Models of Organizational Values in the Administration of
University Student Services Robin Alison Mueller, PhD
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Benedictine values, liberal arts education play important roles
in health care, student success April 24, 2014 -
insurancenewsnet.com
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Sidwell Friends School may have values other than test scores
May 15, 2014 The Washington Post
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Graduates charged to protect values, freedom at Commencement
2014 May 10, 2014 Liberty University News
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Teachers instrumental in producing proper values May 16, 2014
The Rakyat Post
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Generating dialogue on values in school classrooms May 12, 2014
The Hindu
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Uttar Pradesh Technical University to train faculty in values
& ethics May 19, 2014 The Times of India
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'Values Tree' bearing fruit for Eardisley schoolchildren May
13, 2014 Ledbury Reporter
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Seymour School Budget A Reflection Of Community Values? May 16,
2014 Valley Independent Sentinel
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Montessori stands for added value May 5, 2014 East African
Business Week
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How to Create a Culture That Values Both Academic and Athletic
Heroes April 24, 2014 US News & World Report
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Instilling positive values in children is necessary May 13,
2014 The New Indian Express
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Whats wrong with teaching strong moral values? May 17, 2014
Lethbridge Hearlad
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Challenge #1 Narrowing purpose Immense field of study Theory
Practice
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Student Services University Education Administration
Organizations Values
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Backstory Organizational values strategic planning Universities
mission, vision, and values Cornerstone to planning effort An
integral piece of any strategic planning process is early
clarification of the mission, purpose, and values of the
organization (Cook, 2010, p. 28)
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Challenge #2 Rationale / Justification Values in educational
administration: Them's fighting words! the quite widespread usage
of the term values provides a skewed perception of its conceptual
prominence in administrative inquiry. Indeed, the flippant use of
values and its cognates in the absence of any attempt to clarify or
describe what is meant by these terms incorrectly assumes that
there are widely shared understandings of such things (Richmon,
2004, p. 340)
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Common response #1: This is easy / this has been done
Organizational values as visible and well-understood In any schools
culture, we can distinguish core values, values near the core, and
values distant from the core (Johansson & Bredeson, 1999, p.
54)
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Common response #2: Choosing the right values Research
involving organizational values (Richmon, 2004)
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Common response #3: Theres no such thing
http://www.gapingvoid.com/0801corevalues.jpg
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Trying to explain values to people is like trying to explain
water to fish. (Edwards, 2010, p.1)
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Why? If you back up to the general concept of organizational
values We dont know the rules
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Why? We dont know the rules But we continue to invest Response
is lukewarm at best, dangerous at worst
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Why? Understanding of the organizational values phenomenon is
not centrally featured in higher education research and literature
Organizational values is ill defined NOTHING about how people
experience organizational values
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Push-back Pointed Visceral
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Conceptual Framework Selznick (1957) Grounding organizations
Situating organizational values Sorting literature and
research
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Methodology Critical realism
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Method Purpose uncover the descriptive, non- negotiable reality
of the organizational values concept in university administration
Three-phase study to investigate how: 1.Organizational values are
conceptualized 2.Organizational values activity is expressed
3.People experience organizational values in context of their
work
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Analytical Framework Model development (Newton, Burgess, &
Burns, 2010)
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Too much.
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Phase One Retroduction discovering essential parts Goal
Accurately map how people are talking about the organizational
values concept Cluster analysis
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Phase One Literature review: education, higher education,
administration, contemporary axiology, corporate/organizational
studies Cluster analysis Exploratory Quantitative (non-statistical)
data reduction Classification based on natural relationships
Determining conceptual skeleton
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77 variables within definitions of organizational values, 37
authors Preliminary clustering removed variables found in less than
15% of cases 32 variables, 37 authors in final analysis 6 clusters,
3 predominant Phase One Results
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Variable Frequency of Occurrence Belief48.6% Directive; guide;
driver48.6% Cognitive; idea or thought; conceptual40.5% Personal;
internalized; subjective (in terms of judgment)40.5% Intrinsically
important; right; good32.4% Moral; ethical32.4% Motivating
force29.7% End; end state29.7% Affective; emotive27.0% Judgment;
evaluation; choice27.0% Commitment24.3% Goods that enhance life;
good thing(s); ideal standard(s)21.6% Normative21.6% Desire21.6%
Determinant; causal21.6% Knowledge21.6% Variable; component;
structural feature21.6% Objective (in terms of judgment)18.9%
Emotion; feeling18.9% Standard18.9% Objective end; goal; aim18.9%
Oughtness18.9% Real18.9% Transcendental; transrational18.9%
Performance measure16.2% Fact; factual16.2% Property;
characteristic; trait16.2% Behaviour; act(s); mode of conduct16.2%
Principle16.2% Individual construct16.2% Criterion16.2% Contextual;
relate to surrounding condition16.2%
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Variables indicating that org values are individually
experienced and expressed affective, behavioural, emotion, and
subjective Variables suggesting that organizational values is
linked to human activity; progression of action judgement, guide,
and motivating force Subjective Cluster One
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Variables characterizing organizational values as an end point,
purpose, aspiration, or aim end, transcendental, and good thing V
ariables suggesting objective assessment standard, normative, and
criterion Removed from daily activity of individual people Applied
in reference to the achievement of general desired ends Objective
Cluster Two
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Variables such as fact and real map onto the same cluster as
principle and moral A middle-ground? Conceptualization of values
includes both subjective and objective elements Indicate
subjective/objective mutual influence Hybrid Cluster Three
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General model of organizational values
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Phase Two Textual analysis of strategic planning texts from
university administration (student services) Language represents
phenomena How language was used to represent the activity
associated with the organizational values concept policy creation
Strategic planning
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Publicly accessible strategic planning documents Institutions
across Canada Explicit reference to organizational values Eight
documents, twenty pages of text, roughly 100 pages of textual
analysis notes Phase Two Data
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Fairclough, 2001; Stillar, 1998 Phase Two Data Analysis
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Results Initial assumption Textual documents as representations
of the activity of policy creation about organizational values
Textual documents as artefacts of policy creation Language System:
Strategic Planning Activity Represented: Policy Creation Documents:
Artefacts of Policy Creation
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Also discovered Representations of the activity/activities
associated with organizational values Textual documents as
artefacts of organizational values Results Language System:
Strategic Planning Activity Represented: Organizational Values
Documents: Artefacts of Organizational Values
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Organizational values interpreted as a variable within
strategic planning Nature of the variable differs Differing
definitions/conceptions Distance in strategic planning documents
Future tense; dissociated from action One time effort; declarative
tone No avenue for dialogue Results
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Emphasis on accountability within the activity of policy
creation Makes organizational values work visible and concrete
Specific action associated with the organizational values principle
working together Interpersonal working relationships Collaboration,
relationship building, communication Smaller, localized,
professional working groups Results
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A Specific Model of Organizational Values
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Phase Three Episodic narrative interview Unique combination of
episodic interviewing (Flick, 2000) and narrative research (Chase,
2005) Designed to elicit information about personal stories
pertaining to a specific, pre-narrowed experience
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Phase Three Data Student services professionals from Canadian
universities Delimitations 11 interviews, 40 to 80 minutes in
length Collocation analysis (Mello, 2002)
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Phase Three Data Analysis Data 1. Textual Operation 2.
