A case study of the organizational lifecycle of the DePauw University School of Nursing, 1954--1994 (Indiana).

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This dissertation is a historical case study of the organizational lifecycle of the DePauw University School of Nursing, 1954–1994. The School of Nursing was a four-year generic baccalaureate program at DePauw University. Other schools within the university were the College of Liberal Arts and the School of Music. DePauw University is a small, elite, liberal arts college located in Greencastle, Indiana. Students were first admitted to the School of Nursing in the Fall, 1955. By the time the last class graduated in 1994, a total of 787 women and men had received Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees.
Organizational lifecycle theory provided the conceptual framework for analysis over the time that the school existed. Stages of creation, transformation, decline, and closing were included in the analysis. Inherent in this analysis was the concept of organizational adaptation which is how the organization, in this case the School of Nursing, responded to changes in the environment. Both internal and external influences on the organization were considered within the organizational lifecycle framework. Cultural, entrepreneurial, political, technical, ecological, and behavioral factors were included within the historical context of nursing education in the United States, Indiana, and DePauw University.
The purpose of the study was to determine which factors shaped the school during its creation, transformation, decline, and whether the closing could be understood from the perspective of organizational lifecycle. Sources of data included interviews, archival documents, and institutional data regarding tuition, enrollment, and nursing education.
The findings suggest that events and individuals associated with organizational creation have long lasting effects. The transformation period was not found to be a distinct stage in the lifecycle. The decline and closing of the school were due to a combination of cultural, political, ecological, and technical factors. In this case, the influence of the external environment on the organization was paramount. Organizational lifecycle was a useful construct for understanding the factors that shaped the DePauw University School of Nursing.