Reconfiguring Cooperative Universities for the AX Era : A SER-M Analysis of Neo-Boutique Transformation

Industry-linked universities are under pressure to align AI-enabled digital capabilities with workforce development. However, little is known about how such institutions reconfigure over time. This study reconstructs the transformation of an Agricultural Cooperative University, affiliated with the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, from an internal training arm into a Neo-Boutique University (NBU) that delivers sector-embedded, data-driven education. Drawing on the SER-M (Subject–Environment–Resource–Mechanism) framework and a mechanism-based view, this longitudinal single-case study uses process tracing to triangulate archival histories, regulations, policy documents, media reports, and internal records. The analysis identifies a three-stage trajectory: resource adaptation (RES), environment creation (SER), and environment innovation (RSE), punctuated by external shocks (the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the 2008 global financial crisis, and COVID-19) that triggered auxiliary ESR/ERS mechanisms and accelerated digital uptake. In the mature stage, AI-era initiatives such as a digital MBA, smart-farming curricula, and data platforms operate as an AX convergence architecture that couples data infrastructure and analytics (R) with ecosystem governance (E) to support scalable instructional and process innovation (M). The study shows how SER-M clarifies when resource-facing and environment-facing mechanisms dominate and reframes the NBU as a transferable design template for mission-driven universities. It also derives design principles and measurement directions for linking digital investments to employability, return-on-investment, and sectoral spillovers in agriculture and related industries.