This study analyzes the process of the diffusion of structures and
practices in an organizational setting using the theory of new institutionalism
as the theoretical basis. The explanation of the diffusion process has been
subject to major variations due to epistemological and ontological reasons.
Former theories of organizational reality looked at organizations as their sole
units of analyses and accounted for the diffusion process accordingly / however,
today, it is widely observed and accepted that organizational behavior is shaped
by historical and environmental factors.
This investigation aims to provide evidence for how certain structures
and practices diffuse through organizational settings while others do not.
Consequently, a qualitative design was conducted to explore the diffusion
process in the case of the Council of Higher Education, a high-level
bureaucratic organization in Turkey. Fifteen key informants, present or former
university rectors and members of the Council, were interviewed and the
accumulated data were analyzed qualitatively. Also, the findings were matched
and supported with relevant documents analyzed additionally.
The findings drawn from the investigation indicate that the emergence of
the Council implicates a pattern visible throughout the history of Turkish
higher education. The Council is spotted as an important agent in redefining
Turkish higher education and thus creating a new organizational field for it.
Yet, highly dynamic and interactive face of today&rsquo / s higher education calls for
reconsideration of the Council and its functions.
A major conclusion that can be reached in this context is that the issue of
legitimacy depends on the satisfaction of several demands and expectations at
various levels. Therefore, even a formal and regulative organization, such as
the Council of Higher Education is prone to the pressures of the organizational
field it operates within and is called upon to redefine its structures and
implementations accordingly in order to secure its legitimacy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12609592/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 June 2008 |
| Creators | Sert, Semih |
| Contributors | Simsek, Hasan |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Ph.D. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for public access |
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