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Cultural mirrors A dialectical approach to quality culture
Dries Berings
EURASHE-seminar on the Implementation of Internal and External
Quality Assurance taking place on 24 and 25 October 2013 in Bucharest
Human Relations Research Group
INTRODUCTION •Quality as culture
•Organisational culture
REFLECTION EXERCISE •Six images of organisation
•Core Quadrant Method
FUNDAMENTALS •Dialectics, contingency, imagination
CONCEPTUAL MODEL
ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT
RESEARCH
PERSPECTIVES •Research
•Practice
Cultu
ral m
irrors
INTRODUCTION •Quality as culture
•Organisational culture
REFLECTION EXERCISE •Six images of organisation
•Core Quadrant Method
FUNDAMENTALS •Dialectics, contingency, imagination
CONCEPTUAL MODEL
ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT
RESEARCH
PERSPECTIVES •Research
•Practice
Cultu
ral m
irrors
4
Hard and Soft
5
Quality culture: a working model
Organizational culture
Internal and external
Quality assurance systems
Care for quality effectiveness
Performance efficiency
6
Quality culture: a working definition
“Quality culture is an organisational culture which
contributes to the development of effective and
efficient care for quality”
Flemish Bologna Expert Team (EUA case studies; Berings et al., 2011)
QUOTE 1:
While systems, procedures and rules are being laid down, [...]
there is still a lack of staff and student attachment and active
involvemement in these processes.
Harvey & Stensaker, 2008
TQM-attitude
10,7
18,9
50,4
18,5
1,60
10
20
30
40
50
60
Pioneers Ethusiasts Neutrals Sceptics Opponent
Berings, 2001
43,8
28,125
3,10
22,417,7
43,7
15,3
0,96,6
19,7
50,2
21,4
2,1 3,5
14,7
65,7
14,7
1,40
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Administrators Coordinators Lecturers Supporting staff
Pioneers Enhousiasts Neutrals Sceptics Opponents
Berings, 2001
TQM-attitude
10
Quality culture: a working definition
“Quality culture is an organisational culture which
contributes to the development of effective and
efficient care for quality”
Flemish Bologna Expert Team (Berings et al., 2010)
11
“Organizational culture refers to the taken-for-
granted values, underlying assumptions,
expectations, collective memories, and definitions
present in an organization. It reflects the prevailing
ideology that people carry inside their heads. It
conveys a sense of identity to employees, provides
unwritten rules and, often, unspoken guidelines for
how to get along in the organization, and enhances
the stability of the social system that they
experience.” (Cameron and Quinn, 1999).
“Organizational climate is the relative enduring
characteristic of an organization which
distinguishes it from organizations; and
embodies members collective perceptions about
their organization with respect to such
dimensions as autonomy, trust, cohesiveness,
support, recognition, innovation and fairness
[…] and reflects the prevalent norms and
attitudes of the organization’s culture; and acts
as a source of influence for shaping behavior.” (Moran and Volkwein, 1992).
• How do we perceive ourselves?
• What kind of organisation do we want to be?
• Do we differ from other organisations?
• Is our organisation internally devided?
Cultural mirrors An integral approach to quality culture
INTRODUCTION •Quality as culture
•Organisational culture
REFLECTION EXERCISE •Six images of organisation
•Core Quadrant Method
FUNDAMENTALS •Dialectics, contingency, imagination
CONCEPTUAL MODEL
ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT
RESEARCH
PERSPECTIVES •Research
•Practice
Cultu
ral m
irrors
Image1: ……..
Organization X is known for its sound and,
also, traditional approach. This
organization only brings about change
when it is absolutely necessary and only if
it is almost certain that the new approach
is better than the old one.
Image 2: ……
In organization X, there is a real team
spirit. The staff has a strong sense that
they are all contributing to a common goal
and ideal. Time and effort are allocated to
develop a common future vision. The staff
uses this as a frame of reference for their
own work.
Image 3: ……..
