Abstract
Based on interviews with 24 faculty members at a large, public university, this article reports the use of metaphors as a new conceptual strategy to analyze change in higher education organizations. Results of the study indicate that strategic choices guiding the behavior of the organization under study and the metaphorical images held by the faculty members about their organization show a high degree of congruence. Implications for change and maintenance of enacted realities in higher education organizations are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baldridge, J.V., Curtis, D.V., Ecker, G. and Riley, L. (1978). Policy Making and Effective Leadership: A National Study of Academic Management. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Bensimon, E.M., Neumann, A. and Birnbaum, R. (1989). Making Sense of Administrative Leadership: The “L” Word in Higher Education. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report 1, Washington D.C.: The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development.
Blau, P.M. and Schoenherr, R. (1971). The Structure of Organizations. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Bolman, L.G. and Deal, T.E. (1991). Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Bredeson, P.V. (1985) . ‘An analysis of the metaphorical perspectives of school principals’, Educational Administration Quarterly, 21(1), 29–50.
Burrell, G. and Morgan, G. (1983). Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis. London: Heinemann Educational Books.
Clark, B.R. (1972) . ‘The organizational saga in higher education’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 17, 178–183.
Clark, B.R. (1983). The Higher Education System: Academic Organization in Cross-National Perspective. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Clugston, R. (1987). Strategic Adaptation in Organized Anarchy: Priority Setting and Resource Allocation in the Liberal Arts College of a Public Research University. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Minnesota.
Cohen, M. D. and March, J.G. (1974). Leadership and Ambiguity: The American College President. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Emery, F.E. (1969). Systems Thinking. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin.
Foster, E. (1989-90) . ‘Planning at the University of Minnesota’, Planning for Higher Education, 18(2), 25–38.
Hage, J. and Aiken, M. (1967) . ‘Program change and organizational properties: a comparative analysis’, American Journal of Sociology, 72, 503–519.
Katz, D. and Kahn, R.L. (1978). The Social Psychology of Organizations, 2nd ed. New York, NY: Wiley.
Keller, K.H. (1985). A Commitment to Focus: Report of Interim President Kenneth H. Keller to the Board of Regents. University of Minnesota.
Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M. (1982). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Lawrence, P.R. and Lorsch, J.W. (1967). Organization and Environment. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.
Louis, K.S. and Simsek, H. (1991) . ‘Paradigm shifts and organizational learning: some theoretical lessons for restructuring schools’, Paper presented at the annual meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration. Baltimore, MD.
Miller, D. and Friesen, P.H. (1980) . ‘Momentum and revolution in organizational adaptation’, Academy of Management Journal, 23, 591–614.
Morgan, G. (1980) . ‘Paradigms, metaphors and puzzle solving in organization theory’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 25, 605–622.
Morgan, Gareth (1986). Images of Organization. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Patton, M.Q. (1987). How to Use Qualitative Research in Evaluation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Pugh, D., Hickson, H., Hinings, C.R. and Turner, C. (1969) . ‘The context of organizational structures’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 14, 91–114.
Sackmann, S. (1989) . ‘The role of metaphors in organization transformation’, Human Relations, 42, 463–485.
Scott, W.R. (1992). Organizations: Rational, Natural and Open Systems, 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Simsek, H. (1992). Organizational Change as Paradigm Shift: Analysis of Organizational Change Processes in a Large, Public University by Using a Paradigm-Based Change Model. Ph.D. Dissertation, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota.
Simsek, H. and Heydinger, R.B. (1993) . ‘An Analysis of the Paradigmatic Evolution of U.S. Higher Education and Implications for the Year 2000', in Smart, J.C. (ed), Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. New York, NY: Agathon Press, Vol. 9, 1–49.
Simsek, H. and Louis, K.S. (1994) . ‘Organizational change as paradigm shift: analysis of the change process in a large, public university’, Journal of Higher Education, 65(6), 670–695.
Smircich, L. (1983) . ‘Concepts of culture and organizational analysis’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 339–358.
Sterman, J. D. (1985) . ‘The growth of knowledge: testing a theory of scientific revolutions with a formal model’, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 28, 93–122.
Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Weick, K.E. (1976) . ‘Educational organizations as loosely coupled systems’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 21, 1–19.
Wolcott, H.F. (1994).Transforming Qualitative Data: Description, Analysis and Interpretation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Yin, R. (1984). Case Study Research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Simsek, H. Metaphorical images of an organization: the power of symbolic constructs in reading change in higher education organizations. Higher Education 33, 283–307 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1002969512291
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1002969512291