Governance and leadership for the green transition
Institutional decision-making and policy alignment in higher education institutions
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21652386 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Emmanuel Yusuf Attah (0000-0001-8325-5727, Veritas University Department of Business Administration), Success Musa Jibrin (Veritas University Department of Accounting) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-20 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1093-4537 • E-ISSN: 1532-4273 |
| Publisher | Emerald (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1108/ijotb-10-2025-0307 |
| OpenAlex | W7160059328 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 49 |
Purpose This paper investigates the interplay between institutional governance and leadership in enabling the green transition within higher education institutions (HEIs), proposing that their synergy is critical for transformative change. Design/methodology/approach A qualitatively dominant multi-methods research design was adopted across 40 HEIs, integrating quantitative analysis of sustainability performance metrics with qualitative thematic analysis of institutional documents, framed by institutional and transformational leadership theories. Findings The research reveals that sustainability performance is contingent on “governance–leadership coherence.” Effective transformation occurs not from structures or agency alone, but from their dynamic interaction: governance provides stability and accountability, while leadership supplies vision and adaptive capacity. Regional variations highlight context-dependent pathways to this coherence. Originality/value The study makes a significant theoretical contribution by developing and validating an integrated governance–leadership coherence model (GLCS), offering a novel framework to analyse and catalyse systemic institutional change
Corporate governance · Higher education · Institutional theory · Sustainability · Thematic analysis · Transactional leadership · Transformational leadership · Transformative learning · Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting · Higher Education Governance and Development · Sustainability in Higher Education
Transformational Leadership
Conducting a Qualitative Document Analysis
Higher Education For Sustainability
Safe and just Earth system boundaries
Achieving Integration in Mixed Methods Designs—Principles and Practices
Theory of the firm
Investigating the role of green curriculum in shaping pro-environmental behaviors and environmental values orientation for sustainability
Framing the role of higher education in sustainable development
Sustainability practices at higher education institutions in Asia
Applying sustainability into engineering curriculum under the background of “new engineering education” (NEE)
Sustainability governance toward an organizational sustainability culture at German higher education institutions
A comparative analysis of environment and sustainability in policy across subnational education systems
Purposive sampling in qualitative research
Organizational Learning for Environmental Sustainability
Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis
Governance in the implementation of the UN sustainable development goals in higher education
Justice in climate change education
The patterns of curriculum change processes that embed sustainability in higher education institutions
Advancing green education in Mena region
Adopting sustainability competence‐based education in academic disciplines
Developing a sustainability competences paradigm in Higher Education or a White Elephant
Toward a sustainability assessment framework of research impacts
Social Work Students Respond to Greening Social Work Curriculum
Research‐practice partnerships in education
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |