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Organizational change in Australian higher education: Process and outcome

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Abstract

Change and social order, along with the related concepts of homogenization vis-a-vis differentiation of organizational types, have long caught the interest of social scientists. Theories of change and organizational differentiation abound. However, there appears to be a need for more research on how change threatens fundamental social classifications and how actors manipulate classifications and social taxonomies to protect their interests and restore order. The recent restructuring of Australian higher education provides an ideal case for exploring the effects of classificatory variation for the process has challenged cherished ideas about the essential characteristics of higher education. The extent to which the challenge has been met and repulsed by those threatened is the subject of this paper.

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Meek, V.L., O’Neill, A. Organizational change in Australian higher education: Process and outcome. Aust. Educ. Res. 17, 1–23 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03219475

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