Abstract
This article addresses how higher education organizations strategize in complex and coherent fields. Unlike previous studies which looked at either exogenous (field) or endogenous causes in strategizing, this article integrates them to explain organizational responses. We devise a conceptual framework under the premises of new institutional theory in order to connect macro-transformation in the institutional field to the micro-processes of organizational strategizing. The framework highlights that every combination of the analytical dimensions (field and organization) presents more possible strategizing practices. Then we test it on the responses to the same change in the field (introduction of research mandate) of three universities of applied sciences located in two countries (Portugal and the Netherlands) with dichotomous field conditions by analyzing organizational members’ practices. Findings support that both field and organizations warrant investigation in strategizing research since it is not possible to determine the strategizing outcomes just from the combination of theoretical dimensions.
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Notes
Many authors define these fields as stable (e.g. Greenwood et al., 2011; Van Gestel & Hillebrand, 2011; Faulconbridge & Muzio, 2016; Raynard, 2016). This label can be misleading because it intrinsically entails a longitudinal dimension that is not addressed in this paper. Accordingly we avoided the ‘stability’ label (we thank an anonymous reviewer for this suggestion).
Plural of hogeschool.
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Acknowledgements
Special thank goes to participants at the three university of applied sciences. This work would not have been possible without their willingness to be honest, open and share their experiences and practices with us. Davide Donina also gratefully acknowledges the support of The Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) through the Ulam Programme (agreement number PPN/ULM/2019/1/00128/U).
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Hasanefendic, S., Donina, D. A heuristic perspective on organizational strategizing in complex and coherent higher education fields. Tert Educ Manag 29, 391–409 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11233-022-09091-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11233-022-09091-x