Review by: Schönwald, Ingrid (2004-06-23)

Kezars’ work provides a good overview of theoretical concepts on change in higher education. It is based on a broad research review on change in general and specifically within the context of higher education.

The publication focuses on providing the reader several key insights into the change process by (1) proposing a common language for organizational change, (2) describing the multidisciplinary research literature on change (3), pointing out the distinct characteristics of higher education institutions and how this might influence the change process, (4) reviewing models/concepts of change in respect to the context of higher education, and (5) providing principles for change within higher education.

Kezar uses six main categories of theories of change to assist in understanding, describing, and developing insights about the change process: a) evolutionary, b) teleological, c) life cycle, d) dialectical, e) social cognition, and f) cultural. She details these models, specifying their set of assumptions about why change occurs, how the process proceeds, what the outcomes of change are, gives examples of these models and appraises their weaknesses and benefits.a) The main assumption underlying evolutionary theories is that change is a response to external circumstances, institutional variables, and the environment faced by each organisation. Social systems as diversified, interdependent, complex systems evolve naturally over time because of external demands.b) Teleological theories or planned change models assume that organisations are purposeful and adaptive. Change occurs because leaders, change agents, and others see the necessity of change. The process for change is rational and linear, as in evolutionary models, but individual managers are much more instrumental to the process.c) Life-cycle models evolved from studies of child development and focus on stages of growth, organisational maturity, and organisational decline. Change is conceptualised as a natural part of human or organisational development.d) Dialectical models, also referred to as political models, characterise change as the result of clashing ideology or belief systems. Conflict is seen as an inherent attribute of human interaction. Change processes are considered to be predominantly bargaining, consciousness-raising, persuasion, influence and power, and social movements.e) Social-cognition models describe change as being tied to learning and mental processes such as sense making and mental models. Change occurs because individuals see a need to grow, learn, and change their behaviour.f) In cultural models, change occurs naturally as a response to alterations in the human environment; the change process tends to be long-term and slow. Change within an organisation entails alteration of values, beliefs, myths, and rituals.

Kezar argues that using several models or categories helps to combine the insights of various change theories, as each sheds light on different aspects of organisational life. In order to explore which models are appropriate for higher education, she analyses the unique features of higher education institutions that need to be taken into account, such as interdependent organisation, relatively independent of environment, unique culture of the academy, institutional status, values-driven, multiple power, authority structures, loosely coupled system, organised anarchical decision-making, professional and administrative values, shared governance, employee commitment and tenure, goal ambiguity, image and success.

In light of these distinctive organizational features, Kezar assumes that higher education institutions would seem to be best interpreted through cultural, social-cognition, and political models. Political processes such as persuasion, informal negotiation, mediation, and coalition-building appear to be very powerful strategies for creating change. Social-cognition models illustrate the importance of altering mental models, learning, constructed interaction, and other processes for creating change. Cultural models demonstrate the importance of symbolism, history and traditions, and institutional culture for facilitating change on campus. Evolutionary models highlight some key characteristics of change, such as homeostasis, interactivity of strategies, or accretion, that appear important to understanding change. Life-cycle models have not, for the most part, been applied to higher education institutions, but show promise for helping to develop explanations of how organizational change occurs. There is mixed evidence about the explanatory power of teleological models, but to date they appear to have limited support from the research in terms of how change actually occurs in higher education and of efficacy for facilitating change. Some strategies, such as incentives or vision, have proven successful for creating change.

Based on this research Kezar proposes 17 principles for practitioners that can be used to think about change systematically and systemically in higher education.

Thus this publication provides an encompassing overview of current research approaches to organisational change. It’s written in a clear, structured way and includes a comprehensive list of literature for further investigations. It provides several insights for researchers and practitioners dealing with the change management dimension of eLearning in higher education. Kezar doesn’t specifically address the e-Learning context, but provides a profound theoretical background into managing change in higher education.