UNIVEIISI'TY OI' TIIE ASSTINIPT'ION GI{ADLIAI'I' SCI{OOL

UNIVEIISI'TY OI' TIIE

ASSTINIPT'ION

GI{ADLIAI'I' ^SCI{OOL

"ABE:" A PHENOMENOLOGY OF ORGANIZAIONAL CULTURE IN A HiGHER EDUCATIOML INSTITUTION

A Thesis

Presented to the Qraduate School University of the Assumption

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts in Education Major in Educational Management

EDMOND M.)4t'rutnCO May 2005

HOLY ATGEL UHIVERSIW

LI3RfiY

UI\IVERSITY ^OII

^T'I-IE

ASSLINII''[ION GITADU{I'I' ^SCHOOL

Title:

Researcher:

Adviser:

School:

Date of Completion:

Degree:

'Abe:" A Phenomenology of Organizational Culture in a Higher Educational Institution

Edmond M.

Maniago Arnel T. Sicat,

MAED

University of the AssumPtion May,

^2OO5

Master of Arts in ^{Education Maior}

ⁱⁿ

Educational Management

ABSTRACT

This study is a

phenomenology

of

organizational

culture in a

^higher educational

institution. It

aimed

to

decipher

the

fundamental element

of organizational culture that makes members stay together in

^the

organization. Moreover, a transcendental account of the

fundamental element

of

organizational culture

that

emerged is presented.

Qualitative research methods

were utilized in this study.

Since the

aim of this ^study is to ^give a descriptiori of the

experiences

of

^the

participants,

I

adapted Edmund Husserl's Phenomenological Method as the

conceptual framework that will suit the ^purpose of ^{my study.}

^The

participants who wer9 selected

purposively,

were

composed

of

^sixteen

members

from different

clusters

of the college. I

^made

^use of

^in-depth

interviews, participant

observation

and

open-ended questions

to

^collect

data.

^Following

the

framework

of

Husserl, two contrasting themes emerged, namely:

diversity and group

existence. Based

from

these

two

contrasting themes, eidetic reduction revealed that the fundamental element

that

^makes

people stay together

^i,n

the

^workplace

^are the

^people themselves. This fundamental element

of

organizational

culture led

me

to a

transcendental sphere where

I

^reflected

^on

^{my encounter}

^with

^people

^{in the}

^{workplace in}

the

light of the Kapampangan term Abe.

UNIVBRSITY OII'TI IIi

ASSI.JN,TI'I'ION

GI{ADUAI'I'

^SCI

^IOOL

In line with the findings of this study,

school ^managers should ^be culture

and

^people oriented

to

improve workforce performance. Moreover, research

on

organizational

culture is

encouraged

to

discover more ^insights on this complex Phenomenon.