Becoming a Network Organization: A Research Proposal
Background
Higher education distance education today consists of a variety of organizational models from for-profit institutions dedicated to online learning to traditional bricks-and-mortar colleges and universities with varying levels of commitment to distance education offerings. (For the purposes of this paper, I am focusing on learning institutions based in the United States.) Arising from this spectrum of organizational models and missions is a wide variety of mechanisms for organizing both internally and among organizations. Woudstra and Adria (2003) detail the differences between a hierarchical organization and a networked organization, with the hierarchical organization seeing the executives and managers as the loci of control, and the networked organization seeing the loci of control distributed fairly equally among the individuals in the organization. Scott (2003) also refers to the hierarchical and network models as the rational-legal and open systems model, respectively. Woudstra and Adria (2003) further maintain that traditional academic institutions operate more like a networked organization, while distance learning entities have traditionally been modeled after industrial-era production models, with the product being educational materials served at a distance, and thus have employed a stricter hierarchical structure. They challenge distance education to morph to the network organizational model to meet the persistent and growing distance learning demands of an increasingly technologically-enabled society. "It is towards the ideal of a committed, decentralized, and dynamic community of scholars and students that the network distance-education organization is progressing" (Woudstra & Aria, 2003).
What potential advantages can the network or open systems organizational model offer to the distance learning organization? The demands of the primary audience - students and potential students - necessitate it. Students are looking for connection, quality, accessibility, and economy in their learning opportunities. Higher education must find ways of meeting these needs efficiently and in a scalable way. No longer is it sufficient to rely on the old production models; procedural, technological, and (most difficult) structural/cultural changes are necessary. Hanna (2007) suggests that distance learning "changes from being the product of an 'industrial process of mass distribution of knowledge' to becoming a process whereby learners' needs for knowledge are addressed through customized and highly personal strategies that are initiated by the learner with assistance from and in consultation with the teacher." Technologies that enable learner-learner interaction and new mechanisms for learner-content and learner-instructor interaction must be implemented wisely. These changes are not for the meek and represent the need for an emerging culture in higher education: the entrepreneurial culture (Hanna, 2007).
Woudstra and Aria (2003) suggest questions for further research that might help a distance learning organization think strategically about the need for organizational changes. One question (in several parts) that this research proposal will focus on is: "...what is really different about the network organization? What boundaries have shifted? What boundaries remain the same? How will virtual organizing affect the nature of the network? Will the distinctions blur between competition and cooperation among network participants?" Woudstra and Aria (2003) suggest that "entrepreneurial initiative and innovation should be natural and expected in the network organization," while this may not necessarily be the case within the hierarchical, rational-legal structure of the traditional distance learning institution. Boundary shifts in the new distance learning organization have the potential to be revolutionary and will require serious consideration. New partnerships can be forged among institutions, allowing collaboration and sharing of resources and ideas. Open educational resources (OER) alliances are examples of these types of partnerships. At the same time, the distance learning organization must decide on its core mission and branding in order to determine what to protect and keep proprietary. Making this strategic distinction is a core idea of "Wikinomics" as proposed by Tapscott and Williams (2006). Virtual organizing will be a core tenet of this new network model, both within the organization and among organizations connected both formally and informally. "It is towards the ideal of a committed, decentralized, and dynamic community of scholars and students that the network distance-education organization is progressing" (Woudstra & Aria, 2003). Distinctions will likely blur between cooperation and competition, not only among organizations, but among individuals in the organization: "within hierarchies, communication and exchange is shaped by concerns with career mobility - in this sense, exchange is bound up with consideration of personal advancement" whereas fewer barriers to communication and exchange exist in the networked organization.
Research Methodology
This is a complex research proposal that asks a multi-layered question. As such, a mix of research methodologies and data sources will need to be employed in order to draw up a comprehensive conclusion and recommendation.
