Dissertations on
Organizational Change and Transformation
(1990 - 2000)
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Table of Contents
Alzeghoul, E. A. (1997). Factors related
to administrative change in colleges and universities, Unpublished
Doctoral Dissertation, Texas A&M University-Commerce.
Purpose of the study. Ecologists argue that organizations are
subjected to internal inertia that inhibits them changing their
administrative structures. The strength of structural inertia
increases with the size, age, and complexity of an organization.
However, other authors suggest that organizations alter their
structures in responding to the environmental changes. They hold
that factors such as size, change in size, and age could be enabling
factors for organizations to change their administrative structures.
Most previous research has focused on examining the relationship
between factors such as, size, change in size (growth and decline),
complexity of an organization and an administrative component.
The present study examined a selected set of factors in relation
to administrative change. Specifically, it examined how university
ownership, type of university (based on Carnegie classification),
size, change in size (growth and decline), age, and competition
are related to administrative change in colleges and universities.
Sample. Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
(1987) was used to obtain the sample of this study. Fifty universities
(25 private, 25 public) was selected randomly from each type of
universities (research, doctorate, comprehensive) by using random
numbers table. Procedure. Data regarding the independent variables
were obtained from the Yearbook of Higher Education (1981/1982,
1984/1985) and American Colleges and Universities (1982/1983).
The amount of administrative change was operationalized in terms
of the absolute number of administrative changes (of the top-level
managers) that occurred in each university between 1982 and 1985.
The deletion of a position was considered to be one change. Similarly,
an addition of a new position was considered to be one change.
Also a change in personnel position was considered to be one change.
Therefore, the absolute number of changes each university had
during the period of study represent the amount of administrative
change. Statistical analysis. This study used different statistical
analyses to test the hypotheses. Analysis of covariance (2 x 3)
was employed to examine the effect of university ownership, type
of university, and interaction between these two variables. A
multiple regression was used to test a combined linear relationship
between size and age of an university, competition (as combination)
and the amount of administrative change. A simple correlation
was used to evaluate the strength and direction of the relationship
between the amount of administrative change and growth (increase
in students enrollment) and decline (reduction in students enrollment)
respectively. A t-test was used to compare the mean amount of
administrative change of growing universities with that of declining
ones. Results. Significant effect was found for type of university.
Both research and doctoral-granting universities demonstrated
amount of administrative change greater than that of comprehensive
ones. Neither university ownership nor interaction had effect
on administrative change. Size, age, and competition in combination
explained only ten percent of variance. Size and age were found
to have significant and positive relationship with administrative
change, while competition was found to have non-significant negative
relationship. A significant and negative relationship was found
between administrative change and growth and positive with decline.
Conclusion. Although some hypotheses were not supported, this
study is a good starting point for future research. The findings
present several suggestions that might have important practical,
theoretical and research implications. (Abstract shortened by
UMI.)
Keywords: I. D, II. E; III. QN; IV. administration, structure;
VI. MC; VII. M.
Bombardier, L. D. (1992). An analysis of
mediating factors, perceptions, and personnel related to strategic
change in community college based small business development centers,
Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Oregon State University.
The purpose of this study is to examine the events and activities
that triggered strategic and large-scale changes in four community
college based Small Business Development Centers. A review of
the literature in organizational theory and community college
education was used to form an integrated conceptual scheme which
could be applied to the description and examination of the change
process. Tichy's TPC (Technical, Political, Cultural) model for
managing strategic organizational change was used to provide the
conceptual framework for conducting research and organizing data
as it related to the events and activities that triggered change
in case studies at four community college based Small Business
Development Centers in Oregon. The case studies dealt with how
strategic and organizational changes were triggered, whether they
were initiated by a common set of triggering events, and the management
responses to these changes used in each of the four community
college based Small Business Development Center. Information concerning
the changes that took place was obtained through using the TPC's
in-depth diagnostic plan to analyze the events that trigger change
and their impact on the key organizational components of the Small
Business Centers. The research produced three findings related
to the events that triggered in the four SBDC's organizational
changes and the manner and means by which they were perceived,
managed, and dealt with by each of the SBDC's studied. The three
primary findings were: (a) the role played by key individuals
as responders and/or innovators of organizational change was to
a large degree dependent upon the congruence between the situation(s)
being faced and their backgrounds, personalities, and leadership
characteristics; (b) the different roles and hierarchical levels
existing in an organization significantly influenced how individuals
perceived the nature, type, properties, and characteristics of
the events triggering the change process; and (c) when there is
no agreement among key organizational decision-makers on the nature
or type of change taking place, social power, influence and/or
bargaining is used in selecting the strategy used to deal the
change event.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. change, strategy; V. administration,
climate/culture, leadership, management systems; VI. MC; VII.
CC.
Brandon, J. L. (1997). Meeting the changing needs of diverse
students: Managerial conceptualizations of transformational change
in student affairs. Higher Education. Santa Barbara, University
of California .
This study explores the factors that facilitate transformational
change. The Division of Student Affairs within a medium-sized
residential, public university launched an initiative to better
serve a more diverse and changing student population. Brandon
focuses on the complex implementation process and extracts key
elements that serve to transform the organization. Using multiple
data sources, this study captures the change process from the
conceptualization of change to the documentation of the change
process. While managers play a key role in change, Brandon suggests
that transactional leadership at the middle management level must
be empowered to exhibit transformational leadership in order to
change the culture. She also stresses that it is the transformational
change of this role that facilitates the sustainability of change.
Keywords: I.D; II. D; III. NE; IV. change, transformation; V.
administration; VI. SC; VII. NA.
Brooks, C.T. (1998). The influence of stakeholder assessment
on change within a public institution of higher education. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation, University of Arkansas.
In the private sector, stakeholders have been used successfully
to improve organizational effectiveness. Their preferences influence
product design and development, and business and industry has
a long history of using stakeholders in marketing research. The
author finds that public sector has typically not used this methodology
to plan for change. A case study of one public higher education
institution focuses on the use of customer feedback to plan for
and manage organizational change within one department of the
institution. Three types of change were affected by information
gathered through customer feedback: 1) structural change; 2) procedural
change; and 3) changes with customer relationships. Organizational
change was influenced by customer feedback, but organizational
leadership and climate were influential in determining to what
extent the organization was able to respond to change.
Keywords: I. D; II. D, C, ; III. QL, ; IV. quality improvement,
strategy; V. management systems; VI. SC; VII. NA.
Denby, K. K. (1997). Organizational integration:
A case study in higher education administration. J. T. M. Adviser,
Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Harvard University.
This case study of a reorganization effort within a university
administration examines how changing the organizational structure
and addressing the balance of "differentiation" (separateness
and autonomy) and "integration" (interdependence and
collaboration) affected the way departments worked with students
and with each other. It deals with how the Harvard University
Division of Continuing Education attempted to streamline procedures
and integrate administrative operations while merging a satellite
operation into the central administration. The reorganization
entailed fundamental changes for the previously autonomous department:
from being research- oriented and teacher-driven to service-oriented
and student-driven; from relative independence and autonomy to
interaction and cooperation with other operational units. The
process was very complicated. In the course of "reining in"
the department, it became clear that the orientation of individuals
in key positions impacted the way they perceived the issues and
how they interacted with each other. Repeated failures to reach
even basic understanding attest to how very different the players
were in attitude and approach, with different perspectives on
what was important and different interpretations of what was said
or agreed upon in meetings. Upon reflection, it might have worked
out differently had the ambiguous term "integration"
been adequately defined for all parties. Though they agreed that
integration was the goal, there was never agreement on exactly
what that meant. They needed to establish specific guidelines
about operational objectives and negotiable elements. Were this
case repeated, an important exercise would be to identify commonalties
(e.g., what should be common for students in any program within
the organization) and define the lines that could not be crossed.
In addition, the organization as a whole needed to change its
collective attitude and expectations toward its "outlier"
department-- to let it assimilate while accepting and protecting
its uniqueness. The blend of integration and differentiation within
an organization depends on many things, but it must correspond
to what the environment (including customer, financial, technical,
physical, and personnel constraints) demands. Culture and priorities
come into play, as do history and personalities. Organizations
are not simple. This case portrays the complexities involved in
reorganization and change.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. change, environmental change,
reorganization; V. administration, climate/culture, structure;
VI. SC; VII. R.
Desloriers, V. R. (1993). An examination of the strategic
planning process at Endicott College: A case study of decision-making
to cope with change. A. L. Adviser, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation,
Harvard University.
Strategic planning is widely heralded as the response of choice
to a growing list of challenges facing American higher education.
Endicott College, typical of many small, private institutions
of higher learning in the United States, implemented strategic
planning to meet its various challenges. This analytic paper,
in the form of a case study, focuses on strategic planning at
Endicott College, and how organizational forces shaped that process.
Questions directing the research were: What were the conditions
at the college prior to implementing strategic planning? Why was
strategic planning chosen as the vehicle for change? What was
the strategic planning process design? What forces, beyond that
design, shaped the planning process? What were the consequences
of those influences? A pattern, unlike that presented by the textbook
model of strategic planning, emerged from the study. A series
of campus forces had subverted the predicted process. The internal
organizational factors which shaped Endicott's planning correlated
with five major obstacles to planned change as identified by authorities
in the field. The analysis is organized in terms of those five
obstacles to planned change: lack of top leadership support; lack
of shared values, goals, and purpose; lack of high morale, trust,
power, and personal security; lack of meaningful participation
and communication; and lack of adaptability, creativity, and innovation.
Long- standing campus factions, cultural norms, and administrative
styles combined to present these obstacles and to seriously impede
planning efforts. Unable to surmount these problems, the leadership
in many ways exacerbated them. Endicott College did, however,
face the same harsh realities that were confronting higher education
across the United States. Questions of shifting demographics,
governance, finances, curriculum, and their role in higher education
loomed large. Conclusions of the study were: strategic planning
is not a panacea for the problems facing higher education today;
the planning model employed should fit the management style of
the organization; and development of the planning document itself
should be accomplished within a specified time frame.
Keywords: I. D; II. D,P; III. QL; IV. environmental change, planning,
strategy; V. administration, leadership, management systems; VI.
SC; VII.
Deuben, C. A. J. (1992). The factors facilitating or inhibiting
institutional merger among three Catholic institutions of higher
education. L. K. Adviser, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Wayne
State University: 00436.
This dissertation analyzes the proposed merger between University
of Detroit, Mercy College, and Mercyhurst College. The conceptual
framework for the analysis was Martorana and Kuhn's Interactive
Forces Theory, in which organizational change is considered through
the interaction of three forces: personal, interpersonal, and
goal hiatus. The study is reflective; Dueben conducted interviews
and collected data which supported the Interactive Forces Theory,
and pointed to factors of finance and presidential leadership
as critical in bringing about the merger process. It was unclear
whether the theory has predictive value. The dissertation contains
a useful literature review of mergers within higher education
and the development of Catholic higher education. Excerpts from
interviews provide interesting anecdotal information as to the
subsequent merger between two of the institutions.
