Universities act differently: identification of organizational effectiveness criteria for faculties

Reforms in higher education according to new public management (NPM) have led to so-called managerial universities, which place a stronger focus on effectiveness and efficiency, causing profound changes in related organizational structures, which in turn must support target attainment to achieve organizational effectiveness. An overview of research shows that the organizational effectiveness of faculties has hardly been investigated so far. Moreover, there are no effectiveness criteria for the organization of faculties, post-reform. The present article aims to identify effectiveness criteria for the organization of faculties. Guided interviews were conducted with 16 experts from different universities working in faculty management. Both open and specific questions about the general criteria of effectiveness, as derived from the literature, were used. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The results show continuity, trust, transparency and relief as inductively identified criteria. Communication and information supply, environmental orientation, decision-making quality and motivation were confirmed as effectiveness criteria from the literature.