Identification and validation of symptoms and dimensions of organizational mindfulness in higher education

The main objective of this study is identification and validation of symptoms and dimensions of organizational mindfulness in higher education. This study is a mixed research and an explanatory sequential design, and the target is in the area of applied research. In qualitative unit, population were the experts of schools of management of public universities of Tehran and sample were 14 experts of management knowledge and semi-structured interviews were implemented on them. In quantitative unit, population were the management faculty members of schools of management of public universities of Tehran and sample were 226 management faculty members of schools of management of public universities of Tehran and organizational mindfulness instrument was executed on them in the year 2014-2015. The sampling method in the qualitative unit was snowball and the quantitative unit was two-stage cluster sampling method and then targeted available. Analysis showed accepted reliability and validity. In qualitative unit for collection of mindfulness indicators, content analysis and open coding method was used for information analysis. Due to the nature of study in the unit of quantitative, the statistical methods used were exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Findings showed organizational mindfulness consist of rapidity and agility, flexibility, accountability, conditional learning and development of recognition, trust and openness dimensions. Results showed the need to encourage members to innovation and creativity, new skills and knowledge learning, acceptance of changes, attention to flexibility, encourage of risk-taking, improvement of education and services, and attention to very important consequences of mindfulness creation in organization.