Keywords: I. D; II. C; III. NE; IV. change, V. alliance or partnership,
administration, leadership, resource allocation; VI. MC; VII.
M.
Durrington, V. A. (1997). A longitudinal study of the diffusion
of a computer- based administrative innovation within a university
faculty network. J. R. R. Adviser, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation,
Texas Tech University: 00201.
Identifying predictors of computer use such as attitude, anxiety,
and receptivity to change have been the primary area of interest
in instructional technology. Research relating to the diffusion
of innovations in education has been based primarily on looking
at these individual characteristics as predictors of use. This
dissertation proposes to use social network analysis to study
the diffusion of two computer-based administrative innovations
within a university faculty network. Methodology issues concerning
time of adoption and network nominations were examined as well
as the relationship of time of adoption and the number of network
nominations received, spatial proximity, and organizational unit
proximity. Finally, the diffusion of the innovations was to be
analyzed using the dual- classification and T/CM models. Subjects
were 66 faculty members in a College in Education from a southwestern
university during the 1996- 1997 academic year. At the beginning
of the study subjects were introduced to the innovations and asked
to provide demographic information and to identify communication
partners in the areas of advice, friendship, and discussion. At
the conclusion of the study subjects were asked to provide feed
back related to the innovations and to once again identify their
communication partners in the areas of advice, friendship, and
discussion. Results indicated that there was no significant difference
between adopters recall time of adoption and actual time of adoption.
In addition, there was no significant difference between network
nominations for advice, friendship, and discussion identified
at the beginning and at the end of the study. The number of network
nominations received was found to be negatively correlated with
the time of adoption. No correlation was found between time of
adoption and spatial and organizational unit proximity. The diffusion
process could not be studied, because the necessary threshold
and critical mass levels were not reached. The innovations did
not diffuse through the network. The lack of diffusion could be
explained by the negative correlation between the number of network
nominations received and the time of adoption as well as by comments
faculty submitted related to the innovations and a graphical representation
of the social network with the nodes of adopters shaded.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. BT; IV technology; V. academic workplace,
information technology; VI. SC; VII. NA.
Gallagher, V. J. (1990). Repositioning the
university: Organizational symbolism and the rhetoric of permanence
and change. G. T. G. Adviser, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation,
Northwestern University.
Institutions shape and are shaped by a variety of competing
symbolic contexts and, as a result, exist in a state of conflict.
It is the hypothesis of this study that rhetoric provides the
means by which institutions reconcile and, at times, transcend
the conflict and contradictions of competing contexts to achieve
a level of consensus or stability. The study undertakes three
tasks: (1) to delineate the role of rhetorical discourse in the
creation, development, and maintenance of organizations and institutions,
(2) to develop a critical method of organizational analysis, and
(3) to use the theory and method to analyze the way in which specific
institutions--universities and higher education as a whole--are
transformed or "repositioned" through the processes
of rhetorical discourse. Case studies of four American universities--Northwestern
University, Trinity University, the University of Virginia and
the University of Michigan--demonstrate that institutional change
emerges out of competing contexts of previous identity and is
accomplished through a process of rhetorical integration. And
while the symbolic transformation of institutions is shown to
be always incomplete, critical analysis reveals the configuration
of contextual elements and suggests rhetorical trends that characterize
the current and future realm of higher education.
Keywords: I. D; II. D,C; III. QL; IV. change, transformation;
V. climate/culture; VI. MC; VII. M.
Gibbs, C.N. (1998). Implementing institutional strategic
planning and change: A case study of a division of student affairs.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Virginia Commonwealth University.
The experiences of a student affairs division undergoing a mandated
change process is examined in this case study. Although participants
in the student affairs office valued some of the opportunities
and discussions that were part of the university's Strategic Plan,
the study found that most members of the Division were not invested
in it, and its useful life encompassed only the two years (1993-1995)
during which the Quality of Student Life Task Force was meeting.
The Division of Student Affairs had little involvement in the
creation of the Strategic Plan itself, resulting in a lack of
support for the change process. The author uses two questions
to examine the case: 1) what happened when the division attempted
to implement the strategic plan directive? And 2) what meaning
did the participants give to the change process? Strategic planning
is a process for managing change; a means for transitioning institutions,
but strategic planning had little meaning for members of the Student
Affairs Division, who focused more on the change itself and on
the "personal" implications. Such preoccupation may
hinder implementation and integration of changed practices into
mto the institutional culture. The perception of Student Affairs
personnel, is that strategic planning was the administration's
vision of the future. The perceived distance between senior administration
and the professionals at the operational level who serve students
on a daily basis, created an obstacle to the successful integration
of change into the culture.
Keywords: I. D; II. D, ; III. QL; IV. change, planning, strategy;
V. administration, climate or culture, leadership; VI. SC; VII.
NA.
Goldsmith, S. S. (1997). Creating culture at a new university:
Expectations and realities. H. S. A. Chair, Unpublished Doctoral
Dissertation, University of California Los Angeles.
Goldsmith's three year study utilized ethnographic and other
qualitative research approaches to examine the development of
organizational culture in a newly established public comprehensive
university. Data analysis was conducted on written materials,
extensive participant observation field notes, and transcripts
of reflective interviews with administrators, faculty and staff
at California State University, Monterey Bay. Adopting a social
constructionist perspective, Goldsmith describes the dynamics
of culture creation through which key constituencies actualize
individual and collective values trough the process of creating
a distinctive new university. The author asserts that structures,
processes, policies, and meanings must be developed through which
the values of the distinctive vision can be supported. Goldsmith
proposes a framework for studying postindustrial organizational
culture which focuses on three interrelated themes: 1) vision
as search for identity, 2) leadership as search for process, and
3) trust as search for community.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. planning, transformation;
V. climate/culture, leadership; VI. SC; VII. C.
Hanson, L.D. (1999). Restructuring academic
programs: Faculty leadership in effective organizational change.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Seattle University.
The author writes a qualitative case study of one institution's
response to the internal and external pressures felt by many colleges
and universities in the 1990s. This study examines Pacific Lutheran
University's restructuring process of their academic program.
The author indicates that this study counters the prevailing theory
in the literature that faculty are not significantly involved
in leading change and also points out situations in which faculty
resist change. Seven conclusions are drawn from the study: 1)
the convergence of internal and external factors gives rise to
restructuring; 2) a functioning faculty governance and a guiding
coalition for reduction in force is critical to address restructuring;
3) collaborative leadership from administrators and faculty is
essential for effective change; 4) factual and political rationale
is used in decision making, and is grounded in institutional culture;
5) systematic academic program review potentially limits subjectivity
and aids decision making; 6) those faculty adversely affected
by organizational change view decisions as irrational and unsupported
by the data, and faculty leaders justify decisions by aligning
data with core values, mission and direction of the institution;
7) it is not imperative that faculty initiate restructuring to
be effective participants.
Keywords: I. D; II. D, ; III. QL; IV. change, restructuring,
; V. academic workplace, faculty, leadership ; VI. SC; VII. R.
Hauck, G.L. (1998). The turnaround and transformation of
Grand Rapids Baptist College into Cornerstone College. Unpublished
Doctoral Dissertation, Michigan State University.
The author presents a case study of turnaround and transformation
at a small, Christian college. Turnaround refers to the ability
of an institution to rebound after a period of decline. In this
case study, turnaround and transformation were seen as part of
one integrated process. The author uses Bolman and Deal's conceptual
framework of organizational culture as a "lens" through
which to interpret the changes taking place at the college. The
factors of turnaround and transformation included the name change,
a merger, new recruiting, new governance, more aggressive donor
pursuit, shared vision, a new image, strategic planning, new facilities,
new technology, a new president and provost, and a new mission
statement. These factors were also viewed against the backdrop
of the institution's historical context, through document analysis,
interviews and observations. The findings show that the most crucial
factor in the turnaround and transformation was the arrival, person
and leadership of the new president and provost who had - a "transformational
style of leadership". The majority of people at the institution
feel positive about the change/transformation overall, while still
viewing some factors negatively. The research suggests that many
of the contributing factors in Cornerstone's turnaround and transformation
are equal or similar to the contributing factors in the turnaround
and transformation of organizations in the corporate, ecclesiastical,
and educational worlds.
Keywords: I. D; II. D; III. QL; IV. change, planning, reorganization,
transformation; V. academic workplace, administration, governance,
leadership; VI. SC; VII. LA.
Haviland, D.J. (1998). Becoming a student-centered research
university: A case study of organizational change. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation, Syracuse University.
Coherent change in a large research university is constrained
by complex organizational structures and forms of shared governance
that decrease presidential leverage. This became more problematic
during the late 20th century, when colleges and universities came
under scrutiny for escalating costs, declining enrollments and
concerns about the quality of undergraduate education Large research
universities have been faced with the need to alter teaching and
fiscal practices. In this case study of one large research university,
(Syracuse University), the author examines the successful attempt
at planned, coherent and significant change. In the early 1990s,
the university faced budget shortfalls totaling $38 million and
a projected deline of 20 percent of its undergraduate enrollment.
Leadership decisions by the new chancellor created a shift in
emphasis from that of attempting to become an elite research university,
to a more student-centered university. The author uses a sociological
analysis of the change process, with an historical reconstruction
of events. Interview, document analysis, and observation were
used to describe and analyze the process of change. The author
concludes that the successful change effort came about as a result
of a confluence of external forces and internal circumstances
which facilitated the adjustment. The importance of strong leadership,
collaboration, grounding changes in institutional history and
of adjustments to traditional shared governance practices are
among the key variables that helped to foster the change.
Keywords: I. D; II. D, ; III. QL; IV. change, planning, strategy;
V. administration, climate or culture, leadership, mission; VI.
SC; VII. R.
Highsmith, D.T. (1999). The board of trustees as institutional
change agent: A case study inquiry into the governance transformation
at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1979 1993. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation, University of South Carolina.
The author uses a case study approach to trace and analyze how
the governing board ofSouthern Baptists Theological Seminary in
Louisville, Kentucky, became a change agent for institutional
transformation. The study uses historical and contextual factors,
and places the change process in a broad framework of cultural,
ecclesiastical and political forces. The author concludes that
the process by which trustees are appointed to their positions
is an important factor in the board's potential for serving as
a vehicle of change. Trustees are elected and may choose to consider
the needs and wishes of those that elected them as their primary
constituency, over the interests of those internal to the institution.
Other factors influencing the role of trustees as change agents
included the size of the board, how often they met, and leadership
roles on the board. The author interviewed 25 participants or
observers to the change process, and balanced this subjective
approach with document analysis including statistics, scholarly
journals, ecclesiastical journals and news accounts. The author's
goal is to help illuminate strategies and procedures for effecting
or impeding change.
