ECONOMIC RISK ASSESSMENT OF UNIVERSITY RANKING STRATEGIES: A FIVE-CATEGORY ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK FOR EMERGING UNIVERSITIES
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university rankings##common.commaListSeparator## economic risk##common.commaListSeparator## strategic management##common.commaListSeparator## higher education##common.commaListSeparator## risk assessment##common.commaListSeparator## emerging universitiesAbstrak
University ranking strategies require substantial institutional investment, yet the economic risks associated with these investments remain underexplored in the strategic management literature. This paper presents a five-category risk assessment framework developed for emerging universities pursuing international ranking entry, based on the case of New Uzbekistan University. The framework classifies ranking strategy risks into macroeconomic, institutional-financial, operational, technological, and behavioral categories, with corresponding mitigation mechanisms proposed for each. The analysis demonstrates that behavioral risks, particularly metric gaming and quality erosion, represent the most underestimated yet consequential threat to sustainable ranking improvement. The framework offers a practical tool for university administrators to evaluate risk-return tradeoffs when allocating resources to ranking-oriented activities
