A model for creating and communicating a shared vision

College Student Journal, Sept, 2003 by David A. Walker, Deborah L. Floyd

Often, organizational behavior is concerned with the relationships and learning that occur within an organization such as an institution of higher education. Of importance, is enabling individuals to understand where they fit into a group and how their contributions add to the organizational behavior and learning. Further, this can provide an environment that is more conducive to assisting individuals in determining the importance of what they are doing, what they are learning, and how to use their learning to support the organization. The following model demonstrates how the vision of an organization can be communicated to all constituencies

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The Model

Bosserman (1998) presents a model that appears effective in the binary aspects of creating a shared vision and communicating that vision with constituents. This model is an aid in both comprehending the creation of a vision statement and communicating a shared understanding through the visual representation of the organization's idea(s) to external and internal constituents. The model addresses the relationships within an organization and bases its strategic framework on systems thinking. Systems thinking presents an organization as a network of connected entities, where more emphasis is placed on relationships rather than on individual units separate one from another (Capra 1996; Senge 1990).

For the Bosserman model, systems thinking concentrates on relationships among the primary organization and stakeholders, and examines how these relationships are created, nurtured, and sustained by individuals. The strategic framework of the model is designed to communicate the meaning and significance of organizations to diverse audiences. This model encourages people to make commitments to the organizations with which they are affiliated and prompt the emergence of possibilities for change within organizations by those who contribute to and are served by them. The formal structure of an organization is represented as:

An organization's formal structure, for example an academic institution's, often includes areas such as its programs, policies, procedures, relationships, and funding mechanisms. The points of the triangle represent the organization's purpose (i.e., who it serves and what it delivers), its principles (i.e., an organization's raison d'etre), and its intentions (i.e., the criteria an organization uses to evaluate its effectiveness).

The purpose, principles, and intentions of an organization form the formal system's integrity. For instance, typically an educational organization has written documentation of its institutional integrity. This integrity may be identified by various terms such as mission, values, objectives, or purpose statement. An institution is "in integrity" when the written purpose, principles, and intentions are consistent with the actions and culture of the organization.

An abundance of organizational learning often occurs outside the formal system and transpires within the informal system. For example, if personnel want to create or develop an idea in which the institution is not involved, they may "experiment" in the informal system by connecting with a stakeholder organization to examine a new policy, program, or relationship. In order to influence the formal structure and bring about change, the learning from the experiments needs to be shared and communicated. Often, successful experiments do not change the formal structure because they are not shared and the learning is not brought into that structure.

The flexibility of an institution is indicated by how aware it is of the experimentation that has occurred and how it learns from that experimentation. In flexible institutions, experiments are brought to the formal structure and changes ensue. An organization's pattern of learning experiences often reflects current focus and future possibilities. By clustering this learning, or making it explicit, change within the formal system is more likely to occur. Rigid organizations, however, fail to view experiments as avenues for change, but consider them to be threats to the stability of the organization.

References

Bosserman, S. (1998, February). The Bosserman model. Paper presented at the Kellogg Leadership Institutional Change (LINC) Workshop, Austin, TX.

Capra, F. (1996). The web of life: A new scientific understanding of living systems. New York: Anchor Books.

Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday/Currency.

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DAVID A. WALKER, PH.D. Assistant Professor of Educational Research Florida Atlantic University

DEBORAH L. FLOYD, ED.D. Associate Professor of Higher Education Leadership Florida Atlantic University