Introduction

M College is tertiary education and training institute established by the Chairmen of M Group, Hon. to provide educational opportunities to the citizens of Maldives at their convenience. With the aim, M College began its historic journey on the 28th of January 2007, with the registration of its first institute.M College of Water Sports followed by the M Institute of Information and Technology and M Institute of Hospitality and Tourism Studies (VIHTS). By the consistent endeavors of the chairman and the countless efforts of the enthusiastic and committed group of staff, on the 17th of October 2007 M College was registered and established as the first private college of Maldives by the Department of Higher Education.[1]

Vision & Strategy

Vision

  • To be a leading higher education provider in the Maldives, highly valued locally and recognized internationally.

Mission

  • The mission of M College is to sustain, advance and disseminate knowledge and understanding by proving internationally recognized quality education at an affordable price through teaching, research, consultancy and training which develop intellectual capacity and values vital for the development of the Maldivian community.
  • We aim to be a leading center of excellence in sustaining, advancing and disseminating knowledge and understanding.
  • We aim to teach a range of disciplines which provide knowledge, skills, competencies, attitudes and values necessary for students to lead a fulfilling life.

Values

  • We are driven by the needs of the society
  • We affirm quality as our principal priority
  • We strive to empower people to be creative and innovative
  • We include moral and Islamic values
  • We maintain fairness and integrity in all undertakings.
  • We are committed to provide equal opportunities
  • We endeavor to create love for life-long learning
  • We promote a culture of respect and harmony
  • We are determined to develop a society with responsible citizens.[2]

Task 01

Flow chart of M College

 

Figure : Organizational Hierarchy

Founder

Hon. Mr.

Academic Senate

University Council

Vice Chancellor

Convocation

Deputy Vice chancellor

Information & Innovation

Deputy Vice Chancellor

Academic Affairs

Deputy Vice Chancellor

Administration & Finance

Information Technology Department

Planning, development & Innovation Department

Student Support Department

Human Resource department

Financial Administration

Campus Administration

Enterprise and Business Development Department

Faculties and Centers

Faculty of Information and Communication Technology (FICT)

Faculty of Business Management (FBM)

Faculty of Educational Studies (FES)

Faculty of Marine Studies & Water Sports (FMSWS)

Faculty of Sharia Law and Islamic Studies (FSIS)

Faculty of Hospitality Management & Tourism Studies (FHMTS)

Centre for Academic Excellence

Centre for English Language Support (CELS)

Centre for Professional Studies (CPS)

According to the above hierarchy M College follows a functional organizational structure where all the decisions are taken by the top management. Moreover, the specialized departments within the organization reports to the top management if any issues to be discussed and decisions to be taken.

M College is committed to exhibit best practices due to concluding its operations accordance with the values identified by the academic board with the guidance of the founder. The goals and objectives of the organization are set by the top management and circulated based on the approach and tactics practiced by each management level in the hierarchy. These goals and objectives of the organizations are achieved by the effective contributions of three levels of employees which are strategic, tactical and operational.[3]

The decision making process in the organization

Figure : Levels of Management

M College has long been an independent institution with the strength of making major decisions developed among the founder and the university council. The decision making and planning has enabled M College to be proactive in building its destiny while involving all the stakeholders. The involvement of stakeholders has brought a unique prospective to the process. Their participation ensure commitment to mutual goals and sense of organizational unity based on the majority of stakeholders, the strategic management will decide on implementing a decision and carrying it forward successfully using its mechanisms.

Recent decisions taken by the organization

Long Term Planning

Short Term Planning

Prompt Execution

Strategic Level

Tactical Level

Operational Level

Figure : Decision making procedure

Strategic level Management

The strategic level management are the highest level executives in senior management of the organization or most influential governing bodies of the organizational hierarchy that do long term planning’s. These decisions are basically future oriented in the form of vision, mission, goal & objectives that would be heading towards the organizational growth.

Having facilitated the achievements of tertiary education to and unlimited number of students for several years, it is the vision of the M College to broaden the educational opportunities available for students. Therefore, the strategic level management take decisions to maximize access and educational opportunity to both Maldivian and international students through innovative, flexible and high quality local and foreign education.

Tactical level Management

The tactical level management will use various strategies and tactics in order to manage and control the organizational resources towards achieving the vision, mission, goals and objectives set by the strategic level management.

