%0 Thesis %1 burns_cultural_1994 %A Burns, Joseph Edward Peter %D 1994 %K ADMINISTRATION, EDUCATION, Higher, OF PHILOSOPHY %T A cultural case study of the implementation of total quality management principles at a private religious university %X This study examined the cultural changes which occur in a school following the implementation of Total Quality Management principles and individual adaptations to these changes. This study was guided by two theoretical frameworks. The first framework is contained in the concept of organizational culture. The second theoretical framework is symbolic interaction (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992). This study attempts to "thickly describe" (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992) the university being observed in reference to its particular organizational culture as the "basic underlying assumptions" (Schein, 1992) of this culture are uncovered. This study was conducted over a 15 month period on the campus of a moderate-sized (4,000 students) private, religiously-affiliated university which was reorganizing itself through introduction of a modified form of TQM principles. This was a single case study (Mitchell, 1984; Patton, 1990; Stoke, 1988). The data were gathered through triad of methods, participant observation (Lincoln & Guba, 1985), interviews, which were audiotaped and transcribed, and through document analysis. This analysis resulted in six findings which were separated into two areas: evidence of cultural adaptation at the institutional level, and evidence of adaptation at the individual level. At the institutional level, I found: (1) There is ample evidence to indicate that the institution's culture is changing at the level of artifacts and espoused values. In the area of individual adaptation to cultural, changes, I uncovered five findings: (1) The university president exhibits those leadership traits which the pertinent literature describe as necessary for successful organizational cultural change. (2) In the area of communication, the present cultural paradigm values top-down communication over bottom-up communication. (3) Empowerment exists at this school as an espoused value, but several interviewees described lack of empowerment at the level of a basic underlying assumption. As regards the role of TQM principles themselves, I found (4) two distinct and conflicting viewpoints are being held on the role these principles should play in the renewal of the school. Finally, (5) some students expressed concern over what they described as a clash between the school's espoused values and their perception of the school's basic underlying assumptions.

@phdthesis{burns_cultural_1994, abstract = {This study examined the cultural changes which occur in a school following the implementation of Total Quality Management principles and individual adaptations to these changes. This study was guided by two theoretical frameworks. The first framework is contained in the concept of organizational culture. The second theoretical framework is symbolic interaction (Bogdan \& Biklen, 1992). This study attempts to "thickly describe" (Bogdan \& Biklen, 1992) the university being observed in reference to its particular organizational culture as the "basic underlying assumptions" (Schein, 1992) of this culture are uncovered. This study was conducted over a 15 month period on the campus of a moderate-sized (4,000 students) private, religiously-affiliated university which was reorganizing itself through introduction of a modified form of TQM principles. This was a single case study (Mitchell, 1984; Patton, 1990; Stoke, 1988). The data were gathered through triad of methods, participant observation (Lincoln \& Guba, 1985), interviews, which were audiotaped and transcribed, and through document analysis. This analysis resulted in six findings which were separated into two areas: evidence of cultural adaptation at the institutional level, and evidence of adaptation at the individual level. At the institutional level, I found: (1) There is ample evidence to indicate that the institution's culture is changing at the level of artifacts and espoused values. In the area of individual adaptation to cultural, changes, I uncovered five findings: (1) The university president exhibits those leadership traits which the pertinent literature describe as necessary for successful organizational cultural change. (2) In the area of communication, the present cultural paradigm values top-down communication over bottom-up communication. (3) Empowerment exists at this school as an espoused value, but several interviewees described lack of empowerment at the level of a basic underlying assumption. As regards the role of TQM principles themselves, I found (4) two distinct and conflicting viewpoints are being held on the role these principles should play in the renewal of the school. Finally, (5) some students expressed concern over what they described as a clash between the school's espoused values and their perception of the school's basic underlying assumptions.}, added-at = {2018-06-19T15:18:45.000+0200}, author = {Burns, Joseph Edward Peter}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/249190f5d841545ee71e3675817aaecfd/prophe}, interhash = {950ef0632412c0f3cc09618bb2a915cc}, intrahash = {49190f5d841545ee71e3675817aaecfd}, keywords = {ADMINISTRATION, EDUCATION, Higher, OF PHILOSOPHY}, school = {Texas Tech University}, shorttitle = {A cultural case study of the implementation of total quality management principles at a private religious university}, timestamp = {2018-06-19T15:18:45.000+0200}, title = {A cultural case study of the implementation of total quality management principles at a private religious university}, type = {Doctoral {Dissertation}}, year = 1994 }