managing the change of marketing information systems in higher education institutions

International Conference “Marketing – from information to decision” 1st Edition - 08

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Managing the Change of Marketing Information Systems in Higher Education

Institutions

Marius D. Pop Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj Napoca, Faculty of Economics and Business

Administration [email protected]

Ovidiu I. Moisescu

Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj Napoca, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

[email protected]

Mihai F. Băcilă Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj Napoca, Faculty of Economics and Business

Administration [email protected]

Alexandra M. Ţîrca

Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj Napoca, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

[email protected]

ABSTRACT. Nowadays higher education institutions environment is characterized by downsizes in public funding, increasing competition and greater expectation from students as they are seeking value for money paid. More and more universities try to enter world wide official rankings, thus external quality audits becoming more necessary than ever. Higher education is also expected to play a central role in social and economic transformation, even as a source of export income. To remain viable, universities must be able to respond promptly and wisely to this combination of change forces, through a consistent thinking and action towards change, both radical and gradual. This paper tries to conceptually approach the key issues regarding change management in higher education institutions and implementing changes in their marketing information systems, with focus on a case study of a higher education institution (Babeş Bolyai University’s Faculty of Economics and Business Administration) in order to identify the need for change from the point of view of students and teaching staff, as well as to predict the potential resistance sources in the case of needed changes be put into practice.


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1. Managing organizational change: theoretical background Private and public organizations are facing a future of constant change due to change drivers such as globalization, economic orientation and information technology (Rantz, 2002). Organizations of all types need to change because of several reasons basically related to organization–environment relationship, to organizational life cycle, and, respectively, to the political nature of organizations (Kanter, Stein and Jick, 1993). The change motivations related to organization–environment relationship are concerned with mergers, alliances, divestitures, as organizations attempt to redefine their relationships with challenging social and political environments. The organizational life cycle related reasons imply changes in culture and structure in order for organizations to adapt as they evolve from birth through growth and toward maturity. Finally, the political nature of organizations involves changes in internal control structures, including benefits and reward systems, attempting to deal with shifting political currents. Change can be targeted towards a wide variety of organizational components such as organizational mission, objectives and strategy, organizational structure, individual and group job designs, recruiting and training techniques, organizational culture and technology (Schermerhorn, Hunt and Osborn, 2002). These targets are strongly inter-related and changes in any one are likely to require or involve changes in others. For example, a change in job designs (what people do), generates a change in technology (the way they do it), furthermore involving changes in organizational structures (Nadler, 1987). 1.1 Types of change 1.1.1 Radical versus incremental change There are several types of change that organizations can adopt in order to achieve a desired status, but all types of change fall into two general categories, differently named in the specialized literature, but basically having the same meaning: radical and incremental (Schermerhorn, Hunt and Osborn, 2002), frame-breaking and frame-bending (Tichy, 1991), or revolutionary and evolutionary (Miller, 1982). Radical change (frame-breaking or revolutionary) affects the core of the organization or its component systems in a major way. Such radical changes are usually generated by critical events, such as a new management team, a new ownership, or a performance failure of the organization. Revolutionary change is intense, dramatic, rapid, ample, broadly focused and it affects the organization at all levels: organization, groups and individuals. Radical change usually takes three forms: reengineering, restructuring and innovation (George and Jones, 2005). Reengineering implies a fundamental redesign of processes in order to achieve major improvements in costs, quality, service and speed and requires reanalyzing and


