Strategic Management in European Universities in an Age of Increasing Institutional Self Reliance

This paper contrasts the emphasis onplanning in universities when funding from the statewas stable and resources followed student numbers,with the emphasis on strategic management when statefunding is declining and universities are of necessitymuch more market orientated. Planning processes couldwork well when universities had a predictable future,but are less appropriate when the climate isturbulent. The paper suggests that the following arethe key words for successful universities in the newenvironment, competitiveness, opportunism, incomegeneration and cost reduction, relevance, excellenceand reputation. It goes on to argue that thisframework of key characteristics demands a newapproach to strategic management in universitiesrequiring universities to take a holistic view oftheir activities, to coordinate institutionalstrengths so that they reinforce one another and tocreate machinery whereby academic, financial andphysical planning strategy is decided on an integratedbasis.     

Educational Planning in the Eastern Caribbean: A Strategic Approach

Abstract

The paper attempts to show that educational planning in the English‐speaking Caribbean and Surinam, is in a questionable state. Indeed, one can argue that any meaningful planning goes on in spite of, rather than as a result of formal planning by planning units where they exist. This of course raises questions with respect to efficient resource utilization. The paper argues that the available training bodies have concentrated on individual planners, and have failed to provide training in the development of planned systems, or planning as a process. The aspects of strategic planning recommended here, place specific emphasis on planning as a process, recognize the socio‐political imperatives in the management of education, and the essential bankruptcy of an approach that concentrates on a planner as the key factor in educational change.     

中国大学的战略与规划:理论框架与行动框架

外部环境的变化要求大学组织发生相应的改变。高等教育的普及化、国际化、市场化、数字化要求重新定义大学,以创新应对挑战,以战略规划指引大学改进。战略规划是通过程序性的工作来产生根本性的决策和行动,以此来塑造和引领:一个组织是什么样的,该组织在做什么,为何这样做,并着眼于未来。战略规划有两种基本的方法:SWOT分析和基标法。编制战略规划的前提是形成大学发展的战略思想。厘清大学发展的战略思想需要回答十个关键问题:大学的使命与战略定位、大学中长期发展的目标体系、战略优先、学校发展路径选择、学校办学规模、优先发展的学科领域、卓越教师队伍建设、一流人才培养体系、拓展经费渠道、组织和管理创新。     

From Symphony to Jazz: The concept of strategy in education

This paper considers the derivation of the concept of strategy and its deployment as a management technique to enable organisations to prepare for the future. It then examines the related growth of school development planning and explores the extent to which this can be considered to be strategic. It is then argued that whether or not school development planning is strategic, the use of strategy in organisations is no longer either possible, if it ever was, or appropriate. The paper concludes by proposing an alternative basis for planning derived from a combination of marginal incrementalism and feminist literature on problem solving.     

Development Planning for Pupil Achievement

When development planning was first introduced some 10 years ago it was regarded as a strategy to assist schools in managing change. Recent research evidence however suggests that schools that exhibit 'best practice' in development planning have transcended its use as a change management strategy and now see it as a means of enhancing pupil achievement. The key distinction between this and former approaches is that the current approach is rooted in classrooms. This shift in emphasis provides the focus for the paper. Research evidence from a variety of sources is used to explain the change of approach and, based on this, a rationale for development planning for pupil achievement is presented. Practical advice on how to implement such a strategy within the context of the DfEE's Target Setting initiative is then given. The paper concludes by describing the management arrangements most common in those schools that use development planning for enhancing pupil achievement.     

Strategic Planning in Schools: An oxymoron?

This paper argues that traditional approaches to school planning no longer serve the needs of schools. In particular, it puts forward the view that strategy, as applied to school planning, is only of partial use. It argues that there should be a new way forward for schools seeking to meet the challenge of effective leadership and management in the new millennium. This would utilise the concept of 'strategic intent' encapsulated in a new model which replaces the limited 'school development planning' framework.     

Universities in the Community‐The Role of the CCEs and Extension Services

The recent Green Paper, Higher Education. A Policy Discussion Paper, proposes that strategic planning be adopted by all tertiary institutions as part of a new style of management. ¹ 1. Higher Education. A Policy Discussion Paper, AGPS, Canberra, December, 1987. Chapter 7. This paper explains the nature and advantages of strategic planning, and the major elements involved in strategic planning within an analytical framework. Various strategies which can form part of the overall planning model are examined, with an emphasis on their financial aspects.

