Governance and Organization

Far-reaching transformation processes at the level of the internal organisation and management of universities - triggered by globalisation and the scientification of social structures as well as the increasingly knowledge-based economic and innovation development - lead many authors to the conclusion that universities are in many respects approaching corporate organisations as emergent organisational forms; they would therefore increasingly develop into complete, managed or agentic organisations. But what effects do increasingly competitive organisational structures for research and education at universities have on self-direction and selection within the professions and functional elites closely associated with them?

Against the background of this question, the focus of the research is on the analysis of the genesis, diffusion and effects of new organisational forms and management instruments in the governance of universities. The main aim is to work out the special features of university organisation in comparison with other state-related or knowledge-based sectors.