Going against the national cultural grain: A longitudinal case study of organizational culture change in Turkish higher education

Abstract

This paper presents results of a longitudinal case study inquiry into the measurement of organizational culture change through the implementation of total quality management (TQM) concepts in a higher education context. The inquiry deals with the relationship between national culture and the company corporate culture, the consequences of manager style change for TQM implementation and how culture change can be measured adequately. The results are achieved by the utilization of external (quantitative) and internal (qualitative) measurement devices. Limitations consequent upon the number of participants and the dual role of the researcher indicate the potential value of further investigations into the topic using these devices. The main conclusion is that the maintenance of TQM systems without continued senior managerial commitment may not suffice to secure change and prevent a reversion to earlier cultural patterns. Certainly, since the findings of this inquiry are limited to one case study, it would be unwise to assume that similar results would necessarily pertain in other higher education contexts. Nevertheless, we are of the view that the findings are suggestive of the pressures imposed on organizational change by national cultural patterns. The devices implemented for measuring organizational cultural change, while not designed for that purpose, have, however, yielded sufficiently well-defined results to suggest the value of similar implementations to gain insight into the topic in further higher education and other organizational contexts.