| This study identified the culture of a generalist student affairs organization---the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)---as well as the role of its culture on decisions that affect the organization's mission, goals, and health. Ott's (1989) organizational culture perspective served as the conceptual framework for this qualitative study that used archival research, document analysis, and interviews to identify NASPA's organizational culture and the role of the culture in two of its critical decisions---the relocation of its central office from Portland, Oregon to Washington, DC and the Blue Ribbon Task Force's consideration of a consolidation with the American College Personnel Association (ACPA).; This study found that the values of the founders of NASPA, the student affairs profession, and the higher education environment within which NASPA found itself during the first half of the twentieth century have all had a significant and long-lasting impact on the development of NASPA's culture. Further, the study's findings support the dual role of culture---promoting organizational health while inhibiting an organization from making changes to adapt to a changing environment.; In particular, the findings indicate that a voluntary organization such as NASPA that is run more by its members than by a central staff coupled with strong values of respect, human dignity, and collegiality, provides the opportunity for subgroups of respected senior members within the organization to exert power and influence in critical decisions affecting the organization's identity, purposes, and structure. Thus, voluntary organizations similar to NASPA may need to acknowledge and understand the referent power possessed by senior members within the organization when faced with critical decisions facing the organization.; This study also provides a methodology that may be used for culture studies of other voluntary organizations that can help uncover the underlying basic assumptions of an organization's culture that yields a more complete picture of the culture and the role of culture in the organization's critical decisions. |
