ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

: Purpose. The main goal of this paper is to define that creating culture is essential in any organization and is necessary to know how to act in times of crisis. The creation of a culture within an organization requires a structured and meticulous process in its implementation. The process must begin with the definition, by the organization's leadership team, of those characteristics that will form part of the common behavior of individuals within the company. The desired behaviors are the attitudes, habits, beliefs, values, and forms of interaction that we want to install. In this sense, it is important to think about how we want to be recognized by our customers and employees. Given the situation of COVID-19, we can say that different cultures can determine different behaviors for the same event. Culture is stronger than any business strategy and more influential than any individual member of the company: culture reflects the common behavior of the organization.


INTRODUCTION
In this paper, the greatest review is given to organizational behavior and organizational culture as a branch arising from it to show the state of employees within higher education institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A classic definition of organizational culture represents the process of studying individuals in an organizational context, even though as a term it can arise and be based on several different definitions.Corporate culture is represented in all organizations, and it exists everywhere.It can also appear in the form of organizational culture when it comes to higher education institutions.Organizational culture in higher education implies both external and internal changes faced by a higher education institution and the ways in which it reacts to them.Here, the potential of employees, which is expressed through performance measurement, plays a key role.All these aspects determine the structure of institutions.
When we talk about performance measurement, it is very important to note that it is necessary to do the same for both academic and administrative staff, for students to receive the highest possible quality education.Organizational culture, as an inevitable segment of every organization, contributes to the fair measurement of the performance of employees through the control process, and thus also contributes to fair and impartial rewarding of employees.The degree of quality of culture in higher education is reflected based on the educational services that are offered and how much social responsibility higher education institutions assume.Nurturing such relationships leads to the development and improvement of their organizational culture (Serpa, Sa, 2022).

LITERATURE REVIEW
The changes that are happening every day at an incredible speed on Earth bring a need for leaders who will provide the existing organizations with a high level of operation and efficiency (Baltazar and Franco, 2023).As Herdinata and Pranatasari (2022) state, there could be disastrous consequences if countries do not find solutions related to the COVID-19 pandemic to restore the trust that citizens have in the societies in which they live.Achieving a high degree of market share and success in relation to those of competing organizations would be achieved exclusively by providing this type of solution whose purpose is to provide a competitive advantage through strategic performance (Herdinata and Pranatasari, 2022).According to Lin-Lian, Heredero, Botella and Lin (2022), the COVID-19 pandemic and the full crisis it brought with it caused numerous barriers, both in all spheres and from an economic point of view, and the worst of all was that thousands of people lost their jobs.An in-depth analysis of personal and collective performance within the business environment can lead us to a quality definition of the term organizational behavior.Economic growth and development cannot go upward if there is an absence of entrepreneurship, especially when it comes to organizations that are part of modern and open economies (Gomes, Ferreira, Lopes and Farinha, 2022).This type of economy includes individual behavior and group dynamics in organizations.According to Ugoani (2020), leaders, as drivers of any work organization, must respect certain rules.Cahyadi, Marwa, Hagen, Siraj, Santati, Poor, and Szabo (2022) say that a critical way of thinking is necessary on the part of leaders and management of organizations in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic to constantly maintain the level of employee performance.One of the most important is understanding the needs and desires of its employees, and cultivating strong relationships based on trust (Ugoani, 2020).Employee performance can have both a direct and an indirect relationship with the degree of firmness of leadership (Cahyadi, Marwa, Hagen, Siraj, Santati, Poor, and Szabo, 2022).Improving the quality of employees' performance would be possible only if the leadership duties and the processes with which the human resources are managed are simplified (Siraj, Hagen, Cahyadi, Tangl and Desalegn, 2022).
Compared to this, we can relate the organizational behavior of employees to several aspects of the employees themselves.That is, the things they believe in, their thoughts, ideas, characteristics, and emotions.