Organization X employs in particular
specialists who are recruited mainly because
of their specific professional skills. These
professionals focus primarily on their own
specialization and pay less attention to the
organization as a whole. The support
services are at their disposal for practical and
organizational issues.
Image 4: ……..
Organization X is known as a trend setter in
terms of the use of modern methods and
techniques. It rapidly responds to new trends
in society. Changes in offer and internal
organization and regulations take place in
rapid succession. If improvement is
considered te be possible, action is
immediately taken.
Image 5: ……..
In organization X the managers highly trust
their employees. They believe that most
people are intrinsically motivated and
capable of figuring out how to work best.
Consequently, anyone can perform his
duties according to his own insights,
principles and style.
Image 6: ……..
In organization X, all activities are perfectly
aligned with each other. There is a system,
logic and order in everything. Objectives,
plans, agreements and tasks are put on
paper. Careless work and sloppiness are
fought. The management insists that
everything is in accordance with the
agreements.
QUOTE 2:
A person might retain basic elements of the two opposing
perspectives and believe that both perspectives might contain
some truth, even at the risk of tolerating a contradiction.
Ping & Nissbett, 1999
QUOTE 3:
Every disadvantage has his advantage
Johan Cruijff
Core quadrant method http://www.scienceprogress.info/effectiveness/core-quadrant-ofman
• Original purpose: activation of self-reflection in
managers about their own personal qualities.
• Our application: activation of reflection on quality
culture by quality assurance professionals, HEI
administrators, academics or other HEI-
employees.
• Our purpose: stimulate dialectical reasoning
around quality culture Berings & Grieten, 2012 (EQAF, Talinn)
Berings, 2013 (NVAO voorjaarscongres, Rotterdam)
Core quadrants
QUALITY
CHALLENGE ALLERGY
PITFALL
too much of it
Too much of it
opposite avoidance
25
• Discuss two images
• Allergy: what advocates of each approach want
to avoid?
• Quality: what is the most important advantage of
each image?
• Pitfall: what could be weaknesses or risks of
each image?
• Challenges: how can we try to preserve the
advantages without the pitfalls?
Reflection assignment
Allergy Quality Pitfall Challenge
Innovation
Tradition
People
System
Collective
Professional
Tradition Collective
Allergy
Quality
Pitfall
Challenge
Professional
(specialisation)
Innovation
Allergy
Quality
Pitfall
Challenge
People System
Allergy
Quality
Pitfall
Challenge
INTRODUCTION •Quality as culture
•Organisational culture
REFLECTION EXERCISE •Six images of organisation
•Core Quadrant Method
FUNDAMENTALS •Dialectics, contingency, imagination
CONCEPTUAL MODEL
ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT
RESEARCH
PERSPECTIVES •Research
•Practice
Cultu
ral m
irrors
Dialectics
• Thesis – antithesis – synthesis (Hegel)
• Competing values (Robert Quinn)
QUOTE 4:
Quality culture is not mechanistic [...] but an iterative, indeed
dialectical, process.
Quality culture is first and foremost a tool for asking questions
about how things work, how institutions function [...] and how
they see themselves. The problem with quality culture
as it is used today is that the concept is thought of as the aswer
to challenges, while in reality, it is a concept for identifying
potential challenges.
Harvey & Stensaker, 2008
• No one best way to manage or organise
• Effectiveness depends on context factors
• Equifinality: a given end state can be reached by different
potential means
Contingency
need to control these
Anti-these need for autonomy
empowerment Synthese
Dialectics
Gareth Morgan:
“Ideas about organizations are always
based on implicit images or metaphors that
persuade us to see, understand, and
manage situations in a particular way.”
Imagination
QUOTE 5:
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems
from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real
advance in science.
