Increasing change readiness in higher educational institutions through a simulation-based change management experience

Although higher educational institutions are increasingly faced with demands for deep changes and innovations, they have a very distinctive culture which makes rapid change difficult. In order to address this challenge, we have developed and validated a new multimedia, team-based simulation, EduSynergy, which provides a rich, realistic experience of a change management project in a university setting, including individual behaviors, group dynamics and cultural factors. Our quantitative research shows a significant measurable increase in players’ understanding of change management. THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE IN EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS Organizations operating in the educational and academic arena are increasingly faced with various demands for deep changes and innovations of different types; for example, the adoption of new learning and knowledge diffusion approaches which take advantage of technological developments like the Web, or the capability to re-orient their services in an increasingly competitive, demanding and fast changing market. However, their “change readiness” is often perceived as limited at many levels. Fostering change and enhancing collaborative behavior in any organization is a challenging task. Although the ability to successfully manage change should be a core organizational competency, several studies indicate that more than 70% of large organizational change projects fail (Harung et al, 1999; Burnes, 2005). Compared to the corporate world, higher educational institutions have a very distinctive culture which makes rapid change even more difficult. For instance, university professors are trained to be independent thinkers, are used to significant autonomy, and might expect to be consulted on matters related to the effective governance of their institution (Allen & Fifield, 1999; Rowley, 2001). In addition, such organizations are not just made up of teachers and researchers, but also management staff, support staff, students and a variety of external stakeholders. This coexistence of diverse discipline-specific subcultures with their own values, beliefs, aspirations, specialized languages and skills can make it very difficult for people to understand, trust and collaborate with each other (Becher & Trowler, 2001; Brown & Jackson, 2001). In order to address this challenge, we focused our research on developing a rich, realistic experience of a change management project in a university setting in order to help individuals become aware of their own beliefs, and limitations, concerning change. This has resulted in a new multimedia, team-based SmallWorld simulation, EduSynergy, which models the dynamics of change in higher educational institutions, including individual behaviors, group dynamics and cultural factors. THE VALUE OF SIMULATION-BASED CHANGE MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCES EduSynergy is based on an existing simulation, EIS, which provides intensive and productive learning experiences related to the dynamics of change in a company (Angehrn, 2005; Angehrn, 2006; Manzoni & Angehrn, 1997). The EIS simulation is built on founded research in organizational dynamics (Gilbert, 1993; Pfeffer & Sutton, 1999; Salen & Zimmerman, 2003; Van der Vegt & Bunderson, 2005; Yilmaz & Oren, 2003). In the EIS simulation, participants working in small groups have 6 months of simulated time to convince members