Mergers of universities and higher education institutions aim to address a range of problems including the lack of competitiveness, decreased financial and academic viability and pressures for system restructuring, and to answer the needs such as diversity, efficiency, quality and regional engagement. Addressing problems and needs are influential in advancing the excellence of three missions of the university: teaching, research and the third mission or regional engagement. However, research on university mergers has mainly focused on the issues and needs of teaching and research missions, paying less attention to the prospects of the third mission and as well as the university stakeholders’ actions in prioritizing three missions. This paper argues that the merger process and expected outcomes for teaching, research and engagement missions through the merger, are heavily dependent on the extent of power, legitimacy and urgency of the role and actions taken by the stakeholders. Through the analysis of a case of a bit ambiguously proceeded merger attempt in Finland, this paper explores this notion. The analysis draws on the platform ecosystem concept and stakeholder-salience model as normative theories and the proximity concept as an analytical theory. This understanding not only sheds light on the dynamics of stakeholder interests in university missions during the merger process but also provides new theoretical insights to understand the complexity of mergers. This paper further unveils the potential of applying the stakeholder concept to enhance the understanding of micro and macro institutional dynamics.  

Keywords: Mergers, University, Stakeholders, third mission, Finland