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redesigning each step of each work instruction and procedure. Usually, reengineering involves more complex activities for each individual and creating cross-functional teams. Reengineering is naturally followed by a T.Q.M. based incremental change in the organization. A particular form of reengineering is e- reengineering, which implies organizations attempts to use new information systems in all aspects of its activity, and it creates a better linkage between people and tasks, improving performance. Restructuring means simplifying the organizational structure, eliminating departments or levels in the hierarchy and downsizing employees to lower costs. It also involves sub-contracting several functional activities with other companies. Downsizing and outsourcing, as the fundamentals of restructuring, may be necessary due to technological shifts, recessions and demand decrease, or due to uncontrolled bureaucratic growth of the organization. Innovation, as a radical change, may be sometimes necessary because the technology used by an organization at a certain point may become obsolete. Innovation means using skills and resources to create new technologies or new products and services, in order to better respond to its customers’ needs. Although innovation can result in spectacular success, it is also associated with high risks, as the outcomes of research and development activities are often uncertain. It may be said that innovation is the most difficult to manage radical change form. Incremental change (frame-bending or evolutionary) attempts to improve, adapt and adjust the organization gradually in order to permit accommodation at all levels. This type of change is natural, frequent and less traumatic. Such changes may be generated by the introduction of new products or services introduction, new technologies, new systems, new processes etc. The nature of the organization and the existing ways of operating basically remain the same but are enhanced or extended in new directions. The capability of improving continuously through incremental change is an important asset in nowadays dynamic environment. Evolutionary changes are usually narrowly focused, affecting certain activities and departments of the organization, at certain levels, during certain periods of time. It is nor drastic, nor intense, but it usually has a continuous nature. Incremental change usually takes two forms: socio-technical change and total quality management induced changes (George and Jones, 2005). Socio-technical change involves using technology in a better way. In order to operate new technologies efficiently, tasks, roles, and relationships among members of the organization must be changed, but this change must be done gradually by adjusting the technical and social system so that group norms and cohesiveness are not affected, and group-level resistance to change be avoided. Total quality management implies a radical change in the way organizations manage their activities. Once T.Q.M. is adopted, it generally leads to continuous, incremental change, and all departments are expected to cooperate with each other to improve quality. Implementing T.Q.M. usually gets a lot of resistance from members of the organizations, as it affects relationships between groups and individuals. Most failures


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in T.Q.M. related incremental changes are due to the fact that the necessary degree of commitment from all members of the organization is underestimated. 1.1.2 Top-down versus bottom-up change (French and Bell, 1990) Top-down changes are implemented by managers at a high level in the organization. It is the case of radical restructuring and reengineering, when top managers decide to make a change and that change expands rapidly and intensively at all levels in the organization. Bottom-up changes are implemented by employees at low levels in the organization and gradually rise until it is felt throughout the whole organization. It is a slower and a less intensive change process. In general, bottom-up changes are easier to implement that top-down ones as they provoke less resistance. Usually, well-run organizations have time for bottom-up changes, pay attention to change, are used to change and change often, in order to grow and develop, while poor-run organizations change rarely and radically, usually when it is or it almost is too late, using top-down restructuring or reengineering, most often in order to survive. 1.1.3 Planned versus unplanned change Unplanned changes occur spontaneously or randomly. They may be disruptive (for example, a strike ending with activities reduction or closure) or beneficial (for example, an interpersonal conflict that results in a new procedure designed to improve the relationship between two departments). When the signals of unplanned change appear, the key is to act rapidly in order to minimize any negative consequences and maximize any possible benefits. When specific efforts are made in order to successfully implement and manage the change process, it is being said that the change is planned. Planned change is a direct reaction to a discrepancy between the desired and actual state of organizational performance. Performance gaps may be seen as both problems to be resolved and opportunities to be exploited. Most planned changes may be regarded as efforts intended to deal with performance gaps in ways that benefit an organization and its members. Planned change involves constant vigilance to identify performance gaps, both as problems and as opportunities, and to act in order to solve or exploit them. 1.2 The change process Usually the change process begins with a diagnosis of the organization. It is essential for problems to be recognized and the need for change to be acknowledged. Usually, this occurs when a gap is intuitively identified between desired and actual


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performance. It is important not only to acknowledge problems but also to analyze why they are occurring. As it involves distinguishing between symptoms and causes, diagnosing the organization is a complex process. It is necessary to collect and analyze data both from the inside, from all levels of the organization, and from outside (customers, suppliers etc.), using research instruments like questionnaires surveys, focus groups, interviews etc. When managers fail to monitor environments, recognize trends, or sense the need for change, their organizations may lose their competitiveness. Although the signals that change may be needed are available, they aren’t noticed or given any special attention - until it is too late. After diagnosis, the next natural step of a change process consists in establishing a desired future state, in exact measurable terms, accompanied with specific deadlines. This step also involves developing measures and criteria for eventually assessing the success of the whole process. Once the desired future state is established, after analyzing various alternatives, a specific course of action must be chosen. This is involves a difficult planning process and a decision regarding the type of change (radical vs. incremental, top-down vs. bottom-up) and a main direction such as: cost reduction, quality enhancement, organizational structure improvement etc. The next step in the change process is establishing the responsible for implementing and controlling the change process – the change agent. Change agents are individuals or groups who take responsibility for changing the existing behavior patterns of another person or social system. Although change agents can be hired as consultants from outside the organization (external change agents), managers at all levels are expected to act as a change agent (internal change agents). This capacity and responsibility is essential to the leadership role of any manager (Conger, Lawler III and Spreitzer, 1999). External change agents are usually preferred because of their objectiveness and because of the perceived involvement and bias toward certain groups of the internal change agents. Once the course of action and the change agents established, implementation is the next step to be taken of the change process. Implementation must be viewed as a process with three distinct phases: unfreezing, changing, and refreezing (Lewin, 1952). Unfreezing means preparing a situation for change and involves managerial responsibility. Existing attitudes and behaviors must be altered in order to create a need for something new. Both declining performance and awareness that there is a “better way” facilitate unfreezing. If this implementation phase is not properly done, there is a risk for many important changes not to be even taken into consideration. The “unfreezing” step is described by some specialists as the boiled frog phenomenon (Tichy and Devanna, 1986). This refers to the situation in which a frog will immediately jump out when placed in hot water, while when placed in cold water that is then heated slowly, the frog will stay in the water until the water boils the frog to death. Many change agents bypass the unfreezing stage and start changing things


