- CAPABILITIES:
The capabilities of the University can be illustrated according Michael Porter Value Chain.
Infrastructure activities: Administration, Finance, legal serv, International relations.
Technology & research: systems design, research & training, student services, CTTC.
Human resources management & development HRM
Admission Freshman Prgm. Placement Service. Colleges Research activities
- Registration - Consultancy - Depts. - Programmes
- Recording - Counselling -Units
- Grading report -Laboratories
- Withdrawal - Libraries
- Readmission
- Scholarship
- Archives
2.4 Key points of successful Strategies
According Grant, succesful strategies typicaly consist of four key ingredients3. We examine the strategies accordingly.
Directed Towards Unambiguous long Term Goals.
Given the present conditions of the University the vision outlined aims at achieving a measure of self sufficiency in much of higher education and possibly even attaining the ability to exert influence in our region over the next 10-15 years.
Based on Insightful Understanding of the External Environment.
As a result of the long war, Eritrea remained back from the rest of the world. To be able step with the world, the linkage model is used as a door for development and exchange of knowledge. According to the Eritrean Macro Policy Tertiary Education will be expanded selectively to meet the envisaged manpower requirements of the country for diversified skill acquisition. This will be supplemented by utilizing training opportunities afforded by the international community. (3.1)
Based on Intimate Self- Knowlege By The Organization or Individual of Internal Capabilities.
A linkage is also made locally with various sectors. The main objective of the University is, to contribute to national reconstruction and economic development, by training people who have the requisite competence that serve national development. University must solve the sector’s human resource need, and in turn to be able to prepare for it.
Implemented With Resolution, C0-Ordination, & Effective Harnessing of The Capabilities &
Commitment of all Members of the Organization.
Strategy unless implemented in co-ordination with the capabilities of the members, it risks of strategic drift4. University’s strategy is very insightfull, long visioned and not easily reversible. However, strategic implementation requires managing strategic change and culture, and also in the organizations
Structure5. Hence, some key positions in the University are not aware of the consistent change of culture and commitment of resources to achieve the target.
3. Review of its Performance.
Based on the strategies, the university has adopted a development programme accordingly;
Current developments -- 1998
Short term plan -- 1999 - 2005
Medium term plan -- 2005 - 2010
Long term plan -- 2010- 2015
Raising fund
As per the objectives, and mission statements, the university is encouraging the colleges to raise fund for their respective dept. through the co-ordination of the Consultancy, Training, Testing Centre (CTTC) of the University, the staff members of the different colleges are envolved in the request, which comes to the office. Incomes raised-through such services are allocated among - The CTTC, the respective faculty and department,
the involved members. Hence, while they are raising fund, they are also Reserving fund to their respective college for future financial needs.
Moreover, the following six dimensions6 will evaluate the University’s performance.
Access To Service.
Through the linkage model established, senior staff members are recruited, teaching and
research materials developed. Most of the colleges have been refurbished, parallel to this, dormitories for a capacity of 2000 students, a hall for about 300 students are built. New laboratories and libraries were also built. The old dormitories are changed to classes; this enabled to increase the number of students from 1683 in the acad. yr 91/92 to 5506 in 2002/2003.
Relevance To The Need.
Eritrea requires high number of educated and trained manpower. University is the only higher learning institution for the Bachelor degree and below. Currently, postgraduate program incorporation with other universities is delivered. Hence it is the only institution, which supplies this need to the public.
Effectiveness
The University curricula have been revised through an international symposium. To evaluate the effectiveness of the courses however, the demands from different sectors of the government have to be analysed. Nevertheless, the University’s long-term plan includes developing most of the graduate program to offer Masters degrees.
Equity.
By the fact that, the University was situated in the capital city, students who were living in the remote areas had no chance to join the University. Today females, handicapped and rural inhabitants are encouraged to join the university equally.
Social acceptability.
With the scarce and limited space available in the University, Most of the people would like to send their children to the University.
Efficiency and Economy.