Keywords: I. D; II. D, E; III. QL; IV. change, , strategy, transformation;
V. academic workplace, administration, governance, leadership;
VI. SC; VII. LA.
Hogue, W. F. (1995). Reorganizing information and technology
resources: Diffusion and decision processes in one university. G.
A. J. Adviser, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Harvard University:
00129.
U.S. colleges and universities are estimated to spend in excess
of four-billion dollars annually to support information and technology
(IT) services for faculty, researchers, students, and staff. Despite
this substantial investment, concerns about quality of IT resources
and services is widespread. An increasingly common response to
these concerns by colleges and universities is to reorganize IT
units under the leadership of a single administrator. This analytic
paper examines the organizational processes at the University
of Wisconsin-Eau Claire that led to a decision to place five operational
units--including the library--under a newly created Office of
Information and Technology Management. Documents and structured
interviews are used to examine the following question. What led
to a decision to create a new organization responsible for University
information and technology resources? This qualitative analysis
posits that the University underwent a paradigm shift; old belief
systems about the appropriate management of information technologies
and their role in the life of the institution were challenged
and ultimately replaced after a period during which competing
organizational models were examined. The process of choosing the
organizational model was defined by a visionary leader who carefully
used task force reports, the governance process, and external
technological, budgetary, and political developments to build
coalitions in support of his plan. The organizational model defined
had its roots in the mission and culture of the University and,
therefore, presented minimal threat to the institution's existing
structure. Review of the decision and diffusion processes at UW-Eau
Claire may be of use to other institutions in addressing the issue
of information technology organizational structure, and in better
understanding change processes within higher education.
Keywords: I. D; II. D; III. QL; IV. quality improvement, reorganization,
technology; V. academic environment, administration, information
technology; VI. SC; VII. R.
Hulfactor, M. C. (1992). An attainment discrepancy model
of curricular change in academic departments, Unpublished Doctoral
Dissertation, Stanford University.
Undergraduate curricular drift in colleges and universities
may be the result of incremental change to academic curricula.
Empirical investigations of curricular change, though, have focused
primarily on the characteristics of academic organizations. An
attainment discrepancy model from organizational learning theory
offers predictions about processes that stimulate organizations
to change incrementally. The model predicts that some types of
changes are the result of search motivated by a discrepancy between
organizational performance and aspiration. This study tested attainment
discrepancy hypotheses with respect to undergraduate enrollment,
using data from 120 academic departments over a four year period.
Findings supported the hypothesis that curricular change occurs
as academic departments respond to low enrollments. However, the
effect was mitigated for departments possessing high levels of
external funding. Research findings illuminate a process of departmental
response to environmental stimuli, and suggest a possible mechanism
through which curricular drift may occur.
Keywords: I. D; II. D,P; III. QL; IV. change; V. academic workplace,
curriculum; VI. MC; VII. NA.
Hurst, D.G. (1998). The transformation and expansion of
higher education in the United States from the Civil War to the
present. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Emory University.
The author uses both quantitative and qualitative approaches
to the study of expansion of higher education from the 19th
century to the present. The qualitative approach uses an historical
analysis of changes in the organization and purpose of higher
education using four theories as the analytic framework - technological-functional,
status competition, class conflict and world-institutional.
The research is motivated by three questions that center around
1) identifying the dynamics of higher education expansion; 2)
determining the extent to which prevailing theories of educational
expansion account for the level of expansion in the United States;
and 3) to what degree can higher education be considered a mass
institution? The historical analysis examines how higher education
has changed from a largely elite institution serving a small
population, into a mass institution serving the great majority
of high school graduates who aspire to a college degree. The
quantitative analysis looks at several factors including technological
changes and market demand for college graduates, that have had
an effect on enrollments over time.
Keywords: I. D; II. D; III. QL, QN, NE; IV. transformation;
V. academic workplace, climate or culture, mission; VI. MC,
SA, S; VII. M.
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Julia, J. B. (1996). The influence of planning
on institutional transformation: A study of information technology.
M. W. Peterson. Chair, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, The University
of Michigan.
The external environment within which higher education exists
has been labeled a "postindustrial environment" characterized
by turbulence, competitiveness, lean resources, and unpredictability.
Two organizational responses to the challenges and opportunities
inherent in this external environment are planning and transformation.
There are implicit suggestions in the literature that planning
and transformation are linked phenomena, yet there has been little
research conducted on their potential relationship. This qualitative
study uses a case study methodology to research the relationship
between these phenomena within the context of the migration from
a centralized to distributed computing environment at a major
research university. The study's central research question is,
"How does planning influence the internal transformation
that results from the migration from a centralized computing environment
to a distributed computing environment in a major research university?"
Five organizational units were chosen for inclusion in this study:
the central administration information technology unit, two academic
units, and two administrative units. Data was collected through
a triangulated methodology that included interviews with sixty
informants from the selected units. A content analysis and pattern
identification of the data collected was then conducted to ascertain
emergent relationships between the data. Five key findings emerged
from this analysis: (1) Centralized planning from the information
technology unit either had little influence on transformation
(in academic units) or inhibited transformation (in administrative
units); (2) Planning associated with the attempted transformation
differed between the academic and administrative units included
in this study. The academic units used a rational approach to
planning, while the administrative units used a combination of
rational and non-rational planning processes; (3) Leadership and
resource factors were integral components of both the planning
and transformation processes; (4) The rational and non-rational
planning conducted within the units positively influenced the
extent to which transformation resulted within these units; and
(5) Four factors, leadership, human maintenance, commitment of
institutional resources, and the accommodations of tradition,
governance, and administrative style emerged in the transformational
process and results dimensions of the conceptual framework to
provide a research supported framework for further study on transformation.
Keywords: I. D; II. D; III. QL; IV. planning, transformation,
technology; V. academic workplace, administration, information
technology, leadership, resource allocation; VI. MC; VII. R.
Larson, R. S. (1997). Organizational change
from the inside: A study of university outreach. East Lansing, Michigan
State University.
The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the responses
and perceptions of responses to change initiatives. As change
is outlined and strategized, there may be a difference between
how these plans are received across campus. In addition, committee
members who have invested their time writing these documents may
have perceptions which anticipate the response of faculty members.
Together, these responses and perceptions of responses may fuel
problematic misconceptions. Based on data collected within one
institution, the findings from this study demonstrate that the
process of evaluating and making decisions regarding a new change
initiative may be an iterative one for faculty. They have a perspective
at the department level which may not be the same as the institutional
vantage point. Larson cautions against predicting faculty response
and reminds us that those who create an initiative must value
the perspective of those who will be expected to implement it.
He also suggests that the complexity of change allows for differing
responses from within a diverse university community.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. change; V. academic workplace,
administration, faculty; VI. SC; VII. R.
Lubach, D. W. (1997). A case study of university transformation:
An organization adapts to a changing environment. L. I. Chair, Unpublished
Doctoral Dissertation, University of California Santa Barbara:.
The target of this explanatory study was to advance the development
of micropolitical theory. The author sought to use and improve
a mixture of unobtrusive research methods with the goal of advancing
the understanding of a complex educational institution. The Santa
Barbara campus of the University of California served as the organization
under examination in this case study. Qualitative research methodology
was employed and a number of indicators of "core technology"
(Thompson, 1967) were used and modified in order to answer the
research question. The study provides a depth analysis of selected
aspects of the history of an institution. Data were collected
with the assumption that critical incidents and histories hold
the blueprint for the basic shape and direction of a social system.
Printed records, reports, and public information were the major
sources of data. The researcher attempted to minimize effects
of his enmeshed role as a member and participant in the organization.
Each change in staff, funding sources, allocation of physical
space, and grant money received tells the story of a campus that
has undergone two types of basic change. What was once a teaching
academy has become a celebrated research institution and what
was once a primarily State funded institution has successfully
invested in resources and strategies to secure alternative funds.
Insight was gained into how an organization shifted the balance
of its core priorities without dissolving. The campus used subunits
to maintain organizational stability while changing on its margins
to meet environmental demands.
Keywords: I.D; II. E; III. QL; IV. change; V. administration,
climate/culture; VI. SC; VII. R.
McCoy, L. (1999). Accounting discourse and
textual practices of ruling: A study of institutional transformation
in higher education. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University
of Toronto.
The author takes a unique approach to the examination of organizational
change and institutional transformation in the Ontario college
system in the early 1990s, by using the study of accounting as
a documentary practice of knowledge. It first looks at accounting
as a text-based form of knowledge, and shows the present-day organization
of accounting as a conceptual and textual practice of representation.
The author examines how accounting statements mediate organizational
work processes and inter-organizational relations of property
and obligation. In the second part, the author uses an institutional
ethnography approach to examine the use of accounting as a practice
of knowledge. During the period of the early 1990s, colleges were
faced with state policies of privatization and fiscal retrenchment,
as well as increased competition in the adult vocational training
market. In response to these pressures, college administrators
responded by attempting to make their institutions more efficient,
entrepreneurial and businesslike. Accounting played a central
role in this restructuring effort, and new practices of managerial
accounting produce observable changes in organizational work processes
and approaches. The author provides a closer examination of how
this process worked by looking at one college's introduction of
program costing, and accounting exercise that established unit
costs for each academic program.
Keywords: I. D; II. D, C; III. QL; IV. change, , quality improvement;
V. academic workplace, management systems, resource allocation;
VI. MC; VII. M.
McKenna, S.M. (1998). The application of a corporate change
model to an institution of higher education. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation, University of Connecticut.
While many organizations throughout the world have adopted change
strategies in order to remain competitive and efficient in turbulent
environments, higher education change processes have been slower
and more incremental., leaving institutional administrators unable
to respond efficiently to pressures including those brought about
by increasing demands from constituencies while simultaneously
having fewer resources to meet those demands. The answer is in
education organizations adopting more flexible organizational
cultures and structures. Changing a culture is more difficult
when an organization has a history of success, and an established
culture as does higher education. The author uses a cultural change
model developed by Edgar Schein for use in the corporate sector
and applies it to an institution of higher education. The study
used qualitative methods including observation, participant action
research and clinical interviews with key informants, using Strauss's
grounded theory to organize the data., and Schein's model to assess
the attributes of organizational culture to two top management
committees at the institution. The author found Schein's model
useful for deriving five of the subject committees' basic cultural
assumptions, but found that the model did not adequately account
for political influences on organizational decision making processes.
Keywords: I. D; II. E, ; III. QL; IV. change, environmental change,
; V. administration, climate or culture; VI. SC; VII. NA.
McMurray, J. K. (1997). Building capacity for systemic change:
Episodes of learning in the first-year of a grant-funded change
project at a land grant university, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation,
Oregon State University.
