The present paper envisages an analysis of the main goals and future directions of action in the higher education sector at world level. In recent years higher education institutions apply professional management principles and guide their activities using business specific strategic tools. Starting from the fact that higher education institutions can learn from the best, the purpose of the paper is to analyze the main directions included in the mission statements of the top 150 higher education institutions at world level, according to rankings. The two main objectives of the analysis are: (a) to identify the main directions included in the mission statements of the best universities in the world and (b) to identify commonalities and differences among those. The paper will focus in its first part on theoretical insights on the subject: mission statements and strategic management, their peculiarities in the field of higher education. The methodology used is qualitative content analysis based on the documentation through the study of the public information disseminated by universities on their web sites. The results of the study illustrate that one of the main themes included in many of the top 150 higher education in the world is excellence. There are also differences in the scope of the declared mission statements as some universities see their activity applying to the local (town/state) community, others see their roles at national level, some declare themselves as acting in the interest of the whole world and some see their role at all three levels.
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