Governmental policy, organisational ideals and institutional adaptation in Norwegian higher education

Abstract

In recent decades higher education institutions have been encouraged but also pressured to adapt to new demands in the environment. The need for higher education to become more innovative and dynamic has not least been communicated through politics and various reform initiatives. By analysing how six Norwegian higher education institutions have adapted to political pressure to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the period between 1990 and 2000, this article studies the relationship between governmental policy, the organisational ideals that stem from the policy initiatives, and how these are manifested inside higher education institutions. The analysis shows that institutional adaptation often resulted in hybrid organisational practices and more complex organisational identities. However, some institutions managed to reinterpret and translate external organisational ideals to fit institutional characteristics and traditions, integrating new activities and existing ones.