Demands for increasingly more responsive education systems have
caused some higher education institutions to reconsider their
original missions and envision new futures. This is particularly
true with land grant institutions whose mandate it is to be the
people's university. The purpose of this study was to explore
the first year of a change project at a land grant institution
to determine first attempts to prepare for and catalyze systemic
change. The literature review supported the position that change
was seldom enduring in higher education organizations, and to
effect systemic change an organization needed to embrace the concept
of learning. This study sought to make sense of organizational
change through the experience of an innovative vision-driven,
participant-centered change process. Data were analyzed using
multiple sources including interviews, fieldnotes, project documents
and participant observation. Three themes emerged from the analysis
representative of participant experience: Learning How to Change;
Developing a Change Design; and Collaboration and the Paradox
of Partnership. The themes represented primary areas of learning
for participants in the first year of the project. Stories of
participant learning were expressed through key events experienced
during the 12-month inquiry. Outcomes of this study reflected
the centrality of learning in the beginning months of the change
project. Change agents needed opportunities to learn how to change
before enlisting others in the process. Active learning, reflection,
and the value discovered through an expanded capacity for change
created deeper ownership in the project for many participants.
These aspects of the change process were also identified as attributes
of a learning organization. Another significant research outcome
addressed partnering efforts in the project's initial months.
First attempts to build collaborative relationships with the State's
community colleges were ineffective due to low levels of trust
and highly competitive cultures.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. change, transformation; V.
academic workplace, partnership; VI. SC; VII. R.
Mulvey, T. M. (1993). An analysis of the mergers of American
institutions of higher education. D. F. S. Director, Unpublished
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Massachusetts.
American higher education has been affected by spiraling cost,
declining college-age population, decreasing financial aid and
defense grants, budget reductions from state governments and concerns
about quality. The merging of two or more institutions into a
single entity is one strategy to cope with these changes. The
literature on the subject of merger, however, is fragmented and
dwells mainly on the reasons why institutions merge. This study
examines the tensions and elements that constitute the merger
phenomenon in its totality and identifies implications for implementation.
The study analyzed 18 doctoral dissertation case studies of 20
higher educational mergers that took place during the period 1964-1985.
Similarities and differences were identified and the findings
compared with the merger literature. The data were then interpreted
from the perspective of organizational change. The analysis indicated
that three major tensions shape the merger phenomenon: the clash
between maintaining the status quo and implementing change; the
emergence of one institution as the dominant party thereby exacerbating
the change for the subordinate party; and the accomplishment of
organizational objectives at the expense of individual needs.
A pattern emerged indicating that change was not managed, decision-making
was top down and self-centered, crisis was not anticipated, power
was used to dominate, conflict was divisive, planning was non-existent
or poorly done and implementation was characterized by limited
strategies to facilitate the process. Several important distinctions
were identified according to the type of control of the merging
institutions. Differences were found in the impelling reasons,
motivation, process stages, type of risk, degree of consultation
and outcomes. Exceptions to the conventional wisdom that financially
troubled institutions should not merge were noted. Also, a simple
legal maneuver frequently employed in the corporate world was
identified as an alternative to the standard merger approach.
In order to facilitate the complex process of a merger and to
address the identified problems, the application of the integrated
frames approach for managing organizational change as developed
by Bolman and Deal (1984) is recommended. Strategic planning is
also recommended as an effective tool for coping with change.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. change, merger; V. alliance
or partnership, administration, management systems; VI. S; VII.
M.
Moldenhauer-Salazar, J.C. (1999). Visions and missions:
A case study of organizational change and diversity in higher education.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan.
The author presents a case study of one institution's intentional
change effort in the area of diversity, over a thirty-year period.
The study uses an inductive (grounded theory) approach centered
on two questions. 1) What has changed? 2) How did these changes
occur? Interviews with 37 individuals involved in change at the
school, and data from archival sources was collected. The results
of the data analysis give both a detailed chronology and history
of organizational change, and a theoretical framework to explain
this change. The theoretical framework includes the role of the
school's "vision of diversity" and corresponding mission
statement in moving change forward, while balancing political
conflict and power struggles over the appropriateness of the mission
and its implementation. Vision and mission guide change, attract
and maintain support for change, inspire others in the process
and affect revenue. However, these functions are only possible
if stakeholders are in support, and there is strong financial
backing for such an effort. The results of this study integrate
the current literature on organizational vision and mission, while
adding the concept of power. As well as making theoretical contributions,
practical implications serve to inform organizational leaders
and actors involved in the change process.
Keywords: I. D; II. D; III. QL; IV.. change, planning, transformation
V. climate or culture, mission; VI. SC; VII. NA.
Morgan, H.P. (1998). Moving missions: Organizational change
in liberal arts colleges. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University
of Chicago.
The author uses data collected from every American college or
university that granted a baccalaureate degree between 1966 and
1992 to trace the patterns in the redefinition of the liberal
arts college. Prompted by changes seen in liberal arts colleges
that have begun to grant more and more career-oriented and advanced
degrees, the author traces the gradual and continual redefinition
of the liberal arts college that has taken place over the years.
The author extends the theory of why organizations become more
alike to propose a theory of "isomorphism with a moving target"
which accounts for the observed patterns of change and variation.
Six colleges were chose to represent the range of variation. These
cases illustrate how liberal arts colleges are open to redefinition
because categories such as "liberal arts" and "university"
lack clear boundaries. The case studies indicate that most schools
stretch the category of "liberal arts" to include schools
that grant applied and professional degrees, rather than changing
their own category or the entire system of categories. The aggregate
effect of individual changes creates new patterns of resemblances,
and colleges then redefine their identities in response, creating
a continuous process of redefinition. Adaptation then, is spurred
by changes in other organizations in the system,
rather than by changes in the external environment. Organizations
will continue to adapt in order to retain their relative position.
Keywords: I. D; II. D, C, ; III. QL, QN; IV. change, reorganization;
V. climate or culture mission, structure; VI. MC; VII.LA.
Nicklin, J.A. (1999). Measuring perceptions
of leadership in a time of organizational change. Unpublished M.A.
Dissertation, Royal Roads University (Canada).
This study is an exploratory examination of the effect of planned
organizational change on the observed behaviors of leaders. The
objectives of the study are to assess changes in leadership practices
(as seen by the subjects' peers and subordinates) before and during
organizational changes, to suggest explanations for differences
and similarities in perceptions of leadership that occur at different
points during the change (base-line, mid-point and post-change),
and ultimately to provide useful information about changes in
perceptions of leadership for organizations planning to implement
future organizational change activities. In this study, leadership
is defined as skills and behaviors that assist an individual to
influence people within the organization. This study focuses on
planned, rather than unplanned change.
Keywords: I.D.; II.D,P; III. QL; IV. change, planning, reorganization,
restructuring; transformation; V. administration, leadership;
VI.SC; VII.NA.
Noftsinger, J. B. J. (1997). Public Service Partnerships
and Higher Education Restructuring in the Commonwealth of Virginia,
Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Virginia.
The purpose of this study was to explore the nature and implementation
strategies of public service programs that were reported as part
of institutional restructuring plans for the fifteen state-supported
institutions in Virginia. The plans were required by the State
Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) as a part of
their public higher education systemic restructuring initiative.
The study also sought to determine if these programs were developed
or implemented in response to the restructuring criteria and to
learn more about implementation strategies, facilitators, and
impediments to public service program development and implementation.
This study generally employed qualitative research methods. However,
some quantitative methods were used to supplement the research.
Information from the institutional restructuring reports and 36
informants indicated that 221 programs were reported as a part
of the restructuring initiative. The data indicated that institutions
were teaming with a variety of partners to develop and implement
programs. The data revealed proactive and entrepreneurial engagement
on the part of the academy. The most common program goal was human
resource development, and the most frequent target audience was
persons currently in the workforce. The most prevalent organizational
home for programs was academic departments. However, programs
were found to be housed in more central organizational units at
smaller institutions. The restructuring criteria did appear to
have an influence on programmatic activity. Informants reported
that 18% of the programs were developed or implemented as a direct
response to the mandate. Another 26% of the programs were indirectly
influenced by the criteria, usually through enhanced program awareness.
Most programs were funded from institutional coffers. State and
federal governments were also sources of program funds. The most
consistent program impediment was clearly inadequate financial
resources, followed by the closely related problem of bureaucratic
rules and funding technicalities. The most pervasive program facilitator
was the high level institutional support of the senior administration,
especially presidents, vice presidents, provosts, and deans. The
support/dedication of individual faculty members was also consistently
reported as a program facilitator. The concept of organizational
agility was developed in the study and was observed in 60% of
the programs.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. restructuring, strategy;
V. alliance or partnership, administration, governance, resource
allocation; VI. MC; VII. M.
Norrell, T. H. (1993). The history of Wofford College: A
small college in the context of change (South Carolina). C. W. Director,
Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of South Carolina.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the changing mission
and past institutional changes at Wofford College, a church-related
liberal arts college in South Carolina. Wofford College has prospered
despite the drastic changes in American society since 1854. The
origins and history of the College were traced to establish the
past mission and process of change at the College. The primary
foci of this study were to examine the changing mission, curriculum,
presidential leadership, and institutional strategies for change
in the period from 1854 to 1992. Wofford College was established
at the bequest of Benjamin Wofford, with funds from his estate.
This was accomplished through the action of the South Carolina
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Benjamin
Wofford established the College to provide an education in literature,
classics, and science. The curriculum was similar to other liberal
arts colleges of the day. Despite changes in the curriculum over
the years, Wofford College maintained its identity as a traditional
church-related liberal arts college until 1968. The financial
health and enrollment of the College was never seriously threatened
during this period with the exception of the era of the American
Civil War. During most of its history, the values and curriculum
of this institution were seldom questioned. Since 1945, both society
at large and higher education in particular have undergone drastic
changes at an unparalleled rate. The G.I. Bill brought a large
number of students into institutions of higher education. The
advent of the atom bomb, followed by Sputnik, began curricular
changes at all levels emphasizing mathematics and science. Since
then, the Civil Rights Movement, campus unrest, financial constraints,
and even coeducation have influenced Wofford. This study examined
how these changes affected Wofford College, its curriculum, its
programs, and its organizational structure. It also assessed whether
institutional changes were simply a response to the demands of
the supra-environment or were implemented as part of a proactive
strategy of planned change.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. NE; IV. change, environmental change;
V. academic workplace, administration, climate/culture, curriculum,
leadership, mission; VI. SC; VII. LA.
Nuske, C. J. (1993). The role of management in the planned
change process: An analytical case study of the instituting of a
computer initiative in a college. J. B. B. Major Adviser, Unpublished
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Virginia.
Schools are rushing into instituting innovative programs without
understanding the complexities of implementing and managing change.
