| Summary: | This study has explored the strategy management process of a public University in Malaysia. An inductive approach was adopted in the study to illuminate strategy issues from participants’ experience. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with three groups of participants comprising the Executive Management Team, the Operation and Management Team, and the Academics. The inductive approach allows the flexibility for findings to emerge without a predetermined conceptual framework in the research inquiry. This enabled the researcher to elicit views on the strategy management process as experienced by the participants. The findings have brought to the surface the influence of government in the University’s strategy management process. Evidence suggests that the strategy has been used as a means of legitimacy of the University with the government. This has been apparent in the conformity to the institutional rules. In the context of a Malaysian university, the institutional rules are produced by the government. In line with this, institutional theory is found pertinent for the development of the conceptual framework in the study. The conformity to institutional rules has contributed to the challenges in the University’s strategy management process. At the same time, the study has also shown the existence of tight and loose coupling in the University. In the study, the combination of tight and loose coupling was mainly for the purpose of resolving conflicts as the University manages its legitimacy with the government. The study provides empirical evidence of a Malaysian University’s strategy management process and its influence from a context that has not yet been widely researched. In doing so, it has elicited the relevance of institutional theory.
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