     

转型期地方大学的战略变革管理——以广东外语外贸大学为例

地方大学转型期的显著特点是经费紧张却急剧扩张。文章认为战略变革管理是地方大学实现跨越式发展必须重视的一个重要方面,强调地方大学战略变革管理的重要性;认为地方大学应强调战略思维、注重战略管理、灵活制定适应战略变化的战略规划、强调战略变革管理的有效执行。通过研究广东外语外贸大学的战略变革管理,发现该大学战略变革中既有优势也有薄弱环节,既有难得的机遇也面临严峻的挑战;总体上,该大学的战略变革管理是卓有成效的。建议战略变革管理中应注重学校文化的革新从而确保大学的可持续发展。     

From unbundling to market making: reimagining,reassembling and reinventing the public university

ABSTRACT

In Britain and New Zealand the neoliberal assault on universities has shifted from new public management and funding models to the special status of the public university. The project aims to complete neoliberal business initiated 25 years ago by more fully marketising and financialising universities, starting with ‘unbundling’ and outsourcing and culminating in new forms of privatisation, rent-extraction and rebundling. This paper analyses two documents commissioned beyond government to create political momentum for this project: Avalanche is Coming and The University of the Future. These both capture the zeitgeist of reform while simultaneously creating the university futures that they portend. We examine the market-making work they perform in reimagining and reinventing universities ahead of policy reform. We argue that claims made to support fundamental restructuring of public universities lack substance or evidence. Rather, each is underpinned by different configurations of ideology and self-interest that together envelope universities in new agendas of marketisation, financialisation and privatisation. We suggest that in this latest restructuring of public universities critics should pay more attention to the work of consultancies and think tanks alongside the micro-details of market making. By doing so, they too might reimagine public universities, but for a different political project.     

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.     

Effective strategic planning in Australian universities: how good are we and how do we know?1

Strategic planning was introduced to Australian universities as part of the Commonwealth Government higher education reforms of 1988. The ‘Dawkins Reforms’ implemented extensive structural reform, changed executive leadership roles and responsibilities, commenced the ‘managerialisation’ of the Australian university sector, introduced the Higher Education Contribution Scheme and facilitated the transformation of Australian universities from collegial academies to modern, ‘enterprise’ universities.

There is an abundance of published marketing material celebrating ‘effective’ strategic planning outcomes in the myriad of strategic plans published by Australian universities. Yet, a recent study indicates that strategic planning remains a contested internal leadership function in Australian universities almost 30 years after traditional academic planning was replaced with commercially-focused strategic planning. This paper will review the effectiveness of strategic planning practices in Australian universities guided by the rhetorical question: ‘how good are we and how do we know?’     

Enhancing research through academic staff development

Abstract

In the past few years, research has been an increasingly important focus of academic staff development, but there is little documentation of this new area of development. The purpose of this paper is to describe the evolution over four years of a programme to develop research skills. The experience of planning and implementing this programme illustrates how changes in higher education and university priorities (such as amalgamations of institutions, increased pressures on staff, increased competition between institutions for funding, and universities’ growing corporatization) have interacted with staff development objectives to shape changes in the programme's purpose, format, mode of participation, and planning approach. A collaborative approach to planning is seen to be appropriate in the current climate, maximizing sensitivity to the distinctive needs of the various faculties, departments or schools. Current scholarly discussion is recognized as providing support for a move toward collaboration and context‐sensitivity.     

Where is the gap between internationalisation strategic planning and its implementation? A study of 16 Dutch universities’ internationalisation plans

A dominant concern with internationalisation through the past decades has been the process of strategic transformation of universities. While strategic management has been perceived as a necessary and useful approach in the construction of internationalisation, many criticisms have been levelled against the application of strategic management in internationalisation. One of these criticisms is the ‘implementation gap’ between internationalisation strategic plans and their actual outcomes. Based on interview data collected from 73 key actors involved in internationalisation at 16 Dutch public universities, this research identifies 12 elements that comprise the concept strategic management and illustrates how educational practitioners in different sectors (research universities and universities of applied sciences) and job function levels (central and faculty) prioritise these elements. The key contribution of this research is the clarification of the areas where the ‘implementation gap’ exists and the causes of this gap. The findings of this research are particularly important in the midst of uncontested popularisation of strategic management, because they can help universities to reduce this gap and improve the effectiveness of their strategic management practices.     

University Marketing: Perceptions,Practices and Prospects in the Less Developed World

ABSTRACT

The article reports on research conducted in Zimbabwe's 11 universities between 2001 and 2003. The research was aimed at finding how vice chancellors and internal marketers perceived the marketing concept and its organization within the universities including the extent to which prospective university customers considered the arrangements for marketing as meeting their expectations for choice and decision making. It is argued that the new university environment in the developing world replicates that which has driven Higher Education institutions in the developed world to embrace marketing as a key strategic option. However, even in the developed world, marketing in Higher Education continues to be based on imported wisdom from the business sector. The article argues that for marketing to occupy its rightful place in Higher Education, it has to be based on a new axis which reflects the core business of universities. It proposes a theoretical basis for considering a curriculum-focused marketing orientation for Higher Education.     

