i 333 Pursuit of excellence: A phenomenological study of Winning the Award for Excellence Issued by APPA – Leadership in Educational Facilities By Joseph Han Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership, Higher Education Administration in the College of Education Idaho State University Spring 2013 ii © 2013 Joseph K. Han DEDICATION This conversion point of my formal education is dedicated to my parents who gave up the life they knew so that their children would have a chance at a better life. This project is also dedicated to my wife Rhonda and our four children Joshua, Rebecca, Rachel and Sarah for their gracious support on this very long journey. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS With grateful heart, I extend my profound gratitude to Dr. Jonathan Lawson for guidance in and out of the classroom. Our conversations over the past four years have reinforced my academic, professional, and personal confidence. Your philosophy of leadership, pedagogic style, and overall modeling of wisdom will continue to positively impact the lives of departments I lead, colleagues I interact with, and students I teach. I extend a special thanks to all the professors of the Educational Leadership program with extra special thanks to Dr. Alan Frantz and Dr. Jonathan Lawson for the many hours of stimulating conversations in and out of the classroom. I also express my gratitude to the members of my committee for their support and time. I am grateful to Dr. Jonathan Lawson, Dr. Alan Frantz, Dr. Mark Neill, Dr. Karen Appleby and Dr. John Gribas for their guidance on this dissertation. Your thoughtful comments and advice, attention to detail, and willingness to take the time to work with me have helped me to grow as an academic, university administrator, and aspiring scholar. A hearty thanks is owed to Dr. Lawson and Dr. Neill. Your eyes for details have improved the quality of this dissertation in immeasurable ways. And finally, deepest gratitude is reserved for my wife and children for their sacrifice of quality time, support by doing extra duties, and display of a great attitude during this long and difficult journey. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………...x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION………………………………………….………….….3 National Context of Excellence…………………………………………………...3 Award for Excellence…………………….……………………………...………..5 Statement of Purpose……………………………………………………………...5 Definitions, Assumptions, Limitations, Delimitations……………………………6 Significance of the Study ………………………………………………………...9 Summary…………………………………………………………………....……12 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………......14 Driving Forces for Excellence…………………………………………………...15 Summary of Driving Forces for Excellence………………….……………….....33 Change Theories and Models……………………………………………….……35 Summary of change models……………………………………………………...42 Leadership Theories and Models………………………………………………...44 Summary of Leadership……………......………………………………………...51 Summary of Literature Review……………….………………………….……....51 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………….53 Participant and Sampling…………………………………………...……………54 Instrumentation……………………………………………………..……………56 Procedure ………………………………………………………………...……...58 viii Design and Analysis…………………………………………………….……… 60 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS…………………………………………………………...……63 Significant Themes………………………………………………………………64 Textural Descriptions…………………………..……………….……..…………82 Structural Description…………………………………………………..…….….93 Composite Description………………………………………………….…….….96 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION, CONSCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS……..99 Driving Force……………………………………………………………...……100 Change Model……………………………………………………………….….102 Leadership Theories & Approaches……………………………………….……109 Culture of Excellence…………………………………………………….…..…112 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..… 114 Recommendations for Further Research…………………………….……….…115 References………………………………………………………………………………117 Appendix A……………………………………..………………………………129 Appendix B…………………………………..…………………………………131 Appendix C…………………………………..…………………………………133 Appendix D…………………………………..…………………………………135 Appendix E…………………………………..…………………………………138 Appendix F…………………………………..…………………….……………144 Appendix G………………………………….…………………….……………146 ix List of Tables Table 1: Reasons for Pursuing the Award for Excellence……………………….…...…65 Table 2: Pre-AFE Culture...…………………………………………………….…….…66 Table 3: Leadership Practices and Styles………………………………………..………69 Table 4: Culture of Excellence ……...……...…….………………...…………….…….75 Table 5: Outcomes of the AFE …………………………………………………………79 Table 6: Kotter’s Eight-step Change Model…………….………………………..……104 x Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify the key factors and conditions needed to initiate and sustain a culture of excellence on university campuses. The Award for Excellence is a Baldrige-based peer-review program for excellence in educational facilities management awarded by APPA – Leadership in Educational Facilities (APPA) (formally known as the Association for Physical Plant Administrators). Utilizing the Award for Excellence as the criterion for inclusion in the study, the researcher attempted to gain insights related to the process and mechanisms associated with pursuing excellence in an organization and generate a deeper understanding of the process associated with a pursuit of excellence, namely the forces that drive this pursuit and the mechanisms by which excellence is achieved. Using a phenomenological research design, the researcher conducted structured interviews with fifteen participants from seven different universities who have achieved the Award for Excellence in order to identify the driving forces that led campus personnel to purse the Award for Excellence in facilities management; examine the change model or theory most relevant for the pursuit of an excellence award; identify the leadership theory or approach utilized on that campus during the pursuit of the Excellence Award; and discover the factors that supported or impeded the continuation of a culture of excellence. xi 3 CHAPTER 1 Introduction National Context of Excellence In a speech to a Japanese management team, Edward Deming (1950) introduced the model of Total Quality Management, which became a quality improvement drive that propelled the Japanese to the position as the leading manufacturer of quality products (Gabor, 1990). In the 1960s and 70s, products once considered as cheap and of low quality from Japan, Korea, China, and other developing counties gained a growing reputation for quality and value. In markets once dominated by the U.S., across several industry sectors, U.S. companies began to feel the economic pressure to provide better quality services and products. In the 1980’s, U.S. industry found itself less competitive in the global market. The term Total Quality Management filled the boardrooms and became common in workplace conversations (Imai, 1986). In Search of Excellence, Peters and Waterman (1988) introduced and defined the word excellence as applied to the business world. Americans were ready to embrace ideas of excellence. A new industry of “management gurus and cultural consultants invading the workplace with formulas for total quality control, going from good to great, breaking all the rules, getting things done, busting e-myths and moving cheese” emerged (Daley, 2010, ¶1.). For the United States government, excellence is defined by the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence Framework. Initiated as an Act of Congress, the Malcolm 4 Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987 is administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2011). This national award is the only formal performance excellence award presented by the President of the United States. As of 2010, ninety-one organizations had received the award (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2011). The Baldrige Criteria includes seven measurement points: (1) Leadership, (2) Strategic Planning, (3) Customer Focus, (4) Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management, (5) Workforce Focus, (6) Operations Focus, and (7) Results. Each criterion has detailed questions to guide the application. Interestingly, at its inception, criteria #1 through #6 were used to establish the context of the organization, and only criteria #7: Results, was used by the reviewers to score the applying organizations. In the late 20th century and early 21st century, the facilities management industry received increased attention at both the governmental (South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, 2007) and institutional levels (Arizona State University, 2007; Oregon University System, 2007; Simmons & Duce, 2005). Earnest Boyer (1987) was the first to clearly establish a link between the quality of an institution’s facilities and its relationship to the quality of education, recruitment, and retention. In a follow-up study, Cain and Reynolds (2006a) further established a direct link between the perception of a quality educational experience and the condition of an institution’s facilities. Moreover, Cain and Reynolds (2006b) reaffirmed the link between the quality of facilities and the recruitment and retention of students. According to Doug Christensen, an APPA Fellow and legend in the educational facilities management industry, the quality of facilities depends on many 5 factors, but all the factors can be boiled down to adequacy in funding and a culture of excellence (personal communication, October 19, 2011). Award for Excellence In 1988, APPA became an early adopter of the quality