Organisational Culture in Public University: A Case Study in Kosovo

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been a significant increase in research that focuses on organisational culture as an important construct that can support or hinder the implementation of changes in higher education. In developing countries of Europe, limited studies are assessing organisational culture and its alignment with planned changes in higher education institutions. Hence, the objective of this research was to identify the dominant organisational culture types in higher education and understand how the planned changes are aligned with the dominant cultures. The research was conducted in a large public university in Kosovo. The Competing Values Framework was used to assess the organisational culture. The study adopted a quantitative research approach. The sample consisted of 102 academic staff from a population of approximately 960. The data were collected using a standardised instrument (The Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI)) to identify the dominant organisational culture based on four organisational culture types: clan, hierarchy, adhocracy, and market. The data related to the planned changes of the university were collected through document analysis. The research identified hierarchy and market cultures as the dominant cultures. The results also show that the dominant organisational cultures militate against the main planned changes. The findings confirm the relevance of the Competing Values Framework in assessing the organisational culture in higher education institutions and provide direction to academic leaders about how they can align their planned changes with the organisational culture to achieve better outcomes.

Keywords

• academic leaders
• competing values framework
• decision making
• organisational culture
• planned changes