teams, universities and the quality achieved by these institutions. To this end, a critical review and mixed methods by sequential steps were carried out. In this sense, a midrange theory was built through the method of multiple cases (qualitative study); the findings of previous field study were verified, through the application of a questionnaire in the cross-sectional study of a set of universities in Chile. The analysis carried out suggests that the concept of quality in universities can be understood as a system in other words, as a group of interrelated and interdependent areas where the institutional mission is the input. It is noted that a specific expression about the quality of universities was configured, through the consideration of the development of professional training, postgraduate training, research, link with the environment and institutional management required to perform the above tasks. On the other hand, knowledge management transforms it into a strategic asset that generates competitive advantage and learning in universities. However, knowledge management requires a favorable environment for the generation of a successful process. From the field study, all the variables that shape the institutional activities, participatory leadership styles and determine collaborative and organizational culture of innovation and community, which can create and share knowledge, processes essential to apply knowledge in universities. In turn, knowledge management, via the application of knowledge impacts the quality of corporate governance, which impacts on all academic work and the quality. Thus, it appears that academic work influences the quality of institutions. It was also found that, from the verification of theory, research has a direct effect on the quality of the 45 universities studied, as it explains 75.6% of the variance. Finally, limitations and the scope of the research was explained.