Are Universities Learning Organizations?

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Are Universities Learning Organizations?

• Jozef Hvorecký
• Vysoká škola manažmentu, Bratislava, Slovakia
• University of Liverpool
• Liverpool, UK

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Abstract

• Why should university education face radical
  changes?
• Bologna Process Application of Knowledge
  Management to Universities?
• Universities Learning Organizations?
• Evaluating implementations of Bologna
• Europe
• -Slovakia
• Conclusions

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Why Are Changes Needed?
In no case!
We havnt got time!
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Massification of the University Education Why?

• Constant increase in average qualification
• Level of education expands
• 19th century
• massification of elementary education
• 20th century
• massification of high school education
• 21st century
• massification of university education
• Educational systems have to keep pace with the
  progress of technology

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From Individuals to Masses

• How to make it functioning?
• Professional approach to school management
• Education is a managerial task
• Lets set up quality standards
• Lets enforce them

Massive Education
Knowledge-building Factory
Unified Procedures
Quality Standards
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Education is a business

• It therefore must
• Have a vision
• Build its long-term and short-term strategies
• Form its internal policies
• Follow general rules and standards
• Respect its customers

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Principal Challenges the Universities Face

• Massification
• Innovation
• Universities must become learning organizations

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A Learning Organization
Traditional Organization Learning organization
Approach to change If it works, do not change it If we do not learn, we will extinct
Approach to ideas If it is not our idea, we do not welcome it Let us not reinvent the wheel
Responsibility for innovations Department of research and development Each and every member of the organization
Main concerns Making wrong decisions Inability to learn and adapt
Competitive advantage Products and services Ability to learn and exploit knowledge and experience
Duties of managers Controlling others Supporting others
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Support by ICT 11 Criteria
Indicator ICT support of the activity
Informative Strong
Formative accounting and control Strong
Internal exchange Strong
A learning approach to strategy Moderate
Participative policy making Moderate
Self-learning opportunities for all Moderate
Boundary workers as environmental scanners Moderate
Enabling structures Weak
Reward flexibility Weak
Inter-company learning Weak
A learning climate Weak
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Becoming Learning Organization

• Strongly supported 3
• Moderately supported 3
• Weakly supported 4
• Enabling structures
• Reward flexibility
• Inter-company learning
• A learning climate
• For proper management People are much more
  important than Technology

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A learning approach to strategy

• The use of trials and errors to improve
  understanding and generate improvements, and to
  modify strategic direction as necessary.
• American and British Universities are leaders
• European Continental Universities are now trying
  to mimic their approach
• It is not a trial and error method but a better
  strategy than doing nothing

12
Participative policy making

• All the organizations members are involved in
  strategy formation, influencing decisions and
  values and addressing conflict.
• The Bologna initiative was ignited by
  universities
• It is now in the hands of the member states
• The results vary from country to country

Buchanan and Huczynski Organizational Behavior,
p. 125
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Informative and collaborative

• Sharing knowledge is key to double-loop learning
  ICT is used to make information available to
  everyone and to enable front-line staff to act on
  their own initiative.
• Information technology is used in e-learning and
  communication of researchers
• It is negligibly used for coordination of Bologna
  process or further development
• EU countries legislation is local and
  restrictive
• The knowledge sharing does not reach its
  innovative potential

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Formative accounting and control

• Accounting, budgeting and reporting systems are
  designed to help people to understand the
  operations of organizational finance.
• The most of continental universities are paid
  from public budget
• Self-financing is not very popular
• Regulations are often not-long-lasting
• Accounting does not influence universities life
  substantially

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Intensive Internal Exchange of Information and
Knowledge

• Sections and departments think of themselves as
  customers and suppliers in an internal supply
  chain and learning from each other.
• Our students are our products and we should be
  shaping them to perfection (and to the needs of
  society)
• Universities are not trying to learn from each
  other (splendid isolation)
• The approach to the Bachelor Master Doctor
  ladder must be better developed and refined
  (self-supporting programs)

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Reward flexibility

• A flexible and creative reward policy with
  financial and non-financial rewards to meet
  individual needs and performance.
• Universities prefer fixed salary scales
• Promotion often depends on the served years
• Secret brotherhoods vs. Knowledge Factories
• Barriers to self/fulfillement
• The universities are repelling creative
  individuals (brain-drain to the USA)

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Boundary workers as environmental scanners

• Everyone who has contact with customers,
  suppliers, clients and business partners is
  treated as a valuable informative source.
• Creation of new study programs is slow, difficult
  and financially not-encouraged (unless at the
  pan-European level)
• Universities cope with enterprises much less than
  needed (except of fachhoschulen)
• Teaching for schools, not for life

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Inter-company learning

• The organization learns from other organizations
  through join ventures, alliances, and other
  information exchanges.
• Many internal and external obstacles to making
  alliances (as it contradicts the traditional
  university culture)
• Universities collaborate via pan-European
  projects, their number is growing (A success
  story one of a few)
• The university climate is not positive to such
  changes

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Enabling structures

• Organizational charts, structures and procedures
  are seen as temporary, and can be changed to meet
  task requirements.
• The university structures are ossified a chance
  for change is not on horizon
• State regulations are driven by one model only
• How to change it?

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A learning climate

• The managers primary task is to facilitate
  experimentation and learning in others, through
  questioning, feedback and support.
• Learning and Doing Research is not the same.
• Universities of refuse offers for changes (e.g.
  in salary structure and promotion system)
• How to make universities to become eager for
  changes? (Call for independence)

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Self-learning opportunities for all

• People are expected to take responsibility for
  their own learning, and facilities are made
  available, especially to front-line staff.
• Universities offer many opportunities but they
  mostly target research not the university
  management.
• Lets try to become more open to new ideas

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Conclusions

• The lectures was about universities but not
  only about them
• Learning is a way to progress but must be
  versitile and address all aspect of the companys
  life.
• Look for your opportunity to learn more and do
  not miss it!

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Thank you for your attention!

• jhvorecky_at_vsm.sk
• http//blogy.etrend.sk/jozef-hvorecky