Review by: Schönwald, Ingrid (2005-04-27)

This book chapter addresses key questions in creating change in organizations. Based on a literature review and on his consulting experience, the author introduces basic theoretical concepts of change management and applies them to the university context.

The paper starts with three short case descriptions of different organizational approaches to improve education and learning by utilizing new educational and technological environments in three different universities. In spite of their good intentions, however, the results of all three change approaches were less than expected.

Goodman accepts the need for change in universities, citing the new opportunities that technology creates, changing students needs, and new competitors – and refers to the large literature about unsuccessful implementations of new technologies. He addresses central questions that university presidents should ask regarding the impact of technology-supported teaching and learning on students, faculty, and institutions, such as “How can I get students to work effectively in non-traditional classrooms?”, “What will be the professor’s role?”, “How do I change the physical and technological infrastructure of the university to meet the needs of faculty and students?”

Starting from an analysis of the preconditions for organizational change in higher education and the nature of change in learning environments, Goodman provides a framework for change that consists of three phases: planning – implementation – institutionalization. Within the implementation and institutionalization phases, three processes are highlighted: motivation-commitment, socialization, and feedback and redesign. The description of the relevance, the potentials, and pitfalls of the three phases and processes is well-balanced with a discussion of the underlying theoretical constructs and illustrated by practical examples.

At the end of the article, Goodman points out some dilemmas of change in universities which highlights the complexity and difficulty of change in educational settings. One dilemma is the time lag between initiating an organizational intervention and experiencing the benefits. Another difficulty is the diversity of educational units, which makes it difficult to diffuse a change through a whole organization.

This book chapter offers valuable insights to facilitators of change in higher education. It doesn’t simply provide best practices but rather tries to sensitize for the challenges of leading change in higher education and explores potential approaches.