A comparison made between 91/92 and 2002/2003 academic years. The academic staff increased by 17% qualitatively, while the administrative staff increased about 15% quantitatively. From time to time new colleges and departments are opening and hence, efficiency and economy are increasing.
3.1 STATEGIC ISSUES FACING THE INSTITUTION.
Issues that the University considered strategic, the characterisation of strategic issues developed in accordance book 17was:
‘’ Developments inside or outside an organization, that are likely to have an impact on its
Ability to meet or determine its purposes and objectives.’’
The following issues are strategic in their significance:
Internal Issues:
1. The number and quality of the student body.
2. The number and quality of the teaching staff.
3. The availability of educational materials, the quality of the available teaching facilities, and
The limited funds it gets from the nation & international.
The number and quality of the student’s body.
Secondary school graduates who are entering the University have low standard. Of all the students who take the school leaving examinations, only between 6-10% qualify for admission to the University. Out of which who enter the University 10 –15% of them dropout.
The number and quality of the teaching staff.
Even if the University was founded in 1958, for a major part of its history, it was an appendage of the Ethiopian University system. While the war liberation was coming to an end, the Ethiopian military ruler dismantled the University and took most of its resources and personnel to southern Ethiopia. Qualified academic staffs were not available in the local market.
A well-established university should have approximately 20% full and associate professors and 30% assistant professors. Today, only 47% of the total academic staff are PhDs holder, 24% Master holders, and 29 % are Bachelor holders.
The availability of educational facilities and the limited fund available.
Classrooms, laboratories, and libraries are inadequate. These deficits impose severe constraints on the number of students that can be admitted. Today the total daytime student population is 5,506. This rapid expansion in the number of students as well as the available academic programme could only be achieved by refurbishing the existing students dorms and converting them into teaching facilities. The library is too poorly equipped to meet their basic needs and the students do not have the economic resources to be able to purchase books.
External Issues:
- The regional instability – because of the regional wars instructors are not willing to come. So at times there is shortage of instructors.
- Government policy – Government policies are normally long range plans, while it is difficult to act flexibly to manage crises.
- Availability of funds – similarly due to differences in policies some donors freeze their funds. This is the biggest problem in the University.
3.2 University and its challenges.
One of the main objectives of the university is to contribute to national reconstruction and economic development by training people who have the requisite competence and by contributing innovations and knowledge that can serve as a basis for national development. The main challenge the university is facing is the following.
3.2.1 Goals of the university through development linkage projects.
To enhance the capacity of the University of Asmara and educate Eritreans in the rule of concerned disciplines, by strengthening the college through:
- Adequate training and research facilities.
- To equip the colleges with necessary teaching facilities and aids and to update the library of the colleges with relevant textbooks, scientific books, and journals for teaching and research.
- Assist in establishing departments a curriculum of academic educational in fundamental and applied aspects that is adapted to the development needs of Eritrea.
- A research monitoring programme for departments oriented towards understanding development and joint research projects focusing an Eritrean problem and solution.
3.2.2 Revitalise secondary schools
The main input to the University are the secondary school students. During the war, junior and secondary schools in Eritrea, were managed carelessly. The effectiveness of the curricula, the management style, leader ship, values and traditions all these resources have been neglected. This has caused a serious problem in the efficiency of the students today. This has also an impact on the university’s performance. According Noria and Berkeley four faces of pragmatism8 the university is tackling the problem.
Willingness to make:
In collaboration with the Ministry of Education and other concerned offices, they are trying to change the culture of the youth. Making them participate in national reconstruction, encouraging them to complete on national Aptitude Test Forum, by forming clubs according their interest and facilitating the necessary supplies and finance, so as to make them, citizens with high integrity and national care.
Sensitivity to context.
A good citizen with high integrity is only of the requisite. If the output of the secondary school is to be improved, junior secondary schools must be improved, teachers must be upgraded and motivated, new methodology of teaching is required, human and material resources co-ordinate for the better use.
