Evaluation of Web Transparency for Higher Learning Institutions in

Indonesia

Asniati Bahari

, Amsal Djunid, Leli Sumarni

and Silvy Astari

Faculty of Economics, Universitas Andalas, Padang, Indonesia

Keywords: Web-Transparencies, E-Information, E-Services, E-Participation and Navigability, and Design and

Accessibility.

Abstract: In order to achieve a world class university status, it is required for the university to publish their information

worldwide transparently. The purpose of this study is to evaluate Indonesian universities web transparencies

in positioning themselves to become world Class Universities. In Indonesia, there are 4586 universities, where

400 of them are public universities. The study was conducted during June – July 2018 to 100 top Indonesian

universities published by Ministry of Higher Learning (Kemenristek Dikti) in February 2018. In order to find

out the web transparencies, this study used Global Transparency Index (GTI) developed by Saraite-Sariene,

et al (2018). By using content analysis, web page of the universities were tested based on four dimensions

suggested: E-Information, E-Services, E-Participation and Navigability, Design and Accessibility. The results

of the study can be used by management of Institutions of Higher Learnings to improve their web transparency

to achieve World Class University. The findings will also enrich research in the field of Management

Information Systems and Accounting Information Systems.

1 INTRODUCTION

Transparancy is defined as access to information

regarding the intentions and decisions of the

organization (Vaccaro & Madsen, 2009). The

advantages of the transparency provides to

universities according to Ricci (2013) are: (a)

incrementing their legitimacy as professional entities

that serve society; (b) avoiding bad management

practices and; (c) facilitating public debate and

participation regarding the strategic decisions of the

university.

Information and communication technology

(ICT) has penetrated every part of our lives and our

society, and changed the way we think, we feel, and

act (Zhang and Benjamin, 2007). The use of ICTs by

private and government organizations around the

world began to emerge (Ifinedo, 2006). However, the

study of information system factors that contribute to

improving limited company performance. DeLone

and McLean (2003) state that information quality,

system quality, service quality, intention to use and

user satisfaction can improve company performance.

The development of the World Wide Web has

attracted public attention to the government with new

developments such as government for business (G2B)

and government for Citizens (G2C)(Davidson and

Wagner, 2005). Internet is a practical medium for

improving the transparency of universities.

Advantages (Mondéjar, Mondéjar, & Vargas, 2006);

(Ojino, Mich, Ogao, & Karume, 2013): to (i) provide

a wide range of information instantly to any user who

requests it; (ii) it allows the creation of an interactive

environment by providing different participation

mechanisms such as forums and surveys; (iii) offering

teaching services via e-learning; and (iv) to guarantee

appropriate and accessible information to all

stakeholders in an easy and cost-effective manner.

The use of the Internet and electronic pages

contributes for the improvement in the organizations’

transparency efficiency, as well as favors the

communication of these organizations with the

society, enabling to reduceinformation asymmetry.

As the information disclosure represents a kind of

report, the highlighting and the disclosure of

accounting information, along with management

focused on transparency, it contributes for the

legitimization of the organizational activities social

value (Ingenhoff and Koelling, 2009).

Lyrio, Lunkes and Taliani (2015) verified 30

years of studies about transparency, accountability

and corruption in the public sector. According to the

218

Bahari, A., Djunid, A., Sumarni, L. and Astari, S.

Evaluation of Web Transparency for Higher Learning Institutions in Indonesia.

DOI: 10.5220/0008683002180222

In Improving Educational Quality Toward International Standard (ICED-QA 2018), pages 218-222

ISBN: 978-989-758-392-6

authors, new internet emerging technologies have an

important role to approach the people to the

government, thereby accountability and transparency

have been showing relevance in fighting corruption,

although it is necessary, besides information

availability, participatory practices to help the

development of democracy. Therefore, transparency

provides an environment of analysis and reflection

through the information publicized by the public

managers, but for that purpose it is necessary that the

citizen receives the proper training through social

participation mechanisms, so that they can enjoy the

transparency instruments available (Figueiredo and

Santos, 2014). In this regard, management of the

information publicized through the internet must take

in account the quantity of information necessary for

the free formation of public opinion (Rothberg and

Liberato, 2013).