Unfortunately, most change projects have failed. To increase the
likelihood for success, managerial leaders of planned change need
guidance in managing the change process. This analytical case
study focuses on the role of management in the planned educational
change process. The case example is the management of a large-scale
"computer/networking initiative" being launched across
the disciplines of a college. The innovative program advocates
student PC ownership, curricular computing, and campus networking
to enhance learning, spread knowledge, and foster a collaborative
learning environment. Crisis management, political turbulence,
controversy, and challenges to authority for project championship
characterized this intriguing case. Critical factors were (1)
not knowing how to manage the planned change process in the face
of such a demanding innovation and the political dynamics of the
college environment; and (2) management that at times appeared
to be motivated by reasons tangential to the tenets of the program.
This study reviews the planned change literature extensively,
synthesizes a managerial model, analyzes the case, and compares
the case back to the literature and the model. It draws many conclusions
relative to the (1) roles of the project leader and project champion;
(2) innovation demands, successes, shortfalls, and congruency
with resources and the College's culture; (3) adequacy of the
model and planned change stage designations; (4) characteristics
of the loosely coupled organization; (5) politics; (6) external
forces encountered (like the economy and demographics); (7) managerial
errors and crisis management; and (8) an organizational governance
structure for managing planned change. Scholars of Educational
Technology have, for years, studied innovation demands, diffusion,
"process" variables, and even project management. I
suggest that these are important, but in the sense that they are
components of the planned change process. These components need
coordination and monitoring in light of the context--management.
There is a dearth of studies relevant to the management of planned
change in Education, especially in higher education. This study
addresses this void. It is essential reading for change managers;
and professors, researchers, and students of administration, planned
change, or educational technology.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. NE; IV. change, technology; V. administration,
climate/culture, information technology, management systems; VI.
SC; VII. NA.
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Oakley, K. L. (1996). Different destinies:
Organizational transformation at two midwestern Catholic women's
colleges, 1965-1990. K. S. L. Advisor, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation,
University of Minnesota.
This study focuses on processes by which two Midwestern private,
Catholic women's liberal arts colleges offering day undergraduate
degree programs attempted to reinterpret or change their historic
missions in order to maintain or expand enrollments in the face
of declining markets for their services during the 1965- 1990
period. Using an interpretive case study methodology, data were
gathered and analyzed from two such colleges in one Midwestern
state. These schools, "St. Clare's" and "St. Margaret's,"
both faced similar significant shifts in student demographics
and cultural/social climate for their programs, but responded
in different ways, with different outcomes. By 1990, St. Margaret's
enjoyed stable or growing enrollments in its day undergraduate,
weekend, and graduate programs, while St. Clare's had closed in
1989. This study details the nature of the demographic shifts
and cultural/social changes these colleges faced, the reinterpretations
of mission that occurred in both academic and co-curricular life,
the processes by which such reinterpretation occurred, and the
outcomes for each institution. Data were gathered from 22 open-ended
interviews with key informants, as well as from archival and documentary
sources at each college. Findings are analyzed in terms of six
themes in the data concerning mission, sponsorship, competition/collaboration,
change process, leadership, and administrative practices. Learnings
from the study suggest the importance to small private colleges
with unique missions of (1) ongoing processes of mission reinterpretation,
(2) development and management of mutually beneficial relationships
with other institutions, (3) evolutionary strategic planning,
and (4) facilitative and inclusive models of leadership.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. environmental change, transformation;
V. administration, climate/culture, mission; VI. MC; VII. LA
Olsen, B. E. (1993). Paradigm shifts in training and development:
A naturalistic study of management change during organization transformation,
Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Oregon State University.
The need for organizational transformation is a response to
a larger paradigm shift occurring in science and society. It represents
a shift from the mechanistic model to a systems, holistic model.
The purpose of this study was to determine patterns and practices
that limit training effectiveness when facilitating a major organizational
paradigm shift. A literature survey identified major clashes between
those values and tools of organizational models based on the new
paradigm and those of bureaucracy, bureaucratic management and
training relationships, domains and dynamics. Participant observation
and interviews were the methods used to collect data from a study
group of 15 upper middle managers involved as a pilot management
team in the first year of TQM implementation at a public university.
The group was closely observed during five months of training
and 10 participants were interviewed at the end of the first year
of implementation. Their stories revealed four obstacles to transformation:
(1) managers were coerced into complying, change was imposed from
above, there were no appropriate support systems and fear was
endemic; (2) the management team had more difficulty than non-management
TQM teams learning the mechanics of TQM, claiming they didn't
have necessary learning skills; (3) managers protected themselves
by rewriting the rules of TQM to fundamentally preserve the status
quo; (4) managers defined the TQM effort a success without substantive
personal change, pushing responsibility down and praise up in
the organization. These obstacles were inherent in the bureaucratic
system that effectively protected the managers from substantive
change. The conclusion was drawn that four conditions were missing
for a major organizational paradigm shift: (1) a willingness to
risk, coupled with organizational support; (2) deep learning skills
that provide personal context for learning; (3) shared vision,
and; (4) personal mastery. Training patterns and practices reflected
the same missing conditions. The training program was powerless
in the transformation effort because: (1) it modeled and reproduced
the old instead of the new wisdom, values, tools and ways of thinking
and talking, during the transformation process; (2) the learning
capacity implicit in the training program was limited in the same
ways management was, by missing support structures, willingness
and ability to change, and shared vision; (3) it depended on traditional
relationships and dynamics, despite new domain, and was not seen
as a credible transformation agent.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. reorganization, quality improvement,
technology; V. climate/culture, information technology, leadership,
management systems, mission; VI. SC; VII. R.
Ordorika, I. (1999). Power, politics and change in higher
education: The case of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University.
The connection between political processes and change in higher
education from an historical perspective is made in this case
study of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
The focus is on politics, power and conflict in higher education,
and the study constitutes an effort to explain why increasing
demands have not produced rapid responses from the university.
The lack of response has generated internal and external tension.
As well as using the case study, the author relies on an alternative
theoretical construct to generalize patterns to other cases and
institutions. Three issues of major relevance are addressed: 1)
the construction of a conceptual model that focuses on change,
a consequence of politics and conflict in higher education; 2)
an effort to reassess the limits of University autonomy and the
relation between UNAM and the Federal Government in Mexico; and
3) a study of the process of change at the UNAM.
Keywords: I. D; II. D, ; III. QL; IV. change, ; V. administration,
governance, leadership, ; VI. SC; VII. R.
Patrick, S. K. (1997). A qualitative study
of faculty experiences during organizational change at one regional
research university. A. W. C. Director, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation,
George Mason University.
This dissertation addresses a critical problem facing colleges
and universities as they approach the 21st century, i.e., how
faculty cope with the changing dimensions of academic life during
periods of restructuring. Building on the seminal work of Bowen
and Schuster (1986), this study examines the impact of environmental
and institutional change on the quality of faculty lives during
the 1994-1995 academic year at one regional research university.
As institutions change in response to both external pressures
(legislative, societal and technological) and internal pressures
(accountability, faculty reward structure, student diversity,
financial constraints), there is every indication that the nature
of academic life will be different (Bensimon, 1996; Zemsky, 1996).
Understanding the impact of organizational restructuring on the
quality of academic life within institutions of higher education
is a first step in identifying venues for change and is a major
focus of this study. Through an open-ended faculty survey and
a series of open-ended interviews, faculty participants described
academic lives that were continually responding to external and
internal pressures for change. The findings suggest that faculty
accept the values of traditional academic life even though their
experiences reveal a struggle between the past and the present
as recently suggested by William Plater (1995). From this study
it is evident that executive administrators must more clearly
articulate how individual faculty roles fit into the institution's
mission, and they must recognize the importance of faculty development
activities to help faculty effectively meet the teaching, research
and academic life challenges facing them in the next millennium.
As higher education searches for its place in a highly technical,
global environment, more research into academic lives at different
types of institutions and in different regions can illuminate
the realities of the academic experience and help lead to a better
understanding of how to manage change and academic life in the
academy.
Keywords: I. D; II. D, P; III. QL; IV. change, environmental
change, restructuring; V. academic workplace, faculty, mission;
VI. SC; VII. R.
Radtke, E. C. (1997). Organizational culture
and attitudes toward merger in three public higher education systems.
V. D. M. Major Advisers and A. Melissa S, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation,
University of Minnesota.
The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the
attitudes of administrators from three higher education systems
which were in the process of being merged into a single new governance
structure and the relationship of the perceptions of organizational
cultures of the administrators of those three systems on their
attitudes toward the merger. The population surveyed included
administrators from the campuses and system offices of the three
systems. Subjects completed two surveys, one examining attitudes
toward the merger and the other examining perceptions of organizational
culture. Results of the surveys were subjected to various statistical
methodologies. Results of the study indicated that significant
differences existed in the attitudes held toward the merger by
administrators from the three separate systems with one system
more pessimistic than the other two. While respondents from the
three systems held similar perceptions about their organizational
cultures, one system considered its culture to be more constructive.
A clear relationship can be seen between attitudes toward merger
and perceptions of organizational culture; constructive views
of culture are significantly associated with optimistic opinions
about the merger. This relationship, however, was only true of
certain attitudes dealing with more internal system issues. Organizational
culture was not seen as a major factor on attitudes relative to
the broader societal impact of the merger. When relationships
between culture and attitudes about merger were analyzed by system,
different patterns were present for each system. Dramatic differences
were also identified when system respondents were divided into
campus versus system office groups.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QN; IV. merger, reorganization; V.
administration, climate/culture, governance; VI. SC; VII. NA.
Ricker, D. H. E. (1991). Restructuring a college: Communication
of change in a major university. W. G. T. Adviser, Unpublished Doctoral
Dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University.
The research focus of this thesis was how communication functions
in understanding the actions of stakeholders involved in the process
of institutional change. The study centered on the transformation
of the College of Home Economics to the College of Human Development
at Penn State during the years 1967 to 1970. Between these years,
a planned, holistic change took place as all the departments in
the former College of Home Economics were dissolved and four new
divisional units created. This transformation produced a markedly
different college in the human services professions. In my research,
I analyzed how communication played a role in the institutionalization
of change when the organizational participants of a large research
university transformed one college into another college. In doing
so, I had two goals for the research: (a) I employed qualitative
methods to investigate organizational communication in a university
setting, and (b) I analyzed how communication operates in the
process of organizational change. The specific research questions
investigated in the study were (a) how did the various stakeholders
perceive of the change, (b) how and what did the various stakeholders
communicate, and (c) what are the implications for different constituencies
in higher education about the effective management of change?
Among the findings of the thesis were that successful organizational
change requires long-range planning; and it is important to incorporate
realistic expectations in carrying out the process of change.
