Governance, accountability, and sustainability in times of crisis: A strategic context

This research examines how an external shock affects accountability taken by a university, establishing firm governance to support stakeholders and, in that way, impacting sustainability reporting and university ranking. It adds to a growing literature on the relevance of universities’ sustainable development (Dwesini, 2023; Tridalestari & Prasetyo, 2024). This is a research of the University of Iceland (UI), where secondary data, such as UI’s pandemic-related announcements, the 2021 and 2022 sustainability reports, and Times Higher Education (THE) impact ranking data, are used to address the overall objectives of the research. This research explores how a university utilizes governance to integrate sustainability into its operations and prepare for future shocks, using lessons learned from responding to a pandemic. The relevant findings present how accountability can promote sustainable development and align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and THE impact ranking, which is aligned with recent research findings (Gamit et al., 2024; Ncube, 2023; Rizki et al., 2023). This research has uncovered ties between social impact and sustainable performance. The findings highlight the negative impact of managerial discretion on higher education institutions (HEI), providing valuable insights for future improvements.