THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-SUPPORTED DECISION SYSTEMS IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

This study examines, through a conceptual and literature-based approach, how strategic management processes in higher education institutions can be transformed by artificial intelligence (AI)-supported decision systems. AI applications that can be used in the strategic analysis, strategy formulation, implementation, and monitoring-evaluation stages are mapped onto one another, and the resulting synthesis is presented in tables. The findings indicate that AI-supported decision systems have the potential to improve the quality of strategic decisions in areas such as predicting student success and enrollment, resource allocation, quality assurance, and environmental scanning. However, data quality, algorithmic bias, transparency, ethics and governance, institutional capacity, and academic autonomy emerge as critical challenges. The study proposes a human-centered hybrid decision model and a five-stage implementation roadmap. It concludes that AI should be positioned in higher education management not as a substitute for human decision makers but as a tool that strengthens their strategic judgment.