In order to support the decision taken by the strategic level management, the tactical level management of M College will systematically review and update educations and training programs to ensure the effectiveness of the organizations to meet the needs of student industry, the professions and national accreditation so that outcomes are progressively improved. The tactical level management review regularly faculty or centers curricular modes of deliver and guide the associate lecturers on how to make developments in program design, teaching methods and assessments where appropriate to deliver excellence in education. Moreover, they attracts and retain students by establishing a research environment that is stimulating and provides professional supports as well as state of the art infrastructure and equipment’s.

Operational level Management

Having a minimum level of influence and impact towards the decision making process of the organization. Furthermore, operational level management plays a major role in the organizational to maintain and promote efficiency of the college.

The operational level has to contribute utmost to the organizational to broaden educational opportunities available for students through innovative, flexible and high quality education. Therefore, the operational level management provide quality student support and a contemporary and attractive learning environment, high quality professional development skills, upgrade all the lecturers at least to the graduate level, ensure if the resources of the organizations are effectively utilized to support strategic objectives and provide and training opportunities to administrative staffs in order to assist them in their professional development and to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness.

Information and knowledge required to make decisions and sources

Once the data is converted it becomes information, these can be arranged in a way that people can understand and use. Information and data is very important for a business when making effective decisions. Information can either be obtained internally or externally, collected information is a substantial amount of information and knowledge relating to the organization, whereas external information is obtained from outside the business. Knowledge is the ideas or understanding in which an entity possesses that is used to take effective actions to achieve the goals and objectives. This knowledge is specific to the entity which created it. Knowledge can be of two types that are explicit and implicit in which the organization can use to make decisions.

Strategic level

  • Cost for the course: cost is a major component which determines the probability for the students to turn towards a course. Therefore, the decision to maximize access for more students in the university is often influenced by the cost incurred for the course. The management needs to consider on the cost in comparison to its competitors in the market. Information of the competitors can be obtained through external parties and internet.
  • Financial feasibility: the ability for M to invest on infrastructure, improvements in quality of education and new innovations will be influenced by the company’s financial strength. In order to measure its financial position the company can use some internal sources such as financial information on profits, costs, margins, cash flows and investments etc.

The knowledge used will be more of explicit knowledge at this level as the ideas and views shared are verbalized knowledge and this knowledge is more of formal and standardized.

Tactical level

  • Information needs to be obtained on students and lectures requirements so that it enables to review and update on education and training programs which can be obtained through company research where the management can use questionnaires to get the feedback. Further industry requirements can be identified through external sources such as statically information, university research reports, journals and articles.
  • Information on student progress is required in order to identify the student progress, this will help the tactical manager to design on training programs and other relevant activates, this information can be obtained internally from student progress reports and result sheets.

The knowledge required is tactical as it simply discusses on the decisions made by the top management and it’s just an implementation that has to be done by the tactical level managers, therefore the best possible decisions comes out through experience.

Operational level

  • Operational staff would often require information on lecturer and student performance and satisfaction which can be obtained internally from university research reports.
  • Details on resource allocation within the university will be considered by the operational level where the information is obtained from human resource department which is an internal source of information.

The knowledge they mostly would use is the tactical knowledge this is because employees at this level has no authority to make their own decisions and needs to do what is said by the tactical level managers.

Even though different levels of management of M university uses various information and knowledge in decision making, further improvements can be done to make the most suitable and accurate decision. Improvements can be done in various ways,

  • Rather keeping the knowledge within the strategic level management it can be transferred to both tactical and operational level so that both tactical and operational staff can contribute with their suggestion, which will overall improve their efficiency and motivation levels, thus contributing in making effective decisions.
  • Another possible way that M can use to improve its flow of information at each level of the hierarchy is by reducing its levels; this will ensure message passes to every level much quickly, easily and accurately allowing connectivity to build up at each level of the hierarchy.
  • Villa can also use new technology in order to create new knowledge or information by research.
  • Villa can further use new technology to make the most accurate decision. In order to do this Villa can use the MIS system which helps to convert data into information and communicates that information in an appropriate form to managers at all levels, thus helps the managers plan and direct organizational operations. Further decision support systems (DSS), executive information system (EIS) can be helpful to make decisions more effectively.

Existing methods of collecting and storing information and knowledge

The M College is mainly using computerized system to store the information, even though they use manual system to some extent. The university uses specific software to store the students’ information which is called as MIS (Management Information Systems).

The main responsibility of the IT department is to collect the information and maintain student records. Moreover, these are followed with the advanced software which enables to protect the students’ right and personal records and directories by allowing access to authorized users only. To assess and evaluate the decisions M College uses both internal and external modes of collecting information to understand the stakeholders.

