Higher education in lebanon: management styles in a system dominated by private institutes

Abstract

The social and economic development of a country and its competitiveness in changing international markets depends on the skills of its people achieved through education, particularly higher education. Institutes of higher education thus need to be dynamic in response to a combination of external and internal forces. This research study takes a close look at the higher education system in Lebanon in both its private and public sectors. It attempts to identify the principal organisational features and management styles in seven institutes each following a different educational system - American, French, Egyptian and Lebanese - using primarily McNay's model of collegium, bureaucracy, corporation and enterprise as a main reference. It explores the relationship between organisational culture and modes of operation. The study analyses the impact of the diverse management types on a set of performance outcomes and audiences in an attempt to determine their 'effectiveness' and the 'efficiency'. The findings suggest that the institutes of higher learning operated within a competitive market environment. Most had adopted the bureaucratic and corporate management structures. Even the historically grounded institutions were gradually forfeiting collegiality for these new modes of organisational management. In terms of educational outcomes, all students were attaining a solid knowledge formation however students in American patterned universities were exposed to a more liberal form of learning.