For the last centuries higher education institutions have been very enduring organizations. Nevertheless, they are now forced to rethink their strategies because of changes in their institutional environment.

Heinke Röbken analyses how American, German and Swedish universities - and particularly business schools - deal with the various expectations they are confronted with. She shows, how higher management education institutions change and how they translate demands from their institutional environment (e.g. from business recruiters, academia or government) into their internal organizational structures. On the basis of neo-institutional theory the author argues that a form of "institutional schizophrenia" can help institutions to comply with external demands without compromising the pursuit of academic reputation which is essential for their inner stability.

Dr. Heinke Röbken promovierte bei Prof. Dr. Uwe Schneidewind am Institut für Betriebswirtschaftslehre und Wirtschaftspädagogik der Universität Oldenburg. Nach ihrem Studium in Deutschland, den USA und Schweden war sie Gastforscherin an der University of Chicago und an der Cornell University. Heute arbeitet sie als Juniorprofessorin für Bildungsmanagement an der Universität Oldenburg.