QUALITY AND RELATIONAL COORDINATION AMONGST UPPER EDUCATION SPANISH SYSTEMS: CASE OF CORDOBA UNIVERSITY AND REY JUAN CARLOS UNIVERSITY

Today the search of academic excellence is a key issue for Educational Institutions and it is also a theme that highly interest to citizens and policy makers worldwide. The application of relational coordination mechanisms in the internal work processes at Universities can improve final results and explain higher degrees of Academic Excellence. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to prove if the relational coordination amongst team members at two different University departments explains excellence in the upper education Spanish system. In the framework of a project of educational innovation supported by the Cordoba University for the academic year 2012-2013, we have developed a project about the relational coordination in the teaching and researching styles of two different departments located in different geographical areas in Spain. We have found the differences between two disperse geographically systems the Cordoba University (Cordoba) and the Rey Juan Carlos University (Madrid). The model affirms that relational coordination is produced by providing a frequent communication of high quality, supported in shared objectives, knowledge and mutual respect. This kind of coordination is the one that allows firms reaching the best results. We have surveyed academics coming from two different Universities and both located in the same area of education: veterinary. According to the analysis performed and considering the sample we have chosen, we can affirm that the relational coordination amongst team members at the University departments explains excellence in the upper education system. Therefore the relational coordination model can help to create a proper organizational climate to reach quality and effectiveness in the University System. Results show that the different dimensions of the relational coordination model: mutual respect, the sharing of goals and knowledge explain best results at Universities. We find some differences in one and another context, so we suggest enriching the relational coordination model with cultural attributes in view of future research. The relational coordination model can be of interest to reach good results in organizations or organizational processes where high levels of task interdependence (Thompson, 1967), uncertainty (Argote, 1982) and time restrictions (Adler, Goldoftas and Levine, 1999) are required. In upper education systems, these circumstances appear.