Barba Mater
Lessons from history
on university structures
By Harry Fekkers
Maastricht University
Contents
 Theory: Mintzberg
 The first universities
 Universities during enlightenment
 The Humboldtian university
 Twentieth Century
 Now and the future
Theory
 Framework to interpret
facts and developments
 Mintzberg (Structuring
in fives, M. On
Management): 6
elements of structure
Coordination in organisations

Mutual adjustment, which achieves coordination by the simple process of informal communication (as between
two operating employees)

Direct supervision, is achieved by having one person issue orders or instructions to several others whose work
interrelates (as when a boss tells others what is to be done, one step at a time)

Standardization of work processes, which achieves coordination by specifying the work processes of people
carrying out interrelated tasks (those standards usually being developed in the technostructure to be carried out in
the operating core, as in the case of the work instructions that come out of time-and-motion studies)

Standardization of outputs, which achieves coordination by specifying the results of different work (again usually
developed in the technostructure, as in a financial plan that specifies subunit performance targets or specifications
that outline the dimensions of a product to be produced)

Standardization of skills (as well as knowledge), in which different work is coordinated by virtue of the related
training the workers have received (as in medical specialists - say a surgeon and an anesthetist in an operating
room –responding almost automatically to each other’s standardized procedures)

Standardization of norms, in which it is the norms infusing the work that are controlled, usually for the entire
organization, so that everyone functions according to the same set of beliefs (as in a religious order)
The first Universities
 Bologna, Paris, Salerno and many more.
 In 1400 there were some 100 universities in Europe
 Student bodies
 Emperor Frederick I
Barbarossa in 1155:
Authentica Habita
 Structure: pioneering,
entrepreneurial
First universities
Scientific Revolution
 XV – XVII century, Enlightenment
 Many discoveries/theories
outside the university
 University mainly teaching
 Research: experiment, new
instruments. Technology:
Leonardo. Development of
Mathematics
 Breakthroughs: Descartes,
Brahe, Galileo, Newton
Universities of Enlightenment
The von Humboldt University
 Integration of research and teaching
 Academic freedom
 Elitist
 Not only technology and physics:
humaniora and arts
 Priviliges, research facilities
Humboldtian
State Universities IX-XX
 National needs
 Academic – professional bureaucracy
 Demographic democracy
 Specialisation, pigeon holes
 Structure hierarchical but,
how do you manage wild cats
 Committees
The State Universities
Innovation in XXI
 Scientific breakthoughs: ICT, life sciences
 Large scale research
 Knowledge as economic driver
 Large proportion of population needs higher education
 Competition,
the “Perfect Storm
 State funding cannot
keep pace with needs
The Innovative University
The Innovative University
Youngest member of ECIU
 ECIU =
European
Consortium of
Innovative
Universities
 11 members,
Swinburne
became
member in
2003
Swimburne University of Technology
Structure of Swimburne
 Faculties only
one branch of
activity.
Serve as
sources.
 Main structure
geared
towards
markets
Overview
Context of decision making
• Strengthened
steering
core
• Enhanced development
periphery
• Diversified funding base
• Stimulated academic
heartland
• Entrepreneurial
belief/spirit
Government
Market
Academic
(Burton Clark, 1988, 2003 )
Return of a Duplex Ordo?
Litterature

Henry Mintzberg (McGill, Canada):



Structure in 5’s: designing effective organisations, 1983, Prentice Hal
Mintzberg on Management, 1989, MacMillan, New York
Hilde de Ridder-Symoens & Walter Rüegg (editors):

A History of the University in Europe, Vol. I (Middle Ages), Vol. II (1500-1800), Vol. III (18001945), Vol. IV (1945- present, forthcoming), 1996, Cambrige University Press

Paul F. Grendler: The Universities of the Italian Renaissance, 2004, John Hopkins
University Press

Gabriel Compayré: Abelard and the Origin and Early History of Universities, 1893, London,
William Heineman

Burton R. Clark:



Creating Entrepreneurial Universities, 1998, Oxford: Pergamon-Elsevier Science
Sustaining Change in Universities: Continuities in Case Studies and Concepts, 2004, Open
University Press
Michael Shattock: Managing Successful Universities, 2003, Open University Press