The university is a public body. Simply stated,

universities can be interpreted as common property,

Indonesian society. Therefore we are obliged to

always supervise every policy and work program of

this institution. Good supervision will certainly lead

us to the opportunity to enjoy the results of this public

body. But what happens when a public body, namely

a tertiary or negligent university, upholds the

principle of transparency? The principle of

transparency (transparency) in this case becomes very

important.

Nowadays, the demand for transparency by

universities is increasingly considered a fundamental

part of the adequate accountability of these entities.

Transparency can be defined as access to information

regarding the intentions and decisions of the

organization (Vaccaro and Madsen, 2009). Among

the advantages that transparency provides to

universities, Ricci (2013) highlights: incrementing

their legitimacy as professional entities that serve

society, (b) avoiding bad management practices and,

regarding the strategic decisions of the university

(Ricci,2013).

The Internet and, specifically web pages, are a

practical medium for improving the transparency of

universities as they are able to provide a wide range

of information instantly to any user who requests it.

Furthermore, it allows the creation of an interactive

environment by providing different participation

mechanisms such as forums and surveys, as well as

offering teaching services via e-learning (Mondéjar

and Vargas, 2006). Likewise, diverse authors state

that web pages are strongly recommended to

guarantee appropriate and accessible information to

all stake-holders in an easy and cost-effective manner

(Ojino et al., 2013).

When dealing with the issue of transparency in the

universities scope, Cerrillo-i-Martínez (2015) argues

that it does not depend only on providing information,

but it also involves quality and access to this

information through different mechanisms,

considering that one university will be transparent as

the university community and the society in general

are effectively informed of its activity.

In Indonedia, Best University is clustered by

ministry of higher education (Kemenristekdikti).

Kemenristekdikti assesses the quality of Indonesian

Intstitutions of higher learnings in terms of four

components: (i) quality of human resources; (ii) the

quality of institutions; (iii) the quality of student

activities; and (iv) the quality of research, scientific

publications, and community service. The purpose of

this research is to find out Web Transparency among

Top 100 Universities in Indonesia.

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research was done by collecting data and

studying what others have written about the research

question and the topic in order to obtain further

understanding. Data was obtained from sources such

as books, literature, journals, and articles related to

Web Transparencies. This research used qualitative

data analysis in data analyzing technique. Asn

mentined before, the purpose of this research is to

find out Web Transparency among Top 100

Universities in Indonesia in term of E-Information, E-

Services, E- Participation, and Navigability, Design

And Accessibility. Samples are 100 universities

ranked by Kemenristek Dikti in 2018. A content

analysis was conducted to examine the information

provided on university web pages. Information is

codified based on a disclosure index “Global

Transparency Index (GTI)” which is developed by

Saraite-Sariene et,al (2018). GTI is comprised of a

total 64 items distributed into four sub-indexes: E-

Information (GTII), E-Services (GTIS), E-

Participation (GTIP) and Navigability, Design and

Accessibility (GTINDA). Score was calculated based

on existance of each criteria in the main website of

the university. University sub-domain was not

considered in this study.

Evaluation of Web Transparency for Higher Learning Institutions in Indonesia

219

3 RESEARCH RESULTS

The analysis of web transparancies in Indonesia

found ut that the average score of GTI index for top

100 universities in Indonesia is 30.99. It means that

in general, Web transparancy at University in

Indonesia is relatively very low. The highest score is

for E-Information with the score of 58.63, follows by

Nevigability, Design and Access with score of 32.89.

Table 1 shows GTI Index for each of the criteria for

University’s Web Transparency in Indonesia.

Table 1. GTI index for University in Indonesia.

Criteria

GTI Index

E-Information (General)

58.63

E-Inforation (Spesific)

22.91

E-Service

14.75

E-Participation

31.56

Navigability, Design and

Access

32.89

GTI Index

30.99

Based on table 2, we can see that all universities have

web pages related News services and University

publications. However, the rest only has score below

75.

Table 2: E-Information-General.

Criteria

Score

Enrolment statistics

Information on university facilities

(buildings, sports, education, dining, etc.)

Statistics on enrolment numbers and

type in each Faculty

University job opportunities

University maps

How to get to the university

News services (announcements)

100

University publications (newspapers,

gazettes, magazines)

100

E-Information -General GTI Index

58.63

Table 3 shows GTI Index for information on

university organization and governance, University

finances and management information, Financial

indicators, and Information on social responsibility.

