A maturity model is a widely used tool in software engineering and has mostly been extended to domains such as education, health, energy, finance, government, and general use. It is valuable for evaluations and continuous improvement of business processes or certain aspects of organizations, as it represents a more organized and systematic way of doing business. In this paper, we only focus on college higher education. For this reason, we present a novel approach that allows detecting some gaps in the existing maturity models for universities, as they are not models that address the dimensions in their entirety. To identify these models and their validities, as well as a classification of models that were identified in universities, we carried out a systematic literature review on 27,289 articles retrieved with respect to maturity models and published in peer-reviewed journals between 2007 and 2020. We found 23 articles that find maturity models applied in universities, through exclusion and inclusion criteria. We then grouped these items into nine categories with specific purposes. We concluded that maturity models used in Universities move towards agility, which is supported by the semantic web.

Within the e-commerce sphere, optimizing the product classification process assumes pivotal importance, owing to its direct influence on operational efficiency and profitability. In this context, employing machine learning algorithms stands out as a premier solution for effectively automating this process. The design of these models commonly adopts either a flat or local (hierarchical) approach. However, each of them exhibits significant limitations. The regional approach introduces taxonomic inconsistencies in predictions, whereas the flat approach becomes inefficient when dealing with extensive datasets featuring high granularity. Therefore, our research introduces a solution for hierarchical product classification based on a Machine Learning model that integrates flat and local (hierarchical) classification approaches using a 4-level electronic product dataset obtained from a renowned e-commerce platform in Latin America. In pursuit of this goal, a comparative analysis of seven machine learning algorithms, including Multinomial Naive Bayes, Linear Support Vector Classifier, Multinomial Logistic Regression, Random Forest, XGBoost, FastText, and Voting Ensemble, was conducted. This hybrid approach model performs better than models using a single approach. It surpassed the top-performing flat approach model by 0.15% and outperformed the leading local approach (Local Classifier per Level) model by 4.88%, as measured by the weighted F1-score. Additionally, this paper contributes to the academic community by presenting a significant Spanish-language dataset comprising over one million products and discussing the preprocessing techniques tailored for the dataset. It also addresses the study’s inherent limitations and potential avenues for future exploration in this field.

This study proposes a holistic maturity model to evaluate and optimize the performance of Peruvian universities. It addresses key dimensions such as favorable governance, university talent (including students, faculty, and administrators), substantial resources, and results. It is based on the Design Science Research methodology and the Mettler framework. On the other hand, the Delphi method was selected for its ability to consolidate expert opinion. Aiken’s V coefficient was used to determine content validity, evaluating criteria such as clarity, relevance, and coherence, to ensure the reliability of the instrument. This model defines concrete practices for each maturity level, facilitating the progressive implementation of improvements in different university contexts. It contributes to Education 4.0 through the IT strategic alignment practices of the enabling governance dimension, promoting the implementation of personalized teaching methods and hybrid learning models. Regarding the Society 5.0 approach, the model prioritizes social impact and environmental sustainability through university social responsibility, ensuring that universities contribute to human and technological development. Finally, this proposal will support decision making in university management and educational policies in Peru and in international contexts.