Conclusion
This research proposal is aimed at making recommendations to a single higher distance education organization as it seeks to remain (or become) well-positioned in a market that is increasingly competitive. Open educational resources (OER) and open source software solutions are increasingly being viewed as essential parts of viable businesses, allowing collaboration and distribution of resources while still preserving core proprietary business elements (and thus competition) (Tapscott & Williams, 2006). In addition, academia has traditionally operated in a more networked, collaborative manner (Woudstra & Aria, 2003). The convergence of business & academic organizational models in this collaborative sense meshes perfectly with the positioning of distance education as both an academic and a business endeavor. This research will help a single existing organization to move forward into a new collaborative and more efficient way of operating. In addition, many of the findings of this research will be applicable to many in the distance education field, as well as many looking to get in. Those parts of the findings can be published in an open, peer-reviewed journal.
References
Hanna, D. E. (2007). Organizational Change in Higher Distance Education. In M. G. Moore (Ed.), Handbook of Distance Education (2nd ed., pp. 501-514). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Scott, R. (2003). An Introduction to Organizations. In Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems (5th ed., pp. 1-30). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Tapscott, D., & Williams, A. D. (2006). Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. New York, NY: Portfolio Hardcover.
Woudstra, A., & Adria, M. (2003). Issues in Organizing for the New Distance Education. In M. G. Moore & W. G. Anderson (Eds.), Handbook of Distance Education (pp. 531-547). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Higher education distance education today consists of a variety of organizational models from for-profit institutions dedicated to online learning to traditional bricks-and-mortar colleges and universities with varying levels of commitment to distance education offerings. (For the purposes of this paper, I am focusing on learning institutions based in the United States.) Arising from this spectrum of organizational models and missions is a wide variety of mechanisms for organizing both internally and among organizations. Woudstra and Adria (2003) detail the differences between a hierarchical organization and a networked organization, with the hierarchical organization seeing the executives and managers as the loci of control, and the networked organization seeing the loci of control distributed fairly equally among the individuals in the organization. Scott (2003) also refers to the hierarchical and network models as the rational-legal and open systems model, respectively. Woudstra and Adria (2003) further maintain that traditional academic institutions operate more like a networked organization, while distance learning entities have traditionally been modeled after industrial-era production models, with the product being educational materials served at a distance, and thus have employed a stricter hierarchical structure. They challenge distance education to morph to the network organizational model to meet the persistent and growing distance learning demands of an increasingly technologically-enabled society. "It is towards the ideal of a committed, decentralized, and dynamic community of scholars and students that the network distance-education organization is progressing" (Woudstra & Aria, 2003).
What potential advantages can the network or open systems organizational model offer to the distance learning organization? The demands of the primary audience - students and potential students - necessitate it. Students are looking for connection, quality, accessibility, and economy in their learning opportunities. Higher education must find ways of meeting these needs efficiently and in a scalable way. No longer is it sufficient to rely on the old production models; procedural, technological, and (most difficult) structural/cultural changes are necessary. Hanna (2007) suggests that distance learning "changes from being the product of an 'industrial process of mass distribution of knowledge' to becoming a process whereby learners' needs for knowledge are addressed through customized and highly personal strategies that are initiated by the learner with assistance from and in consultation with the teacher." Technologies that enable learner-learner interaction and new mechanisms for learner-content and learner-instructor interaction must be implemented wisely. These changes are not for the meek and represent the need for an emerging culture in higher education: the entrepreneurial culture (Hanna, 2007).