It shows that universities in Indonesia do not

transparant related to University finances and

management information and Financial indicators.

Table 3: E-Information Specific.

Criteria

Score

Information

on university

organization

and

governance

Organizational profile

100

Organization chart

(structure)

Administrative offices and

functions

Directory

Chancellor schedule

Details about bibliography

of Chancellor and Vice

Chancellors

Details about remuneration

University policies and

regulations

Minutes of agreements

made by Governing

Council of the University

Regulations passed

University statutes

University

finances and

management

information

Budget information

Approved budget

Budgets modification

Expenses

Revenues

Budget indicator

Economic-financial

information

Treasury activity

Outstanding debt

Debt variation

Noncurrent assets

Variation of noncurrent

assets

Financial

indicators

(ratios)

Non-financial information

Effectiveness and

efficiency indicators

Human Capital

Information on

management strategy and

quality

Approved strategic plan

Execution of strategic plan

Publication of invitations

to tender for purchase of

goods and services

Resolution of works and

services

List of suppliers

Information

on social

responsibility

Economic impact

Social impact

Environmental impact

E-Information Specific GTI Index

21.90

Table 4 shows GTI Index for E-services with the

avarage score of 14.75. Based on the table, No

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220

university disclose about Possibility to fully

complete administrative transactions, including

payment, for unofficial studies. It means that

university web cannot be use to conduct any

transaction.

Table 4: E-Service.

Table 5 shows score of universities’ E-participation

with average score of 31.55. It means that users

cannot participate in decision making at the

university.

Table 5. E- Participation.

Criteria

Score

Student complaints and/or suggestion box

Discussion forums on the university web

page

Chat

Opinion surveys

Blog

Web page contains professor and teacher

contact information

Web page contains contact information of

the people in charge of the services

offered by the university

Web page offers option to be included on

a mailing list to receive information and

news

Web page provides an email address

different from webmaster for users to

request general information

E- Participation GTI Index

31.55

Table 6 shows about E-Navigability, Design and

Acces with the average score of 32,89. The web sites

cannot guide the user to conduct search easily,

especially for Electronic formats utilized for the

dissemination of information and Responsibility for

content contained on web page.

Table 6. E-Navigability, Design and Acces.

Criteria

Score

Specific section available on web pages

for accessing each type of information

Electronic formats utilized for the

dissemination of information

Information supplied available in different

languages

Search system on web page

Web page clearly differentiates the

presence of the public institution’s

internal links from external ones

Site Map available that clearly identifies

information content on web page

Web page utilizes hyperlinks as tool with

supplied information

Responsibility for content contained on

web page

Web page offers information in audio

and/or visual format

E-Navigability GTI Index

32.89

4 CONCLUSIONS

Base on the study, it is found that not all website of

Indonesia’s university provide all criteria in GTI

Index in their main webpage. While all universities

published Organizational profile, News services, and

University publications, there are 13 criterias that

cannot be fulfilled by any observed universities. Most

of those criterias are finacial-related information that

hardly disclose by universities authorities. The

possible reason for these circumtances is because

financial report is considered as a sensitive

information to be published.

Universities in Indonesia should improve their

website transparency in order to obtain positive

public image. In addition, they should consider to

implement integrated information system that enable

users to find particular information they need. It is

also encourage universities in Indonesia to develop

their main webpage as the first landing page for users.

This strategy can be used to increase university’s

webometric ranking in the world.

From government point of view, it is highly

recommended for Ministry of High Learning

(Kemenristek Dikti) to enact regulation that impose

university to provide a standardize information

published to academia.

Criteria

Score

Availability of downloadable forms and

applications for administrative procedures

for official studies

Availability of downloadable forms and

applications for administrative procedures

for unofficial studies

Option to conduct online administrative

transactions for official studies

Option to conduct online administrative

transactions for unofficial studies

Possibility to fully complete administrative

transactions, including payment, for official

studies

Possibility to fully complete administrative

transactions, including payment, for

unofficial studies

e-learning for official studies

e-learning for unofficial studies

E-Service GTI Index

14.75

Evaluation of Web Transparency for Higher Learning Institutions in Indonesia

221

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research is funded by Universitas Andalas in

accordance with the research contract Applied

Research BOPTN Scheme No.

04/UN.16.17/PP.RT/LPPM/2018.

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