Institutional culture of a post-merger institution: A case study of a South African university

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT : This dissertation is based on a critical hermeneutic study of institutional culture of a mergedinstitution of higher education in South Africa. Concepts, documents and interviews were analysedin order to establish how they were contributing to the articulation of institutional culture asenunciated in government policies. The University of South Africa (Unisa) is the unit of analysisand three open distance learning (ODL) institutions: Vista University Distance Education(VUDEC) and Technikon South Africa (TSA) and the 'old Unisa merged to form what is knowntoday as Unisa. Not many studies have been conducted on the institutional culture in an ODLcontext, especially through document analysis and people's perceptions. Most studies centre onthe process of the merger and its effects on the organisation generally, paying less attention to whatpeople and documents say about the institutional culture after the merger.Analysis of how the merger led to perceptions of institutional culture was done by construction ofsix meanings (shared values and beliefs, language, symbols, university leadership, staff andstudent development and curriculum). These meanings are recurring themes in most literature.After I examined these meanings for their congruity and rationale for undertaking the study, Iresponded to the question whether they could provide answers to my research questions.My study found that most of the meanings of my theoretical framework were addressed indocuments and interviews at Unisa. This somehow confirmed my theoretical framework; however,the interpretations of the policy documents and people's perceptions on the other hand werecompletely different. Unisa has wonderful policies in terms of strategies for 2020, vision andmission for 2006, striving towards being 'the University towards service of Humanity in Africa.The focus was on whether institutional culture after the merger, contributes to Unisa's vision ofliving up to being an African university producing knowledge that would solve African challenges.The policies are focusing on improvement of the business model, being advanced in the latest ITfor ODL purposes, so that Unisa becomes a first choice for studying. There is a challenge ofwhether people perceive the culture of the institution, as currently paving a way towards that goal,but the vision seems to concretise the sense of creation of an institutional culture that sets Unisaas a leading open distance learning institution.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University