Understanding College and University Organization: Theories for Effective Policy and Practice / Edition 1

by James L. Bess

Overview

"Anyone caring to become immersed in the nature of organizational theory, liberally illustrated by realistic cases, well better understand from these volumes what has happened-not only to a particular college or university at a point in time-but to the public's and politician's not always favorable perceptions of, and behaviors towards, higher education. I predict that many years will pass before these two volumes are surpassed."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2901579221316
Publisher:	Stylus Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	10/28/2007
Series:	Understanding College and University Organization Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	506
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 1.50(h) x 9.50(d)

About the Author

James L. Bess is President of James L. Bess & Associates and Professor Emeritus at New York University, where he taught from 1980-2000. He is the author or editor of eight books and over fifty articles and book chapters.

Jay R. Dee is Associate Professor of Higher Education, Graduate College of Education, University of Massachusetts, Boston.

D. Bruce Johnstone is Distinguished Service Professor of Higher and Comparative Education at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is director of the International Comparative Higher Education Finance and Accessibility Project. Dr. Johnstone has held posts of vice president for administration at the University of Pennsylvania, president of the State University College of Buffalo, and chancellor of the State University of New York system.

Table of Contents

Dynamics of the System
Problem-to-Theory Application Table     xiii
Foreword   D. Bruce Johnstone     xxiii
About the Authors     xxvii
Acknowledgments     xxix
Preface     xxxi
Overview     463
Overview of Volume I     464
Organizational Theory     466
Organizational Paradigms     467
Overview of Systems Theory     471
Key Concepts in Systems Theory     472
Contents of Volume II     474
Summary     482
References     484
Conflict in Organizations     487
Open and Closed Systems     493
History of the Development of Conflict Theory     498
Conflict as Structure     501
Conflict as Process     503
Social Constructionist Perspectives on Conflict     522
Postmodern Perspectives on Conflict     524
Gender Issues in Conflict Management     526
Summary     527
Review Questions     527
Case Discussion Questions     529
References     530
Power and Politics in Higher Education Organizations     535
Some Definitions: Power, Authority,and Politics     541
Power and Rationality     546
Organizational Versus Personal Determinants of Power     548
Organizational Determinants of Power     549
Horizontal Power: Strategic Contingencies Theory     551
Vertical Power: Partisans and Authorities     554
Personal Power     561
Social Constructionist Perspectives on Power     568
Empowerment     571
Marxist and Postmodern Alternatives     572
Power, Politics, and Unions     574
Summary     575
Review Questions     576
Case Discussion Questions     578
References     578
Organizational Decision Making     583
Decision Making as a Process     594
Decision Making as Structure     597
Participation Theories     605
Risky Shift, Polarization, and Social Loafing in Group Decision Making     615
Social Constructionist Perspectives on Group Decision Making     617
Summary     620
Review Questions     620
Case Discussion Questions     622
References     622
Individual Decision Making     628
Garbage Can Model      634
Decisions as Role Playing     637
Decisions as Personality Manifestations     639
Decisions and Information Utilization     643
Risk and Uncertainty: The Gambling Metaphor     646
Decision Trees     649
Non-Decision Making     650
Postmodern Perspectives on Individual Decision Making     653
Summary     655
Review Questions     655
Case Discussion Questions     657
References     657
Organizational Learning     660
Conceptualizations of Organizational Learning     665
Processes and Stages of Organizational Learning     670
Linking Individual and Organizational Learning     678
Cultural Conceptualizations of Organizational Learning     686
Dialectical Perspectives on Cultural Learning     689
Postmodern Interpretations of Organizational Learning     693
Contingencies Governing the Use of Alternative Learning Models     694
The Learning Organization     696
Summary     698
Review Questions     699
Case Discussion Questions     700
References     701
Organizational Strategy     706
Strategy and the External Environment     714
The Linear Model of Strategy     723
The Adaptive Model of Strategy     726
The Emergent Model of Strategy     730
The Symbolic Model of Strategy     732
Postmodern Models of Strategy     734
Curriculum as Strategy: Application of the Five Models     736
Heuristics for Choosing a Model of Strategy     738
Summary     741
Review Questions     742
Case Discussion Questions     744
References     745
Organizational Goals, Effectiveness, and Efficiency     750
Conceptualizations of Effectiveness and Efficency     755
The Goal Model     758
The System Resource Model     764
The Internal Process Model     765
Strategic Constituencies Model     766
Phase Models     767
Fit Models     767
Competing Values Model     770
Quality Model     772
Other Models of Effectiveness     772
The Social Construction Model of Organizational Effectiveness     774
Postmodern Perspectives on Effectiveness     777
Organizational Efficiency     779
Summary      781
Review Questions     781
Case Discussion Questions     783
References     784
Organizational Change in Higher Education     790
Defining Change     796
Planned Change Models     798
Emergent Change Framework     808
Synthesis of the Change Models     810
Contingency Framework for Change     813
Postmodern and Critical Perspectives on Change     816
Summary     819
Review Questions     820
Case Discussion Questions     821
