Unpacking data-driven governance: Digital quality assurance utilization as the missing link to institutional effectiveness in higher education

Abstract

This study investigates Digital Quality Assurance Utilization (DQAU) as a mechanism linking data-driven governance capabilities to quality assurance effectiveness in higher education. Drawing on the Resource-Based View, Dynamic Capabilities Theory, and Institutional Theory, the study examines how Data Governance Capacity, Digital Infrastructure Readiness, and University Policy Capacity influence Quality Assurance Effectiveness through digital QA utilization. A quantitative cross-sectional design was employed with 500 respondents comprising institutional leaders, quality assurance managers, and governance administrators from Indonesian higher education institutions. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), bootstrapping, and Importance–Performance Map Analysis (IPMA). The results show that Data Governance Capacity and University Policy Capacity significantly enhance DQAU, whereas Digital Infrastructure Readiness has no significant effect. DQAU emerges as the strongest predictor of Quality Assurance Effectiveness and significantly mediates the effects of governance capabilities on quality outcomes. These findings indicate that effective institutional quality management depends more on the strategic utilization and governance integration of digital QA systems than on technological availability alone. The study contributes to higher education governance literature by empirically validating an integrated framework positioning DQAU as a strategic mechanism linking governance capabilities with quality assurance effectiveness.