Overview

The following is a guided activity to learn about the concept of organizational sagas in higher education. Organizational sagas can be powerful in understanding organizational culture, mission, and purpose. Organizational sagas in higher education (Clark, 1972) can be powerful in understanding organizational culture, mission, and purpose. They are developed overtime and used to connect individuals to the institution across generations. Organizational sagas focus on the “collective understandings of unique accomplishments in a formally established group” (p. 178). Higher education leaders can leverage organizational sagas to both understand institutional culture and to bind current students, faculty, administrators, and alumni together in supporting the institution.

The purpose of this guided activity is to assist students enrolled in a higher education and student affairs administration graduate degree programs in understanding the core concept of an organizational saga in higher education using a case study approach. Burton R. Clark’s (1972) foundational article The Organizational Saga in Higher Education provides a useful framework for examining organizational sagas. 

This activity explores the organizational saga of Mount Holyoke College, formally Mount Holyoke Seminary. Mount Holyoke (charted in 1836; opened in 1837) was founded by Mary Lyon. Mary Lyon sought to establish an institution of higher education for women that adopted a “course of study and standards of mental discipline” (Lyon, 1850, p. 428) that was afforded to men at the time. The case of Mount Holyoke is a useful example of how an organizational saga are created, sustained, and evolve to have contemporary relevance. This activity allows students to apply concepts from the organizational saga framework outlined by Clark (1972) to analyze the organizational saga of Mount Holyoke using primary and secondary documents. 

Guided Activity

Each page includes excepts from the Clark (1972) article regarding key components of the organizational saga framework. These excepts are paired with images and examples from Mount Holyoke. Proving excepts from the original text was done to increase understanding and reading comprehension by making a dense article more digestible for students. This allows students to re-read sections of the original article assist with understanding key concepts and information. 

After the review of the reading is a guided primary source activity and analysis. The activity provides links to primary sources to review and questions to assist in their analysis. At the end of the page are reflection questions for students to consider. Note for instructors: The last page, Additional Resources & Learning Activities, includes additional readings, resources, lesson plans, and assignment examples. 

Learning objectives 

Students will be able to:

·      Identify elements of the organizational saga using primary sources

·      Analyze the development of an organizational saga using a case study

·      Reflect on how organizational sagas inform contemporary higher education practice

·      Apply framework to their own undergraduate institution or workplace setting

The guided activity begins by reading the Clark (1972) article and reviewing the overview of the organizational saga below. You will then be guided through the different concepts of the framework. Each page discusses one of the key concepts: 1. Development of the Saga, 2. Initiation of the Saga, 3. Fulfillment of the Saga, and 4. The Contemporary Context of the Saga. 

Start below by reviewing the overview of the organizational saga before moving onto the development on the next page. 

"An organizational saga is a collective understanding of a unique accomplishment based on historical exploits of a formal organization, offering strong normative bonds within and outside the organization. Believers give loyalty to the organization and take pride and identity from it. A saga begins as strong purpose, introduced by a man (or small group) with a mission, and is fulfilled as it is embodied in organizational practices and the values of dominant organizational cadres, usually taking decades to develop" (Clark, 1972, p. 178, emphasis added)

Created July 2024

Last updated October 2024