CASS BUSINESS SCHOOL S STRATEGIC PRIORITIES We have now finished an important exercise in refreshing Cass strategy. This has confirmed that Cass is in good health. In this document, we set out the key broad conclusions of the strategy, take account of the very good feedback we have received, and crystallise the priorities for the School. We also lay out seven projects that will help us further define and implement our broader strategic goals. Our Purpose It is worth reflecting on our broad purpose. I think it can be summarised as: Conducting first-class research which together with excellent teaching develops successful business and finance leaders; both of which research and successful leaders have a positive impact on the world. At Cass, these activities are realised through three faculties finance, management and actuarial science; through five programmes Undergraduate, MSc, MBA, PhD and Cass Executive; and through a professional services organisation and environment at Bunhill Row and Northampton Square. In addition to our London campuses, we have an important presence in Dubai which we hope will develop into a hub in the Middle East, and from which we can learn much about developing overseas. We are part of City University and aim to fulfil City s broad strategy of being the University for Business and the Professions by being a world-class business school. Our Objectives The strategy review developed four key ambitions for Cass: 1. To be recognised as a top tier business school by striving to be one of the top five business schools in Europe. 2. To be unequivocally the best educator in the European market of younger business graduates many business schools focus exclusively on MBA and Executive Education. We have built an excellent reputation in the UG/MSc world we should celebrate this. 3. To be the leading Intellectual Resource for the City/Professional Services sector, and in other ways to build on our City location, finance and management strength. 4. To be financially self-sustaining breaking even, generating surplus funds for investment, and being financially self-sufficient. Our Source of Differentiation Cass is unusual in combining, through its faculty, strengths in both finance and management. In finance, it has strong positions in general finance, banking, investment management, financial markets, accounting, econometrics; and world-class positions in actuarial science and insurance, real estate finance, and shipping and trade. In management, it has strong positions in general leadership, marketing, organisational behaviour, corporate governance and operations 1
management; and a world-class position in strategy. As well as sustaining and developing these, we wish to be known as one of the leading experts on the management issues facing the financial and professional services sectors. Cass has also developed a leading centre of expertise for charity and voluntary sector management and leadership. We see this as complementary to our general management and finance skills, and an important part of our broader corporate social responsibility. Our location places us, as the only world-class business school, in the heart of the City of London. This gives us unrivalled access to businesses and firms based or headquartered in the City of London and London more generally. The broad business services sector generates over 20% of the UK s GDP and proximity to the City brings to Cass and its students a wealth of businessmen and women and professionals with a huge practical knowledge and experience. We have a highly international faculty from over 36 countries, and students and alumni who come from over 100 countries. We now have 26,000 alumni, with a strong overseas representation, and active alumni groups in the US (New York), China (Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai), India (Mumbai, New Delhi), Malaysia (Singapore, Kula Lumpur), Greece, Turkey, Italy (Milan), Germany (Frankfurt) and Russia (Moscow) and which gives us tremendous international reach. The UK has a very open policy to welcoming overseas talent, genuinely encouraging the free movement of capital and ownership, and international trade. London is at the heart of this. We wish to develop our strengths in finance and management. We also wish to acknowledge our unique position in the City and the contribution we can make to business, finance and government. Our Strategic Priorities The School has undergone a major refresh of its strategy. This has involved detailed analysis and discussion with the faculties, programmes, academic staff, professional staff, the University, alumni and members of our former Advisory Board. Coming out of our strategy exercise are the following strategic priorities: 1. Programmes 2. Executive Education 3. Faculty/Teaching/Research 4. A Professional Service Organisation 5. Cross-selling and Impact 6. Money 1. Programmes We have concluded that there is real strength in being a full-spectrum provider. Our three main programmes UG, MSc, MBA give the School financial strength, a distinctive position in educating business students in the 18-25 age bracket, a critical flagship programme and some opportunity for cross-selling. In particular, we are well positioned to benefit from the trends towards more vocational degrees and towards a desire to gain technical/functional expertise before embarking on a business or finance career, often turbo-charging a general first degree. 2
Our three main programmes contributed 74% of our total revenue in 2006/07, with the MSc contributing 48%. The focus in our UG Programme is on improving quality of students and provision, and increasing the appeal of the programme in the UK. The financial engine of Cass is our MSc Programme, founded on research strengths, particularly in finance. And our flagship programme is the MBA, with an emphasis on quality in our full-time programme and growth and quality in our Executive MBA, where we derive particular strength from our City of London location. In order to keep our Programmes relevant and leading edge, we are carrying out two reviews: Review 1 Andrew Clare and Susan Roth are conducting a refresh of the Finance cluster of degrees and a review of the MSc in Energy, Trade and Finance. In addition they are looking at ways to bolster the success of our MSc programme more generally, including part-time degrees, new strategic electives, and enhanced marketing to meet evolving market trends and student needs. They will also be looking at the organisation of this group of degrees to ensure we preserve the broad range while exploiting core provision. The aim of this review is to keep the MSc programme unequivocally at the forefront of such programmes, in a climate of increasing competition. Review 2 Stefan Szymanski is leading a review of the Full-Time MBA to