Albert Einstein
INTRODUCTION •Quality as culture
•Organisational culture
REFLECTION EXERCISE •Six images of organisation
•Core Quadrant Method
FUNDAMENTALS •Dialectics, contingency, imagination
CONCEPTUAL MODEL
ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT
RESEARCH
PERSPECTIVES •Research
•Practice
Cultu
ral m
irrors
39
Our framework: competing values
innovation
tradition
self-
determination
system
control
collective
orientation
Individual
specialization
innovation
tradition
self-
determination
system
control
collective
orientation
Individual
specialization
QUOTE 6:
It is often the case that when speaking of quality, it is easy
to revert back to such managerial concepts as quality
control, quality mechanisms, quality management, etc.
These concepts, however, are not neutral. They convey a
technocratic and top-down approach that will backfire in
academic settings. The self-perception of academics as
successful professionals who are committed to excellence
means that they dislike being managed.” EUA (2006). Quality Culture in European universities: a Bottom-up approach. Brussels: European University Association)
INTRODUCTION •Quality as culture
•Organisational culture
REFLECTION EXERCISE •Six images of organisation
•Core Quadrant Method
FUNDAMENTALS •Dialectics, contingency, imagination
CONCEPTUAL MODEL
ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT
RESEARCH
PERSPECTIVES •Research
•Practice
Cultu
ral m
irrors
INNOVATION
PROFESSIONAL
TRADITION
COLLECTIVE PEOPLE
SYSTEM
43
Assessment Instrument
six images
Would you like to work in organization X?
2. Absolutely not 3. Rather not
4. Partly 5. With pleasure 6. With much pleasure
To what extent does your organization or section resemble organization
X?
1. Not at all
2. To a small extent 3. As much as it doesn't
4. To a large extent 5. Entirely
44
Profile analysis (Case 1)
1
2
3
4
5
A: innovation
B: people
F: professional
E: tradition
C:system
D: collective
perception
preference
45
Assessment Instrument thirthy cultural features (e.g. “Vision and policy are translated into operational plans”
How important is this feature to you?
1. not at all important
2. a little bit important
3. rather important
4. very important
5. utmost important
To what extent does this feature apply to the organisation?
1. not at all
2. to a small extent
3. partly
4. to a large extent
5. entirely
Cultural features
1,50
2,00
2,50
3,00
3,50
4,00
4,50
INNO1
INNO2
INNO3
INNO4
INNO5
TRAD6
TRAD7
TRAD8
TRAD9
TRAD10
SYS11
SYS12
SYS13
SYS14
SYS15
MEN
S16
MEN
S17
MEN
S18
MEN
S19
MEN
S20
COLL21
COLL22
COLL23
COLL24
COLL25
SPEC26
SPEC27
SPEC28
SPEC29
SPEC30
wens
perceptie
INTRODUCTION •Quality as culture
•Organisational culture
REFLECTION EXERCISE •Six images of organisation
•Core Quadrant Method
FUNDAMENTALS •Dialectics, contingency, imagination
CONCEPTUAL MODEL
ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT
RESEARCH
PERSPECTIVES •Research
•Practice
Cultu
ral m
irrors
48
Study 1 (Berings, 2001)
44 HEI departements
Table 2. Culture images and TQM-criteria: Pearson-correlations.