Internal

Collection of information begins with the admission form which provide all the basic information about the candidate. Furthermore, when the candidate is accommodated to the college the information regarding the performance of the student is processed manually and fed to a database which later can be referred for the cumulative GPA report produced by the university.

Information about the staff at M College is gathered through resumes and attendance records till the resignation of the staff.

External

Information is gathered vastly today by the internet and there are two major ways of collecting information such as discussions and form fillings. Discussions are held in senate meetings or any other relevant committees such appeal committee or HRMDC (Human Resource Management and Development Center).

Students’ feedback forms are produced to students to evaluate the lecturers and supervisors, after evaluation, the data is fed to a database which can be referred at any time.

Existing processes and technologies

The main objective of communication is to convey the information more effectively to the receiver. The ideas and the concerns of the will be developed as a message and then it will be transmitted through communication media and finally the receiver gets the message sent by the sender. Developing a message is known as encoding in the process of communication and extracting the message in communication process is known as decoding.

Figure : basic communication process

To achieve success in the organization in a highly competitive industry depends on the communication between the employees and the management. The organizational structure adopted by M College can create impact in the communication within the organization. If the organization has a complex organizational structure the employees are in confusion as whom to report.

Communication Matrix

ParticipantsDirectionContentsMedium used
Human resource manager – Deputy vice chancellorTwo wayStaff details, employee policies and remuneration details.Emails and letters.
Finance manager – Deputy vice chancellorTwo wayFinancial statements and other accounts and receipts spent.Printed statements and letters.
General manager – EmployeesOne wayOrders and employee’s roles and responsibilities.Verbal and letters.

Communication matrix shows the process how the individual communicate with other individuals in the organization, and it also shows the content of the communication.

The direction has been stated whether it’s two way communication or one ways communication. In the table above the first set of participants are the human resource manager and the deputy vice chancellor who is the head for finance and administrative department whereas the other set of participants are the finance manager and also the again the deputy vice chancellor and the last set of participants are the general manager and the employees.

The first set of participants in the communication matrix are human resource manager and the deputy vice chancellor where it is a two way communication which enables the both parties to communicate with each other without restricting to one way communication. Though the deputy vice chancellor holds the top position in the hierarchy of the organization still the human resource manager have the ability to share his views and thoughts and also the necessary detail in human resource department but the deputy vice chancellor has more power to make decisions in the organization than the human resource manager. The first two participants will communicate about the human resource policies, the remuneration details for employees where they communicate through email or letters.

In the seconds set of participants they also have two way communications like the first set of participants but the content they communicate and the medium they used to communicate are different from the first set of participants. The finance manager sends the prepared financial information to the chancellor in the printed statements and also he also sends the official letters regarding financial issues.

The last sets of participants are the general manager and the employees who are completely different from the two participants discussed earlier. When the general manager communicates with employees it is a one way direction where the employees have no authority to share their ideas and opinions with the general manager. The main reason why this communication take place is when the manager gives the order to the employees about the task that must be completed and also the manager also communicate to state the roles and responsibilities in the organization.

Communication weaknesses

Most of the employee’s spend more time on their technical proficiency than they do on their communication skills. Due to this reason, they are communicational weakness in this organizations which should be corrected under a proper development plan.

Communication weaknesses

  • Poor body language
  • Speaking in a high pitched voice
  • Bad grammar or sloppy spelling
  • Poor verbal communication
  • Excess and indefinite information.

Poor body language

Poor body language commonly seeing from the receptionist. Body language is very important to greets and deal with the new and existing students.

Speaking in a high pitched voice

The employees should speak softly and calmly with in the organizations. For example, if security guards speaks in a high pitched voice when they receive direction from their supervisors, it shows that they do not agree with what he said and inform of the anger and frustration.

Bad grammar or sloppy spelling

Include written communication skills in employee training programs. The company can provide free business writing courses to employees which will be held in the night from 8 pm to 10 pm or on weekends to make it easier for employees to attend. Moreover, before taking signature from faculty dean or managers on letters, memo or a report, it is very important to show it to other staff for corrections.

Poor verbal communication

Recruit right person for the job having good speaking skills such as fluent in talking both Dhivehi and English language. Moreover, can include verbal communication skills in performance appraisal.

Excess and indefinite information

During the time of starting January and September intake in every year, the employees receive a high level of communication over a short period of time and may become overloaded and forget or face difficulties to process of some information.

Task 1.2

Stakeholders are individuals, groups or organizations who have interest in business activities and can affect or be effected by the performance of the organization. The diagram below shows a number of stakeholder groups of M College. Some stakeholders are clearly a part of the organization whereas others are outsiders. These stakeholders will be affected by the decisions taken by the organization either positively or negatively.

