Perceptions, satisfaction, and commitment of the constituents of a private university: Envisioning the strategic management process
Walden University, PhD Thesis, (1996)Abstract
In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s a number of economical, sociological, technical and political events had a major impact on higher education far into the future. In order to cope with these changes, the principles of strategic management have been perceived as a means to effectively manage environmental issues while simultaneously directing the ongoing activities of the institution. This researcher's effort was focused on one aspect of that relationship: the impact of an organization's constituents' perception, satisfaction, and commitment as the basics to envision a strategic management process. The level of organizational support and ownership was stated through the measures of variables such as satisfaction and commitment. Through a descriptive research, and by collecting the necessary data from the university's constituents, the researcher examined the existence level and correlation of their perception, satisfaction, and commitment within the existing university setting. This research demonstrated an accepted level of satisfaction and commitment within the constituents of this private university as well as an accepted level of correlation among them. The perception expressed by the respondents toward this private university was a positive one. These positive results of the respondents in terms of perception, satisfaction, and commitment toward this private university implied that the strategies were institutionalized and meaningful involvement of these constituents have been achieved. Even though all the conclusions pointed out to a positive environment, there is continuity in the assessment process of those constituents at this private university related to their perception, satisfaction, and commitment. Thus, the following recommendations were presented to the institution: (1) Include participatory activities throughout the strategic management process to enhance constituents' knowledge. (2) Work with factors in the culture and value structure of the organization. (3) Integrate the definition of an institutional vision.