Changing roles of institutional research in strategic management

A college driven by a broad vision cannot effectively realize its desired future within a rigid, formal, and centralized decision process, because such processes prohibit the institution from competing effectively in a rapidly changing environment. This paper examines both the theoretical models and a case study of phased evolution of planning process—from short-term static process to vision-driven strategic management phase—and suggests a parallel progression in institutional research has shifted its focus from attention to data, to issue-driven analysis, to framework-guided synthesis. Institutional researchers are urged to reconceptualize their framework and meteorologies in order to more effectively support strategic management.     

The HPT Model Applied to a Yoga Studio's Performance

This case study describes how the human performance technology model has been applied to enhance the performance of a small yoga studio—Salty Dog Yoga & Surf of Carolina Beach, North Carolina. An analysis of Salty Dog's organizational performance revealed several ongoing challenges, including issues with sales, strategic planning, and division of labor. An environmental analysis found that Carolina Beach's market is strong enough to support a full‐time local yoga studio, while an organizational analysis uncovered multiple issues with strategic vision, resource deployment, and training policies.     

Do values drive the plan? Investigating the nature and role of organizational values in university strategic planning

Strategic planning is a common practice at higher education institutions. Furthermore, it is assumed that identifying organizational values is an essential part of the planning process. Values are often construed as foundational elements of strategic thinking that serve to ‘drive the plan’. However, there is little conceptual or applied evidence to support the effectiveness of coupling organizational values articulation with strategic planning processes. The author reports on a study that was designed to effectively conceptualize organizational values, and foster a deeper understanding of organizational values application in higher education administration. This research involved a textual analysis of strategic planning documents pertaining to organizational values from Canadian universities. Research results offer concrete ways to conceptualize and apply organizational values within university settings. The results serve as a foundation to explore small-group-focused approaches to both policy creation and evaluation pertaining to the articulation of organizational values in university administration.

     

Strategic planning for municipalities: Ensuring progress and relevance

This article focuses on developing critical mechanisms to ensure the progress and relevance of a strategic plan. These mechanisms include the establishment of business planning processes, performance management and measurement, and reporting of strategic success. Although the focus here is on the public sector, these ideas can also be applied to and have relevance for strategic planning in any organizational context.     

澳大利亚大学战略规划:探究与启示

澳大利亚大学把战略规划视为内部管理的一项重要举措。大学战略规划的相关界说从不同角度影响了澳大利亚大学的战略规划实践。大学战略规划实践体现的立足于对大学的组织特点的理解、注重对大学外部环境的分析、体现大学规划自主的原则、吸引各方广泛参与和规划内容既“求同”又“存异”的五大特征,对于当前我国大学规划具有启示意义。对大学科学定位和进行大学发展动因分析应成为现阶段我国大学战略规划的突破口。     

Integrators and decision support system success in higher education

The implementation of a Decision Support System (DSS) is, all too often, a technical success but an organizational failure. EDUCOM's Financial planning Model (EFPM) is a DSS used by many colleges and universities. This paper examines the perceived success of EFPM and the relationship between success and organizational services — the integrator functions — that support EFPM's use. The study finds that the integrator functions are significantly related to success. In addition, institutions that use EFPM have developed the integrator functions on their campuses, while institutions that no longer use EFPM did not do so. The paper suggests several theoretical and practical implications of the research.     

Strategic Planning Approaches Used to Respond to Issues Confronting Research Universities

To improve the understanding of strategic issues confronting research universities and universities' response to managing these issues, this article contains an interpretation of the findings of interviews with administrators at nine research universities. Realistic comments are offered on the efficacy of planning and the search for achieving excellence in higher education and beyond the restrictive sense of strategic planning. A discerning perspective for innovative management approaches of these university issues is a major focus of this article.     

