Page 3 - The Managed Learning Environment Strategic Gain_

Such a turbulent environment calls for institutions to change and adapt to
meet these challenges. However, as Milliken, 1990, points out change for
many of these institutions is not easy. Historically, the industry has been
characterised by resistance and self-paced incremental change but the new
market dynamic requires a faster, more aggressive market orientation.

One recent example of strategy aiming to harness these dynamics is Oxford
th
University who announced - 25 March 2005 - that it would be seeking to
increase the percentage of its students from abroad. It needed these high
paying (£20,000 +) students to fund the salaries it must offer to attract the
highest calibre academics so it could compete with America’s Ivy League
institutions.

In business in general, for the last quarter century or so, strategy has been
viewed through Cartesian eyes, which sees a split between mind and body.
Here the mind or “head” represents the creation of the mission, visions, and
strategies and plans all of which are future oriented and geared to leading the
organisation – the “body” to a more fruitful and secure future.

However, in their work Bartlett and Ghoshal indicate, that organizations are
captured in a “strategic trap”: “The problem is that their (manager’s)
companies are organizationally incapable of carrying out the sophisticated
strategies they have developed. Over the past 20 years, strategic thinking has
far outdistanced organizational capabilities”.

“We recognise that we are and will be
engaging with an increasingly diverse
population of learners. We also recognise
the need for greater innovation in
curriculum design and assessment
methods, and in the nature and utilisation
of our infrastructure, to ensure that we
support adequately the preferred learning
styles of this more varied population of
students.”
NAPIER UNIVERSITY
STRATEGIC PLAN 2002-2006
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