Organizational culturein private higher education: a case study of a new private universityin post-soviet azerbauan

R


ay McGHEE

culture is still in a state of flux and evolution. Although the founder has created a culture that is in tune with local cultural norms, he is adapting ideas and models from westem systems of higher education in an attempt to create an institution that aspires to higher standards of excellence. During this initial period, he has been consumed with issues like acquiring capital, developing the university's academic and research programs, creating international links with other instimtions, marketing his institution to students and their families, and dealing with the government as it attempts to control and regulate his activity.

What challenges will the founder encounter as his institution grows and expands? Presently as the one in whom all authority is concentrated at the university, he makes all important decisions although his subordinates are involved in advisory roles. In the future, as the university increases in size and complexity, it will be impractical for all power to rest in his position. He will be confronted with the notions of power sharing and delegating responsibility as the family business grows. The roles of other family members and trusted non-family members at Khazar will, no doubt, change as they assume more and more responsibility. The social environment of post-Soviet Azerbaijan will likely continue to constitute a major challenge to the founder's leadership and the longevity of the institution. Political and economic instability as well as the simmering military tensions in the region over Nagomo-Karabakh with Armenia and Russia will place constraints on the instimtion and limit its ability to carve out space for its activity.

The social changes affecting Azerbaijan in the wake of the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union have precipitated a major crisis of stability and a major transformation that has left many unsure and without hope for the future. This shift has had important implications for Khazar University and the relationships between the members of its organization. Just as patron-client relationships play a critical role in social life in Azerbaijan, individuals at Khazar comprise a complex network of relationships that could be described in terms of patron-client relations. At Khazar, the chancellor, his family members, his inner circle of administrators and faculty, smdents and their family's are a part of network of relationships. In the post-Soviet