Effects of Institutional Culture on Leadership Transitions at Koru Bible College, 1961-2002, with Implications for Effective Introduction of Change in any Academic Environment

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to reconstruct the founding organizational culture ofKoru Bible College and then describe its effects on subsequent leadership transitions. The study also sought to draw general implications on how to introduce change in any academic environment. Two methods employed to collect data were interviews and a study of recorded documents. Emphasis was placed on information gleaned from the interviews because organizational culture is about people's experiences within a historical time frame. A general interview guide approach was used in order to generate information from the respondents. The researcher outlined a set of topics without predetermining the order of the topics and the exact wording of the questions asked. However, the written documents provided tangible and easy to verify sources of data. In order to achieve the research objectives, three questions were posited which gave direction to the research effort: 1. What was the founding organizational culture at Koru Bible College, 1961-1977? 2. How has the founding culture at Koru Bible College influenced or affected subsequent leadership transitions and practice from 1977-1996 and 1996-2002? 3. What factors have enhanced or hindered the process of implementing change at Koru Bible College? The research findings showed that a founding organizational culture has significant and long-term effects on leadership transitions. The process of change from the founding organizational culture to the desired culture is complex and requires an investment of time. Thus, effective introduction of change in any academic environment calls, primarily, for changing people and understanding the past organizational behavior of the relevant organization.