Krytyczne czynniki sukcesu uczelni publicznych a kompetencje odporności w opinii kadry kierującej wzmacniające sukces w sytuacji kryzysu

Purpose | The aim of this article is to assess the success of public universities in Poland and its critical factors, as well as to identify the “resilience competencies” of management staff that, in their opinion, influenced their success during the Covid-19 pandemic. Research method | The indicator method (analysis of financial indicators: ROA and ROE) was used to assess the success of public universities in Poland. The subject of the analysis conducted in 2025 regarded the financial statements for the years 2019–2022, which included the period of the Covid-19 pandemic. The CAWI method was used to assess the critical success factors (CSF). The opinion of 53 people from the management staff (rectors, deans and chancellors) was collected in the initial period of the pandemic. When developing the survey questionnaire, the diagnostic survey method was used and inspired by the rankings of universities, both national and international (ARWU, The World University Ranking, U-Multirank, Webomatrics, Perspektywy). The CSF was estimated using the arithmetic mean, and the “resilience competencies” were identified based on the opinions of the management staff using disjunctive choice analysis. Results | The results of the conducted research show that during the pandemic, public universities achieved success measured by efficiency. The management staff of higher education institutions indicated 5 KCS: research excellence, teaching excellence, image of the university, fate of graduates and international cooperation. The results of the conducted research led to determining 15 “resilience competencies” that, in the opinion of the management staff, strengthened the success of the university. Originality / value / implications / recommendations | The conducted research brings added value in testing “resilience competencies” that significantly enhance success in unpredictable crisis situations.