Merger: State Influence on Identity Formation in Russian Universities

1. Going World-Class Through Merger: How the State Affects Identity Formation in Russian Flagship Universities Igor Chirikov (CIM) Ivan Pavlyutkin (LSES) Higher School of Economics , Moscow, 2012 www.hse.ru

2. Merger in a University World News Titles of Publications in a University World News photo photo photo Higher School of Economics , Moscow, 2012

3. Merger as structure and anti-structure • There is a predominant vision of University Merger as: • top-down (from State to University) • radical • and structural change. • Idea of “two speeds of change”, asynchronic change • The manager’s position is more stable and he is interested in implementation of “new structures”. • University merger can be viewed as anti-structural change as rites de passage (Van Gennep, Terner) • Separation • Margin (or limen, signifying "threshold" in Latin) • Aggregation • The problem is that liminal phase of a merger is always overlooked. • There is an Identity conflict between those who organize change and those who need take on new idea of social structure. photo photo photo Higher School of Economics , Moscow, 2012

4. Liminal phase of organizational change • Why does is matter? • stamp of legitimacy to a organization's structural positions. • It is rather a matter of giving recognition to an essential and generic human bond, without which there could be no organizational structure. • During the intervening "liminal" period, the characteristics of the ritual subject (the "passenger") are ambiguous; he passes through a cultural realm that has few or none of the attributes of the past or coming state”. • Liminality implies that the high could not be high unless the low existed, and he who is high must experience what it is like to be low. • In a Liminal phase the process of identification becomes crucial photo photo photo Higher School of Economics , Moscow, 2012

5. Going World-Class Through Merger • The Case of a Merger • The case of one big Russian University that was merged (top-down) from four universities to become a World-Class at 2020. The Merger was prepared from 2009 and started in 2011. • Special Grant for the Development • New Design of Organizational Structure • New Campus • External team of managers • The situation of organizational dissonance during merger: • New formal organizational structure was not in force (introduced only on the paper) • Contracts with most of faculty and administrators were not signed up yet • More than 100 administrators (including Chairs of Departments) lost there status • There was an uncertainty with those agents who will “rule” this University • Data: • In June 2011, 32 in-depth interviews were gathered with faculty and administrative staff (top management) from 3 of pre-merger universities. • In October 2011, a survey on university organizational culture was conducted. The questionnaire was based on “Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument” (Cameron, Kim S. Diagnosing and changing organizational culture , 2006) • 260 respondents (academic staff) photo photo photo Higher School of Economics , Moscow, 2012

6. Liminal phase of a University Merger Some Examples: “There was a task to make a staff list in <Name> School with a deadline in May. The Dean of School asked me to form it and I thought that I was authorized by the school principal to solve this problem. I started to make a staff list, but could not. This is a big problem because the structure is still not approved, and I don’t know how to form this list, if there is no approved structure. (Interview, June 2012) “Before, when I had to sign the documents immediately, I came to the rector, came to him as head of the department, explained why it must be done urgently, and he signed those documents. Today, no one can sign them. They say: “I will not sign them; this is not my functional area of responsibility””. (Interview, June 2012) “We worked in a predictable situation before. All paths were trailed. Every system is ineffective in its own way. But if most of people understand what is the right path and how to circumvent, the system works. So, I was accustomed to walk through familiar paths, and now I can’t understand – are there any paths? Everybody just ping-pong you (Interview, June 2012). “Liminal entities are neither here nor there; they are betwixt and between the positions assigned and arrayed by law, custom, convention, and ceremonial” (V. Turner). photo photo photo Higher School of Economics , Moscow, 2012

7. Strategic Emphasize and Culture The University emphasizes human development. High trust, openness, and participation persist Blue - Current State Red – Desired State photo The organization emphasizes acquiring new resources and creating new challenges. Trying new things and prospecting for opportunities are valued The organization emphasizes permanence and stability. Efficiency, control, and stability of structure are important. photo photo

8. Demand for changes from faculty Do you want to change anything at the university, your school or department, or not? photo School level photo University level Probably No Definitely Yes Probably Yes photo Higher School of Economics , Moscow, 2012

9. Demand for changes from faculty Do you think you can change anything at the university, school or department, or not? photo School level photo University level Probably No Probably Yes Definitely No photo Higher School of Economics , Moscow, 2012

10. University Merger and Organizational Structure photo photo photo Higher School of Economics , Moscow, 2012

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