بررسي وضعيت دانشگاه هاي آزاد اسلامي براساس ويژگي هاي سازمان هاي ياد گيرنده: مورد واحدهاي دانشگاه آزاد اسلامي در استان هاي گيلان و مازندران

Evaluating the Islamic Azad Universities based on the Characteristics of the Learning Organizations: Case Studies - Guilan and Mazandaran Branches

L Like other organizations, universities have confronted new challenges and uncertainties and are forced to have significant changes to adapt themselves to the environment which serves their survival. One of the major things to face with these environmental challenges is the application of the learning organization concept at universities. This paper therefore, aims to evaluate the Azad University branches based on the characteristics of the learning organization. Included all the universitiesʹ branches in two provinces of Guilan and Mazandaran, 385 participants from faculty members, presidents and the vice-presidents were selected randomly. Data were gathered by a researcher-made questionnaire with 77 questions using a five-point Likert Scale. The factor analysis and t test were used for data analysis. The findings showed that in studied cases, 17 key characteristics of learning organization were observed. In evaluation of the existing demographic differences of the samples (gender, academic qualification, Journal of Higher Education • No. 3 • Winter 2010 and organizational position), the results accounted for degrees of differences in different aspects. Key words: Islamic Azad University, Learning organization, Environmental challenges,