Transactional Operation 3. Socio-cultural Operation 4. Educative
Operation
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Phase Three Results Huge differences in definition; difficulty
talking about the concept Organizational beliefs Group expectations
What is important to the institution Collective standards Core
organizational principles Guides to individual behaviour within
organizations The purpose of the organization Organizational
attitudes Day to day work/behaviour Ideals Shared goals
Organizational commitments Shared organizational vision and
philosophy
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Phase Three Results Organizational values rhetoric misaligned
from decision making, policy, and workplace activity you dont see
enough of these words demonstrated. They are thrown around
carelessly and easily, but you dont seem to see anybody walking the
talk. Theres a lot of talk, you know, but is it actually carried
out? (Interview #2, p. 1).
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Phase Three Results Confusion about boundaries between
personal, professional, and organizational values we talk about our
institutional values and what we value [personally], and its loaded
because then you start thinking about do you have to live that as a
shared experience? Do you have to value what everybody else values?
(Interview #4, p. 2).
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Phase Three Results Forced enactment of processes embedded
within organizational values It kind of seems like at our
institution thats just what we do. We rip the band-aid off really
quick and then deal with it kicking and screaming later (Interview
#8, p. 8).
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Phase Three Results Division between leaders and staff The
decisions being made at a higher level [are] incongruent with the
actual nature of the reality of the situation (Interview #6, p.
3).
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An Authentic Model of Organizational Values
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Models of organizational values Verbs Hybrid Nouns Hybrid Verbs
Nouns
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Significance language Personal Conception Personal Conception
Personal Actual Personal Actual Organizational Conception
Organizational Conception Organizational Actual Organizational
Actual Alignment? Belief about purpose Directive for working
together Template for more concise language
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Significance assumptions We know more about a phenomenon that
was formerly unknown but invested in Assumptions revised;
investment re-situated
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Significance practice Models can be used in the application of
concise language and evaluation of application More meaningful
alignment
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Ideas for Application Importance of a common values language
Removing organizational values articulation from the purview of
strategic planning Challenging current assumptions about how that
works Re-positioning organizational values among small working
groups Revised role for university leaders ensuring language
consistency, staff check-in, modeling alignment
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Leader: Strategic Planning Leader: Strategic Planning Staff
Distributes & Disseminates Organizational Values Statements
Contribute individual understandings Inform work and decisions
References Chase, S. E. (2005). Narrative inquiry: Multiple
lenses, approaches, voices. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln
(Eds.), Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research (3rd ed.)(pp.
651679). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Cook, L. P. (2010). Values drive
the plan. New Directions for Student Services, 132, 27-38. doi:
10.1002/ss.373 Edwards, R. (2010). The essentials of formal
axiology. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. Fairclough, N.
(2001). The discourse of New Labour: Critical discourse analysis.
In M. Wetherell, S. Taylor, & S. J. Yates (Eds.), Discourse as
data (pp. 229-266). London: Sage. Flick, U. (2000). Episodic
interviewing. In M. W. Bauer, & G. Gaskell (Eds.), Qualitative
researching with text, image and sound (pp. 75- 92). London:
Sage.
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References Johansson. O., & Bredeson, P. V. (1999). Value
orchestration by the policy community for the learning community:
Reality or myth. In P. T. Begley (Ed.), Values and educational
leadership (pp. 51-72). Albany, NY: State University of New York
Press. Mello, R. A. (2002). Collocation analysis: A method for
conceptualizing and understanding narrative data. Qualitative
Research, 2 (2), 231-243. Doi: 10.1177/146879410200200206 Newton,
P., Burgess, D., & Burns, D. P. (2010). Models in educational
administration: Revisiting Willowers theoretically oriented
critique. Educational Management, Administration and Leadership,
38(5), 578590. doi: 10.1177/1741143210373740 Richomon, M. J.
(2004). Values in educational administration: Thems fighting words!
International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and
Practice, 7 (4), 339-356. doi: 10.1080/1360312042000224686
Selznick, P. (1957). Leadership in administration: A sociological
interpretation. New York: Harper & Row Stillar, G. F. (1998).
Analyzing everyday texts: Discourse, rhetoric, and social
perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
