Management tools consist of tools that are coordinative and process-oriented in nature. These tools include training or professional development, standard operating procedures, and measurement systems. If management tools are to be effective, group members have to agree on cause and effect. Higher-ed leaders leveraging these tools can introduce a new program or set of procedures that others agree can help the institution, even if they differ on the “why” behind it.
When using culture tools, people will prioritize similar options and they’ll have little debate around the best way to achieve those priorities because their view of how the world works is common.
Power tools are used when an organization’s members share little consensus. Here, the only tools that will inspire cooperation as higher-ed leaders pursue a new direction for their institution are those such as force, coercion, and threats. Institutions in this situation are in an understandably challenging situation for their leaders.
Tools of separation are used in instances when there is such fundamental disagreement among the groups in an organization that reaching a consensus on a course of action is impossible, and nobody in the organization can compel cooperation. These tools can help because they divide the conflicted parties into separate groups – individuals in those groups can be in strong agreement with others inside their own group, but they don’t need to agree with other groups.
Read more details on these strategies, along with case studies on different institutions, here.
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