Competition, competitiveness, and competitive advantage in higher education institutions: a systematic literature review

Abstract

The higher education (HE) sector has witnessed escalating competition, resulting in an increase in scholarly interest. Despite this, a comprehensive review of the existing literature in this domain remains absent. Thus, based on Tranfield et al.’s (2003) methodology, we systematically review 80 articles published between 2012 and 2022, extracted from four databases, namely Scopus, Web of Science, University of Hull (UoH), UK library database, and Google Scholar; with focus on competition, competitiveness, and competitive advantage in higher education institutions (HEIs). We present these three concepts, their sources, types, implications, and improvement strategies, while noting their interconnectedness. In our discussion, we highlight that although competition in HE results from both internal and external sources, internal competition is attributable largely, to external pressures from the government, ranking institutions, and global corporations. Additionally, we observe that competition has both positive and negative consequences, with the latter having a stronger impact on institutions, academics, and students. Consequently, we advocate that a balanced approach is required to optimize institutional performance and growth. This systematic review offers six contributions bothering on future research trajectories, significance of HEIs, strategic insights for practitioners, a harmonious balance between competitiveness and service quality, the governments’ impact, and conceptual clarity via two frameworks introduced. The first framework illustrates the interconnections between the three focal concepts, and the second visualizes the interplay among diverse resources for which HEIs strive. This paper is therefore vital for scholars and practitioners, in the face of persistent competition in the HE sector.