With this in mind, in accordance Bailey & Johnson 95 Incrementalism9 on the dimensions of strategic development, the university has planned to introduce a one-year pre-university program, to help students, who have successfully passed the school-leaving certificate exam to improve their language and computational and study skills before they join the university.
Focus on the outcome.
University is constructing dormitories, which can accommodate 2000 students, laboratories for freshmen students, and a multi purpose hall. With the long-term plan to accommodate 8000 day students, however, this is only a tempt to minimise the immediate needs. The University can solve the issue, when the overall University’s Master Plan is feasible.
- Strategic Plan for the Coming Five Years
- Develop or expand the already existing facilities. For example, Faculty of Agriculture will be expanded to:
- Agricultural Engineering,
- Environmental Science;
- Agricultural Education/Extension;
- Veterinary Science.
- Develop graduate programs in all facilities (except Law, Health Science, Engineering), and offer M.A’s, M.Sc’s, and in limited fields, PhD’s.
- Establish separate buildings for all facilities
- Establish Diploma Colleges in Technology, Agriculture, Teachers Training and Medical Technology in different regions of the country.
- Maintain a growth rate of about 6% per year to reach target of 8,000-day students and allow the number of teachers to increase at a rate that maintains a teacher/ day – student’s ratio of 1 to 30. The number off teachers will be 267. About 320 students or 4% will be in graduate programme.
- Most students will cover their living and housing expense directly or through sponsorship by the public sector, private enterprise, and humanitarian organisations and alumni associations.
- The growth of faculties will depend less and less on the assignment of quotas and more and more on market forces.
- Recommendations:
-
As earlier mentioned in the mission of the University,…… it aspires to become a national centre of higher learning and scientific inquiry…… to achieve its mission, University has to be a model by itself to practice what it teaches. According, Walsh and Ungson (91) 10 ,there are six sources of information within an organization from which people can learn.
Culture
The culture of an organization represents a shared recipe for actions. This recipe develops as the organization grows and is influenced by founders, senior managers and new comers. It is strategic if University develops a consistent and shared mental models, so as those who have relation with the University will either share or learn out of it, such as the university has to organise get to gather, so as to acquaint its staff and develop relationship among themselves.
The bureaucracy, the decision making, the customer care, the relationship between boss and peers and offices, ceremonies etc. are not only educational but they are also a source for superior performance, when designed perfectly.
Structures:
Structures are boundaries in organization. However, these boundaries contain specialist knowledge, as they perform part of the integral job. By the mere fact, the University is structured in academic and administrative staff; each is supposed to have specialist knowledge.
10(Walsh and Ungson 91)
These structures will facilitate for the smooth run of the university and also inhibiting gross functional learning and encouraging flexibility, since every category performs specific actions. These categories are on-the job, classrooms and a fastest and attractive way of teaching.
Ecology
The physical layout of the offices and workplaces not only transmit information, but it has also a hidden content on how to utilise resources. The units situated close to each other not only reflect their horizontal relationship, but the time, efforts used to communicate, the possibility of sharing material and human resource, the possibility of strengthening relationships among them, will either help the use of resources economically or enhance the culture and shared values of the organization. Hence, University is a place, where future administrators are stimulated.
External Archives
Information mostly base on action performed. If university will on every of its action strive for perfection, reports and personal recollection will tell, what they perceive from it. Such a commitment gives hope to the public and younger generation will follow.
Individuals
Whenever there is organization, there are people. Organizations differ by the under life11 they contain. As man is the product of its childhood, generations have concerned about children and childcare. Like wise as part of the society, university members have an implicit responsibility of demonstrating their knowledge, mental models, and their charisma to communicate their potentials and experiences to other in a way through their action in life.
