Is the symbiotic organisation an
achievable aim in academia?

In the last thirty years or so there has been considerable interest in ways that organisations behave. Implementation of 'New Right' practices in organisations during the 1980s have brought about increasingly pressured work environments. Hence, many tertiary institution staff find their workloads and institutional practices deny them professional satisfaction and an effective work-life balance. A recent amendment to New Zealand's Occupational Safety and Health Act has made stress an occupational hazard, recognising the pressures of workplaces these days as potential causes of claims under our Accident Compensation Commission's processes.

One of the authors (Bruce-Ferguson, 2003) wrote about the stresses on tertiary staff of pressure to 'do it all', and in the U.K. researchers such as Dooris (2001), Donkin (2004, ongoing) and Tytherleigh, Webb, Cooper and Ricketts (2005) have investigated ways in which organisations, both commercial and academic, are seeking to promote healthy workplaces and to combat occupational stress.

The three authors of the present paper wish to take a positive approach to a potentially damaging institutional environment by suggesting, from the literature and from personal experience in New Zealand and overseas tertiary institutions, how a 'symbiotic organisation' might function. Case studies of institutions where aspects of symbiotic behaviour is evident will be presented as part of the paper.