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The ECOP of THE NORTH

Open University Business School

Manchester

17th October 2006

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What’s this all about?

• Introduction and setting the scene – the ECOP model, Business Excellence in OUBS (John Swanwick)

• Just what is Supported Open Learning? (Lin Smith) • What we’ve learnt about BE in OUBS (John Swanwick –

again)• The Bolton Experience (Tim Oppenshaw)• Learning points• Now what for NECOP?• Liberal supplies of food and refreshment, argument and

debate included throughout!

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Where are we? Something about your hosts

• OU and OUBS

• Manchester and ‘Hubs’ – student services

• ‘The centre’ – home of Darth Vader, and other PVCs

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Why are we here?

• The current situation with ECOP and the original ethos behind it

• The thought that we can share, but more locally – the idea of a northern ECOP because many of us are here already

• OUBS (and Bolton) volunteers as having something to share, in the spirit of ECOP

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So what are the aims of today?

• Understand something of how OU(BS) works – not a conventional Uni model either organisationally or pedagogically

• Understand what OU(BS) decided to do with BE and what happened. A Bolton perspective. Learning shared

• What do we think about ECOP’s future and, within that, the idea of a north ECOP?

• Share adventures and scurrilous gossip among friends…..

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So, how does OU(BS) work?

• John Swanwick – in overview and organisationally

• Lin Smith – pedagogically, Supported Open Learning

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In Overview (1)

• The OU has a central campus of academics writing course materials and delivery, publishing course materials etc, as well as admin units and the commanding officers’ mess…

• It has 13 regions providing student support, local presence etc but for OUBS, only 2 main Hubs for support – Manchester and Oxford. ‘Associate Hubs’ also exist

• These Hubs are partly OUBS staff and partly OU (mainly student services) looking after students in UK, Continental Europe and world Wide

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In Overview (2)

• Students study courses that mostly start twice a year. They study on-line and by distance learning (see SOL) in groups looked after by Associate Lecturers, usually practitioners, who also run infrequent face to face sessions…..

• ….problems of geography and complexity in organisation structure! Mass production model dating from c.1970. Loyalty, fatigue, rigidity

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Overview (3)

• Yup! We also have facilities management, HR, Finance and such stuff…

• …. But we don’t have students and campuses

• We do have loads of Regional Offices carrying out broadly similar processes….

• …..in different ways

• Now let’s take a look at SOL….

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Business Excellence and OU(BS)The issues

• Organisational structure complex and hierarchical, tasks carried out in multiple ways

• Strong sense of commitment and involvement - but more in the deeply human concept of learning for all, less in the idea of control and coordination to maximise the effective delivery of this mission

• Strong pedagogy, course materials etc but diffused by variability in the student experience

• Enter John Sw et al bearing new ideas from afar….

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We need BE (EFQM FCs and Model) because…..

• It would build a climate of involvement in a a more joined up, holistically managed organisation

• It is consistent with what we teach (maybe?) so has academic legitimacy

• Everybody can do something

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But…..

• Multiple units in silos run by a procedures bound, risk averse management system

• Do we really understand all this Model stuff?

• What will it cost – time and money?

• We have time slots when we can’t do this - TSA

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What we did

• Joined EFQM, Dean signs up to 8 FCs

• Engage Student Services (SS) through 2 champions

• Run 4 3 day EFQM assessors course, modified to OUBS needs and for OUBS and SS staff

• Prioritise areas where we could start work - strands

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The Strands

• The Business Planning process and MSS• Communication• Seeking and sharing good practice through

EFQM education and participation• The Model Hub – the idea that we create a

specification of an ideal way of working in a hub through the engagement of its occupants. The specification is the EM decoded into a series of prompt questions in ‘office speak’ and scored by simple RADAR

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Enablers criteria

Qus for key enabler statements – – are we doing this/does this happen?– are we regularly checking and assessing our

approach?– Identify any strengths and areas for improvement

1. Leadership 2. Planning3. People 4. Partnerships and resources (Information and

knowledge mgt)5. Processes (Enquiries/res/reg, TSA, Student Support,

Exams, Disabilities/Additional Requirements, AL recruitment/mgt/dev)

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Learning points

• Data exists, but is hard to isolate – focus on what is representative and obtainable

• Clear message to invest effort to define appropriate performance measures for key results which can be easily measured

• OU culture as important as process

• Keep the momentum going – it’s an ongoing process

• Longer term – need to move toward local self assessment

• Share best practice – can make +ve quick gains

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Learning…..

• Things have been slow (zzzzzz)

• Senior commitment, and co-ordinated across silos

• Effort and pace in the face of conflicting priorities – fading memories

• To use EFQM terminology or not?

• All, fairly well known problems but…..

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Interesting additional points

• Teaching BE is a whole lot different to doing it – not just neglect and interest, but antipathy. One doesn’t feed the other

• Uni’s leaders are disempowered themselves, so maybe the only way into this is by command of the VC?

• The desire to be right first time or say nothing (as opposed to an iterative process of learn and correct)

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What do you think?

• General discussion

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The ECOP of the North

• Does this idea work and how could it work better?

• If so, should we do it again and are there any volunteers?

• Frequency, topics etc if we do…..

• Any thoughts on our relationships to the rest of UK and wider?

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The ECOP of THE NORTH

Open University Business School

Manchester

17th October 2006