IT Management Flexibility Concept for Higher Education

The rapid development of technology influences the changing culture of various aspects of the organization. This results in a paradigm shift in many areas of the organization, including in higher education. Changes have taken place in the implementation of the core and support processes in the universities. Cultural changes occur in the teaching and learning processes as well as in the administration of higher education. Universities are required to respond and be flexible to change, which needs planning and management. Unplanned and unproperly managed changes may cause a decrease in efficiency and productivity, especially in higher education. Discussion of flexibility generally relates to manufacturing companies. This paper aimed to identify factors of IT management flexibility needs in higher education by adopting supply chain flexibility concept. Supply chain flexibility is oriented at improving the quality of distributing and ordering goods while the IT management flexibility concept is oriented at improving the quality of service at universities. The research phase includes: identifying needs, envisioning, and planning solutions. The results show that communication, IT leadership, human resource, and regulation are essential factors in increasing IT management flexibility in higher education.