Abstract:

Organizational innovation in higher vocational education institutions refers to the process through which these institutions develop and utilize resources, transforming static assets into value-adding organizational capital so as to realize the potential value of their organizational resources. Organizational innovation helps enhance the alignment of higher vocational education institutions with national strategies and social development, and enables these institutions to maintain a competitive advantage amid technological and institutional changes. The notion of “strong institutional development in less-advantaged regions” represents a distinctive form of interaction between higher vocational education institutions (HVEI) and their surrounding regions, providing a valuable case of organizational innovation worthy of in-depth investigation. Drawing on the analytical framework of the institutionalization of organizational innovation, this study examines the challenges and coping strategies related to compatibility and profitability in the institutionalization of organizational innovation at a top-tier HVEI located in a less-advantaged region. The study finds that policy dividends and opportunities arising from industrial transformation during specific historical periods created unique development conditions for the institution and stimulated its organizational innovation initiatives. These initiatives gradually became institutionalized in subsequent practices, which in turn reinforced the continuity and legitimacy of organizational innovation. HVEI located in less-advantaged regions can activate endogenous development momentum through the institutionalization of organizational innovation, achieve cumulative improvements in educational quality, and better serve major national strategies as well as regional economic and social development.

Key words: less-advantaged regions, higher vocational education institution, institutionalization of organizational innovation