STRATEGIC PLANNING PRACTICES IN HIGHER EDUCATION: EXPERIENCE OF AL AKHAWAYN UNIVERSITY IN IFRANE, MOROCCO F. Chaatit, A. Legrouri Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (MOROCCO)
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Abstract The purpose of this study is to put together some known facts about strategic planning and make them available in a concise format, for young institutions potential use, as well as to describe the challenges faced during the different phases of this exercise. In this paper, we propose to delineate different steps a young educational institution might take in its quest to develop a strategic plan, as well as the challenges it may be facing in the course of this process. We also revisit best practices in strategic planning through the strategy change cycle and describe the experience of Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (AUI), a relatively young Moroccan institution that follows the American educational style. Throughout its brief history, AUI has already developed a relative expertise in the area through the development and evaluation of two strategic plans, has worked successfully toward international accreditation of its academic units and has been recently admitted to the status of candidacy by NEASC, a major accrediting agency in the USA. Keywords: Strategic Planning, Strategic Planning in Higher Education, Innovation, Quality Assurance.
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BRIEF HISTORY OF ALAKHAWAYN UNIVERSITY
Al Akhawayn University started as a project which the late King Hassan II cherished in the early nineties for an American style university to be launched in Morocco. The Dahir bearing bylaws of the University was established on 3 August 1993 (Dahir, 1993). The institution was novel in its organizational, pedagogical, and scientific structures as stated in its mission statement. The University’s purpose was then set to: Provide higher education programs covering various fields of knowledge and allowing for diversified training programs that are adapted to the changing needs and evolving knowledge; Contribute to the mastery and utilization of advanced technologies; Undertake scientific and technical research programs in any field of national and international interest; Promote continuing education and the development of knowledge and its dissemination; Take part in the training of highly qualified executives. Endowed with a special status to be under the honorary presidency of His Majesty, it was declared to be a state-owned non-profit organization with a moral personality and financial autonomy. The purpose was to enrich the existing Moroccan educational landscape and it was meant to be a forum for the creation and confrontation of human knowledge as well as a framework of cooperation and mutual understanding between cultures and civilizations, given the long history of the country as a land of encounters, liberty, and tolerance. The launching of the institution took place on 16 January 1995 with its official inauguration by the late King Hassan II, King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia, crown prince at that time, the late Palestinian President Arafat and dignitaries from all over the world. It comprises schools, institutes and research centers. It is administered by a board of trustees and managed by a president. He is assisted by vice presidents, one of whom is dealing with academic affairs.. An academic council composed of the vice president for academic affairs, deans and academic directors, as well as three elected faculty from each school The university started with 289 students supervised by 33 faculty members. These numbers have increased to reach in fall 2012 semester 1811 degree and 72 non-degree seeking students and a total of 152 faculty members, of whom 135 are full time. The full time faculty are composed of 40 Moroccan, 55 International, and 40 with dual citizenships (Moroccan/International). AUI’s ratio of
Proceedings of EDULEARN13 Conference 1st-3rd July 2013, Barcelona, Spain
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ISBN: 978-84-616-3822-2
students to faculty is 11.9; while the overall average class size is 21.5, with a lower figure of 19.1 for graduate courses. The number of degree-seeking students is 1593 undergraduates and 218 graduates. The student population is generally balanced about 50% male and 50% female. The majority of the international students are part of exchange programs, mainly with US institutions, for one or two semesters, studying primarily Arabic language and North-African and Middle Eastern studies. About 90% of regular students are pursuing one of several Bachelor’s degree programs in Business Administration, General Engineering, Computer Science, Engineering and Management Science, International Studies, Communication Studies, or Human Resource Development; the rest are pursuing Master’s degree programs in Business Administration, Corporate Finance, Computer Science, Computer Networks, Software Engineering, Information System Security, Sustainable Energy Management, International Studies and Diplomacy, Islamic Studies, or North-African and Middle Eastern Studies. The University offers also a Part-Time MBA and Executive MBA to professionals in Casablanca as well as a rich array of Executive Education programs in both Ifrane and Casablanca. Approximately one third of students receive financial assistance, in the form of meritbased scholarships, need-based financial aid, teaching/research assistantships, loans, or part-time work on campus (Catalog, 2012).
