DCU Business School Strategy

Transcription

1 Strategy

2 Mission s mission is to educate leaders and professionals for the global marketplace. Through our teaching, our research and our engagement with industry, we proactively contribute to the development of individuals, industry and society. Values Collegiality and inclusivity Preparation of our students for the world of work Development of an enterprise spirit in our students Commitment to research that advances theory and practice Development of self-reflective, insightful graduates and practitioners Vision We will be recognised as a Business School that transforms individuals, industry and society through excellence in our teaching and research. Strategic Intents 1. DCU business education will be recognised for its distinctive and high quality student experience 2. We will undertake and publish research that advances knowledge and professional practice in business disciplines 3. Industry engagement will be a hallmark of our activities 4. We will grow our national and international reputation as a provider of business knowledge and education Cultivation and advocacy of ethical behaviour Global in outlook Proactive engagement with industry, alumni, government and community

3 Objectives 1. To develop and enhance our students abilities to contribute to the creation and sustainable development of enterprises 2. To develop graduates who are ethical in outlook and globally aware 3. To widen the experiential learning of our students and to prepare them for future learning 8. To play a significant role in the social and economic development of our region 9. To enhance our message and reputation among our key stakeholders 10. To maintain an effective and sustainable business model 4. To develop and support a vibrant research community 5. To increase the impact of our research on the national and international academic community 6. To develop and enhance our international collaborations 7. To disseminate our research to managers and business professionals, the business community, and policy makers

4 Implementation The implementation of our strategy is guided by our vision, framed by four strategic intents and is enabled by a cross-cutting management plan. DCU business education will be recognised for its distinctive and high quality student experience Changing student expectations and patterns of engagement with traditional teaching formats are challenging us to re-think student learning, placing greater emphasis on the individual student s own responsibilities for his/her learning. Our strategy for teaching and learning is developed around two central objectives: implementation of processes that give explicit assurance of achievement of learning goals; and a renewal of the curriculum that places a particular emphasis on enterprise, ethics and stakeholder engagement. Direct measures of learning goals will be introduced and, through our programme review process, we will use these measures to inform continuous improvement of the curriculum. International best practice in managing student learning will inform our teaching and learning standards. We will renew the business curriculum to enhance the capacity of our students to contribute to the creation and sustainable development of enterprises in an ethical and globally aware manner. Entrepreneurial thinking, creativity and adaptability will be emphasised at all stages in our undergraduate programmes. The preparedness of our students for employment will be enhanced through an increased role for practitioners and external stakeholders in the development and delivery of the curriculum. Our students will be exposed to practice-focused research in their discipline areas and we will extend the use of industry-sponsored practicums among our taught postgraduate students. Greater reflective learning will be emphasised with expanded use of online student portfolios, allowing for recognition and showcasing of skills and achievements through both formal and informal channels. We will explore the development of programmes focused specifically on enterprise and innovation, including supplemental awards that enhance graduate employability. We will work proactively with enterprises and public bodies in the provision of programmes addressing identified skills needs and

5 deficits. We will develop our capacity to deliver our modules in blended and online formats, extending our capacity to deliver education nationally and internationally, as a sole provider and in partnership with others. Multi-disciplinarity has always been a feature of DCU programme development. We will continue to actively engage with other faculties in the development of innovative, crossdisciplinary programmes. We will undertake and publish research that advances knowledge and professional practice in business disciplines Our research priorities emphasise the creation of new knowledge (disciplinebased scholarship) and the application, transfer and interpretation of knowledge to improve management practice and teaching (contributions to practice). Our research plan is to increase the research activity of faculty, to encourage the presentation of research at conferences and to support the publication of quality research in academic journals and books. We will increase the dissemination of research to our students, professionals, the business community, and policy makers. These increases in research activity will be achieved by enhancing the opportunities for academic faculty to engage in research. We will promote a culture of research by facilitating opportunities for conversations in research, and by recognising the research-related achievements of our staff and our students. We will seek to enrich the research community within through enhanced support for the following activities: funding for conference presentations; our doctoral programme, including the provision of Graduate Training Elements and PhD scholarships to high quality applicants; and the International Visitor Programme. Specifically, we will seek to increase time available for research through the development of new workload systems and processes. We will also align research incentives with the goal of increasing the quality of our discipline-based research as measured by the impact on our academic peers. We will prioritise the development of specific programmes of research through the development of research institutes/centres and will seek to

