A pathway to enhancing HEIs' performance

Purpose Higher education institutions (HEIs) face mounting pressure to balance standardization with adaptability in an increasingly volatile academic environment. Grounded in dynamic capabilities theory (DCT), this study investigates how European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) 2025 model enablers influence HEIs' performance, with organizational agility theorized and empirically assessed as a mediating dynamic capability. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were collected from 454 faculty members at private-sector HEIs in Pakistan. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with a disjoint two-stage higher-order construct approach was employed to assess the proposed model, supplemented by PLSpredict, cross-validated predictive ability test and importance-performance map analysis. Findings EFQM enablers significantly and positively influence organizational agility, which in turn enhances institutional performance. Organizational agility complementarily and partially mediates the enablers–performance relationship, empirically establishing it as the translational dynamic capability through which formal quality management practices generate adaptive institutional outcomes. Originality/value This study makes a novel contribution by reconceptualizing organizational agility as a translational dynamic capability bridging formal quality governance and institutional performance. It extends DCT to a highly institutionalized, resource-constrained higher education context, reframing quality management from a compliance function to a strategic enabler of organizational adaptability.