The effectiveness of higher education institutions has bases in institutional structures and cultures. However, structure and culture represent abstract concepts while institutions realize high performance in practice. Given their salience in higher education, mission statements and campus space bring structure and culture into the realm of practice. Moving from abstract to concrete, this paper shows how mission statements embody structure and culture and how physical space, in turn, enacts mission in day-to-day institutional life. By harnessing the mission-space linkage, strategy can access structure and culture for the purpose of increasing effectiveness.Key words mission statements . space . strategy . effectiveness . organizational structure . organizational culture Mission statements dictate the core activities of an organization, and physical space can define its operating territories. Mission and space are organizationally omnipresent and have notable relevance for both public and non-profit private higher education institutions. In this article, I use that relevance to establish a theoretical linkage between the two for the sake of strategic action. The first section discusses the cultural and structural bases of effectiveness in higher education, and the second shows how mission statements embody structure and culture, thus making them more concrete. The third section links mission statements and campus space. Because it impacts core institutional activities on a daily basis, I will suggest that space lends mission-and thus structure and culture-even greater tangibility. The final section draws upon the connections between mission statements and physical space to develop strategic models that seek to move institutions forward in practice. The effectiveness of colleges and universities has remained under discussion in the Innov High
Space serves as a key resource for colleges and universities, and institutions exchange information about it with each other and with prospective students. Using content analysis to examine several widely circulated publications, this study looked for differences in the value attributed to space when institutional leaders present it to students and to other institutions. More broadly, I hope to suggest how differences in the presentation of space could indicate divergent priorities that can damage institutional trustworthiness.Key words physical space . strategy . resource-based view . competition This article draws on two broad literatures, those of higher education and management, in order to apply concepts from management to higher education practice. The higher education literature suggests that space fosters mission fulfillment (e.g., Fugazzotto 2009;Harris and Holley 2008;Loughlin and Suina 1982;Spooner 2008;Temple and Barnett 2007). Using insights from management, I will also show how higher education institutions behave like for-profit firms, as they compete with each other and use physical space as a strategic resource. Two motivators-mission and attainment of competitive advantage-thus inform institutions' use of space. I will examine how these motivators play out as institutions present physical space in two different arenas: student recruitment and inter-institutional communication. Specifically, I seek to determine the different values that institutions attribute to space depending on whether they communicate with prospective students or with other institutions.
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