When it comes to organizational behavior, it is necessary to act in the long term in an organization.It is necessary to have a strong bond between the organization and the employees, and this is achieved through a sense of commitment that will be represented among the employees who will complement each other and will not want to fluctuate in other companies (Baltazar and Franco, 2023).The main assumption on which the strategic point of view about the organizational behavior of employees rests is conditioned by themselves.Specifically, the most expensive resource of any company should be properly nurtured if employers aim for positive organizational behavior and the success of the organization itself.The study of the behavior of employees within an organization aims to provide valuable information that can help in the process of changing and improving the efficiency of business processes.This scientific discipline is opposed to decisions based on intuition.It can be said that it is about the actions of employees and their ability to learn, and for this purpose a process of anticipation occurs, i.e., predicting where there is a high level of success, and all this is done via the information received from organizational behavior itself.
The basis of the behavior in an organization has a deep connection with constant research of individuals and groups operating within an organization.Their goal is to improve the vision, as well as their performance.Research confirms that work engagement increases, along with the expansion of the range of personal resources, thanks to the promotion of the process of intrapreneurship between employees (Bani-Mustafa, Toglaw, Abidi and Nimer, 2021).
According to Greenberg and Baron (2008), the best way to define all aspects of behavior that tend towards organizational behavior is by using scientific methods.
Employees have different characteristics, ideas, and thoughts that sometimes initiate conflicts within the organization.Despite the differences in behavior, mutual communication is necessary to achieve success.This area places the lens of analysis on how employee performance contributes to or detracts from organizational effectiveness and productivity.
In addition, Ramon J. Aldag says that organizational behavior is a social science which contains knowledge that is implemented daily in the processes of prediction, understanding, and control of behavior in companies.
There are numerous concepts related to human and organizational nature, which at the same time represent the foundation of organizational behavior.
Each person has his/her own characteristics.
◆ Point of view-Different people can perceive in a thousand different ways.The main culprit for this is the things they have lived through.Different personal characteristics of people contribute to their differentiation as employees within the organization in which they work.
◆ The person as a whole -The personal life of the employee is not separated from his professional life.A classic example of this is a woman who goes to the workplace at 9:00 a.m., but is often worried about her children, that is, whether they can participate and cope properly with school activities.As a result, the impact of extensive private commitments falls on her concentration at work, which means a big impact on her professional life.Therefore, the employer must treat the employee with full respect.
◆ Motivation-based behavior-Employees have different needs and wishes, and they aim to satisfy them.The process of enriching the quality of an organization requires a high degree of motivation.
The way to increased fulfillment of needs is the improvement of work performance.
◆ Need for participation -People are looking for alternatives to democratically participate in decision-making processes on a daily level.They have the desire to learn and share what they have learned.The organization in which they work should include them in the work processes, giving them the opportunity to speak freely.
◆ Cultivating value-It is not possible to treat human resources in the same way as other resources used in organizations.Precisely because of this fact, it is necessary for employers to approach them with dignity.
◆ Human dignity-Every person deserves respect.Regardless of whether they are a company director or a hygienist.
◆ Organizations as part of society -It can be said that organizations represent social entities whose functioning is based on collective and psychological laws.Human behavior is conditioned by the group to which they belong.We can classify social entities as formal and informal.
◆ Mutual interests-In every organization, the interest is mutual, that is, it represents a two-way relationship between employers and employees.Organizations help employees reach their goals more easily.On the other hand, employers would not be able to achieve success and make a profit without the daily contribution of their employees.If there is an absence of reciprocity in these relationships, there will be no solid foundation on which to base collaborations.It is concluded that in conditions of high motivation, employees do everything to realize the organizational goals.
◆ Holistic concept-The holistic concept finds application in the process of crossing the basic concepts of organizational behavior.Such a concept elaborates all social relations.Links are investigated depending on the condition they relate to, not in relation to a specific event or problem.