References     822
Leadership     826
Defining Leadership     830
A History of the Study of Leadership     835
Idiographic Leadership Theories     838
Nomothetic Approaches to Understanding Leadership     843
Behaviorist Theories of Leadership     847
Interactive Theories of Leadership     852
Matching Traits, Contingencies, and Behaviors for Effective Leadership     854
Other Approaches to Leadership     864
Social Construction and Leadership     866
Summary     875
Review Questions     875
Case Discussion Questions      876
References     877
The End and the Beginning: Fresh Thoughts About Organizational Theory and Higher Education     886
Purposes of the Book-A Reprise     887
The Complexity of Higher Education     888
Perspectives of and Challenges to the Postmodern Paradigm     889
The Contributions of Social Constructionist Theory     890
Emerging Organizational Challenges in Higher Education     890
Conclusions     891
References     892
Subject Index     895
Author Index     919
The State of the System
Problem-to-Theory Application Table     xiii
Foreword   D. Bruce Johnstone     xxiii
About the Authors     xxvii
Acknowledgments     xxix
Preface     xxxi
Introduction     xxxv
The Application of Organizational Theory to Colleges and Universities     1
Colleges and Universities as Complex Organizations     2
Objectives of the Book     5
Theory     7
Organizational Theory     10
Three Perspectives on Organizational Theory     12
Summary     16
References     17
Colleges and Universities as Complex Organizations     18
Roles and Functions of Colleges and Universities     20
College and University National Organization     21
Internal Organization of Colleges and Universities     21
Budget Making in Academic Institutions     28
Personnel Decisions     29
Tenure and Academic Freedom     34
Student Participation in Decision Making     35
Summary     36
References     36
Approaches to Organizational Analysis: Three Paradigms     38
Paradigms Defined     42
Approaches to Paradigmatic Use     43
Three Paradigms: An Overview     46
Positivist Paradigm     50
The Social Construction Paradigm     54
Postmodern Perspectives on Organizations     65
Applying the Three Paradigms     77
Summary     78
Review Questions     80
Case Discussion Questions     81
References     82
General and Social Systems Theory     87
History of Systems Theory     91
General Systems Theory     93
Social Systems Theory     109
The Social Systems Model     111
Expanded Social Systems Model     113
Proportionate Contribution of Idiographic versus Nomothetic     114
The "Fit" Between and Among System Components     116
Extensions of Systems Theory: Alternative Paradigms     118
Summary     120
Review Questions     120
Case Discussion Questions     121
References     122
Organizational Environments     126
Systems Theory and Organizational Environments     130
Positivist Theories of Organization-Environment Relations     134
Social Construction Perspectives on Environment     152
Postmodern Perspectives on Environment     158
Summary     161
Review Questions     163
Case Discussion Questions     165
References     166
Conceptual Models of Organizational Design     170
A Brief Definition of Organizational Design     174
Description and Overview of This Chapter     175
A Brief Review of a Typical College or University Design     175
Differentiation and Integration: Basic Issues in Organizational Design     176
Alternative Modes of Designing an Organization: Mechanistic and Organic     178
Determinants of Organizational Design      181
Summary     194
Review Questions     195
Case Discussion Questions     196
References     197
Bureaucratic Forms and Their Limitations     200
Bureaucratic Structure     203
Centralization, Decentralization, and Participation     212
Common Bureaucratic Forms     214
Social Construction of Organizational Structure     222
Postmodern Views on Organizational Design     228
Summary     231
Review Questions     232
Case Discussion Questions     234
References     235
Organizational Roles     239
Organizational Benefits and Detriments of Precise Role Definition     245
Role Theory in Organizations     246
Roles as Functional Positions in Bureaucracies     247
Role as Expected Behavior     249
Social Construction Conceptualizations of Roles     258
Postmodern and Feminist Perspectives on Roles     260
Role Conflict     262
Role Ambiguity     265
Supplementary Role Concepts     267
Summary     270
Review Questions     270
Case Discussion Questions      272
References     272
Motivation in the Higher Education Workplace     278
Need Theories     284
Process Theories     294
Social Construction and Motivation Theory     306
Feminist Theory and Motivation     307
Management and Motivation     309
Summary     309
Review Questions     310
Case Discussion Questions     312
References     313
Groups, Teams, and Human Relations     317
A Brief History of Human Relations Theory     321
The Study of Groups     325
Informal Organization     329
Group Norms     338
Teams as Groups     345
Social Construction, Groups, and Teams     346
Postmodern Perspectives on Groups and Teams     349
Summary     350
Review Questions     351
Case Discussion Questions     352
References     353
Organizational Culture     358
Conceptualizations of Culture     362
Schein's Framework     364
Organizational Culture and Organizational Functions     372
Positivist Research on Organizational Culture      375
Cultural Typologies in Higher Education     376
Social Constructionist Perspectives on Organizational Culture     381
Organizational Subcultures     382
Critical and Postmodern Perspectives on Organizational Culture     385
Culture and Difference     388
Using Positivist, Social Constructionist, and Postmodern Approaches     389
Organizational Climate     390
Summary     393
Review Questions     394
Case Discussion Questions     395
References     396
Conclusions: Understanding the Shape of Higher Education     400
Applying Organizational Theory     407
Subject Index     425
Author Index     449

