Sustaining Change in Universities: Continuities in Case Studies and Concepts

Citation

Parker, S. (2007), "Sustaining Change in Universities: Continuities in Case Studies and Concepts", Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 116-118. https://doi.org/10.1108/09684880710723070

In 1998, Burton Clark wrote Creating Entrepreneurial Universities: Organisational Pathways of Transformation (Clark, 1998) based on case studies carried out in 1994‐96 of five European universities: Warwick and Strathclyde in the UK, Twente in the Netherlands, Joensuu in Finland and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. In this book, Sustaining Change in Universities, Clark begins by looking at the background for those case studies and argues that in the last quarter of the twentieth century some universities had become alert to the need for change. They acquired a flexible and adaptable posture and, rather than opting for “ … the comfort of standing still … ” (p. 1), they sought to transform themselves, and thus be distinguished from mainstream universities (“immovable cathedrals”) which would not freely step into the rapidly flowing streams of societal change. Clark said that there were five common elements to these successful universities: a diversified funding base, a strengthened steering core, an expanded outreach periphery, a stimulated academic heartland and an integrated entrepreneurial culture.

The 1998 book attracted much international attention and some controversy. In his current work, Burton Clark revisits the five original universities and adds new ones from Africa, South America, Australia and the United States. The current book is a mixture of follow‐up studies to examine how sustainable was the change in his original five universities and new ones, which help him to develop further the theoretical model.

The organising theme of the book is sustainability but at various points, when the author regroups his arguments, fresh ideas and concepts seem to emerge. The concluding chapter is an argument for self‐reliant universities but it is not always clear how the concepts which have helped him on his way, such as transformation, sustainability and entrepreneurialism, have really contributed to the holding up of “self‐reliance” as the key. At the end of his introductory chapter, we are led to believe that entrepreneurialism is at the heart of it all:

“Entrepreneurial” is an embracing but pointed term for referencing the attitudes and procedures that most dependably lead to the modern self‐reliant, self‐steering university. When we also stress that entrepreneurial action comes in collegial as way as personal forms – nailing the flag of “collegial entrepreneurship” to the masthead – we are at the core of the complicated business of changing universities in the early twenty‐first century. (p. 7)

At the end of his concluding chapter, however, we are told:

This side of the calamities of war, fire and earthquake – and repressive governmental tyranny – the future of universities rests in their self‐reliance. The study of modern academic entrepreneurialism teaches, and teaches well, that, one by one, as the twenty‐first century unfolds, universities will largely get what they deserve. The lucky ones will have built the institutional habits of change. (p. 184)

This reviewer found it difficult to connect together the various strands of Burton Clark's analysis and work out how they led to this conclusion. The conclusion may be a valid one but the case studies and the periodic argumentative pauses are not always persuasive grounds for reaching it.

At the time of agreeing to write this review, the reviewer was not aware that his own university, Monash University, was one of the 14 case studies included in the book. Not surprisingly, this somewhat skews the emphasis in the review but it does enable some detailed testing of the author's hypotheses. By coincidence, the first, and arguably central, case study in Burton Clark's earlier book, Warwick University, is often held up as being similar to Monash. They both commenced operations in the 1960s. They were formed on some kind of progressive premise, to differentiate them from more traditional neighbouring universities and they have tended to outstrip, in performance terms, other universities within their own national sectors which were founded at around the same time. Despite this, they seem to have pursued quite different strategies. Monash adopted what someone described as “fortress” faculties; it embraced internationalisation, and now has two campuses outside Australia, and it derived huge growth spurts from institutional mergers in the early 1990s. Warwick, on the other hand, was seemingly more cautious about internationalisation and avoided faculties in favour of direct relations between the centre, and schools and research institutes.

Arguably, however, Monash and Warwick, and the other universities described in this book, did have things in common. They all seemed to realise, at roughly the right time, that fundamental and irreversible changes were under way. They all seemed to have seen opportunities in change, and not merely threats, and they all had talented leadership when it was most needed. “Talented”, to Clark, is different from “charismatic” and:

… we learn that sustainable adaptive universities do not depend on ephemeral personal leadership. Charismatic leaders can serve for a time but in the lifeline of universities they are here today and gone tomorrow. Lasting transformation also does not depend on a one‐time burst of collective effort occasioned by a dire environmental threat; it does not wait upon a fortuitous favorable convergence of old contending interests. Rather, whatever the initial stimulus, it depends on those collective responses that build new sets of structures and processes – accompanied by allied beliefs – that steadily express a determined institutional will. Formally and informally, a stabilizing entrepreneurial constitution is woven into the fabric of the university. That constitution is rationalized by a convincing entrepreneurial narrative that fits the setting. (p. 5)

The reader of Burton Clark's new volume will certainly find much of interest. The case studies, which in some instances are really only detailed snapshots, provide food for thought about what works, what does not work, and what only sometimes works. Whether one “buys” the whole argument depends in part on one's view of the utility of a reasonably small number of case studies drawn from different continents with widely differing circumstances. This reviewer is not entirely persuaded but, in a way, it does not really matter. One can read the case studies and make links oneself, even if it is clear that only partial explanations are emerging. There is also the question of time frame. The period under discussion is a relatively short one and the picture could look quite different if we returned to the same universities in 10 to 20 years time. As Malcolm Tight (2000) has shown, the advantages offered by strong local economies and the accumulation of wealth and influence over time can explain a reasonable amount of the continuity amongst top‐flight universities, as it does for the continuity of successful English soccer teams.

For what it is worth, this reviewer's conclusions about the secrets of sustainable success are that it is a combination of luck (past and present) and the application of a quality cycle involving planning, acting, continually monitoring the environment and focusing on improvement. With talented people who look outwards and onwards, and who regularly engage in reality checks, a great deal can be accomplished.

The book is recommended as the repository of numerous descriptions and suggestions about how universities can survive and thrive in a fast‐changing world, but less so as a convincing and coherent conceptual framework.