– Resource allocation is an important area of strategic planning in any organization, including higher education. In comparing two case examples of a college's efforts in shared governance in allocating budget to its five departments, the purpose of this paper is to show the importance of a college's awareness and understanding of team behavioral mindsets and contextual factors when practicing continuous improvement each time it applies shared governance.
– The authors propose five models that represent five distinct behavioral mindsets. The authors examine the fit of real data based on two case examples, and then identify and compare the behavioral mindsets and possible coalition formed in each case.
– The results show the type of behavioral mindset evolves over time, and the contextual factors such as changes in the macro-environment, the composition of decision makers, and their personalities, play an important role in shaping the final outcome. Continuously monitoring and learning, which leads to a more thorough understanding and awareness of the changes in contextual factors, is imperative.
– Team decision making involving resource allocation is a critical problem in higher education when applying shared governance. A clear understanding of the type of behavioral mindset exhibited in the process and its causes is critical. The paper proposes a model that can help higher education administrators identify the behavioral mindset. In addition, the authors find support from established theories for the evolution of team behavioral mindsets in a college's budget allocation.