Editorial Reviews

Quite simply a tour de force. Not only have the authors written by far the broadest and deepest theoretical analysis of college and university organization I've seen, but they have clearly organized a complex topic, and written it engagingly. This will be seen as a landmark work in the field. It should be required reading for all who claim to understand higher education institutions and the behavior that goes on inside and around them."

David W. Leslie

"This semester, I assigned Understanding College and University Organization as a required text in my master’s-level Organization and Administration of Student Services course. Not only did the text exceed my expectations, but I was amazed by how the students embraced the book’s theoretical perspectives. Following each class session, students would comment on how much they enjoyed reading the book, especially the cases at the beginning of each chapter. They noted that the cases were relevant to their work experience in student affairs and that the authors used common sense language to describe complex concepts in meaningful ways. The authors’ approach makes it easy to apply these concepts in group discussions and class presentations, and in “real-time” activities in the students’ workplaces or internship sites. Therefore, I highly recommend this textbook to master’s level instructors who seek to foster critical thinking about theory and practice."

Cheryl J. Daly

An extraordinarily comprehensive treatment of the uses of theory to understand and manage organizations of academic life….recommended for every student of American higher education.

Theodore J. Marchese

"This work provided our graduate students (both Master's and doctoral) with the best introduction to organizational theory and its implications for higher education leadership/management that I have ever seen. It very effectively uses the three paradigms to provide students with a framework for making sense of the voluminous literature generated in the social sciences and business on organization theory. By the end of the course, the students were in an excellent position to place current literature within a framework and relate it to the 'big picture' and what they already knew. It provided them with the conceptual lenses to navigate this convoluted intellectual terrain. This work is a treasure!"

Martin J. Finkelstein

Anyone caring to become immersed in the nature of organizational theory, liberally illustrated by realistic cases, will better understand from these volumes what has happened—not only to a particular college or university at a point in time – but to the public’s and politician’s not always favorable perceptions of, and behaviors toward, higher education. I predict that many years will pass before these two volumes are surpassed.

From the Foreword by D. Bruce Johnstone