Chapter 3

Organizational Culture in Higher Education

Rana Zeine, Michael Hamlet, Patrick Blessinger, and Cheryl Boglarsky

The organizational culture of academic higher educational institutions was analyzed using the Human Synergistics International (HSI) Organizational Culture Inventory (OCI) Survey. Cultural norms characteristic of Passive/Defensive and Aggressive/Defensive behavioral styles were overrepresented, while those characteristic of constructive styles were underrepresented, as compared to ideal profiles. The results reflect predominance of task-centered over people-centered organizational orientations and of lower-order (security) over higher-order (satisfaction) needs. Both current and ideal profiles were derived from the responses of higher education faculty and administrators who are active at nonprofit or for-profit organizations worldwide. Targets for cultural change were identified, and recommendations were developed to assist higher education institutions to approach their ideal organizational cultures.

Organizational culture in higher educational institutions (HEds) can be examined with regards to behavioral norms that have been extensively studied in the context of guiding organizational change in the corporate world. HEds are social sector organizations that differ in purpose and performance measures from business corporations.¹ Because the purpose of social sector organizations is to meet social objectives, human needs, and national and global priorities, the people affiliated with them are ambitious first and foremost for the causes, the movements, the missions, the work—not themselves—and they have the will to do whatever it takes to make good on that ambition.² HEds can be viewed as service providers fulfilling diverse customer needs.³ More complex dimensions apply in HEds because students can be viewed as products, customers, coworkers, and laborers simultaneously.⁴ Ideally, a culture of selflessness and excellence would be expected throughout the range of HEds, including those that rely heavily on business revenue streams, such as medical centers and for-profit colleges.⁵ Because financial incentives are weak in nonprofit organizations, their ability to generate funds to support their nonbusiness activities depends on effectively tapping into the idealistic passions of their deeply committed members and benefactors.⁶ In this chapter, we analyze the currently prevailing organizational culture and compare it to the ideal cultural profile for HEds as measured by the OCI.⁷

Perceptions of the work environment shape the organizational climate, which is a function of how employees experience their organizations.⁸ In the absence of active guidance aimed at nurturing healthy organizational dynamics, organizational cultures tend to default to rather constraining or low-performance states. For example, research indicates that people interacting on a task tend to voluntarily construct differences in hierarchy and contribute to their own disempowerment to maintain a stable hierarchical social order.⁹ Some studies have shown that, in contrast to higher-status schools, members of lower-status universities tend to accept the implications of the lowered status of their educational institution and do not take initiative to bolster it.¹⁰ People inside organizations who agree on organizational goals often hold differing views on how to accomplish shared objectives.¹¹ Consequently, organizations can lose their vitality and begin to age as they remain unable or unwilling to evolve and change.¹² Preliminary studies have highlighted the importance of exploring the complex barriers to cultural renewal in academic institutions in order to identify appropriate targets and develop suitable mechanisms for cultural change.¹³ Such studies explain that “culture forms the superglue that bonds an organization, unites people, and helps an enterprise accomplish desired ends.”¹⁴ However, “some argue that organizations have cultures, others insist that organizations are cultures.”¹⁵ Organizational culture has been defined as the following:

Distinct but interdependent subcultures have been noted in HEds especially in regards to academic versus administrative divisions and for-profit/business/clinical versus nonprofit/research/educational organizations.¹⁷ A systematic analysis of current and ideal organizational cultures can inform HEds professionals on specific changes that would help them meet and exceed expectations.¹⁸

The OCI is a quantitative instrument that measures 12 sets of behavioral norms associated with 3 general types of organizational cultures: Constructive, Passive/Defensive, and Aggressive/Defensive.¹⁹ It focuses on 12 behavioral patterns that members believe are required to “fit in” and “meet expectations” within their organization.²⁰ Descriptions of the 12 styles measured by the OCI are provided in Table 3.1.

