Constructing Organization across Institutional Boundaries: The Case of Orthodox University

Constructing Organization across Institutional Boundaries: The Case of Orthodox University

Ivan PavlyutkinLaboratory for Studies in Economic Sociology

Higher School of Economics , Moscow, 2012

www.hse.ru


Idea of the paper

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1. The question of “getting action” in worlds that are already too ordered and rule governed” (White 1992; Stark 2009).

Institutions constraint actions as they form boundaries that are reproduced over time and legitimize hierarchical orders.

How to get across institutional boundaries?

Answer: It depends on the form of organization. Heterarchy.•Non vertical integration - crosscutting network structures.•Competing principles of evaluation

2. How “visible” fresh actions are? How they become recognized as something not marginal but that matters in the public?

Example: Interaction between State, Church and Business – Orthodox University


Russian context 1: State and Church

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Public Opinion Foundation

(Russian Survey,1500 2011)

Church - State RelationsFormal rituals (Big Events)Buildings (Culture)Public outrages

HierarchiesSeparate orders

CommunitiesSwitching orders of worthSecular vs. Atheistic

Ethnographic research of university life for 9 months searching for university effects. 24 in-depth interviews with insiders and outsiders.

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PP

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PublicPublic

“Invisible level”“Invisible level”


Russian Context 2: State and Non-State

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Non-State vs. Private

Marginal status of non-State HEI’s (“Garage universities”) Cheap education (Av. Price about 1000 $ per year)Popular programs (Economics, Management, Law, Psychology)Low average level of Unified State Exam (entrance Exam)75% of funding from fees (consumers)But accreditation and license standards are monopolized by State

Non-State is not other than State, but is not so good as State.

The difference between non-State and Private is not in the ownership, funding or operating under government. The difference is in organizational form that distinguishes private university from forms that appear as reflections of institutionalized structures legitimated by the State.


Dynamics of growth in number of non-State Higher Education Institutions in Russia (1990-2010)

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Strange case: Orthodox University

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Founded in 1992 as a civic institution for priests and laymen.

Current State: Teaching programs: Theology, history, mathematics, philology, pedagogy

Is Accredited by State officials as a “University” and the right to provide state diploma

“Managed” mostly by priests

Is mostly Funded by Business organizations and Private Funds

No fees from students on major programs (about 1500 students)

"Many people still cannot understand what this incomprehensible phenomenon (something between a secular university and seminary) is. Being an orthodox university is not easy - the state has its universities, and the Church has its seminaries.” ( Interview with insider)


University Funding

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Funding Structure Non-State Universities (Russia)

Orth. University

State Funding 1 0

Local Funding 1 0

Business and organizations 6 80

External Grants 1 3

Fees (Consumers) 75 10

Own Funds 15 7


University organization

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Center BodyInside and outside borderlines are not clearly defined.University is embedded in a large orthodox community (parish)

Distributed in terms of physical and social space

Dual structure (Rel. Authority Structure and Agency Structure)

Closed but not “locked-in” – generates various forms of interaction

Periphery - Projects Satellites Usually Larger than “Center Body”Realized in different domains (social, education, research, publishing, music, painting, media) Representatives from State, Church and Business are involvedMultiple systems of evaluation and countingProvide public recognition for University

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SatelliteSatellite

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SatelliteSatellite

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Example of project - satellite

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Example of project - satellite

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Russian Olympiad on basics of Orthodox Culture (2006 – 2012)Started in 2006 as a local project for 3 schools connected with a parish.In 2008 – more than 13000 of participants from 624 schools.From 2008 is funded by private foundation (more than 1 mln.$ in 2011)In 2010 was recognized by State as all-Russia Federal Olympiad.In 2011 – more than 140000 participants, 6400 schools, 12 - winners. In 2012 – 3 new big competitions started.

Organizational dissonance and spreading in different domains:New structure - Private foundation donated money with a condition of formal structure creation and making reports according to its standards. New forms of interaction - organization committee consists from foundation and university staff (they are not involved in vertical relations). New type of experts in schools and media State couldn’t ignore a big movement on the school level and started to monitor and regularize according to State standards.School-participants asked for materials that could be relevant for training. They need to be validated by state officials.


Conclusions

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University could be evaluated by various ways and from different domains (orders of worth). Competing principles of evaluation provide with new insights and reflections on organizational form for a new action.

Heterarchy becomes an organizational form that provides friction of private actions on the boundaries of formal organizations to produce public effects.

“Spreaded University” To become a private university you need to be recognized as

private by the public. The more principles of evaluation the more private you are as you become publicly recognized in different domains but not only in a domain of education services.

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Constructing Organization across Institutional Boundaries: The Case of Orthodox University