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。     

Managing Quality by Action Research—Improving Quality Service Delivery in Higher Education as a Marketing Strategy

ABSTRACT

This paper demonstrates how the use of self directed and self initiated research by staff in an International Office in one of Australia's largest universities can be a useful tool in improving the quality performance of service delivery to full fee paying international students as a deliberate means of improving the marketable image of the university, accepting that the university marketing strategy recognises that ‘word of mouth’ or informal marketing forms one part of the overall scheme. This paper describes two action research projects undertaken by staff in the International Office to engender improved quality of service delivery and subsequently an improved image of the university in the process of informal marketing. The results of the action research projects have produced specific outcomes, further planning and changes to management practices in the International Office, all related to improving the quality of services being delivered and the quality of management, a strategy that can be adopted in universities worldwide. Each research project was small, but facilitated changes or improvement to a target, strategically identified and discussed with management. These projects did not occur as strategic parts of an overall marketing plan, but were recognised as making contributions to effective outcomes of the existing marketing process. The paper then discusses the role of management in employee empowerment and the action research process arguing that management's role is to ensure that stimuli such as this are not Stifled.     

面向一流大学的跨越式发展:战略规划的作用

基于战略管理的基本原理和大学的组织特性,本文提出了研究型大学跨越式发展的战略规划的一般框架和理论假说,并选择了三个中外著名大学跨越式发展的案例进行实证分析,结果发现:跨越式发展的多个案例体现了中高水平的正式的战略规划活动,并具备自上而下与自下而上相结合的战略规划流程,理性基础上的参与式战略规划模式及其实施对跨越式发展有非常重要的作用。     

Foresight analysis in research funding agencies: A UK experiment

Strategic planning and priority-setting have become inevitable for UK research funding agencies in the 1990's. But it is an activity which is viewed with some suspicion by the scientific community, in which it is an aphorism that discovery cannot be planned. There is considerable interest therefore, in the promise offoresight analysis as an alternative to conventional strategic planning. Most previous experience with foresight has been at a macro level, with a focus on national direction-setting. But what role can foresight have at amicro level; how can it help individual funding agencies develop strategies for specific scientific fields? This paper explores the problem by describing an experiment, supported jointly by three UK funding agencies, to apply foresight techniques in a review of a single field (cardiovascular research). The methodology developed for objective consultation with scientists and users is described, and preliminary results presented. Science-push and demand-pull factors emerged clearly, aa did a desire within the scientific community for a number of infrastructural changes to strengthen the future of the field. The study has shown that systematic surveys of users and researchers are capable of detecting coherent views on a number of issues that are relevant to forward planning in research funding agencies. The paper concludes by summarising the limitations of this approach to strategic planning, and presenting some general lessons that may be useful for consideration in other micro-level foresight exercises.     

Study on the Current State of Textual Expression in Private University Charters in China: Based on Textual Analysis of the Charters of 105 Private Undergraduate Universities

Abstract

The key task in the establishment of a university charter is ensuring that the text of the charter is in conformity with the law, in compliance with regulations, and rational. This paper proposes a system of observed indicators for textual expression in private university charters in China, including 6 dimensions for Level 1 indicators and 20?key elements for charter content. Through textual analysis of the charters of 105 private undergraduate universities in China, the authors found that, in terms of their textual expression, private university charters universally exhibit issues such as incompleteness of the key elements of content, failure to highlight individual characteristics, an imbalanced internal power structure, unstandardized operations, imperfect mechanisms for democracy and oversight, and so on. The state’s implementation of categorized management of nonprofit and for-profit private schools should be regarded as a golden opportunity to further strengthen the effective supply of external institutions for private universities, perfect the internal governance structures of private universities, improve the mechanisms by which academic organizations at private universities exercise their roles, and achieve effective linkage between private university charters and concrete internal regulations.     

7 Urban politics and state school finance in the 1980s 1

This chapter examines the effects of the major policy and political trends in lower education during the 1980s. Specifically, it assesses the programmatic and fiscal effects of the Reagan administration's fiscal federalism, the excellence agenda and the emerging state activism on urban school districts. The focus is on California as an illustrative case study, as the state represents an inchoate national trend toward fiscal centralization. The chapter argues that centralization has created a new politics of school finance. Not only do schools compete for funding with higher education, health, welfare, criminal justice and transportation, but students also compete with teachers over categorical funding. The chapter concludes that policies of categorical funding have changed dramatically. While symbolically they are rooted in equity, in reality they represent a new political spoils system.