Organizational decline and effectiveness in private higher education

The central purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between organizational decline and three domains of effectiveness (i.e., academic, morale, and external adaptation) in private colleges and universities. The study differed from earlier inquiries in terms of its measurement of the organizational decline construct and its reliance on faculty perceptions of organizational effectiveness. The results clearly demonstrate that the relationship between decline and effectiveness is not uniform across the three types of private institutions (i.e., Research Universities, Comprehensive Colleges, Liberal Arts Colleges). For example, organizational decline has a negative effect on effectiveness in the academic domain only at Liberal Arts Colleges. Similarly, the magnitude of decline necessary to have a negative effect on effectiveness varies among the three institutional types. The implications of these findings for future research and for the management of decline in private higher education are discussed.