The way employees behave and function within the work organization helps to interpret the things that contribute to them being inspired.Organizational behavior provides a clear picture of how best to increase employee performance.It also helps organizations to build strong and loyal relationship with employees.
Depending on their own knowledge and experiences, each person is unique.With the help of organizational behavior, leaders avoid mistakes in understanding and managing motivational tools.They help employees to implement their capacity in work processes more simply and much faster.Here, the organizational structure plays an important role.More recently, a flatter organizational culture has been characteristic of large companies such as Google.In them, employees have a higher degree of autonomy in decision-making and could learn daily through communication at work.
There is a lack of acceptance of new trends and technological innovations, as employees in some cases refuse to adapt to the changes that occur.Of course, this would affect organizational performance in a negative way.In such situations, it is necessary to implement certain strategies in the organization that will be led by the leaders.Face-to-face meetings with employees are a great solution that managers could certainly implement, as well as regular team building.
Useful insights into the ups and downs of a company can be gained through thorough research to assess the quality of communication that all team members have.The rapid increase in the expansion of organizations can lead to a change in the way of communication.That is, the meetings that were held live until now can be replaced by written communication.It is in such cases that the ability of the leaders should come to the fore through their maximum investment in improving the communication processes.
There are several factors that affect employee performance.As Fiori, Fisher and Barabasch (2022) emphasize, employees with a positive mood have a higher degree of creativity, and thus are less exposed to stress.Furthermore, Bojadjiev, Hristova and Mileva (2019) emphasize that a key factor for the success of a company is maintaining good relations with employees, while work experience is the driver of continued good relations.It is possible for conflicts to arise that would cause miscommunication that would lead to a decrease in morale.
According to Oldham and Rochford (1983), openness and crowding can have a great impact on employees and their behavior.Openness causes calmness among employees, while overcrowding in the workspace can have harmful indications on the health of employees.
The goal of every employee is to be part of a company that fosters an excellent organizational culture and where there are opportunities for development and advancement.Basic problems between employees in an organization can be solved by implementing new techniques and methods that will improve organizational behavior and make the work environment more attractive.According to Stankeviciute and Savanevicienie (2021), achieved employee goals must be negotiable subject to agreement on the performance of leadership behaviors.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions around the world have been forced to replace the classical teaching principle with distance learning.Virtual organizations, that's what the COVID-19 pandemic has turned educational institutions into (Shoaib, Nawal, Korsakiene, Zamecnik, Rehman and Raisienne, 2022).Both employees and students around the world have been affected by this health crisis, as higher education institutions from 194 countries have been temporarily closed, as we learn from UNESCO.According to Borges, Franco, Carvalho, dos Santos, Rodrigues, Merinhos, and Silva (2022), to preserve stability and sustainability in higher education, it is necessary to nurture several key resources within its framework, such as human capital, knowledge, and technology transfer, which are the main drivers of regional economic development.As Bani-Mustafa, Toglaw, Abidi and Nimer (2021) point out, higher education institutions, as part of the continuous turbulent educational environment that has a high degree of competitiveness, it is necessary to be entrepreneurially oriented, that is, to be innovative, to be ready to take risks and to be focused on the future.Compared to this, Rubalcaba (2022) points out the economy sometimes creates numerous challenges and problems, which must be answered quickly and qualitatively, and this can only be done through a developed, sustainable, quality, and complete education.On the other hand, Ierapetritis (2019) states that the development of knowledge on a regional level largely depends on universities, which are considered important institutional factors, especially when it comes to "institutional density".
