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LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Strategic Loss of Power

Johansson, Filippa LU and Stark, Olivia LU (2026) BUSN09 20261
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
This study examines how Lund University navigates the integration of generative AI and what conditions shape its ability to pursue sustainability goals, with a particular focus on SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure). As generative AI becomes increasingly embedded in higher education, universities face growing pressure to adopt these technologies while managing tensions over educational quality, digital infrastructure, and procurement. Despite this, little empirical research exists on how public institutions navigate these challenges simultaneously in practice.
Through a qualitative case study design, nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff at Lund University across the areas of... (More)
This study examines how Lund University navigates the integration of generative AI and what conditions shape its ability to pursue sustainability goals, with a particular focus on SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure). As generative AI becomes increasingly embedded in higher education, universities face growing pressure to adopt these technologies while managing tensions over educational quality, digital infrastructure, and procurement. Despite this, little empirical research exists on how public institutions navigate these challenges simultaneously in practice.
Through a qualitative case study design, nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff at Lund University across the areas of education, security, infrastructure, and procurement. The findings are analysed through institutional theory and resource dependency theory.
The results show that Lund University does not strategically navigate generative AI through deliberate choices but rather adapts to a situation that was already established before the organisation could respond. Three interconnected conditions shape this: institutional inevitability, where AI adoption is driven by legitimacy pressure rather than strategic decisions; loose coupling, where formal policies and operational reality are systematically disconnected due to the university's decentralised structure; and structural dependency, where reliance on Big Tech has eliminated meaningful negotiating power.
Taken together, these conditions produce what this study terms a strategic loss of power. Sustainability commitments are present in policy documents but remain disconnected from actual decisions. Rather than functioning as steering tools, SDG 4 and SDG 9 appear to operate as legitimacy symbols. The study concludes that the structural conditions required to genuinely pursue these goals are currently absent, not due to a lack of ambition, but because the system in which the university operates makes it structurally impossible. (Less)
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author
Johansson, Filippa LU and Stark, Olivia LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
How Lund University Navigates Sustainability in the World of Generative AI
course
BUSN09 20261
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Generative AI, Higher Education, Sustainability, SDG 4, SDG 9, Institutional Theory, Resource Dependency, Procurement, Digital Infrastructure, Lund University.
language
English
id
9247008
date added to LUP
2026-08-17 14:49:30
date last changed
2026-08-17 14:49:30
@misc{9247008,
  abstract     = {{This study examines how Lund University navigates the integration of generative AI and what conditions shape its ability to pursue sustainability goals, with a particular focus on SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure). As generative AI becomes increasingly embedded in higher education, universities face growing pressure to adopt these technologies while managing tensions over educational quality, digital infrastructure, and procurement. Despite this, little empirical research exists on how public institutions navigate these challenges simultaneously in practice.
Through a qualitative case study design, nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff at Lund University across the areas of education, security, infrastructure, and procurement. The findings are analysed through institutional theory and resource dependency theory.
The results show that Lund University does not strategically navigate generative AI through deliberate choices but rather adapts to a situation that was already established before the organisation could respond. Three interconnected conditions shape this: institutional inevitability, where AI adoption is driven by legitimacy pressure rather than strategic decisions; loose coupling, where formal policies and operational reality are systematically disconnected due to the university's decentralised structure; and structural dependency, where reliance on Big Tech has eliminated meaningful negotiating power.
Taken together, these conditions produce what this study terms a strategic loss of power. Sustainability commitments are present in policy documents but remain disconnected from actual decisions. Rather than functioning as steering tools, SDG 4 and SDG 9 appear to operate as legitimacy symbols. The study concludes that the structural conditions required to genuinely pursue these goals are currently absent, not due to a lack of ambition, but because the system in which the university operates makes it structurally impossible.}},
  author       = {{Johansson, Filippa and Stark, Olivia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Strategic Loss of Power}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}