There needs to be consistency between that is said and what is
actually done, and an understanding that when the structure of
the new enterprise conflicts with the established values and culture
of the organization, dissonance occurs. Information and effective
public communication are important in facilitating change. Recognizing
the importance of established relationships and including all
stakeholders in the exchange of information are advantageous in
institutionalizing change. Planned, comprehensive external communication
with outside constituencies is a key component in academic transformations.
The findings suggested an overall strategy for change which includes
the following three components: Recognize the culture of the organization,
including its history, traditions, and values; create an effective,
positive, communication climate; and identify and consult with
all constituent groups on whom the change will have an impact.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. change, planning, restructuring;
V. administration, climate/culture, management systems; VI. SC;
VII. R.
Robertson, L. D. (1990). Organizational adaptation to environmental
change: A study of college admissions. L. M. Adviser, Unpublished
Doctoral Dissertation, Stanford University.
Students are a primary resource for institutions of higher education,
and the changing needs and characteristics of students are also
a primary motivation for changes in the organizational structure
of colleges and universities. The characteristics of prospective
students for American higher education have changed periodically
from World War II to the present. The large influx of veterans
immediately following the War was followed by an even larger cohort--the
"baby boomers". However, the 1970s saw the traditional
college-age pool peak and begin to decline. Additionally, the
1980s saw women outnumber men in institutions of higher education
for the first time since the War, and the proportion of ethnic
minorities in the traditional college-age pool showed steady growth.
During this same time period, an administrative specialization
in admissions developed in many U.S. colleges and universities.
The emergence of this occupational form motivated a 1964 study,
The Admissions Officer in American Colleges, the first comprehensive
analysis of this type of administrator. A replication of this
study looked at admissions officers in 1975-6 in order to identify
what changes had taken place. The current study, using 1987-8
data, builds on this line of research to identify changes and
trends, and to analyze those changes and trends in light of three
organizational theories. The three theories--population ecology
theory, resource dependence theory, and institutionalization theory--all
focus on the interaction of organizations and their environments.
The primary purpose of the study was to examine changes and trends
and to see how these comported with what the theories predicted.
The primary source of data for the current study, as was the case
in the prior two studies, was a survey directed to the universe
of chief admissions officers in U.S., not-for-profit, baccalaureate-degree-granting
colleges and universities. An initial and two follow-up mailings
generated a 71% response rate. The current study found that the
increase in the percentage of colleges and universities employing
admissions specialists continued, and that this is the dominant
form of organizational structure within the population. The study
revealed changes in the role, emphases and characteristics of
chief admissions officers.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. environmental change, strategy;
V. administration, resource allocation; VI. SU; VII. MC.
Rosenzweig, J. S. (1997). The life and times of innovative
colleges and universities: Factors affecting the endurance and transformation
of institutional reforms in higher education, Unpublished Doctoral
Dissertation, The Claremont Graduate University.
The goal of Rosenzweig's dissertation was to examine six innovative
or experimental higher education institutions to determine how
or why they have preserved their founding missions in the face
of a changing and often non-supportive social, political and economic
climate. A total of 151 founding or long-time faculty members,
administrators, students, alumnae/i and trustees were interviewed
during her four-five day site visits. Additional data was provided
by observational research and archival document review which was
analyzed inductively both within and across institutions. Rosenzweig
notes six fundamental challenges that are currently facing distinctive
institutions: 1) retirements of founding faculty, 2) campus image
problems, 3) student attrition, 4) onerous faculty workloads,
5) faculty immobility, and 6) the challenge to remain both innovative
and innovating. In order for these institutions to survive, the
author calls for national recognition and promotion of creative
alternatives for higher education.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. environmental change, reform,
transformation; V. climate/culture, faculty, mission; VI. MC;
VII. NA.
Schrum, L. M. (1991). Innovation and the
process of change: A case study in distance education, Unpublished
Doctoral Dissertation: University of Oregon.
The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze one state's
efforts to distribute education, training, and information services
to its citizens by initiating an innovative state agency for distance
learning. My goal was to offer meaning to a complex educational
innovation as it emerged amidst political forces, to describe
the interaction between the people and organizations at the state
level, and to lend understanding of the goals and purposes of
those organizations responsible for implementing this project.
This study provides a broad perspective of the forces and interactions
which have influenced that implementation. ED-NET, Oregon's new
agency, has a goal of equal access to resources for all Oregonians
using advanced communication technologies. This complex state-wide
technological highway for delivery of courses and teleconferences
required coordination of multiple educational institutions, governmental
agencies, private businesses, and legislative processes. Initial
planning included the development of three separate networks,
each with hardware and programming requirements. This case study
of the development and implementation of ED-NET uses an ecological
approach to provide a three year examination of the process. My
attendance at inter- and intra-organizational meetings, ED-NET
Board meetings, and legislative sessions provided an understanding
of the forces which influenced decisions and policy. Interviews
of participants and other key people in governmental positions
and at institutions of higher and K-12 education offered an insider's
view of the proceedings. I have chosen individual institutions
for further in-depth examination. I also observed demonstrations
of ED-NET programming. The results of the study demonstrate the
recurring nature of problems associated with implementation of
educational innovations. The building of cooperative constituencies
among disparate organizational cultures requires specific strategies.
Moreover, significant time for development is necessary but seldom
allowed to the initiating agency. It is most important to recognize
the pressures which impact educational innovations. Educational
organizations, political forces, individual needs, and economic
realities constantly buffeted ED-NET. These forces intensified
difficulties inherent in the integration and implementation of
new technologies into established organizations. This study concludes
with suggestions and recommendations for future technological
change efforts.
Keywords: I.D; II. E; III. QL; IV. change, planning, technology;
V. academic workplace, administration, governance, information
technology; VI. SC; VII. NA.
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Sellars, J. D. (1992). Dysfunctional organizational
attributes of small private colleges during periods of decline (financial
decline), Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation: University of Missouri
- Kansas City.
This study investigated twelve potentially dysfunctional organizational
attributes in small private colleges in the United States during
periods of stable or declining financial resources. A total of
1312 senior managers and middle managers at 159 small private
colleges participated in the study. The colleges were evenly divided
between the four categories of decline: incremental growth, slow
or no growth, moderate decline, and severe decline. The twelve
potentially dysfunctional organizational attributes were assessed
by a questionnaire developed by the National Center for Higher
Education Management Systems and modified by the author. Results
of the study indicated that senior managers perceptions toward
the college were more optimistic than middle managers. The results
also indicated that there was no systematic pattern of variation
in the mean scores of potentially dysfunctional organizational
attributes between all levels of decline. That is, relations were
not present in a linear pattern that would suggest the theory
that as organizations decline they necessarily confront proportionally
more potentially dysfunctional organizational attributes at each
level of decline. Additional analysis showed that there were no
consistent meaningful patterns relating endowment levels to potentially
dysfunctional organizational attributes. Challenges that face
small private colleges involve administrators' ability and willingness
to take corrective action in responding to environmental threats
while being informed on the effects of the potentially dysfunctional
organizational attributes (centralization, no long-term planning,
employee turnover, resistance to change, loss of slack, and fragmented
pluralism).
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. change, environmental change,
planning; V. administration, climate/culture, management systems,
resource allocation; VI. SU; VII. MC.
Sheski, H. D. (1999). Leadership, collaboration and transformation.
Unpublished Doctoral
Dissertation, University of New Mexico.
A portfolio of work over a four year time period contains three
sections. The first describes and documents the author's knowledge
of, reflections on, and applications of theories and principles
of leadership and transformational change, as well as the author's
own philosophy of education. Overviews and syntheses of the course
content for the degree program are included, as well as descriptions
of field-based applications of course content conducted by the
author during the program. The capstone study in this portfolio
project is a study that documents and analyzes efforts to build
a collaborative relationship between two institutions - a health
careers department at a community college and an alternative high
school. This study, entitled "School-College Collaboration:
The Partnership Project" resulted in the development of a
course for the high school students that explores health career
options. The course was team-taught by faculty from each school
and focused on teaching high school students about the benefits
of a post-secondary education, how to access this type of education,
what is necessary to prepare for a college education and also
how to improve their own personal health. The co-teaching project,
facilitated and led by the author, was transformational in changing
the relationship among members of the two institutions.
Keywords: I. D; II. D; III. QL; IV. change, planning, merger;
V.academic workplace, faculty, leadership, alliance or partnership;
VI. SC; VII.CC.
Simsek, H. (1992). Organizational change as a paradigm shift:
Analysis of organizational change processes in a large, public university
by using a paradigm-based change model. V. D. M. Adviser, Unpublished
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Minnesota.
This study investigated the organizational change process in
a large, public, land grant university by using Thomas Kuhn's
paradigm change model. The study sought to explain organizational
change as shifting patterns of organizational paradigms where
a commonly shared organizational world view or belief system is
transformed in a revolutionary manner. A paradigm change model
of organizational transformation was developed and explored by
analyzing the university's strategic change process. Interviewing
and computer-content analyses were used to collect data. Qualitative
analysis revealed that four metaphorical images best described
the University before 1985: Ameba, elephant, octopus, and a wildly
growing garden. These metaphors matched strongly with the four
central exemplars drawn from the old paradigm: Teaching and service
emphasis, large size, growth and expansion, and decentralized/autonomous
decision-making. Of anomalies, a close relationship was found
between exemplars and anomalies. Many exemplars later turned into
anomalies. It was concluded that anomalies are most likely the
extended exemplars. From the nature of exemplars and anomalies,
the study discovered a widely shared myth--a belief system--that
was highly unique to a land grant, public university: populism.
This populist myth turned into an "entrepreneurial populism"
during the growth years after the Second World War. To solve anomalies,
there was just one unchallenged paradigm candidate in the mid
1980s: "Commitment to Focus," a call for substantial
reform. The new paradigm emphasized more selectivity in admission,
more quality emphasis, more centralization, lean organization,
focused mission, more financial management and a stronger research
and publication orientation. This new belief system was named
the "managed populism." The results of the computer-content
analysis generally supported the qualitative findings. In addition,
it revealed a sharp difference between hard sciences and social
sciences faculty in terms of the use of language and perception
of reality. A number of conclusions and implications were drawn
from the study to revolutionary change and strategic planning
in organizations as well as an assessment of emerging paradigm
in the American higher education.
Keywords: I. JE; II. E; III. QN; IV. change, strategy, planning;
V. climate/culture, administration; VI. SC; VII. R.
Smith, D. M. (2000). Leadership and professional competencies:
Serving higher education in an era of change. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation, University of Pennsylvania.