11(B 800 BK 1 P. 47)
-
In accordance (Schein 92)12 learning culture consists attitudes and beliefs shared by organization members. Organization can influence its strategic environment. One of the stakeholders of the university is the public. The public is made up of families. If university’s input must be qualitative, it has to go back to the source. So attention has to be made on parents and childcare. Families must be encouraged, especially mothers has to be thought. An exchange of shared vision among government and communities is enhanced, as their existence is reciprocal. So, university has to go down to interact with sectors, ministries to take active part on changing the culture, on making an educational infrastructure easy and in tailoring and guiding the new generation direction.
6. CONCULUSION
Resource: Resource is always scarce and there is no enough of resource in relation to needs. In this context the limited and old physical resource available here has to be used in as much as to give the maximum return out of it. Managing resource is a factor to efficiency, and resource at hand is most of the times a means for the requirement of a better and a sophisticated one. So much so, while the refurbishment and strengthening of the human and material resources is indispensable, the University ‘s resources are supporting the strategies it is following and is fully dependent on them.
Beside the available paradigm stimulates the learning process through taking and sharing. The university’s culture of simplicity, unity is integrating the cluster of resources and is holding an organization together, to form glue, which binds the organization into its network or relationships.
Strategy: - Especially the linkage model from its strategies is enabling the University, whose human and, material resources were devastated, to revitalize both in education and resource. Side by side it is enhancing cultural, social, economical and political relationships of the nation. Moreover, it is not only encouraging but also accelerating the rate of the university’s growth. In addition, the strategies University is following is multidimensional for these reasons it is solving the very near and the far demand instantly. By and large these strategies will not only strengthen the existing colleges, but it will also be the cornerstone for developing the program offered to a higher level of education.
As far as the issues are concerned, they are critical especially with the level of the secondary school. The challenges to the University are very crucial as its sustainability depends on the better university. In challenging these issues much of what was planned has been accomplished and it was the first phase to solve its problem.
Finally, according its mission …. Is to be a national center of higher learning and scientific inquiry… University has to be a model and a place of genuine seat of freedom and perfection.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A.Thomson, A.J.Strickland (2003) “Strategic Management” McGraw-Hill, U.S.A
Bailey, A and Johnson, G (1995) “The processes of strategy development” in J.L.Thomspon (ed), The CIMA handbook of strategic Management, oxford, Butterworth Heinemann.
Grant R, M (1995) “Contemporary Strategy Analysis, Blakwell, oxford.
Johnson, G (1988) Rethinking incrementalism, Strategic Management journal Vol. 9,pp.313-27
Johnson, G & Scholes K. (1993) Exploring corporate strategy test and cases (3rd edn). London
Michael E. Porter Competitive Advantage (New York: Free Press, 1985)
Maxwell, R.J. (1984) “ Quality assessment in health” British medical Journal, Vol.288
Nohria, N and Berkley, J, D. (1994) “whatever happened to the “takecharge” manager?
Schein, E.H. (1992) Organizational culture and leadership (2nd edn), San Francisco, Jossey
Walsh, J P. and Ungson , G,r. (1991) “organizational memory” Academy of Managmen Review, July-August, pp. 41-51
B800 people (1995), Book1, Open University Business School
Appendix I
CURRENT PROGRAMMES
2001/2002 ACADAMIC YEAR
Appendix II
Statistical Summary: Students and staff of the University of Asmara
(1991/92-2001/02)
F = FEMALE
T= TOTAL
Appendix III
DEGREE GRADUATES OF UNIVERSITY OF ASMARA
BY DEPARTMENT, YEAR AND SEX
(1991 – 2001)
Appendix IV
DIPLOMA AND CERTIFICATE GRAADUATES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ASMARA
BY DEPARTMENT, YEAR AND SEX
(1991 – 1996)
Appendix V
UNIVERSITY OF ASMARA
LINKAGE MODEL
1997
Appendix VI
UNIVERSITY OF ASMARA
STAKEHOLDERS DIAGRAM
( Porter 85 )
3(Grant 95 P.26)
3.1 (GOE – MACRO POLICY P.39)
4( Johnson, G 88)
5(Ibid.)
6( Maxwell 84)