Employees in higher education institutions are facing a changed way of functioning when it comes to teaching, research activities, as well as daily living, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.Much of the existing studies in the world already clearly define the role of these changes in the behavior of employees in organizations.A higher education institution is made up of people, who lead the actions of teams.As Borges, Franco, Carvalho, dos Santos, Rodrigues, Merinhos, and Silva (2022) point out, the delivery of knowledge and its quality, which is inevitably closely related to technology and its progress, depends to a large extent on the university sector.As Ohadomerе and Ogamba (2020) point out, employees in higher education institutions stand out as the most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused health, social, mental, economic, and educational consequences worldwide.The economic literature suggests that to increase the degree to which people are employed through job sharing, it is necessary to reduce the amount of time people spend at work (Aldieri, Bruno and Vinci, 2022).At the beginning of this pandemic, the closure of educational institutions was one of the most advocated and applied resources to help maintain social distance and reduce infection (Etxebarria, Santamaria, Mondargon and Santxo, 2021).Since the beginning of online teaching that started in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the teaching staff has been under a high degree of stress, as they were faced with the huge challenge of adapting to the new way of teaching.That whole process was complex for several reasons.Problems of a technical nature, and accessibility to the Internet, were just some of the key barriers to the smooth implementation of online teaching activities.All this would not be so complicated if we had a quality planned and implemented process that will enable students to successfully master the curriculum.Uncertainty in this sector stems from changes in teaching methods and the absence of guidelines for using new teaching challenges.According to the quantitative research of Poalses and Bezuidenhout (2018), the administrative staff of higher education institutions face a high degree of stress due to having to focus on multiple work responsibilities at once, but also exhibit a high level of stress because of insufficient diversity in the working tasks.Therefore, it appears that, although there is a high expectation that these employees should carry out most of the tasks, their work duties do not motivate them and can be boring.In contrast, teaching staff face a higher level of stress because of uncertainty, miscalculation of work responsibilities, workload, deadlines, lack of information about what is expected of them, and absence of instructions.These people do not participate in the process of making decisions that affect them (Poalses and Bezuidenhout, 2018).
There are several segments that make up the organizational culture and affect the improvement of the social and mental environment in which people, who have their own values, beliefs, habits, and traits, work (Bamidele, 2022).
According to Nandini, Gustomo and Sushandoyo (2022), the process of the so-called double loop or process of active learning is the most optimal method for learning, and it contains adaptive performance that is supported by behavior that tends to change.The culture of an organization is conditioned by the implementation of practical work or by the behavior of employees.
Innovation, learning new methods, as well as the decision-making process help create organizational excellence, but all this is not possible without proper knowledge management (Sapta, Sudja, Landra and Rustiarini, 2021).
The pursuit of growth and self-efficacy, which are considered internal processes, as well as the learning process represent fundamental aspects that have a huge impact on work engagement and adaptability (Nandini, Gustomo and Sushandoyo, 2022).
The close and direct relationship that has been created between organizational culture and organizational performance has been confirmed by numerous theorists (Bojadjiev, Kostovski, Handjiski Krliu and Shindilovski, 2017).All organizations with a great organizational culture must possess common values as a guide to success (Ali, Ismail, Sharif, Hamawandy, Abubakr, Qader and Othman 2021).The culture in an organization is emphasized through these values.Through them, human resource managers can easily choose the culture that is most suitable for their organization.It is necessary for every organization to have its own vision and mission.The connection between people and the organization is conditioned solely by the organizational culture (Bojadziev, Tomovska Misoska, Pesev and Stefanovska Petkovska, 2016).Bojadjiev, Tomovska Misoska, Mirocevic and Stefanovska (2018), believe that organizational culture is closely related to various parameters of organizational success and is, therefore, a significant part of working.
Organizational culture has been defined in several different ways.
As Bojadjiev, Tomovska Misoska, Stefanovska and Nikolovska (2011) state, there is great interest supported by numerous research when it comes to the term organizational culture, but it is not at all simple to define and conceptualize it.According to Bojadjiev (2019), any well-aligned organization that is considered modern must have a quality organizational culture.
