Organizational Culture in Higher Education: Learning from the Best

Abstract

In this paper we discuss organizational culture of higher education institutions whose components have been thoroughly described by authors such as Tierney (1988) and Valimaa (1998). We focused on the elements of organizational culture which outlines the identity of a higher education institution: why does the institution exist? How does the institution reach its goals and mission? What does the institution offer to its internal and external public? As such, we analyzed the mission, structure, governance and decision making processes, teaching and research in a comparative perspective: Harvard University (HU) and the University of Bucharest (UB), Romania. By looking into the organizational culture of the best, we learnt some lessons that may inspire, motivate and urge action if UB wants to progress so as to become one day a top leader in higher education worldwide.