“There is Some Sort of New Dynamics”: Examining the Impact of European University Alliances

The European Universities Initiative (EUI) marks a significant transformation in the European higher education landscape. Yet, in the fifth anniversary of the first EUI alliances only a few scientific studies examine the practices for building and sustaining successful alliances. This article provides a framework for analysing EUI alliances at actors’ level using innovation-diffusion model to grasp the impact on member universities and its potential for longevity. Based on qualitative group interviews with representatives from the management and implementation level from nine Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), it presents a descriptive, impact-oriented analysis of the strategies and challenges within a European alliance along three dimensions: characteristics, commitment, and coordination. Keywords European university alliances, meta-organizations, neo-institutionalism, impact-oriented, organizational development