The standard structure is a characteristic of higher education.This sector is distinguished by functions such as: rector, vice-rector for teaching, vice-rector for international cooperation, dean, vice-dean, full professor, associate professor, assistant professor, teaching assistant, as well as administrative staff.Each of these positions contributes to the smooth functioning of the institution.Bad management, lack of leadership skills, as well as unethical behavior, can lead to injuries within the institution.The fulfillment of the goals in the organization would be impossible without well-trained and quality management.The performance measurement process should be extensive and continuous.The results resulting from it should refer to the level of quality of the services offered by the higher education institution, as well as the quality of the non-teaching duties of the staff.The changes brought by the pandemic can be of internal and external nature.Changes are inevitable for any business entity operating within any society.The main goal of the organizational culture of every higher education institution is to determine the factors that stimulate the occurrence of changes.Some changes that occur in higher education are modifications of curricula, fulfillment of requirements prescribed by law, and employment of new staff as a replacement for those who leave for various reasons.A reason that is worth mentioning, and largely depends on how we deal with it without reducing the quality of education, is the inflow or outflow of students.
The building of higher education organizational culture is based on the quality of education, scientific research activity, as well as the degree of ethics that higher education institutions have through undertaking socially responsible activities (Serpa and Sa, 2022).
The COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid health, economic and social shock it created profoundly transformed organizational culture in all spheres, including higher education (Spicer, 2020).
According to Tambunan, Mashud and Ariadi, a transformation in organizational culture took place during the COVID-19 pandemic.That is, a new way of working is emerging, more precisely the new way of working from home (Tambunan, Mashud and Ariadi, 2022).

METHODOLOGY
The questionnaire for this research was given to the respondents manually in April 2022.The same was conducted with 97 respondents, employees (teaching, collaborative, and administrative staff) of higher education institutions in Skopje and other cities in the Republic of North Macedonia where there are located higher education institutions.In this research, 97 respondents were included, namely, 60.8% male and 39.2% female, with the largest percentage (90%) aged between 30 and 49 years.In terms of the level of education, those with higher education dominate, expressed in percentage, it is 70.1%.As for the marital status of the respondents, the largest percentage are married, with 60.8%.Regarding whether they have children, the answers show us that 55.7% of respondents have children.Respondents are people who work at 9 public and private universities in the Republic of North Macedonia, with the largest percentage, 85%, having work experience from 1 to 6 years in the current workplace.
It must be pointed out that, unfortunately, there is not much literature available that addresses the behavior of leaders and their relationship with the staff of higher education institutions and their performance that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic (Shoaib, Nawal, Korsakiene, Zamecnik, Rehman and Raisienne, 2022)  The research that was conducted is organized as quantitative research using a questionnaire as a major research instrument.The purpose of quantitative research is to achieve greater knowledge and understanding of the connection between the model of organizational behavior and the organizational culture of employees who work in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic.In this paper, quantitative methods were used for observation of situations and events that affect employees, especially during the pandemic, and they encourage their organizational behavior and their organizational culture in higher education institutions.
The questionnaire contains closed-type questions to facilitate the measurement and comparison of results among the respondents.It is about men and women employed in private and public higher education institutions, namely teaching, cooperative and administrative staff.There is a division between the age group from 18 to 60 and more years, degree of their education i.e., whether they have primary education, secondary education, whether they are highly educated, master's or doctorate sciences.Also, their marital status is analyzed, namely whether they are single, in a relationship, married, divorced, or widowed, as well as whether they have children.Moreover, their seniority at the higher education institution where they work is also investigated, i.e., whether they work less than a year, from one to three, from four to six, from seven to ten or more than 10 years.
The data about organizational culture was collected with the usage of the instrument Vox Organizationis.The first part of the Vox Organizationis instrument concerns measuring organizational culture and management styles, the second part concerns the measurement of the part of the organization which is formal.
The first part of Vox Organizationis which measures organizational culture and leadership styles consists of statements that respondents can declare and mark how much they agree with each of them, on a scale of 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Totally agree).
