In this lecture professor Roloff presents theories and approaches to organizational change that are focused on the larger organizational context. Theories and approaches include evolutionary approaches, dialectic approaches, organizational lifecycles and teleology. Evolutionary approaches and organizational lifecycles look at organizations in their totality, treating them almost as people and evaluating how they change over time. Looking at the Evolutionary and Life Cycle Approaches of Anthony Downs you have companies that start with a core business, a core set of competencies and with success will expand into other product and services areas. This is referred to as “superman syndrome.” The life cycle of companies experiencing the superman syndrome is known as the “growth accelerator effect.”
At this point in history, I might take a snapshot of Northwestern University and all universities in terms of their longevity and chances of survival. Historically, universities offered access to knowledge, credentialing and career opportunities as their core business model. The more exclusive their offerings, the more they could charge for tuition. The more money they make, the more infrastructure and personnel they put in place to support growth at the institution. As their reputation grows, it would seem there are no limits to their growth acceleration and longevity. They could add new majors, new certificate programs, better amenities. (Expanding tasks) But, as recently as twenty years ago, online learning posed a threat to traditional universities, creating competition for resources (students) and chipping away at potential faculty (decrease in talent) resulting in a form of deceleration. Thankfully, for their sake, universities came to adopt online learning as a complement to their offerings rather than a threat. (Reinvention) As of this writing, amidst global pandemic universities have received another shot across the bow. This has led to cost cutting all areas of the organization forcing even greater internal competition for resources, putting them in the lifecycle approach category known as “shrinking violet syndrome.”
LO 1: Articulate connections between the interdisciplinary field of communication and the central curriculum themes of the MSC program.
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