人力资源开发对提升企业核心竞争力的作用

核心竞争力在企业可持续发展竞争优势中具有重要作用。人力资源开发（HKD）在核心能力开发和管理中具有战略作用。文中确定人力资源开发在组织战略中的作用,提出和讨论人力资源开发在核心竞争力管理功能的战略角色为参与战略规划、开发核心竞争力以及对其的提高。     

我国高校发展规划的变革历程、意义及挑战

高校发展规划作为一种治理手段或组织行动,其合法性来源:一是指高校编制和执行规划时有外在规定或规范作依据;二是指高校编制和执行规划得到内部单位与群体的理解、认同与支持。其合法化机制分为强、弱两种:强意义的合法化机制是指具备有效支持规划编制与执行的组织制度及方法;弱意义合法化机制是指规划的编制与执行组织、制度不够完备,方法通常采用非强制性。依据这两个维度,我国高校发展规划变革的历程可分为三个阶段:高校发展规划的创立阶段,高校发展规划的失序阶段,高校发展规划的转型阶段。战略规划对于转型阶段的高校具有重要意义,其意义在于:以内部合法性为主导的转型之路,使高校走出了依附式的发展模式,构建了共治共管的新机制,确立了管办评分离的基础。同时转型期的高校发展规划也面临着"项目治教"、合法化机制如何构建、内部合法性是否足够稳固等挑战。     

Extending educational planning discourse: A new strategic planning model

To academic visionaries the new century appears to have an emerging environment characterized by increased complexity, uncertainty, unpredictability which, some have argued, render traditional notions of planning and management irrelevant. The expectations of management and planning scholars carry the implicit assumption that somehow individual capability and organizational capacities will rise to meet the enormous challenges of this new environment. In the light of this situation the purposes of this paper are: (1) to briefly examine the limitations and criticisms of traditional educational planning; (2) to outline the emerging concepts and processes which collectively form a new paradigm for strategic planning; (3) to discuss the new model within the context of changing national policy and planning environments and increased localization; (4) to review the limited results of empirical research related to more participatory planning models; and (5) to offer a critique of the assumptions and practicality of the new model in the process of planning and sustaining educational change in developing countries     

角色与使命:大学发展战略规划中领导的作用

随着现代大学日益庞大复杂,大学发展愈加需要战略规划的设计与安排。就大学领导的作用而言,凡是成功的战略规划都离不开优秀大学领导的指引与管控。从某种角度而言,大学领导的角色扮演和使命承载是其在战略规划工作中作用发挥的重要考量依据。如何寻求合理的角色定位、如何提升领导个人素养、如何承担好使命重任的同时还能防止其缺失和异化,这都是大学战略规划科学、有效开展的求解命题。     

Understanding and predicting the yield in the MBA admissions process

This paper examines the factors influencing theyield — the proportion of accepted applicants that confirm their intention to attend — in the admissions process for the MBA program of the school of management at a large metropolitan university. A stochastic model of a student's MBA program choice decision is presented. Using the resulting logistic probability model, the authors examine the impact of student traits (both aptitude-related and non-aptitude-related) and program characteristics, known to admissions officials, on the probability of confirmation. The results of the analysis provide a basis for measuring the dimensions of the market for educational services this MBA program provides, suggest a strategic response to this market, and offer a way to measure the profitability of various strategic response options. In particular, the results demonstrate that financial aid awards can increase dramatically the probability of confirmation and that confirmation probabilities are affected significantly by non-aptitude-related student characteristics.     

Towards a micro foundation of leadership,governance, and management in universities

Leadership, governance, and management are frequently conceptualized as conflictory institutional logics. The recent shift to a ‘new managerialism’ in universities, for example, clearly favors business-like leadership and management styles over collegial governance practices. This article provides a micro foundation of leadership, governance, and management in universities based on the underlying communication of strategic issues among governing bodies. Reporting on a longitudinal case study of a comprehensive reorganization of a German university, it illustrates how institutional logics translate into micro patterns of communication. The findings suggest that leadership, governance, and management are not necessarily conflictory but reflect in four complementary micro patterns. Rather than ‘managerialism’ replacing ‘collegialism,’ organizational change unfolds in oscillating sequences of these four micro patterns. The findings furthermore indicate that the strategic issues of research and teaching at the university’s core remain largely autonomous, despite their increasing managerial regulation.     