In higher education, teaching hospitals can also be identified as “high reliability” organizations due to the life-and-death nature of health care services. Some institutions, such as the military and nuclear power plants, are considered high reliability organizations requiring very high fidelity to a chain of command, and strict adherence to protocols.²¹ Although behavioral norms from the Aggressive/Defensive and Passive/Defensive clusters may be highly represented, studies have shown that Constructive norms are desired and important for the success of such organizations because they help people to understand the reasons why orders need to be followed and the benefits of faithfully implementing best practices in performing critical duties.²²

Methods

Participants from higher education institutions completed Human Synergistics OCI and OCI-Ideal surveys (web-based version). The OCI measures the behavioral norms and expectations members understand are expected of them to fit in and meet expectations in their current position at their organization or the current state. It also measures outcomes associated with organizational culture (e.g., intention to stay, satisfaction, and customer service orientation) that provide insights into the need for cultural change.²³ A parallel form of the inventory, the OCI-Ideal, asks the members to indicate the extent to which the behavioral norms and expectations should be expected in order to maximize their organization’s effectiveness. The results of the OCI-Ideal are the desired state and can be seen as a cultural benchmark.

Respondents’ OCI and OCI-Ideal unadjusted (or raw) scores were pooled and converted to percentile scores that were plotted on an OCI circumplex shown in Figure 3.1. The OCI circumplex compares respondents’ organization’s scores along the 12 cultural norms to the scores of 921 organizational subunits (e.g., departments and divisions of other organizations). The bold center ring on the circumplex represents the 50th percentile. In general, scores falling below the 50th percentile are low relative to other organizations, and scores that fall above the 50th percentile are high relative to other organizations.²⁴

Norms that reflect expectations for people-oriented behaviors are located on the right side of the circumplex, while task-oriented norms are on the left side. The norms toward the top reflect expectations for behaviors that are directed toward higher-order needs for satisfaction, and those toward the bottom reflect expectations that focus on meeting lower-order needs for security.²⁵ By analyzing the gaps or discrepancies between the current and ideal culture profiles, the behavioral norms where there is the greatest need for change can be identified. These gaps were calculated by subtracting the ideal from the current percentile scores. Undesirable gap values were negative for Constructive norms (too low) and positive for Passive/Defensive and Aggressive/Defensive norms (too high).²⁶

Results

Demographics of Respondent HEds Professionals

Demographics of the HEds professionals who participated in the study are presented in Table 3.2. Of the 63 who responded to the OCI survey, 33 responded to the OCI-Ideal survey. They represented faculty, directors, chairs, and deans at nonprofit and for-profit colleges and universities. The number of years spent at their current organizations ranged from less than 6 months to more than 15 years.

Differences Between Current and Ideal HEds Organizational Culture Profiles

Undesirable gaps in percentile scores between current (Figure 3.2, top) and ideal (Figure 3.2, bottom) were found in all 12 styles on the HEds OCI profiles (Table 3.3). Extensions of the Constructive styles fell below the 73rd percentile in the current profile while rising above the 92nd percentile in the Ideal (Table 3.3). Passive/Defensive styles extended above 54% in the current profile while remaining less than 15% in the ideal (Table 3.3). The lowest gap between current and ideal was in the Oppositional style norms that extended to 67% in the current profile, only 10% higher than ideal (Table 3.3). This is consistent with cultural norm requirements of “high reliability” organizations.

Differences Between Nonprofit and For-Profit HEds in Organizational Culture

As compared to the current Nonprofits OCI profile (Figure 3.3), the current For-Profit profile (Figure 3.3) had wider extensions along several of the Aggressive/Defensive and Passive/Defensive styles. As compared to the ideal Nonprofit profile (Figure 3.3), the ideal For-Profit profile (Figure 3.3) had a narrower extension on the Oppositional style but wider extensions on the seven remaining Defensive styles. The Constructive cluster extensions were similar in Nonprofit and For-Profit HEds (Figure 3.3).