sharpen its appeal and assess the appetite for extra depth in certain areas, e.g. finance, entrepreneurship, professional services management. He will also be looking at further integration of our Dubai EMBA with our general EMBA programme and, in due course, at the possibility of new overseas partnerships in order to create a Fusion Executive MBA. 2. Executive Education A strong executive education business is central to our knowledge transfer objectives, to connecting Cass to the world of business and finance. It involves our academic staff in the issues of the moment and is also important to generating revenue growth, thereby winning Cass greater financial freedom. While the industry may undergo a setback in the current economic climate, nevertheless its longer-term prospects look good, specifically in the financial and professional service area. Review 3 Much good work has been done on the strategy for CassExec. When we have identified a new CEO for CassExec to replace Scott Moeller, we will ask that individual to develop a plan for the continued growth of the business. 3. Faculty/Teaching/Research Our faculty are at the heart of what we do: creating high quality research which has general impact and feeds our many degree programmes; and teaching which shapes and influences the business and finance leaders we aspire to create. We have recently made excellent appointments which have either strengthened existing subject areas or taken Cass into new areas. We have a number of strategic appointments to make in finance and entrepreneurship. We are a research-based school and we understand the importance of research standing to the recruitment of both staff and students. An important part of our research activity is the PhD Programme, which we are seeking to strengthen through more scholarships. 3
However, in a world of scarce resources, it is necessary to keep the alignment of research to the School s strategy and positioning under review and recent moves to combine resources in certain research areas, e.g. banking, are welcome. With the number of degree programmes Cass has, it is also a teaching intensive institution and we will continue to look at ways to promote excellence in teaching, the best use of technological advances, and a sensible balance of teaching and research. We will also continue to focus on providing our students with a high quality learning experience. Review 4 Shelagh Heffernan is already leading work on teaching and learning with a view to improving the quality of our teaching and learning provision and our general teaching capability Review 5 Richard Verrall is leading a review of the ways in which we can support, encourage and reward high quality research within Cass; how we can develop more research income; and the role in carrying out research and disseminating our key findings that should be played by our research centres. 4. A Professional Services Organisation Cass has grown rapidly over the last five years and its service provision has also improved significantly over this period. This is a testament to the Professional Services ethos that we have created during this time. The School has developed much needed new areas of service provision from scratch, e.g. postgraduate career development, alumni relations and development; and has developed leading-edge activities in other areas, e.g. course offices, marketing, information services, and HR (where we have just been re-accredited by Investors in People one of the few business schools to achieve this distinction). We must not waiver in our determination to be a well-run Professional Services organisation. Moving to Bunhill Row in 2002 has had an enormous catalytic effect on the organisation. However, Bunhill Row is now full and we face severe restrictions on our capacity to expand. Separately, our UG facilities in Northampton Square represent a constant challenge, as does how we give our Undergraduates a greater exposure to Bunhill Row. Review 6 Dave Dobson is taking a fresh look at the options for more space and, if it is possible, more efficient use of our premises. He is also collating all the separate demands for more space from better provision for our MBA students to more general communal space, more academic space, more space for our professional staff, and so on. 5. Cross-selling and Impact One of our core objectives at Cass is to be a leading intellectual resource. This is about the broader impact we create through our research, conferences, public lectures, executive education, policy engagement and general commentary. We have the intellectual resources and general capacity significantly to raise our impact and reputation with business, finance and government. Separately, because we are a full service provider, we have a lot of opportunity to seek synergies for instance, between programmes, between Executive Education and our Executive MBA, through developing our corporate partnership programme, our careers service, etc. 4
Review 7 Gemma Lines and Paola Barbarino will lead a review of cross-selling and synergy exploiting opportunities within Cass and how best to develop these within our organisational structure. They will also look at ways to enhance our international effectiveness and general impact. 6. Money A business school must be capable of generating a surplus and sufficient cash to cover its investment needs. The majority of our income comes from the fees from our programmes, including Executive Education. A small contribution comes from research; as yet, we have very little endowment income. The University, following the appointment of a COO, is going to look again at the resource allocation model, which allocates generally resources between the Schools and the Centre, and sets the context for the financial operation of Cass. At the same time, we are developing plans for further investment at Cass. Once we have a clear idea of how the new University resource model will operate, we will have a better sense of the scale of investment and speed at which we can undertake that investment, including in any new accommodation. We will also then have an idea of the scale of funds we may need to attract through philanthropic giving and what the priorities are for that. Finally, as has been the case, we will continue to focus on the most effective ways of achieving our broad purpose. Implementation This document outlines our objectives and our strategic priorities. We have created the series of review groups as a means of taking our key priorities forward. Each of these will report to the Executive Group of Cass. We will develop clear milestones to operationalise these priorities and to keep track of progress. The Review Groups will also report regularly to the Management Committee, the Board of Studies and to the School. Richard Gillingwater May 2008 5