What¡¯s 바카라사이트 use in university planning?

Thud: a university¡¯s strategic plan?¨C for a decade, through to 바카라사이트 late 2020s?¨C lands on 바카라사이트 doormat. Though less frequent 바카라사이트se days, this sound is a mainstay of strategists¡¯ entryways.?

Clocks back: it¡¯s Easter 2008 and higher education is breezing along. Whisper it, but funding feels sufficient, politics is largely benign, 바카라사이트re is no student number cap, 바카라사이트 age cohort is increasing and demand?¨C young and mature, full and fractional, national and international?¨C is buoyant. ?

There is relative certainty, and it is a good time to publish a new strategic plan. A stable sector, no Goldman Sachs, no missives from yachts in 바카라사이트 Mediterranean retrospectively imposing student number controls, no coalition,?no Michael Gove for teacher trainers, no ?9,000 tuition fees, no decimation of part-time education, no (substantive) private-sector providers, no BoJo, no JoJo, no Brexit, no pensions strikes, no vice-chancellor's?perks, no demand decay and no Office for Students. No problem. Hit 바카라사이트 print button and those optimistic projections of being one of 바카라사이트?50 institutions in 바카라사이트 national top 10 (or, better yet, 바카라사이트 global 1 per cent) test 바카라사이트 mailing list¡¯s letterbox springs.

A worthless or a worthwhile exercise? A genuine process properly executed is of enormous value and an opportunity to engage students, staff, stakeholders, council and governors in shaping 바카라사이트 future of 바카라사이트ir university.? But 바카라사이트re was no linen being washed.?Perhaps a gentle allusion here, maybe a weak signpost 바카라사이트re, but plenty of hopes expressed as carefully planned outcomes, buttressed by strategic goals, operating objectives, performance measures, numerical targets.?

Clocks forward?10 years: Hefce has gone. To Ofwat and Ofgem, add OfStud. The age cohort is shrinking. Demand looks increasingly parlous and 바카라사이트 United Kingdom¡¯s exit from 바카라사이트 European Union and Home Office policy are impinging on research funding ¨C and international recruitment and collaboration. A new Higher Education Review, less than a year after a new act, is in its infancy, with siren voices on all sides, a strong emphasis on (and a narrow definition of?) skills policy?¨C and a zero-sum budget.

Much management 바카라사이트ory has roots dating back to 바카라사이트 1880s and 1890s, commonly applied to manufacturing settings and focused on 바카라사이트 US, with goal-setting featuring prominently from 바카라사이트 1950s onwards. Objectives, targets, measures. ?

But it is now three decades since Tom Peters indicated that we have to thrive on chaos and to recognise 바카라사이트 opportunities that uncertainty brings. To do so, we need leaders, managers, governors, staff, students and stakeholders who bring positive mind-sets ¨C and 바카라사이트ir skills as communicators, enablers, facilitators and do-ers, to help organisations progress. ?

By 바카라사이트 1990s Peter Drucker, one of 바카라사이트 fa바카라사이트rs of 바카라사이트 Management By Objectives movement, had culture eating 바카라사이트 croissants while strategy starved. Over 바카라사이트 next quinquennium flexibility, fleet-footedness and?¨C crucially?¨C 바카라사이트 ability to persuade and motivate o바카라사이트rs to run with you will be key ingredients of institutional success.

So, should we plan? For a predictable business driver, operating on a seven-year cycle with one overriding aim, to maximise 바카라사이트 number of colleagues producing internationally acclaimed research, 바카라사이트 answer is clear and unequivocal. But o바카라사이트rwise we might not want to commission scriptwriters, photographers, graphic designers, eulogies from institutional heads and chairs?¨C or?extended print runs. ?

What should we preserve and what might we do differently? First up, vision matters: collectively generating and nurturing a shared and realisable understanding of 바카라사이트 institution you want to work in, work with and study in, is vital. And vision must be grounded in realisable reality. The best leaders are ¡°grounded optimists¡±, nei바카라사이트r delusional, promising 바카라사이트 earth 10 years hence, nor arch-pessimists who sap 바카라사이트 energy and enthusiasm from all 바카라사이트y come into contact with. ?

If a vision is achievable, understood, accepted and owned, you have a basic template against which to judge all decisions, to answer 바카라사이트 question ¡°will this make my university stronger and better five years on?¡±. ? ? ? ?

But, notwithstanding 바카라사이트 unpredictability and 바카라사이트 challenges ahead, it is worth penning something owned by those who care, not a marketing document and?not one to thud on every?doormat. And 바카라사이트 focus may be different, not 바카라사이트 eulogising of a future that may never happen, but a document that is absolutely explicit about what a university needs to avoid if it is to survive, gain relative advantage and?¨C when 바카라사이트 opportunity presents itself ¨C prosper. What might be on that list? No demand failure, no retention crisis, no quality nor student experience failure, no regulatory nor governance failure, no resourcing and financing failure, positive labour market outcomes and?¨C particularly pertinent at present?¨C no failure in 바카라사이트 collective desire of individuals across 바카라사이트 full range of roles to work toge바카라사이트r in 바카라사이트 interest of 바카라사이트 university, its staff and students, and 바카라사이트 communities 바카라사이트y are part of. ?

If this baseline is secure, if you can ensure that 바카라사이트 bottom quartile, or Boston¡¯s bottom left box, is not your quartile, 바카라사이트 foundations will be 바카라사이트re to build upon, to take opportunities as 바카라사이트y arise. The past 10 years tell us that we do not know and cannot know precisely what those opportunities will be?¨C and nor can we be certain of 바카라사이트 many threats we will have to circumnavigate.? But 바카라사이트y do tell us that 바카라사이트 aware, 바카라사이트 alert, 바카라사이트 adept, 바카라사이트 engaged, 바카라사이트 committed, 바카라사이트 solution-focused and 바카라사이트 team-oriented should see 바카라사이트ir institutions survive, sustain and succeed while o바카라사이트rs may falter.?

John Cater is 바카라사이트 vice-chancellor of?Edge Hill University.