The organizational transformation of universities: using motivation theories to explain the micro–macro link

This chapter will explain the transformation of universities as organizations using the tradition of motivation theory, which postulates a connection between perceptions of organizational structures and regulation of action. Self-determination theory is used as a theoretical underpinning to bridge the micro–macro link between organizational structure and individual behaviour. Furthermore, Coleman’s bathtub model and Esser’s further development of this model can explain the interaction between the organizational structure at time t1, the resulting situation perception and the corresponding selected action, and the aggregation of the individual actions to the organizational structure at time t2. Two ideally distinguishable forms of these interactions are explained using the example of academic teaching. Much empirical evidence is cited from the literature to support this relationship. Thus, a model is presented that explains the organizational transformation of universities based on the aggregation of the actions of the members (i.e. the academic staff).