Figure Stakeholders of M College

Interest and influences

  • Top management of the organizations which includes the Founder, will want to increase current and future performance of the organization. Therefore, they manage activities, allocate resources and develop strategies for the future growth by looking at past performance and current position of the organization.
  • Employees which includes the lecturers, working staff will want to ensure if the organization is able to provide safe working environment, wages, salary and other benefits such as life insurance, pension scheme and free scholarship. The primary concern of employees are to protecting their job. Therefore, the permanent employees will be having high interest towards the profitability of the organization while temporary employees will have little interest.
  • Managers want to maximize the profitability of the organization. This involves boosting the performance of their department as they can get a reward scheme for excellence performance. In time of trouble, they will be more concerned to ensure their own job security.
  • Students are the most important stakeholder group of the organization. They want to ensure continued existence of the organization and will be effected by the cost of courses, quality of student support and learning environment. Without them the organization will no longer run.
  • Parents will make sure whether the organization is providing good research and learning environment, professional supports, equipment’s as well as quality infrastructure for their children.
  • Government and their agencies also ensure the continued existence of the organization because lots of student’s higher education depends on the organization. For the well-being of the nation, the government and their agencies helps the organization financially and non-financially, inspect, regulate and fine for illegal and unethical operations.
  • General public will be concerned with recent development of the organization, range of its activities and the efficiency of the organization making positive contribution to the economy by offering more courses to the students that will help them to build and secure their career and creating new jobs

The below diagram is drawn based on the interest and influence of each stakeholder has on the organization.

Figure Stakeholder Analysis

Manage Closely

  • Permanent employee
  • Students
  • Competitors

Keep informed

  • General public
  • media

Monitor

(Minimum effort)

  • Temporary employees

Keep Satisfied

  • Government agencies

High influence/ power

Low influence/ power

High interest

Low interest

Advantages of maintaining network with stakeholders.

Maintaining network with the stakeholders will help to achieve the common goals and objectives of the organization and taking the organization to a next level. The university develop, enhance and sustain mutually supportive relationships with all stakeholders as follows:

  • Organized Alumni organization to enhance engagement with the community.
  • Motivate students to participate in national quiz and debates.
  • Provide career guidance

Satisfying the stakeholders with the above said reasons and more, the organization carries a strong and healthy bond between the organization and at state levels. By motivating the students of M College the students will be enthusiastic in participating in various types of educational events and bring pride to its college on every moment. As a result of these reasons and techniques the profitability and performance of the company would increase rapidly compared to the other competing universities in the country.

Strategies to improve business networks of the organization.

Business networking is the process to achieve the vision of the organization which is to broaden the educational opportunities available to an uncountable number of students from Maldives and internationally by establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with all the stakeholders of the organization such as business organization and students. Therefore, M College should develop strategies to improve business network of the organization that will increase performance, operate more efficiently and bringing in higher profits.

There are many strategies that can be implemented by the organization some of them are as follows:

  • Conducting meetings at the beginning of the academic year.
  • Maximizing educational opportunities across the country and its neighboring countries.
  • Creating ease of access as developing a Student Information System (SIS) for the students to access and assess the timetables, exam schedules, course commencing dates and times etc.
  • Providing internship programs with reputed multi-national companies and government bodies to ensure that the student gets practical education apart from the studies.
  • Provide training & development opportunities, workshops public forums for the administrative staffs to assist them in their professional development.
  • Reduce communicational weaknesses of the organization and to improve efficiency.

Conclusion

Based on the above discussion of managing communication knowledge and information it is important to record the data received by individuals and parties which should be stored in for future reference with confidentiality. The feedbacks which are collected by the students should be analyzed and take necessary steps in order to improve the characteristics of the lecturers to ensure quality education is being delivered by any individual lecturer at M College.

Stakeholders are parties who should be satisfied at all times in order to gain profitable gains to the organization at all times. Permanent employees, students and competitors should always be managed closely due to a minor change in there side would cause and impact to the organization respectively. Furthermore, government sector should always kept satisfied, if the government sector is neglected the government would take legal actions against the organization. Moreover, the general public and media should be kept informed to make awareness about any change or new market models.

To improve the networks between stakeholders it is necessary to communicate in an effective manner which will carry the information without any losses of data or signals. As discussed above to improve business strategies it is important to have interviews and public lectures to ensure the message is conveyed at many number of students and staffs at M College.

References