In a unique event, the University of Suffolk (Bentham and Božovič) was created from a Further Education College (FEC) and opened its doors to students in a new waterfront building in September 2007. Although the old building had been demolished, the managerial culture of the FEC remained. This old culture persisted, defined by an adversarial working relationship between managers and lecturers, and by a close relationship between students and lecturers. This is coined a loosely coupled process between managers and teaching staff, but close process-coupling between students and lecturers.

The slow breaking down of cultural barriers has resulted in educational processes becoming more holistic and financial performance improving as managers have become closer to students, and lecturers and managers engage more closely, to achieve overall university aims.

In the past, the financial culture of the FEC was to create a small surplus but under a New Managerialist regime introduced by the University management this changed to one where profit and revenue growth were of great importance. The financial growth ambitions, common to many other UK universities, have continued but required a change from an institution that simply focused on teaching and learning, to one where partnership working, and research work would become part of the institution’s strategy.

The university learned to address market-based logic by encouraging international partnerships with higher education institutions, allowing it to earn the revenue and release the time to focus more closely on research, enterprise, and sustainability.