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STRATEGIC PLANNING AT AUI
Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (AUI) has recognized the importance of strategic planning since its early years. The first plan spread over the period 2004-2009 and delineated broad and ambitious goals and outlined university values after a thorough SWOT analysis (Strategic Plan, 2004). The first plan had 5 priorities: (1) Enriching Quality of Academic Programs and Scholarship, (2) Improving Institutional Effectiveness and Accountability, (3) Achieving Financial Stability and Sustainability, (4) Infrastructure development, and (5) Enhancing Global and Local Community Service. Several actions toward these priorities were delineated by a steering committee throughout the years of the plan. An effective training took place from 2006 to 2009, with the help of a Tempus project with the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona (UPC) and the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium (KUL) on Quality in University Management, an initial project of the School of Science and Engineering (SSE) that was opened to all components of the university. Through the development of management structures, training in strategic planning in a university setting, as well as involvement of the key players in various university departments in this joint project, AUI has used a more participative approach to come up with its second plan spreading over 2010-2014. All units of the institution have been involved in the development of a SWOT analysis, the definition of mission and vision, and the framing of the seven lines of the new plan, as well as their goals, objectives and actions (Strategic Plan, 2009). The seven priorities are: (1) Reinforcement of the North American Educational Model, (2) Quality Assurance and Accreditation, (3) Growth and Development, (4) Internationalization of the University, (5) Financial Sustainability, (6) Educational Leadership and Innovation, (7) Human Capital Development. Key performance indicators have been determined for each action, to ease up progress monitoring and assessment of the plan. Recognizing the importance of systemic strategic planning follow up, AUI has created a new position of Vice President for Strategic Plan dedicated to that effect. As AUI is strengthening its experience with strategic planning, work is in progress with all university units to determine yearly quantifiable targets for each action of the plan any unit may be contributing to. As AUI is building up a history with strategic planning, it is timely to develop a body of knowledge that collects good practices and updates them regularly for these to be shared with national and regional institutions. The purpose of this study is to put together some known facts about strategic planning and make them available in a concise format, for young institutions potential use, as well as to describe the challenges faced during the different phases of this exercise.
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WHAT IS STRATEGIC PLANNING ABOUT?
Olsen and Eadie (1982) define strategic planning as a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization (or other entity) is doing, and why it does it. This requires a large scale, yet effective, collection of information, clarifying the mission and understanding of implications of decision making. At its best, it prompts communication, imagination and commitment that transcend the members of the organization.
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There are three main components to strategic planning: Where an organization is: this includes a mission and mandates, structure and processes, skilled people, programs and services, communication, budget… Where an organization wants to be: this includes also a mission and mandates, a structure and processes, skilled people, programs and services, communication, budget. It is formulated though vision, mission and goals or values. The vision outlines what the organization ideally wants to be. The mission defines the fundamental purpose of an organization i.e. why it exists and what it does to achieve its vision. The values are beliefs shared by the main components of an organization. Means to get there: this includes a strategic plan, hiring and training, restructuring, budget allocation and strategy implementation tools to head towards the vision. Potential benefits of strategic planning: 1. Manage what to change, but also what to keep, in an organization 2. Formulate and communicate strategic decisions 3. Enhance organizational effectiveness 4. Benefit the people involved 5. Benefit the organization environment Still it is not automatic that these benefits will occur, as strategic planning is not a substitute to leadership (doing the right thing) or good management (doing things right). Since its early years, AUI leadership has been very supportive to this smart practice through different means in the different phases that accompanied the development of its plan.
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GOOD PRACTICES IN STRATEGIC PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION
There are ten known steps to organize participation, come up with ideas for strategic actions, build a successful team and implement strategies (Bryson, 2011). These are referred to as the Strategy Change Cycle. It consists for the so called coalition of the willing to: 1. Initiate and agree on a strategic planning process; 2. Identify organizational mandates through its founding decree; 3. Clarify the mission and values; 4. Assess external and internal environment for the purpose of identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT); 5. Determine strategic issues; 6. Formulate strategies to face the issues; 7. Formulate a strategic plan; 8. Establish an organizational vision; 9. Develop an effective implementation process; 10.Reassess the strategic planning process. While this can be done by a strategic planning committee in a two to three day retreat followed, three to four weeks later, by a meeting to review the resulting strategic plan, the process may take much longer in large organizations. At AUI for example, this has been done somehow through a retreat in Barcelona in 2009.
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Step 1: Agreeing on a strategic planning process
At AUI this step has formally been observed through the constitution of a university wide strategic planning committee involving all main units of the university as well as key players such as coordinators and chairs of quality assurance committees, in addition to deans, directors, vice presidents and the president himself taking part in all debates. The process was closely followed by the members of the Board of Trustees. Additionally, input was sought from the Alumni Association and the university students, through their Government Association.
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4.2
Step 2: Organizational mandate identification
Before an organization can define its mission and values, it must know exactly what it is formally and informally required to do, (and not do) by external stakeholders. For a higher education institution such as AUI, it is worth recalling that the university is mandated to provide the opportunity to pursue higher education to qualified students and executives, to produce knowledge, whether in terms of research production, innovation or development, and to impact positively its environment.
