By: Karla McCullough Cohort 8
Higher education institutions are creating partnerships with corporations vastly; however, there is limited knowledge regarding how this phenomenon is impacting the institutions. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of corporate-university partnerships on the universities’ organizational systems. The research question: What elements of the institutions’ organization system are affected by corporate-university partnerships?
This study examined the impact of corporate-university partnerships through the lens of Albrecht’s system theory. The theory is based on the concept that an organization is an adaptive system that adjusts to environmental changes that can cause changes within the organization. The universities’ organizational systems were examined utilizing the four subsystems: technical, social, administrative, and strategic.
The phenomenological case study was carried out with two higher education institutions that had a corporate-university partnership. One majority and one minority institution was examined. Administrators, faculty, and students were interviewed to ensure the use of a maximum variation sample. The implementation of discovery was guided by the triangulation method via observations, document reviews, and interviews.
The results of this study revealed that every element of the institution’s organizational system changed as a result of the corporate-university partnership. The technical system, which serves as the main axis of an institution, experienced significant change. The technical element found to be most affected were faculty.