Woudstra and Aria (2003) suggest questions for further research that might help a distance learning organization think strategically about the need for organizational changes. One question (in several parts) that this research proposal will focus on is: "...what is really different about the network organization? What boundaries have shifted? What boundaries remain the same? How will virtual organizing affect the nature of the network? Will the distinctions blur between competition and cooperation among network participants?" Woudstra and Aria (2003) suggest that "entrepreneurial initiative and innovation should be natural and expected in the network organization," while this may not necessarily be the case within the hierarchical, rational-legal structure of the traditional distance learning institution. Boundary shifts in the new distance learning organization have the potential to be revolutionary and will require serious consideration. New partnerships can be forged among institutions, allowing collaboration and sharing of resources and ideas. Open educational resources (OER) alliances are examples of these types of partnerships. At the same time, the distance learning organization must decide on its core mission and branding in order to determine what to protect and keep proprietary. Making this strategic distinction is a core idea of "Wikinomics" as proposed by Tapscott and Williams (2006). Virtual organizing will be a core tenet of this new network model, both within the organization and among organizations connected both formally and informally. "It is towards the ideal of a committed, decentralized, and dynamic community of scholars and students that the network distance-education organization is progressing" (Woudstra & Aria, 2003). Distinctions will likely blur between cooperation and competition, not only among organizations, but among individuals in the organization: "within hierarchies, communication and exchange is shaped by concerns with career mobility - in this sense, exchange is bound up with consideration of personal advancement" whereas fewer barriers to communication and exchange exist in the networked organization.
Research Methodology
This is a complex research proposal that asks a multi-layered question. As such, a mix of research methodologies and data sources will need to be employed in order to draw up a comprehensive conclusion and recommendation.
- An internal organizational survey can determine the skills levels and attitudes of staff, in order to gauge the organization's "entrepreneurial initiative and innovation" capabilities. One-on-one interviews with staff can give more nuanced information about attitudes. If the organization's capabilities are found lacking, measures may be recommended including training, encouragement by management, restructuring or new hiring.
- The current strategic priorities of the organization can be determined through interviews with management and administration. These strategic priorities can then be bench-marked against those of other, similar organizations in order to determine where priorities overlap and where perhaps there is duplication of effort. Strategic alliances may be recommended including existing and proposed frameworks, and similarly, refinement of organizational priorities may be recommended.
- What is it that the students want? How about the faculty? It may be that many of the communications technologies (e.g. Web 2.0 technologies) that this research identifies as useful to meeting the organizational priorities are the same technologies that teachers and students are seeking as part of their teaching and learning experiences. In this way the organization has the potential to facilitate the "ideal of a committed, decentralized, and dynamic community of scholars and students." A current survey of faculty and students will help support this facet of the research.
Conclusion
This research proposal is aimed at making recommendations to a single higher distance education organization as it seeks to remain (or become) well-positioned in a market that is increasingly competitive. Open educational resources (OER) and open source software solutions are increasingly being viewed as essential parts of viable businesses, allowing collaboration and distribution of resources while still preserving core proprietary business elements (and thus competition) (Tapscott & Williams, 2006). In addition, academia has traditionally operated in a more networked, collaborative manner (Woudstra & Aria, 2003). The convergence of business & academic organizational models in this collaborative sense meshes perfectly with the positioning of distance education as both an academic and a business endeavor. This research will help a single existing organization to move forward into a new collaborative and more efficient way of operating. In addition, many of the findings of this research will be applicable to many in the distance education field, as well as many looking to get in. Those parts of the findings can be published in an open, peer-reviewed journal.
References
Hanna, D. E. (2007). Organizational Change in Higher Distance Education. In M. G. Moore (Ed.), Handbook of Distance Education (2nd ed., pp. 501-514). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Scott, R. (2003). An Introduction to Organizations. In Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems (5th ed., pp. 1-30). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Tapscott, D., & Williams, A. D. (2006). Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. New York, NY: Portfolio Hardcover.
Woudstra, A., & Adria, M. (2003). Issues in Organizing for the New Distance Education. In M. G. Moore & W. G. Anderson (Eds.), Handbook of Distance Education (pp. 531-547). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
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Great proposal, Natalie. I like the idea. It would be interesting, too, to check to see what attitudes outside the institutions believe about higher ed, too--sort of an internal and external gauge at the same time.
If you are going to do this and need help, count me in! :)
Hi Stevie. I just posted the extended version, in which I included a lot of the feedback I got in class and used a lot more sources. Same concept, but I've further developed the proposal. It's with my pages on this site.
I like the idea too, and I think we're already heading in this direction within Outreach. How are we evaluating what's happened so far with the Intranet? I would think that would be the next logical step, given that things rarely go perfectly with the first go-round.