Compromising The Organization's Identity: Pressured Organizational Submission to Externally Dictated Change

Abstract

Following the Bradley Review (Australian Government, 2008), Australian tertiary education sector's constituents underwent significant strategic reforms, including the Australian government's funding-specific policy changes for the sector. Analysing the situation confronting Australian tertiary education section from a theoretical perspective, using secondary sources of information, the author argues that while 'strategy facilitation' by a 'power source' works to the advantage of subordinate organizations, 'strategy imposition' may work the opposite way. Externally dictated conditions for change that leave an organization with no option but to submit passively to the pressure and adapt its core organizational elements to ensure survival, may result in the organization's 'demise' in its real essence, as the organization sacrifices its true identity in an attempt to placate the external demand for change. Notions of accountability dictate that such a change needs to be scrupulously checked and subjected to an independent enquiry before considered for implementation. Theory-supported propositions are put forth to help guide future research into the area.