Academic Planning and Organizational Design: Lessons From Leading American Universities

The emerging competitive environment of higher education, both within and between countries, is requiring universities in Europe and other pans of the world to emulate American institutions by becoming corporate entities with an independent capacity to make strategic choices among academic programmes and activities. A number of the leading American universities have developed comprehensive planning processes that offer suggestive guidance for managing in this new environment. These processes have emphasized: clarifying and articulating norms essential to the legimacy of planning; grouping and consolidating functions; promoting reciprocal communication; encouraging the development of a planning capacity within each strategic unit; and increasing direct communication and the sharing of information among members of the academic community. Essentially these universities have conceived of comprehensive planning as a problem of organizational design, systematically seeking means of promoting integration in a highly differentiated organization. The specific mechanisms by which this integration has been accomplished are reviewed.     

Affirmative Action for the Rich: Legacy Preferences in College Admissions

In the current and foreseeable harsh UK higher education environment, aspiring to best- practice financial management will be key to ensuring the prosperity – and indeed the survival – of any university. In this article I argue that good university financial management should provide stability to the institution, allow for investment as well as renewal and the exploitation of opportunity, be transparent enough to facilitate accountability and good governance, and ensure that the institution allocates resources efficiently in the context of its strategic plan. I explore in detail the issues relating to this fundamental definition of good financial management, including the role of financial management in inducing stability, short-term solvency and reserves, managing financial risk, capital expenditure and long-range planning, developing a diversified funding base, embedding good financial management in university culture, the relationship between financial planning and strategic planning, and financial accounting and control.     

基于高校战略规划管理视野下的数据信息管理途径探析

高校战略规划管理实际上就是以数据信息为载体的目标管理,数据信息管理为战略规划制定、实施、评估和调整提供主要依据,加强数据信息管理对于高校战略规划管理具有重大意义。高校要构建一个符合战略规划管理要求的数据信息管理模式,必须坚持以营造良好工作环境为前提,健全管理机制为核心,加强队伍建设为关键,创新管理手段为重点,完善管理制度为保证。     

Involvement of heads of departments in strategic planning in schools in the Pinetown District

ABSTRACT

Strategic planning is crucial in facilitating sustainable development of schools. It enables schools to survive and cope with changes and challenges from government policies and market forces. There is broad agreement that all stakeholders need to be part of school strategic planning. In response to the lack of evidence suggesting stakeholders’ involvement – specifically that of Heads of Department (HOD) – in strategic planning in schools, and its value in ensuring that all stakeholders execute their duties, HODs’ experiences regarding their involvement in strategic planning were explored. Qualitative research was undertaken and semi-structured interviews were employed to generate data. The study reveals that the HODs were involved in some form of planning but there is no evidence suggesting their participation in substantive issues on strategic planning. Further, the study reveals that transparency-driven leadership and collaboration are key factors to ensure HODs’ participation in strategic planning. The findings suggest that the involvement of HODs is crucial towards improving teaching and learning.     

组织特性对编制高校发展战略规划的影响

编制高校发展战略规划受到高校的准自主地位、多模糊性目标、松散组织结构和多重权力结构等组织特性的影响,充分考虑高校的组织特性,编制并实施高校发展战略规划是推进高等学校持续、健康发展的有效途径与手段。     

论战略人力资源成本管理

战略人力资源成本管理是解决新经济环境下人工成本提升的一项有效对策.以组织战略为依据,以竞争优势为目的,以成本管理为手段,构建了战略人力资源成本管理模型.通过采取激励人力资源产出和控制人力成本的手段进行成本管理,在组织战略的指导下,使得组织产出最大化,达到获取竞争优势的目的.