A Tale of Two Universities: Organizational Culture and General Education Reform.

摘要

Organizational culture is a useful concept for understanding management, performance, and change strategies in higher education. However, studies on organizational culture in local higher education are scarce. With the new senior secondary and higher education academic structure (the 3-3-4 scheme) about to be implemented, Hong Kong universities have been working on an innovative general education reform under the purview of the University Grants Committee (UGC). The study aims to explore the impact of organizational culture in the process of general education reform in Hong Kong higher education institutions. The two oldest universities, The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), were selected for case studies. Previous higher education studies showed that organizational saga is influential in shaping an organizational character and culture, so this study developed the research question along this line, paying attention to the historical background of the two universities to see how this influences the reform process. Three research questions are devised as follows:;1. What are the specific elements of the organizational culture of the two universities that would be revealed in the general education reform process?;2. To what extent does the organizational culture affect the reform process?;3. To what extent does the difference in historical background produce different perceptions of general education in the two universities during the reform process?;On-site interviews with ten HKU staff and seven CUHK staff were conducted from November 2009 -- April 2010, and the researcher spent the whole academic year of 2009--2010 in the field of HKU for participant observation, with repeat visits and field observation for CUHK done from January to December in 2010. Drawing on Tierney's six-essential analysis framework of organizational culture, the study further developed a specific analysis framework for the case studies. A modified framework with eight essentials, including historical background, mission, leadership, faculty participation, information, resources, staff development, and the role of the office of general education was developed for analysis. The study outlines the effects of the different historical background and organizational saga in the process of general education reform, and reveals that, for both universities, organizational culture has been eroded by the irresistible global tide of academic capitalism.