Personal and Institutional Barriers Perceived by Staff of Latvian Higher Educational Institutions in the Pro-cess of Digital Transformation: Pilot Survey Results

The research goal is to evaluate personal and institutional barriers towards digital transformation (DT) as perceived by different groups of staff at Latvian higher educational institutions (HEIs). Initially, a comprehensive literature review was conducted, followed by a survey, using the research instrument (questionnaire) developed by the authors. Academic and administrative staff members from Latvian HEIs participated in the survey. For the purpose of evaluation, data were processed by means of frequency analysis and procedures of comparing independent samples. From the viewpoint of staff, the most significant institutional barriers to digital transformation are a lack of financial resources, a lack of time (lack of human resource capacity or overloading with existing tasks), and employees’ motivation in general. In turn, a lack of time, a lack of management support, and a lack of IT skills were identified as the most significant personal barriers. The research is limited by the sample size. However, this pilot study was aimed at technical testing of the measurement scale and preliminary testing of some hypotheses. Managers of higher educational institutions could use the results of the presented research to facilitate the digital transformation process and develop DT-related strategies. This research distinguishes itself from other research by the context (field of higher education) and localisation (there are a limited number of studies in the field of DT in Latvia).