6 increase the level of external funding for such research. We will encourage the dissemination of our research to practitioners. We will seek to develop opportunities for students undergraduate and postgraduate to engage in researchled projects, in particular those focused on industry. Industry engagement will be a hallmark of our activities them as partners in substantive elements of our research activities. We will host practitioner-focused events to disseminate our research to the business community. We will seek deep engagement with our alumni and they will be central to our continuous review of mission and strategy. Through a variety of activities, we will seek to involve alumni in delivery of our teaching, research and engagement strategies. Our engagement strategy encompasses key values of the University s strategy in its emphasis on enterprise and translation. It captures two distinct but related elements: embedding our activities in the business and social communities in our region and, more directly, stimulating enterprise growth in Ireland s Eastern corridor through research, education and support for enterprise development. Industry engagement will be organised around a portfolio of bi-directional activities between and business, government and professional communities, both nationally and internationally. The

7 activities will encompass research projects, education programmes and enterprise development for the benefit of stakeholders in the Eastern corridor and beyond. We will set ambitious targets in the sphere of industry engagement and continuously measure ourselves against those targets. Substantive social and industry engagement by our students will be a core element in their learning activities and we will give credit and developing supplemental awards for social entrepreneurship and business-related activities outside the standard curriculum. We will extend the use of industry sponsored practicums in our postgraduate programmes. We will expand our use of industry speakers and practitioners in modules. In turn, our engagement with industry, policymakers and other stakeholders will inform our development and the renewal of our educational resources and programmes. Through our provision of business education, we will seek both to stimulate innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurial activity in the Eastern corridor and to assist in the attraction of multinationals and other large employers to the region. The needs of industry and practitioners will be a key factor in the direction of our research and we will seek to include them as partners in substantive elements of our research activities. We will host practitioner-focused events to disseminate our research to the business community. We will seek deep engagement with our alumni and they will be central to our continuous review of mission and strategy. Through a variety of activities, we will seek to involve alumni in delivery of our teaching, research and engagement strategies. We will grow our national and international reputation as a provider of business knowledge and education Internationalisation of the student experience and of our teaching and research activities will continue to be crucial to the enhancement of our reputation. Recognising the increasing pace and complexity of globalisation, our internationalisation priorities will be: to enrich the international experiences and perspectives of our students; to develop and selectively grow international collaborations that offer significant potential for the School; and to attract additional, high quality international

8 students to our taught and research programmes. We will expand the international experiences of our students and ensure that the content of our programmes prepares graduates for work in a global environment by: offering appropriate new modules; reviewing our module learning outcomes to ensure that global content is infused across modules; and adopting an interlock approach through the development of a cross-functional module at undergraduate level and through the Next Generation Management module at the taught postgraduate level. We will enhance international collaborations that offer significant potential for the School. DCU Business School has always had an outwardlooking, international perspective. It has developed extensive international exchange programmes, which include formal with credit student exchanges. This focus is reflected in a growing number of international faculty and students, including a substantial engagement in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The extension and deepening of international partnerships and collaborations will be a priority in the years ahead. We will build on our success to date in attracting high quality international students to our taught and research programmes. We will work closely with DCU s International Office to raise awareness of our programmes in key markets. Management Achieving our strategic intents and objectives in the areas of teaching and learning, research, engagement, and internationalisation requires a crosscutting and enabling management plan that focuses on work allocation and staff development, marketing and financial security. We will develop systematic processes for work allocation and staff development. This will involve a number of new processes, procedures and projects: a consolidated staff handbook will be produced; a new approach to the recording of workload will be developed and implemented; a review and reorganisation of management and

