Strategy

UBT Strategy

The UBT Strategy 2020 centers around the following strategic goals:

UBT stakeholders range from public to private organisations, students to alumni and staff members.  The institutional context where UBT operates is characterized by an evolving regulatory framework on higher education, dualisation of education system into both public and private and high demand for higher education programmes and certification.

The development and review of Strategy in the UBT takes into account the educational philosophy of the UBT, national educational policies and the social economic environment within which graduates will work. The Strategy provides a base for a broad and all round steps in education which integrates academic excellence, humanistic education and entrepreneurial education.  Analysis of the surrounding educational environment is a key feature of Strategy development. Before a Strategy is designed the needs of the learners and society are ascertained. Educational market analysis provides information on the skills needed by the industry trends and employability. The process of strategy review is an important element in the UBT strategic plan since it provides important inputs to accommodate new ideas and knowledge. Such changes are triggered by innovative practices in learning and teaching as well as advancements in a particular subject of discipline.

Stakeholder feedback is critical to keep UBT policy, strategy, services, products and projects aligned with stakeholder present and future needs.  Key instruments for stakeholder feedback are:  stakeholder survey, market watch, representation of stakeholders in UBT bodies and staff participation in stakeholder events. The stakeholder survey is an instrument designed to inform UBT about stakeholder future needs and stakeholder satisfaction.  The questionnaire for stakeholder survey is led by senior management and is carried out once in three years.  The results of the survey are used to inform the strategy.  The primary expression of stakeholder input is in the UBT business plan and products that result from this consultative process.  Market watch activities comprise of careful reading of national specialized and general press, stakeholder reports and conclusions from participation in stakeholder events.  Market watch activities contribute to our general understanding of market evolution which we feed into business plan development. Additionally, it allows UBT to capture political, economic and technological trends and provide emerging solutions

During 2016, a large effort was made to mapping and documenting the processes and reaching a conclusion about the framework for implementing the strategy.  This process was based on the strategy review of 2015 Additional internal strategy reviews take place during annual UBT Board Meetings and bi-annual staff meetings. These instruments provide an opportunity for the organisation to review and explain key initiatives.  In addition, there are annual days-away involving senior management, business area managers and managers of support services to review progress on the strrategy implementation. The implementation of strategy, review and communication also happens by middle-level managers in their business areas.   Mid-level managers organise their days-away witth their staff members to explain and review the actions that contribute to the strategy implementation.

Internal communication of the strategy is primarily done through the UBT business plan which is available and transparent in the internal homepage.  Managers and staff are expected to read, understand and communicate it to their staff members.  Additional internal communication of strategy and policy takes place at bi-annual all-staff meetings. All-staff meetings serve as a platform for the President and mid-level managers to report, discuss and solicit feedback into ways the strategy can be improved and implemented.  Since 2010, UBT has launched the initiative to link individual objectives identified in the Performance Appraisal Process with UBT strategy as part of the efforts to better inform staff of their individual stake and contribution to the strategy.

Our strategy is communicated externally through various communication vehicles.  UBT external homepage is an important public communication vehicle to provide information about the strategy and progress. Additionally.  UBT publishes its monthly magazine UBT News to keep stakeholders informed about UBT plans, activities and achievements.  UBT senior management also uses public forums and events to present UBT strategic orientation.  UBT President regularly is invited as a key speaker by stakeholder associations, participates in high level bodies. Additionally, senior management is often invited by local media to speak about education challenges and plans that UBT has to address national education priorities.

UBT internal balanced scorecard is the main tool and repository for all project related information.  It generates numerous reports on daily basis which are used to track staff allocation and budget usage.  These reports are others are used in the annual strategy review process to allow UBT Board and President to review progress and reallocate resources to emerging strategy needs.  Projects are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure continued alignment with strategy and to ensure conformity to quality standards.  UBT senior management and project support office meet regularly to review the state of the balanced scorecard and track progress in project implementation in various business areas.  The system allows senior management to assign roles and receive alerts about the progress made during different phases of project implementation.  The system responsibilities include determining the owner of the associated process, yearly target proposals, monitor and regularly report on progress towards the announced target and issue alert if process in inadequate and propose corrective actions.