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Step 3: Mission and Values clarification
It is highly important for an organization to clarify its mission in addition to its mandates as these provide the most relevant justification for its existence. 1. Who are we? 2. What are the needs we exist to address? 3. What do we do to recognize, anticipate and respond to these needs? 4. How should we respond to our key stakeholders? 5. What are our philosophy, values, and culture? 6. What makes us distinctive or unique? For AUI for example, this came about after long discussions that took place in Ifrane and Barcelona over a long period of time (2006-2009) with the help of experts from two European partner institutions (UPC and KUL), and a subcommittee especially devoted to the mission formulated an initial draft, that was worked on later.
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Step 4: Identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT)
External environment is assessed by the planning team to identify opportunities and threats while internal environment is explored to assess strengths and weaknesses. While the opportunities and challenges are usually more about the future, strengths and weaknesses are more about the present as noted by Nutt and Backoff (1992). At AUI, this exercise has been done prior to the first and second plan. It has also been undergone by some schools and administrative units.
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Step 5: Identification of strategic issues facing the organization
This is a consequence of the four first steps. Here also, AUI has successfully managed to involve all stakeholders, including its Board members, in order to identify those very important strategic actions in framing its future. In addition to these, AUI sought the expertise of external consultants and partners, as well as the input of alumni.
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Step 6: Formulating strategies to face issues
This step is concerned with developing strategies to deal with the issues facing the organization found in the previous section. All schools and units of the University were asked to develop their own strategic agendas on a yearly basis following an exercise aimed at identifying their individual contribution to the strategic plan of the university. There was also a need to prioritize the actions over the five-year period of the plan.
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Step 7: Formulate a strategic plan
The goal here is to gain a formal commitment from all internal stakeholders to proceed with the implementation of the plan(s). At AUI, this has been done in a formal dissemination conference, marking the end of the Tempus project. University executives, faculty, directors, and managers attended the dissemination conference that preceded the publication of the plan that was agreed upon by all.
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4.8
Step 8: Establish an organizational vision
This is how the institution or organization would look like if it implements its strategy successfully. It is the result of a brainstorming exercise where dream comes together with reality and where the people directly involved in the middle and high management of the institution see the university ahead in the future if the strategy is fully implemented. For AUI, this step took also place in Barcelona in 2009 after thorough discussions, brainstorming and negotiations among stakeholders.
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Step 9: Develop an effective implementation process
An effective implementation process needs to be developed if the strategic plan is to be something different from a simple booklet that gathers wishes and resolutions. This may include appointing a person in charge of the strategic plan follow up, with needed resources and prerogatives as to oversee the actual implementation, determining the goals and objectives for each year and pointing out any deviations that are affecting the mission of the institution. Reporting lines of different stakeholders, data and activity reports submissions, involvement in decision making, as well as a clear institutional diagram can contribute to a better plan implementation.
4.10 Step 10: Reassess the strategic planning process The purpose of this step is to review what worked, what did not, and why, and also to set up the tone for the next plan. At AUI, we have come to notice that more attention was paid to the implementation part of the 20102014 strategic plan as compared to that of 2004-2009. We have also come to recognize the necessity of reassessing the strategic planning process following the challenges encountered in evaluating performance and progress as well as the difficulties in reporting. These were all indicators of the need to make the targets more tangible, realistic, and more measurable in future plans. Through the important help of technology, the purchasing of the balanced scorecard software (BSC), appointing an Assistant Vice President for Strategic Plan Follow Up, reporting dashboards to the board on a periodic basis, the necessity to reassess the strategic planning process became even clearer to AUI leadership. Midway the scope of the plan, meetings were held with executives, deans, directors and the administrative advisory council not only to present the progress rates on different priorities, but also to already seek brainstorming on the future plan and the shortcomings of the present one.
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CONCLUSION
Successful organizations report having successful plan implementation practices; while low success organizations report that they do not have such successful practices. (McNerney, Radwan, 2012). Follow up instruments such as a person in charge of implementation with clear prerogatives, alignment of all units, designing reporting lines that serve the monitoring and the decision process are all steps that can contribute to a more successful implementation. As AUI is in the third year of its second plan, it is fair to state that for a relatively young institution, we have definitely gained a reasonable experience in strategic planning. We have come a long way from writing up a booklet summarizing ambitious goals to actually involving the whole community and ensuring ownership by all. We have come also to realize that technology can help in the implementation follow up, but the plan itself needs to be implementable, the actions need to measure the objectives, which in turn need to measure the goals. Needless to say the important role played by the European Union Tempus project that supported the training we have benefitted from with UPC and KUL. We have learned that in designing a plan it is always useful to clearly define targets for each year and to be realistic. We have come to recognize the intrinsic relationship between strategic planning and quality assurance, as planning forms a sine qua non ingredient of quality in an academic institution as witnessed by the various reports of accrediting agencies we went through. More than the plan itself and its actions, it is the dynamic that is created around it by the different layers of the leadership, in the various steps delineated above, that drives an institution towards quality and success.
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[2]
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[3]
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[4]
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[5]
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[7]
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[8]
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