Visiot oppilaitoksen johtamisessa -Tulevaisuuden tahtotilaa muodostamassa

Abstract

Tutkimuksessa on käytetty brittiläistä diskurssinalyysia. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että oppilaitosjohdon aikaperspektiivi vaihtelee lyhyestä, keskipitkään ja pitkään. Pitkän aikaperspektiivin omaavat henkilöt ovat todellisia visionaareja. Heidän tulevaisuuden tahtotilansa sisältää harvempia tavoitteita kuin keskipitkän aikaperspektiivin omaavilla. Todelliset visionaarit kantavat sekä hyöty- että sankariarvoja. Heidän puheensa sisältää enemmän persoonapronominien käyttöä kuin muilla ryhmillä. Persoonapronominien käyttöön liittyy mielenkiintoinen havainto. Todelliset visionaarit sisällyttävät visioihin myös työtä organisoivan rakenteen.

Keskipitkän aikaperspektivin omaavat sisällyttävät runsaasti tavoitteita visioihin. He eivät erottele tärkeitä ja vähemmän tärkeitä tavoitteita. Tämän ryhmän edustajia kutsutaan kehittäjiksi. He etsivät organisaation tehokkuutta kehittämällä kaikkea samanaikaisesti. Heidän vaaranaan on loppuunpalaminen.

Tutkimusryhmässä oli mukana myös kaksi johtajaa, joilla aikaperspektiivi on kaventunut päivittäistehtävien hoitamiseen. He etsivät hyötyä ja erityisesti hyötyä itselle. Näiden puheiden takana on selkeästi päätöksentekojärjestelmä tai yksittäinen henkilö, joka on poistanut johtajalta hänen valtuutensa.

Tutkimuksen johtopäätöksinä, erityisesti esiymmärryksenä toteutettu käsitteiden konstruointi osoittavat, että jatkossakin on tarvetta tutkimukselle, joka lähtee epistemologisista lähtökohdista.

Tutkimuksen käytännön merkitys liittyy johtamisjärjestelmään. Organisaatioiden johtoryhmien tulee keskustella valtuuksista, jotka ovat kaikille osapuolille aktivoivia, yhteisvastuullisuuden kehittämistä tarvitaan sekä kielenkäytön harjoittelua työtä organisoivaan muotoon. Oppilaitosjohdon koulutuksessa tulisi nykyistä enemmän harjoitella työskentelyä aikaperspektiivillä, osittaa strategisia tavoitteita ja harjoitella tavoitteiden rajausta.

Visions in the management of School

This dissertation examines the management of educational institutions from the viewpoint of defining visions. The management of educational institutions has been studied fairly extensively as an element in implementing educational policy. However, these studies have focused more on pedagogical than on strategic management and for this reason the theoretical frame of reference in the studies has been based more on pedagogical data than on business data. In business, a study of strategic management will focus particularly on management of the future. This dissertation will apply the results of research into strategic management and strategic thinking rather than management research focusing on a specific business sector.

Strategic management, and the definition of visions associated with it, are central tasks for the managers of educational institutions in a society where schools are constantly changing. Social changes and their impact on human activities are highly varied and widespread. By the same token, it is reasonable to assume that managers work will focus increasingly on managing change. Change management is demanding. The methods selected for reaching an organization s goal can prove ineffective when dealing with the future and there is a danger that the need for change becomes autopoetic i.e. a desire to change for change s sake. Changes necessitate strategic thinking and the ability to define the future strategic intent. The manager s most important responsibilities are strategic management and strategic thinking. The organization s future strategic intent is expressed in its vision. Visions can contain ideas about methods for realizing strategic objectives. What visions managers actually keep in mind will be determined by the time period in question, the division of managerial responsibility and their opinion of the working community s skills. This dissertation seeks an answer to what managers of educational institutions are talking about when they speak of defining visions.

The subject of this dissertation is currently very topical. Change management and strategic thinking are relevant to all managers. It can be assumed that managers who succeed best in their strategic thinking are most successful in business. This dissertation initially reviews what kind of changes educational institutions have encountered, and will in future encounter; what previous studies have revealed about strategic management, and particularly about defining visions; and how defining visions manifests itself in management studies. The dissertation then presents research questions, seek answers to these questions, discusses the results obtained, and presents subjects for further investigation based on these results.

The research material has been collected from a group of managers that took a course of training in educational institution management, consisting of four credits, which started in 1998. The group is heterogeneous in terms of management experience. Half the research group has worked for more than five years in management tasks at educational institutions while some members have relatively little experience.

The results indicate that in defining their visions these managers not only express the future strategic intent but also include opinions on how to realize this goal. Those members of the group that can be called true visionaries present not only the strategic intent but also thoughts on how working towards it should be organized. True visionaries manage time, from the past to the present, and also to both the short-term and long-term future. True visionaries also bear above average social responsibility for their organization and its surrounding community. Visionaries appear to focus on fewer challenges than Developers .

Developers define strategic intent in terms of short-term vision. Developers are more involved than visionaries in all the challenges posed by the environment. These challenges involve the working culture and the content of work simultaneously. Developers are more driven by outside influences and more inclined to passively accept the challenges of the future than true visionaries. Developers are more benefit-oriented than visionaries. The research group also includes two people who do not define visions. They regard challenges from the environment as arbitrary and unpredictable. Their opinions speak of a political culture in which the manager s opportunities for exercising control over his/her organization have shifted to decisions made behind closed doors .