CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENHANCING RESEARCH & PUBLICATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Research is a continuous process in higher educational institutions due to many reasons which include, identification of new problems to be solved in a given area, creation of new knowledge in a given subject, interconnecting and interrelating different subjects, identifying new skills, ideas, concepts, theories, developing new technologies and systems which makes life more comfortable, finding the relationship between various variables of a system in an effort to simplify it, deepening insight into a system or method with an intention of discovering new things, etc. Like other organizations which have the objective of enhancing their productivity or quality of service for long-term benefits, higher education institutions also have to struggle to enhance their output or performance which is mainly creating and disseminating new knowledge through research and publications. This can be achieved by including both faculty members and students actively in research. ‘Theory A’ on organizational performance has been found to be applicable for enhancing research productivity. The theory focuses on creativity as an inherent urge, responsibility as fulfilling target and accountability as commitment and role model as motivation for improved performance. This paper discusses the methodical sequence and outlines the challenges and opportunities for research and publications in higher educational institutions