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Multipolar management in Russian universities


TERRA ECONOMICUS, Vol. 24, No 3

Citation: Rybachuk M.A., Kobylko A.A. (2026). Multipolar management in Russian universities. Terra Economicus 24(3), 88–104. DOI: 10.18522/2073-6606-2026-24-3-88-104

Acknowledgment: The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project № 24-18-00948). https://rscf. ru/project/24-18-00948/
In the context of a profound transformation of the Russian higher education system, driven by both internal challenges and external factors – digitalization, sanctions pressure, shifting government policy, and a rethinking of the role of the university in society as a whole – the need to find new approaches to university management is growing. Traditional corporate management models, focused primarily on operational efficiency and external rankings, are proving insufficient to ensure the long-term sustainable development of universities. This article proposes a framework for diagnosing and optimizing university management structures based on the concept of multipolar management. According to this approach, organizational management is built on the interaction of four social poles – inspirational, spiritual, cultural, and intellectual – each led by a corresponding social leader and aligned with a specific university subsystem (object, environment, process, or project). Based on a content analysis of the strategic documents of twenty leading Russian universities (the top 10 according to RAEX and 10 federal universities), dominant poles were identified, a typology of universities was defined, and imbalances in their governance structures were analyzed. Specifically, stable patterns reflecting the differentiation of higher education by mission, profile, and territorial role were identified: inspirational-humanitarian, cultural-technical, intellectual-research, and values-regional. Based on the data obtained, recommendations were proposed for developing a balanced multipolar university governance structure, taking into account the institution’s profile and mission. The article also outlines prospects for creating a cartographic model of the Russian higher education system – a model that could serve as a basis for determining the optimal number of universities both in a specific region and at the national level.

Keywords: multipolar governance; management poles; content analysis; higher education; university; strategy; development program
JEL codes: C63, G21, G22, E58, O33


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Publisher: Southern Federal University
ISSN: 2073-6606













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