Leading changes through adaptive design: Change management practice in one of the universities in a developing nation

Abstract

Universities are making changes to fulfil their education, research and community service responsibilities. Exacerbated by limited experience of systemic change management approaches, most change initiatives fail to address institutional problems. Therefore, this study has tried to propose adaptive design as a promising approach to create adaptive changes in universities. Guided by a pragmatic philosophical viewpoint, this research followed a practice theory to understand actions and decisions related to changes. Staff members and students were invited to reflect on their perceptions of the principles and tactics extracted from adaptive design and their implementation in the university. Also, the study tried to identify major challenges to create adaptive changes by using a mixed method-sequential explanatory approach. Survey and interviews were made to gather relevant data. The finding reflected that tenets of adaptive design, its principles and tactics are important tools to lead and institutionalise change initiatives. This may affirm the significance of the approach if accepted and scaled up as an alternative change management theory.Keywords: Adaptive design, adaptive leadership, design thinking, change.

Managing Changes in Developing World: Case Studies of Blended Learning Adoption (Change) in Cambodian Higher Education Institutions

“…When role of managers in change is discussed, two schools of contrasting thought concurred. To the thought of the first school, middle managers' role is less important than top managers' whose decision was in many ways influencing the level of support provided by the functional managers (Muluneh & Gedifew, 2018). Against the above thought, Bamford and Forrester (2003) claimed that roles of top manager are less important, compared to that of the middle managers.…”

“…Although most of what he described fall into many aspects of change management, he failed to emphasize how he makes those aspects (human, technology, strategy) work harmoniously together to ensure that the result of change is what the institution wishes for. This misconception on change management mirrored the fact that change has been, on the one hand, managed on a reactive basis (mere problem solving), it, on the other hands, exhibited an ineffective strategy to manage change (Muluneh & Gedifew, 2018). Only with a clear understanding of change can a business properly prepare them to deal with the new challenges arising from sudden shifts in the world economy and in the nature and content of knowledge itself (Drucker, 1997).…”

“…But yet, adopting technology has also brought about changes. Evident suggests that institutions that are not ready for change, or unable to manage the changes, are failing despite the presence of modern technology (Muluneh & Gedifew, 2018;Tusubira & Mulira, 2004). This is particularly obvious in the context of developing countries where institutions are generally weak, and the ideal practice of change management has oftentimes been overlooked.…”

“…In Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), new teaching and learning technologies are being embraced as part of the pedagogy; these included, but not limited to, BL, flipped classroom and online-learning. Capacity development for academic staffs and students are also taking into account by the ministry as stated in the education strategic plan 2014-2018and 2018-2023(MoEYS, 2010, 2019. Despite such efforts, obvious success as a result of ICT driven program (change) has yet to be identified at any level of authority as challenges obviously outnumbered positive outcomes.…”

Middle manager capabilities and organisational performance: the mediating effect of organisational capacity for change

“…First, this study empirically examines how the capabilities of the middle manager play an important role in shaping the OCC and determining performance in the context of higher education. Extending the research on change in higher education has been carried out by Muluneh and Gedifew (2018) related to the culture of adaptation. Furthermore, OCC is the organisation's ability to adapt in a changing environment while mediating MMCs in OP.…”