Higher education has experienced substantial external pressures
on multiple fronts in the last decade. Decreases in public funding
have created fiscal problems. Students are struggling to cope
with increased costs. The student population is changing as the
country's demographic make up changes. The education market has
changed in response to technological innovations. Leaders of institutions
must have multiple competencies to deal with this multitude of
challenges. Barriers to dramatic change are present at educational
institutions at structural, cultural and personal levels. Effective
leadership, both at the presidential level and among the core
of college administrators at all other levels, needs to use a
full set of key competencies in order to succeed within this highly
demanding, change-oriented system. The author identifies specific
competencies needed by administrative leaders and professional
staff, by collecting data from interviews with leaders representing
a broad group of departments and functions at the University of
Pennsylvania. Information was gathered in two specific areas -
managerial perspectives relative to how people experienced working
within a change-oriented system, and key competencies needed to
succeed. Two competency models were generated as a result of the
analysis of the data - a Leadership Competency Model and a Professional
Competency Model. Common attributes found in each model include:
Leadership, Building and Managing Relationships, Cognitive, Personal
Responsibility and Fundamental Skills Clusters. The author concludes
that individuals who integrate competencies from these clusters
will position themselves well to respond effectively to external
pressures.
Keywords: I. D; II. D, C; III. QL; IV. planning, strategy; V.
administration,, leadership, ; VI. SC; VII. R.
Snyder, J. P. (1990). The process and organizational culture
considerations when strategically changing a community college:
A case study of two examples. R. P. C. Director, Unpublished Doctoral
Dissertation, University of Maryland College Park.
Snyder used the context of two nearly identical community colleges
that implemented planned, voluntary and institution-wide strategic
changes to test two popular theories of strategic change: H. I.
Ansoff's process theory and Rosabeth Moss Kanter's cultural model.
Following a nine-state survey of community college presidents,
system coordinators and higher education scholars, two community
colleges were selected for the study. Both were public, comprehensive
institutions, of nearly the same size and age, and within the
same state system. Both had newly appointed presidents. However,
one president was able to maintain institutional cohesion and
his own popularity while implementing substantive change of the
institution's internal character while the other was forced to
resign leaving a scarred institution in his wake. Snyder found
that a composite of the two models best explains the strategic
changes than either model alone. She also found that though the
two models taken together do not predict whether strategic change
will in, in fact, be implemented, the composite does provide insight
as to the organizational ease or difficulty of implementing strategic
change and the personal success of the president in the effort.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. change, planning, strategy;
V. administration, climate/culture, leadership; VI. MC; VII. CC.
Sodano, C.G. (1998). Introducing institutional change through
the opening of a community college branch campus: Losses for gains.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Widener University.
The author uses the opening of a branch campus of a community
college (Montgomery County Community College in Montgomery County,
Pennsylvania) to do a descriptive study of transformational change,
focusing on the culture of the institution. The College President,
the President's staff and the West Campus Administrative team
were chosen as informants for the study. Patterns of cooperation,
conflict and change are observed, using a critical theory approach
to examine the identified patterns for evidence of transformation,
consensus, collaboration and adaptation. It is realized that participants
in this kind of transformation experience both gains and losses,
and losses experienced within the context of concession are examined
for their motivational influences on individual behavior and subsequent
effect on institutionally experience outcomes. The author was
a participant observer in the process, and used a critical ethnographic
approach for the extraction, analysis and interpretation of meaning.
In addition to observation, the author used artifacts, interviews
and narratives interpreted through discourse analysis. As community
colleges undergo continual expansion to service more and more
diverse
populations, it is important to study the issues of conflict and
cooperation that surface during these types of changes.
Keywords: I. D; II. D; III. QL; IV. change, planning, restructuring,
transformation; V. administration, culture, governance, leadership,
; VI. SC; VII. CC.
Staehle, M. C. M. (1998). Adaptation to organizational change:
A study of middle managers' coping styles and their correlates.
E. N. Adviser, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Case Western Reserve
University.
This dissertation addresses how middle managers cope with organizational
change, specifically focusing on encouraging proactive coping
styles. This is an important topic for research given the amount
and rate of change in today's organizational life. The literature
on coping suggests that we arrive at our workplaces with particular
coping styles which are relatively stable. How can managers of
organizational change understand coping styles well enough to
prepare people for major organizational change and foster proactively?
This dissertation looks at coping style correlates in organizational
life: how one has dealt with role conflicts in the past, one's
experience of current role conflict, the extent to which one feels
valued by the organization (organization-based self-esteem (OBSE)),
(one's positive and negative job affect, one's status in the organization,
how well one's individual needs are met going through the change
process, whether or not one perceives the (organization's culture
as encouraging proactively, and the way in which organizational
change is managed. Forty middle managers (foremen and engineers)
working in a medium-sized, non-union, Midwest manufacturing plant
participated in this research study, representing about half of
the supervisory group in the plant at the time of the research.
Participants were interviewed in the Fall of 1996 prior to plant
redesign, and in the Spring of 1997 entering into redesign. Information
from the first interviews was used to develop an extensive follow-up
survey which participants filled out in December of 1996. Along
with the survey, participants filled out the OBSE measure, a role
conflict measure, a job affect measure, and responded to four
role conflict scenarios ("Think of a time when ... How did
you respond?"). From the survey, a subset of items was extracted
and used to develop a measure of "Propensity for Proactivity".
Lastly, a thematic analysis of OBSE items was done. Results of
the research show support for the stability of coping styles over
time, and consistency across measures: participants' proactivity
ratings from the interviews, Propensity for Proactivity scores,
and responses to role conflict scenarios were all significantly
intercorrelated. One of the most significant findings related
to the importance of OBSE in coping styles: the higher the OBSE,
the more proactive the coping style. Also, while most of the participants'
coping styles were consistent over the course of the interviews,
for those people whose coping styles did change, changes well
attributed to OBSE- related management cues. Results also highlight
the significant negative correlation between the amount of role
conflict present in one's job and their OBSE. Propensity for Proactivity,
general job satisfaction, and job affect. Clearly, role conflict
has a deleterious impact on these variables. Study limitations
and implications for managing major organizational change are
discussed.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. BT; IV. change, strategy; V. administration,
management systems; VI. SU; VII. NA.
Stevens, L. (1996). Case study of the role of organization
culture in a community-technical college merger. S. M. Sponsor,
Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Columbia University Teachers
College.
Organizational culture is regarded as a significant factor in
the failure of numerous mergers in the corporate world. However,
in this descriptive case study of the merger of a public community
college with a technical college, the college President was able
to create a positive merger culture. Participants asserted that
the President's hands-on consultation of all the individuals involved
in the merger made them "Number One in Merger." The
study uses Joanne Martin's (1988, 1992) three- perspective framework
for culture, which attempts to resolve some of the issues found
in the study of cultures in organizations. For Martin, organizational
cultures simultaneously exhibit characteristics of leader-driven
and organization wide-consensus (the Integration perspective)
and have subcultures (the Differentiation perspective) and elements
of cultural ambiguity (the Fragmentation perspective). In keeping
with this framework, in addition to the positive, leader-created
and -driven merger culture, participants reported some confusion
about new work roles and procedures and a sense of loss in keeping
with the Fragmentation perspective. The presence of several different
unions added an element of Differentiation to the cultural landscape.
Much of the day-to-day life at the college was structured by these
powerful subcultures; participants routinely took their personnel
problems to the unions, which frequently solved problems informally
and in-house. The case study suggests some ways to manage organizational
culture during such difficult change processes as merger. In addition,
it provides verification of the Martin three-perspective framework.
Keywords: I. D; II. D, P; III. NE; IV. merger; V. academic workplace,
climate/culture, leadership, management systems; VI. SC; VII.
CC.
Studer E., E. (1996). The social transformation of four-year
united states women's colleges, 1960 to 1990. T. A. D. Supervisor,
Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Duke University.
This dissertation examines the fundamental transformation of
an important organizational form in the higher education field:
coeducation adoption by four- year U.S. women's colleges from
1960 to 1990. Using institutional theory from the literature on
organizations, I develop and test a framework of organizational
change that proposes both organizational legitimacy and the legitimacy
of organizational changes affect the likelihood of organizational
change. In addition, I test whether organizational adversity,
measured by a declining customer base and financial adversity,
affect the likelihood of women's colleges adopting coeducation.
Methodologically, this dissertation uses both population level
analyses and case studies to investigate coeducation adoption
by women's colleges. At the population level, discrete-time event-history
models revealed mixed effects of measures of organizational legitimacy
on adopting coeducation. Public women's colleges were more likely
to adopt coeducation than private women's, however, college prestige
and denominational affiliation had no effect on adopting coeducation.
Fine-grained analyses showed Catholic women's colleges were slightly
more likely to adopt coeducation than Protestant women's colleges.
Among measures of the legitimacy of adopting coeducation, experience
admitting and educating men, Vassar College adopting coeducation,
and government actions promoting coeducation increased the likelihood
of women's college adopting coeducation. Among organizational
adversity measures, enrollment declines increased the likelihood
of adopting coeducation and large budget surpluses decreased the
likelihood of adopting coeducation. The case studies revealed
restrictive provisions in Smith College's charter and opportunities
for coeducational student exchanges contributed to the College
remaining a women's college. In contrast, Vassar College lacked
similar restrictive charter provisions and student exchange opportunities,
named a supporter of coeducation President, and promoted other
significant changes over the study period. Results of this dissertation
lead to several useful new insights concerning organizational
change. First, both institutional forces and technical forces
affected the likelihood of women's colleges adopting coeducation.
Second, future studies should examine effects of regulative, normative,
and cognitive institutional forces on organizational change simultaneously.
Third, additional analyses monitoring the legitimacy of women's
colleges would increase our understanding of the relationship
between changing social forces and the evolution of an important
organizational form.
Keywords: I. D; II. C, E; III. BT; IV. change, transformation;
V. administration; VI. MC; VII. LA.
Thomas, J. M. (1991). Context and meaning:
A dialectical study of leadership and change in a small religious
college, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation: The Ohio State University.
This study attempts to understand the role of the new leadership
in the change process. Specifically it focuses on the relationship
between organizational leadership and organizational structure.
This case study offers an example of the complex nature of new
leadership influence and campus response. Data were collected
at a small religious college which was experiencing change in
leadership. This qualitative study utilized a dialectic mode to
maximize the exploration of contradictions that coexist within
the organization. Thomas sought to analyze these differences without
attempting to create artificial consistencies. Ultimately, Thomas
found that a new leader is obligated to give meaning to the change
process. He suggests that the creation of a context for change
empowers the whole campus community to function as informed members
of the organization.
Keywords: I. D; II. C, E; III. BT; IV. change; V. leadership;
VI. SC; VII. LA.
Thomas, J. P. (1997). Innovation conditions and processes
used in the adoption of institutional effectiveness in two-year
colleges of the southern association of colleges and schools accreditation
region. B. M.-W. Director, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, North
Carolina State University.
