Krzysztof Leja, Emilia Nagucka, Creative Destruction of the University

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Zarządzanie Kulturą, tom 6 (2013), nr 3 / Culture Management, vol. 6 (2013), no. 3

Krzysztof Leja (Gdansk University of Technology) Emilia Nagucka (Gdansk University of Technology) CREATIVE DESTRUCTION OF THE UNIVERSITY

Keywords: creative destruction; ambidextrous organization; Schumpeter; university; Morgan. Abstract: Authors take the issue of change in the modern university. Assuming that the objective of the university is, in addition to the mass education, training the elite of intellectual entrepreneurs prospective leaders of the knowledge-based society, it is proposed the creative destruction of the university organization, the essence of which is to move the axis of the basic organizational units of the university, such as departments, into teams, and coordination axis of the university move into units. The proposal is embedded in the Schumpeter’s idea of creative destruction, and refers to the Burton Clark’s concept of the entrepreneurial university, the concept of ambidextrous organization, third generation university by Johan Wissema and the concept of the knowledge-based university, using the paradigm of knowledge-based organization. Additionally, the paper presents the necessary conditions of the proposed change, and the risk associated with it. Authors try to prove, using Gareth Morgan’s metaphors, that the proposed change is the transition from mechanistic - organism university to the university described by metaphors of organisms and self-organization. 1. Introduction The contemporary university, like other organizations, constantly changes. The sources of these changes can be traced both inside the institution and in its global environment. Clark Kerr, the former president of the University of California and a higher education researcher observes that the justification for the existence of contemporary universities – organizations both incoherent and creative – is not only history but also social environment (Kerr, 2001). Universities are also examples of organizations with well-defined norms regarding internal relations and the relations with the environment, as Burton Clark, a recognized authority on higher education research, observes (Clark, 1972; Kwiek, 2010). Therefore, one should ask the question whether the observed and postulated changes at contemporary universities should be classified as belonging to the first type – morphostatic or to the second – morphogenetic (Levy 1986). Changes of the first type result in the conservation of status quo, changes of the latter kind encounter a resistance of the academic milieu. Discussing the future of the university and the direction of changes we may quote Jan Szczepański who argued twenty years ago that changes at universities usually regard minor problems, leaving the core of the academy intact (Szczepański, 1993). Szczepański also argues that external pressure usually leads to superficial changes that have no influence on the university’s functioning (Szczepański, 1993). The opinion corresponds to an apt remark made by Guy Neave who believes that scholars guard their autonomy, just like hippopotami protect their territory (Neave, 2003), which certainly does not facilitate the implementation of changes. When asking about what changes are indispensable and how they should be introduced in academic institutions one should refer to the opinion of José Ortega y Gasset, who believed that reforms in higher education should not be limited to the elimination of pathologies and mediocrity but instead they should create new, previously overlooked “use values” of the university. Ortega

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