Between Compliance and Agency: A Comparative Study of University Institutional Research ( IR ) Units Under Government Accountability Pressures in Korea and Japan

ABSTRACT This study explores how institutional research (IR) units in South Korea and Japan are shaped by the complex interaction between government accountability pressures and organisational agency. Based on a comparative qualitative study, we propose a framework comprising four types of organisational responses to accountability pressures, differentiated by the degree of compliance and agency: (I) bureaucratic compliance, (II) strategic compliance, (III) symbolic autonomy and (IV) learning autonomy. In the Korean cases, where universities operate under strong government intervention in evaluation and funding, IR units remain largely in bureaucratic compliance but are gradually moving towards strategic compliance through organisational learning. In the Japanese cases, under weaker external pressure, IR units tend to exhibit symbolic autonomy—formal autonomy without integrative governance. These findings challenge the assumed dichotomy between high compliance and low agency, showing that agency, although bounded, can emerge even under strong accountability constraints, whereas low‐compliance environments do not necessarily foster proactive organisational learning. The framework offers a transferable lens for analysing IR units across diverse policy contexts. We conclude by emphasising the importance of balancing accountability pressures with internal conditions for organisational learning and professionalisation in sustainable IR development.