Identifying Key Stakeholders in Blended Tertiary Environments: Experts' Perspectives

Introduction

Key stakeholders have contributed significantly to the success of digital transformations, fulfilling an extraordinary role in the advancement of higher education. In an era of phenomenal growth, their commitment to the use of educational online technologies (EOTs) has helped transform traditional learning spaces into dynamic blended tertiary environments (BTEs). Attitudinal factors of flexibility, innovativeness and creativity have stimulated levels of acceptance of online engagement, prompting an increase in interactivity and “collaboration” (Theriault, 2015). For tertiary education institutes (TEIs), this has increased the range of learning and teaching opportunities, enabling them to swiftly adapt to the changing needs of a digitally native generation, and thus ensure institutional relevance in an era of dramatic change.

In this context, TEIs bear responsibility for ensuring their key stakeholders receive an appropriate level of support to fulfil their roles. In fact, “having knowledge of stakeholders will always be an important responsibility” for TEIs (Avci, Ring, & Mitchelli, 2015, p. 53). It is achievable when TEIs understand the role of “knowledge management” as it relates to the capabilities of their people, and the complexities of their environments (Maric, 2013). This involves identifying and analysing their key stakeholders, “to realise who [they] are, and what they want” (Maric, 2013, p. 223), and then “improv[ing] its processes to meet their needs” (Kettunen, 2015, p. 56).

TEIs that “can identify and understand the[ir] stakeholders…can greatly enrich their knowledge” (Avci et al., 2015, p. 53), whereas “neglecting stakeholder relationships” will “lead to limited success” (Kettunen, 2015, p. 56). Significant gaps in knowledge about stakeholders’ identities and contributions may impede the provision of appropriate support, and limit their ability to perform their roles effectively. Establishing stakeholders’ identities, and determining the extent to which their needs and activities are understood and supported is therefore critical. As online growth intensifies and changes the contexts of learning, it is essential that TEIs address knowledge gaps and develop understandings about stakeholder groups at a level that enables the delivery of informed, relevant, and meaningful support. This paper re-evaluates the identity of key stakeholders in BTEs, and describes their contributions.

While some efforts have been made to better understand key stakeholder roles, the numbers of studies about their identification are relatively few. Mainardes, Alves & Raposo (2013), in a theoretical exploratory case study, identified and ranked 21 distinct groups of university stakeholders. Chapleo and Simms (2010), through stakeholder analysis, identified and ranked 10 higher education groups. Wagner, Hassanein & Head (2008) compiled a stakeholder list of at least seven groups, and Sanderson (1997) identified more than 15 distance education stakeholders. An overview of the results from these four studies is outlined in Table 1.