Strategic Management

Assume that you are one of the members of the management group of this university. Suggest some strategies in order to improve the overall goodwill and image of East West University.

The primary mission of East West University (EWU) is to provide, at a reasonable cost, quality tertiary education characterized by academic excellence in a range of subjects that are particularly relevant to current and anticipated societal needs and eventually not only to be the best university in the country but also to be the best in the South Asian region. As a not-for-profit organization, EWU should focus on creating value and knowledge in society and educate leaders for a better tomorrow, and should not focus solely on being profitable. Keeping these points in mind, as a member of the management group, I would like to suggest some strategies in order to improve the overall goodwill and image of East West University, so that the quality of its education can meet international standards.

In diversified, multi-business companies, the strategy-making task involves four distinct types or levels of strategy: corporate strategy that describes a diversified company’s overall direction in terms of its various businesses and product lines, business strategy that emphasizes on strengthening of company’s competitive position, functional strategy  which are concerned with managing the functional areas of the organization and operating strategy formulated at the operating units for smooth operation, and all these different levels of strategy should be effectively and efficiently linked with each other. But for a single- business enterprise, the strategy-making task involves only three levels of strategy- business strategy, functional strategy and operating strategy.Few of these strategies are discussed in the following sections in the context of EWU.

Corporate Strategy

At present, EWU is a single-business entity. But, it can choose to diversify by adopting the following strategies so that it can better cater to society’s needs and improve its overall image:

• The demand of higher education is equally increasing in the whole country, not in any specificarea. But private universities are mostly centralized in Dhaka. EWU can open campuses in Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barisal, Rangpur and Chittagong division. This way it can expand its geographical reach and serve a greater portion of the society.

• EWU can set up a virtual campus, i.e. online offerings where university work is completed either partially or wholly online, often with the assistance of the teachers,professors, or teaching assistants. Classes can be self paced using online documents and databases. Tests and other assignments can be made available online in specific programs used for online classes such as WizIQ Whiteboard, Illuminate, Blackboard, etc. Other methods that can be used in virtual campus are live sessions, videoconferencing, discussing and sharing various applications, just to name a few.This method will offer flexibility to adult students with full-time jobs and family, the cost of an online degree is relatively cheaper than at a traditional university setting but it does not diminish the value of the degree, and students can remain at home and avail degrees that may not be offered by universities or colleges nearby.

Business Strategy

EWU aims to provide quality education at reasonable cost and eventually not only to be best in Bangladesh but also to be the best in the South Asian region, and for that reason EWU can adopt certain strategies to improve its overall goodwill and image.

• EWU can offer more courses that are relevant and newer in present context, such as Architecture, Development Studies, Public Health, EnvironmentalStudies, Environmental Science and Management, Telecommunication Engineering, Public Policyand Governance, Human Rights, etc. Moreover, apart from offering only market oriented or job oriented subjects, EWU can also offer subjects such as Bengali, Music, History, Philosophy, Geography, Mathematics, etc. and become a place that creates new knowledge, makes balance in human resources in the society and creates manpower in all branches of knowledge.

• EWU should reduce its sole dependence on tuition fees from students and go for alternative sources of funding such a donation, sponsored support, gifts, research grants, scholarship grants, endowments, etc. It can take the support of its alumni, various donors, faculty, staffs and students to make progress towards the development of a financially sustainable model that will better support EWU in the future. With the financial help of the more profitable departments, EWU can create and initially support some other departments such as, Music, History, etc. until they are self sufficient. All these will help EWU to provide quality education at a more reasonable cost.

• EWU should strengthen its collaborative arrangements in research, faculty and student exchange, and curriculum development with different foreign universities and institutions. Affiliation with international universities will also provide the students with ample scope for participating in international competitions, events and exchange programs.

• EWU should set up an internal quality assurance cell to assess and maintain the quality of the programs or courses offered.

• EWU can provide residential facilities i.e. hostel/dormitory facilities for students coming from distant parts of the country and for its foreign students and gain an advantage over its competitors since private universities in Bangladesh are not providing this facility currently.

Functional Strategy

There is ample room for various functions of EWU to improve themselves. By doing so, EWU can improve its goodwill and image, and achieve its higher level strategy of providing quality education in the South Asian region at reasonable cost.

1. Academic Division: To improve the quality of education further and reach international standards the following strategies may be adopted by the different faculties of EWU:

• Developing a practical, research-based curriculum and moving away from memorization based examination style and adopting international case based examination style.

• To enhance the quality of education and help EWU to meet international standards, faculties can follow an international standard and competitive admission process, such as, a process that is comparable to the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), to ensure that the university recruits the best students in the country since the lack of strict admission process can lead to a weak base of students and can result in poor progress of various departments.

• Faculties can offer short-term certificate programs for students on various subjects such as English, Information and Communication Technology, business administration, etc. This can be a good source of fund for the respective faculties.

• Faculties can enter a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with professional bodies such as ICAB, ICMAB, CIMA, etc. Pharmacy Council of Bangladesh has already accredited the Department of Pharmacy.Such steps can create scopes for the graduates to build their career at home and abroad.  

1. Academic Support Division:This division carries out various important functions in EWU. To improve EWU’s overall goodwill and image, the following strategies may be considered by the division regarding the different roles it plays in the university.

• Research activities:Research activities are used to further academic discourse and heighten the reputation of a university. EWU needs to contribute in the field of both academic and applied research in order to fulfill its aim of becoming one of the renowned universities in the South Asian region. For that purpose, it can apply to the government and different foundations for raising grants to support research activities conducted by teachers and students, build up its capacity for research, and procure the necessary research equipment and software. EWU also needs to make dedicated allocation from its yearly expenditure for research activities.

• Alumni network:EWU has lacking in the alumni network.Academic Support division should create and maintain a large and successful alumni network consisting of successful professionals in different fields. Eventually the alumni network can play an important role in job placement for the students, participate to raise funds, donations, gift giving and campaigns. It can also hold seminar and workshops to share the members’ valuable experience in the corporate world.

• Library facilities: EWU has a rich library. However, to make students’ experience more satisfying and help them with their education and research, the Academic Support division can adopt strategies such as,collecting sufficient reference andtext books, sufficient number of desired books, up-dated journals and online journals, and audio-visual items. Moreover, the library should have uninterrupted online facilities, photocopy facilities and an electronic catalog system. EWU should make an attempt to automate the library with virtual access facility.

1. Marketing Division

The Marketing division can generate greater media coverage of the university, its staff and its students locally, nationally and internationally through a refreshed media strategy, and develop stronger relationships with the media and other commentators for enhancing the reputation of EWU. The division should strengthen EWU’s relationship and engagement with its alumni to build their support as informed advocates and ambassadors for the University. To build a good relationship with the society, this division should deliver an effective and attractive website and marketing materials, managed in accordance with EWU’s brand and brand identity, and engage with particular audiences through the most appropriate channels, digital and traditional. The marketing division canalso manage EWU’s public presence and communicate with the local community through media relations and public events.