The next part of Vox Organizationis where formal part of the organization is measured is also made up of statements, where respondents can indicate how much they agree with each of them, on a scale of 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (I agree completely).
Two parts of the Vox Organizationis instrument consist of an in-depth analysis of organizations in terms of whether it is an autocratic or democratic style of management, that is, defining the decisionmaking process itself behavior, whether the emphasis is on human resources or tasks, as well as open versus a closed system within the organizational structure.Also, everything identifies the entrepreneurial orientation, more precisely, we can perceive whether the organization is prone to innovation and risk taking.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The hypothesis developed within the framework of this research refers to the link between organizational culture and change in working during the COVID-19 pandemic in the higher education sector in North Macedonia.
In the following tables, the arithmetic means, and standard deviations are given for all relevant variables regarding organizational culture and work style change.
In Table 1, the Mean and Standard deviation based on 97 respondents are given and calculated.The calculation is made exactly according to the 9 Macedonian universities where respondents work.
From the findings in terms of leadership styles, it can be concluded that there is a high score of all universities, more than 60.3000, specifically, university B (M= 60.3000), except university E which has a score of 58.8000 (M=58.8000)and university F with score of 59.3000 (M= 59.3000).The university with the highest score is university I, which has a score of 66.1765 (M=66.1765).University G has a score of 65.6000 (M=65.6000),while the difference between universities A (M=63.7000) and C (M=63.1000) is minor.There remains university H with a score of 62.6000 (M=62.6000)and university B whose score is 60.3000 (M=60.3000).
From the findings in terms of Innovativeness and Risk-Taking Orientation, it is noticed that two universities have score of more than 23.3000.These two universities are university E with score of 23.3000 (M= 23.3000) and university F with score of 23.8000 (M= 23.8000).University B has score of 24.6000 (M=24.6000).Then there are the remaining six universities which have scores higher than 25.0000.University D has a score of 25.0000 (M=25.0000),and it follows university H (M=25.3000), university C (M=25.50000), university A (M=25.60000), university I (M=26.4706)and, finally, with the highest score, there is university G (M=26.80000).Table 2 shows the differences in organizational culture between universities during the COVID-19 pandemic.Specifically, how each of the universities is classified based on the answers of the respondents, in terms of whether they answered that the pandemic has changed their organizational culture or not.
When it comes to universities whose organizational culture has changed, the data indicate that out of a total of 97 respondents (N=97), 53 (N=53) responded positively.Specifically, 4 employees from universities B and F answered positively, followed by university C with 5, university D with 6, university G and H with 7, university E with 8, university I with 9 which is also the highest score of positive answers, while university A is with the lowest score of 3 positive answers.44 (N=44) of the respondents answered negatively regarding the question of whether the COVID-19 pandemic has changed their organizational culture.University E has the lowest score with 2 answers, followed by universities G and H with 3 negative answers, D with 4, C with 5, C and F with 6 answers, university A with 7, while the highest score is recorded by university I, i.e. 8 negative responses.

CONCLUSIONS
Faced with this crisis, higher education institutions implemented organizational strategies based on restructuring the way of working in organizations.However, despite the great pressures faced by human resources and managers in conditions of sudden organizational changes, positive results were found in the work aimed at meeting the needs and demands of students.
Although there are attitudes aimed at adaptation, they must be accompanied by strategies that generate balance in the organization, to guarantee resilience that allows overcoming a socio-sanitary crisis.
This research helps us to summarize that pandemic COVID-19 has drastically changed the organizational culture of the higher education institutions in North Macedonia.
Organizational behavior of employees was put to a serious test, and for a large part of the employees, it was a huge challenge to work in such circumstances.Also, the leadership style was decisive regarding how the work would be carried out, and work motivation was a constant driver for employees in crisis conditions.

Table 1 .
Mean and Standard deviation according to the Vox Organizationis instrument

Table 2 .
Changes in organizational culture by university calculated with Crosstab.