Knowledge Management as a Driver of Continuous Change Management Improvement in Academic Institutions

Globalization processes have brought significant changes in society in general, on the market, in economy, and especially in academic institutions. The changes taking place through the Bologna process continually present new challenges to Croatian academic institutions. Programs such as Erasmus, Socrates, and others permanently support learning and research, as well as improvements in teaching in order to achieve higher levels of knowledge and competitiveness for teachers, researchers, and students. The trends in higher education show an increase in the following demands towards academic institutions: - to organize higher education in the context of lifelong learning, - to internationalize the education process and research, - to cooperate and create an interactive partnership between university and business, - to reorganize knowledge, - to provide mobility and flexibility for “knowledge-producing” jobs, - to continuously promote new knowledge and new expectations. Knowledge based on an economic, i.e. business premise is marked by information production, transfer and dissemination – for universities in general, as well as for individual processes in academic institutions. The conclusion of different European (academic) commissions is that more should be invested in modernization and quality of university and other higher education teaching. The aim is to create a direct impact on the quality of education, to better implement new positive trends in university development, as well as to provide better facilities and equipment for all students, teachers and researchers.