Literature Search Strategy and Methodology for
the Annotated Bibliography on Institutional Change and Transformation
I. Purpose and Overview of
the Literature Search
The central aim of the KFHET initiative is to understand the experiences
of higher education institutions which have undergone comprehensive
change and transformation and to assist other institutions in learning
about and developing the capacity to undertake similar efforts.
In support of this goal, The University of Michigan group has conducted
a comprehensive and systematic search of the literature on change
and transformation in higher education and is compiling an annotated
bibliography of this literature. The purpose of these tasks is to
provide the KFHET Leadership Group, as well as practitioners and
researchers throughout the country, with access to literature sources
that describe and analyze specific change and transformation initiatives
in American colleges and universities and with a framework for understanding
the conceptual, empirical, and practical dimensions of institutional
change and transformation.
Beginning in the early 1990s, the topic of institutional change
and transformation became increasingly prevalent within the higher
education literature. The reasons cited in the literature for this
pervasive interest are many: looming fiscal and demographic crises;
new institutional opportunities presented by the growth of the learning
industry; increased competition from other segments within the knowledge
industry; persistent questions regarding the quality of educational
services; the need to provide educational services more efficiently;
the need to accommodate institutional structures to new teaching
and learning roles.
Over the course of the past decade, the literature on institutional
change and transformation in higher education has grown appreciably.
This literature is characterized by tremendous variation, including
variety in the nature and purpose of publication, sources of publication,
topical content, research methods, and unit of analysis (institution-wide
change, unit-level change, etc.) Much of the literature is non-empirical
and evaluative or descriptive in nature, ranging from brief accounts
of institutional experiences with change and transformation, to
recommendations, opinions, and editorials. However, a growing number
of publications utilize a variety of research methods, including
case studies or survey studies, to conceptually link the larger
organizational theory literature with the experiences of institutions
which have undergone change and transformation and to provide analysis
of the antecedents, processes, and implications of institutional
change and transformation.
II. Literature Search Strategies and
Selection Process
The literature search related to organizational change and transformation
in higher education utilized two general search strategies and an
iterative data reduction process in searching five literature databases:
the Educational Resource Information Index (ERIC), the H.W. Wilson
Files (which includes the Business Periodicals Index, the Humanities
Index, and the Social Science Index), literature databases in business
(ABI Inform) and psychology (PSYCHInfo), and the Dissertation Abstracts
Index database. All searches were limited to journal articles published
between 1990 and 2000.
Two search strategies were employed to identify references and
a criterion-based review of references was used to further narrow
the sample within each of the five databases. In the first search
strategy, three search terms differentiating sectors of postsecondary
education and the term "organizational" were cross-referenced
with thirteen conceptual categories (See Table A). This search yielded
a total of 3,712 "hit" records from among the five literature
databases. After the general search was completed, abstracts of
all of these records were reviewed and evaluated based on their
direct project relevance. After eliminating duplicate records from
among the thirteen conceptual categories, the criterion-based review
yielded a total of 184 articled from among the five literature databases.
In the second search conducted of the five databases, the three
search terms differentiation sectors of postsecondary education,
and the term "organizational change" were cross-referenced
with fifteen content categories (See Table B). This search yielded
1,881 "hit" records. After a review of the abstracts of
these records for direct project relevance and an elimination of
duplicate records, the number of additional publications obtained
in this second search of the five databases totaled 100.
III. Compilation of Content Categories
for the Articles Annotated
Of the 284 published articles identified in the two separate literature
search strategies, 200 were non-duplicate records relevant to the
project's purpose. A content analysis of this final sample of 200
articles was conducted, using seven categories: 1) type of publication,
2) purpose of publication, 3) nature of publication, 4) conceptual
content of publication, 5) topical content of publication, 6) methodology,
and 7) institutional type. The 200 articles were included with full
bibliographic reference and abstract in the first edition of the
Annotated Bibliography. An updated search for the years 1998-2000
yielded an additional 26 articles and 17 dissertations for a total
of 243 annotated articles. Each annotated article is referenced
by these seven categories. Table A and B arrange the articles by
publication source and conceptual and content category. The coding
is as follows:
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I. Type of Publication
B - Book/Monograph
D - Dissertation
JE - Journal of Education
JB - Journal of Business
JS - Journal of Social Science Curriculum
II. Purpose of Publication
D - Description
E - Evaluative
P - Prescriptive
C - Conceptual
III. Nature of Approach
NE - Non-Empirical
QL - Qualitative
QN - Quantitative
BT - Both quantitative and qualitative
IV. Conceptual Content
Change
Environmental Change
Merger
Planning
Quality Improvement
Reform
Reorganization
Restructuring
Strategy
Transformation
Technology
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V. Topical Content
Academic Workplace
Alliance or Partnership
Administration
Climate or Culture
Faculty
Governance
Information Technology
Leadership
Management Systems
Mission
Resource Allocation
Structure
Systems
VI. Methodology
SC - Single Case
MC - Multiple Case
SU - Survey
SA - Secondary Analysis
S - Synthesis
VII. Type of Institution
R - Research
C - Comprehensive
LA - Liberal Arts
CC - Community College
M - Mixed
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