TQM implementation Student satisfaction Employee satisfaction
Collective .39 * .60 *** .73 ***
People .23 .46 ** .69 **
Innovation .22 .46 ** .51 **
System .13 .49 ** .51 **
Tradition -.15 .11 .17
Professional -.25 -.20 -.11
R² .22 .44 .73
Note: * p <.05; ** p <.01; *** p<.001
49
-1,50
-1,00
-0,5
0
0,00
0,50
1,00
1,50
Innovation
People
Professional
Tradition
System
CollectiveTRADITION
INDETERMINATE
TEAM
TQMC
four clusters
50
Four clusters / three criteria
-1 -0,5 0 0,5 1
TRAD
INDET
TEAM
TQM
z-scores
TQM implement. Student SF Employee SF
Study 2 (2009) 28 units of universities and colleges
(‘hogescholen’)
Study 3 (2010) 64 units of universities and colleges
(‘hogescholen’)
PERCEPTION versus ATTRACTIVENESS (2010)
3,02
3,23
3,56
3,76
4,15
4,36
2,77
2,69
2,96
3,17
3,49
3,09
1,00 2,00 3,00 4,00 5,00
Tradition
Professional
System
Innovation
People
Collective
Perception
Attractiveness
PERCEPTION (2010)
2,65
2,74
2,99
3,12
3,20
3,50
2,96
2,97
2,81
2,89
3,00
3,45
1,00 2,00 3,00 4,00 5,00
Professional
Tradition
System
Collective
Innovation
People
Universities
Colleges
ATTRACTIVENESS (2010)
3,00
3,22
3,59
3,78
4,15
4,38
3,18
3,31
3,38
3,58
4,12
4,26
1,00 2,00 3,00 4,00 5,00
Tradition
Professional
System
Innovation
People
Collective
Universities
Colleges
PERCEPTION: trend
2,65
2,74
2,99
3,12
3,20
3,50
2,38
2,66
2,65
2,89
2,88
3,23
1,00 2,00 3,00 4,00 5,00
Professional
Tradition
System
Collective
Innovation
People
Colleges 2000
Colleges 2010
ATTRACTIVENESS: trend
3,00
3,22
3,59
3,78
4,15
4,38
3,03
2,35
3,32
3,40
3,99
3,89
1,00 2,00 3,00 4,00 5,00
Tradition
Professional
System
Innovation
People
Collective
Colleges 2000
Colleges 2010
INTRODUCTION •Quality as culture
•Organisational culture
REFLECTION EXERCISE •Six images of organisation
•Core Quadrant Method
FUNDAMENTALS •Dialectics, contingency, imagination
CONCEPTUAL MODEL
ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT
RESEARCH
PERSPECTIVES •Research
•Practice
Cultu
ral m
irrors
Research:
• Translation and validation (French, English, German)
• Research with more contingency factors and
performance indicators
• Research on the relationship between cultural
preference and implicit educational theory
Application:
• Application as a part of Quality Assurance
• Application as a part of Organisational
Development
• Further development of follow-up and reflection
methods
Perspectives
59
Biblio
Berings, D., & Grieten, S. (2012). Dialectical reasoning around quality culture. Proceedings of the 7th European Quality Assurance Forum; Tallinn; 21-23 november 2012.
Berings, D., & Steen, T., & Grieten, S. (2011). Mens en organisatie. Antwerpen: Uitgeverij De Boeck. Berings, D., Beerten, Z., Hulpiau, V., & Verhesschen, P. (2011). Quality culture in higher education: from theory
to practice. In A. Blättler et al. (Eds.) Building bridges: Making sense of quality assurance in European, national and institutional contexts. EUA Case Studies. (pp. 38-49)., 2010, 4, 51-57.
Berings, D. (2009). Reflection on quality culture as a substantial element of quality management in higher education. Paper presented at the Fourth European Quality Assurance Forum (EQAF ) of the European University Association (EUA), Copenhagen (19-21 November 2009).
EUA (2006). Quality Culture in European universities: a Bottom-up approach (Brussels, European University Association).
Harvey, L., & Stensaker, B. (2008). Quality Culture: understandings, boundaries and linkages. European Journal of Education, 43(4), 427-42.
Kolsaker, A. (2008). Academic professionalism in the managerialist era: a study of English universities’, Studies in Higher Education, 33(5), 513 – 25.
Moran, T.E., & Volkwein, J.F. (1992). The cultural approach to the formation of organizational climate. Human Relations, 45, 19-47.
Ofman, D. (2006). Bezieling en kwaliteit in organisaties (Utrecht, Servire).
Peng, K., & Nisbett, R.A. (1999). Culture, dialectics, and reasoning about contradiction. American Psychologist, 54(9), 741-754.
Quinn, R.E. (1988), Beyond rational management. Mastering the paradoxes and competing demands of high performance. London: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
