Strategy Formation in the University Setting

This article critically examines the suggestion that universities, because of decentralization and loose coupling, lack strategies. The process of decision-making at all levels of the university is closely examined. It is found that because of the ways in which decisions are made—by professional judgment, administrative fiat, and collective choice—a remarkable degree of consistency is produced in the actions of individual universities. This consistency—or patterning—leads the authors to conclude that universities do, in fact, adopt very definite strategies in the pursuit of their mission.