The influence of structure on culture in higher education : a survey of staffs' perceptions in 'new' universities

This piece of research focused on the perceptions of the factors which create and affect organisational culture in the 'new' university sector in England. A review of literature centred on the theories relating to cultural models, organisational cultures, funding issues, modularity and motivation. A survey method of investigation was implemented by means of a mixed research method approach, which incorporated a series of interviews and open-ended questions, attitude responses and ranking scales. Academic staff across two departments in three universities took part in the case study interviews. The staff were chosen as a purposive sample, based on the criteria that they had worked in the organization through the transition of polytechnic to university status. All interviewees completed both parts of the interview, and the analysed and summarised data were examined and compared to literature.;Although literature offered a variety of frameworks to assist educational managers in becoming aware of the factors which influence organisational culture, the findings (although small in scale) illustrated clearly that structure was supported and culture ignored in the new university environments surveyed. Educational management in the 'new' universities had been experiencing numerous concerns and problems, for students, tutors and managers, as a result of the evolution of the binary divide and its consequential impact on the organisational culture.