The University Is a Unique Organization | David J. Staley
About this episode
David J. Staley discusses the unique organizational structure of universities and the implications for leadership.
The University Is a Unique Organization | David J. Staley Can a university really be run like a business? In this installment of University Design , David J. Staley explores why the university is unlike almost any other organization—and why that matters for the people who lead it. Drawing on research examining how universities have survived for nearly a millennium, Staley considers the university as a distinctive hybrid: a community of autonomous faculty operating alongside administrative and governing structures. Rather than viewing the tensions between these groups simply as dysfunction, he suggests that they may actually help explain the university’s remarkable adaptability and resilience. The implications for leadership are significant. If universities are not conventional hierarchical organizations, they cannot be led effectively through conventional command-and-control approaches. Instead, Staley makes the case for leadership grounded in influence, negotiation, relationship-building, shared purpose, and what he calls “cultivation-and-care.” What might change if we stopped trying to make universities behave like other organizations—and started designing leadership around…
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