9 administrative structures and duties will be undertaken; and targeted training initiatives will be developed. Our HR strategy is focused on attracting and retaining high calibre staff and will be structured to support the realisation of our strategic goals, recognising that we may face a prolonged period of cutbacks and funding withdrawals in the public sector. We will develop a comprehensive marketing plan to develop and enhance our reputation with external stakeholders. We will adopt processes and procedures that comprehensively capture and promote the entire range of activities of, evidencing and informing a wider engagement with all stakeholders. We will enhance our reputation in research and practitioner communities through our contributions to research forums, publications and industry events. The medium term financial structure of will reflect the expected decline in state funding, emphasising the need to increase other income streams. Ensuring stability of revenues will require a re-balancing of our portfolio of activities and programme offerings: numbers at undergraduate level are likely to be stable over the period, as are numbers on executive programmes; there will be limited growth in numbers in full-time postgraduate programmes where any additional programme development will be built around a common core of business modules. Targeted recruitment of international students will be emphasised and we will explore new programme development with international partners as necessary. The organisation and management of our programmes will be reviewed to ensure greater coherence and efficiencies. We will also review the delivery mode, timetabling and scheduling of student learning activities across the academic year to allow a greater and more concentrated focus on research activities. The mission, vision values, and strategic intents of have been developed in collaboration with stakeholders and there will be on-going consultation regarding implementation and evaluation.

10 Strategy Map Objective 1: To develop and enhance our students abilities to contribute to the creation and sustainable development of enterprises Mission s mission is to educate leaders and professionals for the global marketplace. Through our teaching, our research and our engagement with industry, we proactively contribute to the development of individuals, industry and society. Objective 2: To develop graduates who are ethical in outlook and globally aware Objective 3: To widen the experiential learning of our students and to prepare them for future learning Strategic Intents DCU business education will be recognised for its distinctive and high quality student experience We will undertake and publish research that advances knowledge and professional practice in business disciplines Industry engagement will be a hallmark of our activities We will grow our national and international reputation as a provider of business knowledge and education Objective 4: To develop and support a vibrant research community Objective 5: To increase the impact of our research on the national and international academic community Objective 6: To develop and enhance our international collaborations Objective 7: To disseminate our research to managers & business professionals, the business community, and policy makers Objective 8: To play a significant role in the social and economic development of our region Objective 9: To enhance our reputation among our key stakeholders Objective 10: To maintain an effective and sustainable business model

11 Strategy Implementation Plan Objective 1: To develop and enhance our students abilities to contribute to the creation and sustainable development of enterprises Produce ambitious, creative, entrepreneurial and adaptable graduates Enhance students communication and team-working skills and their capacity to solve real-world problems Objective 2: To develop graduates who are ethical in outlook and globally aware Ensure ethical awareness and social responsibility are embedded in our programmes Establish a global mindset among our students where diversity is valued Enrich student learning and experience through engagement with industry and the wider community Objective 3: To widen the experiential learning of our students and to prepare them for future learning Enhance students engagement in reflection and critical thinking that will support both their personal and professional development Embed a research-led, evidence-based approach into teaching and learning activities Be supportive of staff research Objective 4: To develop and support a vibrant research community Review and enhance our doctoral programme Targeted development of our research centres and our funded research activity Objective 5: To increase the impact of our research on the national and international academic community Support the publication of research in high quality academic journals and books Encourage staff to be active contributors to the international academic community

12 Enhance international collaborations that offer significant potential for the School Objective 6: To develop and enhance our international collaborations Develop and selectively grow profitable international collaborations Attract additional, high quality international students to our taught and research programmes Objective 7: To disseminate our research to business professionals, the business community, and policy makers Promote the dissemination of our research to practitioners Support staff and student engagement in research projects with industry Objective 8: To play a significant role in the social and economic development of our region Provide business expertise and education for commercial and social enterprise in our Region Stimulate innovation, commercialisation and entrepreneurial activity in our Region Objective 9: To enhance our reputation among our key stakeholders Develop a clear brand identity and communicate it effectively to all stakeholders across a range of media Embed insights and guidance of our Industry Advisory Board across our activities Enhance processes for embedding alumni engagement across our activities Objective 10: To maintain an effective and sustainable business model On-going renewal of our programme suite, research priorities and engagement activities in the context of the dynamic environment Maintain a strong system of financial management and strategically plan and manage an appropriate portfolio of income streams Ensure that we attract and retain high quality academic and administrative staff