A theoretical framework was developed to answer three questions:
(1) Are there literature-based reform conditions and organizational
change theories which can be used to assess the processes used
to adopt institutional effectiveness reforms in community colleges
in the SACS accreditation region? (2) Do the reform support activities
or conditions described in the literature help to explain or predict
the level of adoption of institutional effectiveness? (3) Can
community colleges in the SACS accreditation region be classified
by levels of adoption for institutional effectiveness progress
based on the perceptions of participants in the change process?
The study identified "best practices" from empirical
research in educational reform and organizational change literature
on innovation adoption. These practices were used to measure the
perceptions of administrators and faculty concerning the adoption
of institutional effectiveness an each campus. Six factors selected
for study were: (1) leadership interventions or behaviors, (2)
pro-innovation organization culture and climate, (3) staff involvement,
(4) staff development, (5) origin of force to change, and (6)
time to adopt. A series of 24 questions were developed to measure
adoption of the SACS Criteria by community colleges in the region.
An adoption scheme was developed by combining question responses
into an index. The index ranked colleges into a superficial, moderate,
or deep level of adoption. To ensure perceptions were adequately
represented, three questionnaires were required to develop each
college index. Ninety-eight percent of colleges (N = 73) returned
the required surveys. In 1996 a moderate depth of adoption was
perceived by respondents. Leadership interventions, pro-innovation
culture, staff involvement and development, and time to adopt
were found significant to the level of adoption. Origin of force
to change was not found significant. Culture, time, and staff
development explained more about adoption level. Administrators
generally rated adoption level higher than faculty members. Respondent's
length of time of employment wasn't significant to perception
of adoption level. Eight recommendations were made for further
investigation.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. change; V. administration,
climate/culture, leadership; VI. MC; VII. CC.
Thornton, M.E. (1999). Leadership, finance, and the revival
of St. Edward's College: New ideas and models for higher education
financial reform. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Fordham Unviersity.
Focusing on leadership, organizational change and financial management,
the author uses both a quantitative and qualitative approach in
examining the revitalization efforts of St. Edward's College over
a six-year period. The quantitative approach to the study involved
analyzing the finances of the institution using a Higher Education
Finance Model (HEFM) developed by the author. The author analyzed
the revenues and expenditures of the college based upon Source,
Function, Location and Time. It also used Functions, Subfunctions,
and Detail functions to provide in-depth analysis of each area
of the college. The qualitative approach involved investigating
the leadership decisions made by the college president during
the six-year period. The author looked at the president's efforts
to create vision, achieve mobilization, build a measurement system,
achieve market focus, create a reward system and develop the organization.
From examining the fiscal data in conjunction with the president's
leadership strategies, the author found that the ability of an
institution to rebound from financial crisis hinges in part on
leadership having appropriate financial information available,
as well as on courageous leadership in decision-making. The financial
implications of the president's decisions could be traced through
the positive results seen by the institution - a multi-year surplus,
continued growth in enrollment and in the quality of the student
body, increased services to students while maintaining low overhead.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL, QN; IV. planning, restructuring,
transformation; V. administration, governance, leadership, resource
allocations; VI. SC; VII. LA.
Titus, S.E. (1998). The restructuring goals of Minnesota
State Colleges and Universities: Exploring the I nterpretations
of institutional presidents. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
University of Virgnia.
This study explores the vital role of the president in the institutional
change and transformation process. Current environmental pressures
on the institution will make restructuring of higher education
institutions a necessity in the foreseeable future, and presidents
are viewed as the key actors at the institutional level. The study
uses the merging of three independent systems in the state of
Minnesota, into one new system (Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
- MnSCU) in the mid 1990s. Nine presidents were interviewed about
their experiences during the merger and the accompanying change
process. Organizational transformation (Levy and Merry, 1986)
served as the conceptual framework for the analysis of the data
collected during the structured interviews. Through an inductive
process using Erickson's (1986) interpretive approach, the author
found that five assertions could be made about the presidents'
experiences. The five assertions revealed 1) how presidents understood
the overall purpose of the restructuring; 2) how presidents interpreted
the goals of the restructuring; 3) how restructuring goals were
communicated; 4) how presidents acted on their interpretations;
and 5) how presidents perceived the consequences of restructuring.
Important insights into the sense-making process of mandated change
was one result of the study. Other results included uncovering
practical implications for major actors to consider during the
planning and implementation of change initiatives, and the finding
that change training for key actors should be developed. Future
research should further focus on the impact of restructuring so
that change processes can be approached in a more thoughtful,
rational, deliberate and value-added manner.
Keywords: I. D; II. D, P; III. QL; IV. change, planning, merger,
restructuring; V. administration, governance, leadership, management
systems; VI. SC; VII. M.
Waring, A. L. (1995). Urging students to
serve: organizational change in three universities. L. C. Adviser,
Unpublished Doctoral dissertation: Stanford University.
This exploratory study investigated organizational change in
three universities by researching their attempts to support college
student involvement in public service. Brown University, Georgetown
University, and Stanford University were the sites for this research
as they were considered exemplars in promoting student public
service activity during the late 1980s. This research used three
conceptions of organizational change to view efforts to promote
student public service participation. Planned change suggests
that change occurs as a result of the intentional actions of a
change agent. The political/conflict conception views change as
a negotiated process of competing actors with competing interests.
The environmental conception of change sees organizational change
as a result of environmental forces that influence the actions
of internal organizational participants. This research indicated
that university presidents, and their surrogates, can play an
important role in creating change lending credence to the planned
change conception of change. There was much less evidence for
the political/conflict conception of change. Interests groups,
especially students, did form to influence the change process,
however, the stages of this change model were not in evidence
as there were no changes in policies related to public and community
service. The environmental conception of change was the weakest
explanation of the change process as the organizational actors
paid limited attention to the environment as they created and
designed public service programs. Also, this research confirmed
the importance of organizational culture in organizational change.
Each of these universities had a unique culture that influenced
the change process and resulted in different definitions of and
programs for public and community service. Data were collected
through interviews with the presidents, relevant administrators,
selected faculty and students at each university. In addition,
review of documents occurred at each university. At Stanford University,
observer-participation was a data collection strategy. Scholars
and practitioners need additional information about the effects
of public service on students and on the people and communities
in which these students work, the relationship between universities
and surrounding communities, and how organizational culture influences
the change process.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. change, environmental change,
planning; V. administration, climate/culture, leadership; VI.
MC; VII. R.
Wigand, F. D. L. (1995). Information technology in organizations:
Impact on structure, people, and tasks, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation:
Arizona State University.
This empirical study applies multiple theoretical concepts investigating
the influence of information technology, specifically electronic
mail, on three basic organization components: structure, people,
and tasks. An organizational interaction diamond model is developed
illustrating how each component enables changes in other components
and interacts with the organization's internal and external environments.
The organizational setting is the administrative structure of
a large, public university. The sample population consists of
390 administrators and professional and clerical support staff.
Data were collected via a written questionnaire with a 54 percent
return rate. The results of electronic mail usage to access different
job categories at various organization and functional levels reveal
hierarchical boundaries being bridged at the middle and departmental
levels, but not at the senior level nor across functional boundaries.
Electronic mail usage increases to span geographical distances
and to coordinate people from dispersed organization units. These
new network paths co-exist within the traditional hierarchical
structure. Senior level administrators report using electronic
mail more often per day than lower level administrators, and it
is used more for horizontal than for vertical communication. Respondents
described their daily tasks to be more non-routine, complex and
coordination-type tasks than uncertain, simple, routine or broadcasting
tasks. Electronic mail usage increases for uncertain, simple and
routine tasks and decreases for ambiguous, complex and non-routine
tasks. The interaction among information technologies, job categories,
and tasks reveals that the media channel selection varies by job
category and task types. The perceived importance of using electronic
mail is highly associated with the frequency of use of electronic
mail to provide access to various job categories at different
organization levels and for different task types. Three potential
avenues for future research are suggested: Researchers are encouraged
to explore information technologies, specifically electronic mail,
as (a) tools adding value to an organization, (b) media fostering
the creation of teams and enabling new forms of cooperative work,
and (c) part of an information technology infrastructure enabling
the expansion of traditional organizational boundaries. All of
these future potential areas of research address critical concerns
for all organizations as they enter the twenty- first century.
Keywords: I. D; II. E; III. QL; IV. technology; V. administration,
information technology; VI. SC; VII. R.
Wilfrid, T. N. (1990). The garbage can model reopened: Toward
improved modeling of decision-making in higher education. M. L.
T. Supervisor, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation: University of
Pennsylvania.
Wilfrid's dissertation sought to upgrade the contemporary interpretation
of Cohen, March and Olsen's (CM&O) classic Garbage Can Model
of Organizational Choice metaphor to something more true to the
original intent of the model. He contends that recent interpretations
of the "Garbage Can" model capture the disorderliness
assumed in the model, but add other connotations not included
in the original as well as eliminating a key assumption from Cohen,
March and Olsen's conceptualization - that the ambiguous decision
process is driven by participant energy. Wilfrid confirms the
face validity of the CM&O model noting that decision making
efficiency varies with organizational structure and energy load,
and is generally enhanced by task-oriented leadership, by appropriate
planning, by trade-offs between related problems, and by synergistic
collaborations. Wilfrid then posits a new metaphor - resource
recovery - as more appropriate to the model because "wise
organizational leaders orchestrate optimum investment of available
energy toward the processing of participant inputs into sound
organizational decisions."
Keywords: I. D; II. C; III. NE; IV. planning; V. leadership;
VI. SA; VII. NA.
Zekan, D. L. (1990). Mergers in public higher
education in Massachusetts. R. R. W. Director, Unpublished Doctoral
Dissertation, University of Massachusetts.
Mergers are not uncommon in higher education, yet the phenomenon
has rarely been the subject of research. Although some private
sector combinations have been the focus of inquiry, there is a
notable lack of study of mergers involving public institutions
of higher education. This work concentrates on public sector mergers
in Massachusetts for the period 1964-1985. The project shows that
a critical dichotomy in understanding the nature of merger exists
between institutional and public participants in the merger process.
At the institutional level, the focus of attention is on the relatively
narrow matters of organizational structure and integrity, while
the makers of public policy are concerned with the larger issue
of service to constituents. As a result of this disparity in perspective,
institutional representatives may fail to understand the larger
public policy context of the merger process. Merger in the public
sector is ultimately a matter of public policy, not just a characteristic
of institutional development and evolution. This historical analysis
examines four separate public mergers: A 1964 combination of two
former textile schools that created the present Southeastern Massachusetts
University; a 1975 merger of a technological institute (and former
textile school) and a state college that produced the University
of Lowell; a 1981 union of an urban campus of a state university
and a state college that expanded the University of Massachusetts
at Boston, and a 1985 consolidation of a community college and
a technical institute that led to a diversified Massasoit Community
College.
Keywords: I. D; II. D; III. NE; IV. merger; V. administration,
governance; VI. MC; VII. M.
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