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prematurely or too quickly. Although their intentions may be correct, they lead to failure, as the situation has not been properly prepared for change. Refreezing is designed to maintain the positive attitude towards change and eventually make it a part of the normal routine. Refreezing assures the benefits of long-lasting change, reinforces desired outcomes and provides extra support when difficulties are encountered. It implies evaluating progress and results, and assessing the costs and benefits of the change. Finally, it allows for modifications to be made in the change to increase its success over time. When refreezing is neglected, changes are often abandoned after a short time or incompletely implemented.

People are aware of the change

People understand the change

Change is implemented

People have a positive perception

Change is institutionalized

People adopt the change

People are disposed

toward change

People are informed of the change

People internalize change

People become committed to

the change

Figure 1. Phases in change implementation Source: Adapted from Rutgers University Center for Organizational Development and

Leadership, Strategic Planning in Higher Education: A Guide for Leaders, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 2008

Finally, though it may seem included in the refreezing process, evaluation and control is an individual step in the change process and it should be continuous, starting along with the unfreezing phase. It uses the measures and criteria established at the beginning of the process and it is especially difficult as the effects of a change process


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emerge slowly, the whole change process being completed in several years. The evaluation and control step sh

Diagnose the organization

Establish a desired future

state

Specify course of action and

type of change

Establish the change agent

Implement Refreeze Change Unfreeze

Evaluate and control

Figure 2. The steps of a planned change process

1.3 Change strategies Change agents use various strategies for mobilizing power, exerting influence over others, and getting people to support planned change efforts (Schermerhorn, Hunt and Osborn, 2002): - Force coercion strategy uses formal authority and rewards or punishments as

primary inducements to change. The change agent acts unilaterally through a legitimate formal authority, offering special rewards or threatening with punishment. People’s compliance is usually temporary and continues only as long as the legitimate formal authority and rewards/threats remain obvious.

- Rational persuasion strategy uses rational arguments provided through special knowledge (expert testimonies) or empirical support (demonstrations) in order to induce change. It assumes that rational people will be guided by reason in deciding whether or not to support a change. Rational arguments are mobilized to convince others that the change will leave them better off than before. This strategy results in a longer lasting, more internalized change than force–coercion does.

- Shared power strategy actively involves the people who will be affected by a change in planning and making key decisions relating to this change. This strategy tries to develop directions and support for change through involvement and empowerment. It builds essential foundations, such as personal values, group norms, and shared goals, so that support for a proposed change emerges naturally. Given this high level of involvement, the strategy is likely to result in a longer lasting and internalized change.


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• Force coercion • Rational

persuasion • Shared power

• Temporary compliance

• Long lasting and

internalized change

• Long lasting and

internalized change

• Legitimacy and rewards/punishments

• Rational arguments -

special knowledge (expert testimonies) or empirical support (demonstrations)

• Involvement,

empowerment, personal values, group norms and shared goals

Figure 3. Change strategies 1.4 Resistance to change Resistance to change can be defined as an attitude or behavior that indicates unwillingness to make or support a desired change. Resistance to change can also be considered as a feedback that the change agent can use to facilitate gaining change objectives. 1.4.1 Sources of resistance to change Resistance to change may be directed to the change itself, to the change strategy or to the change agent (Rogers, 1993). People may reject the change itself because they believe it is not worth their time, effort, or attention. To minimize resistance in such cases, the change agent should make sure that the change has a clear relative advantage for the people being asked to change, is compatible with the existing values and experiences of the people being asked to change, is as easy as possible for people to understand and use and can be tried on a step by step basis and adjusted as things progress. Even if these conditions are met, individuals vary greatly in their willingness to accept change, very few of them being quickly and positively responsive to change (the “innovators” - 2.5% and “early adopters” - 13.5%). Most of them need time to adapt and accept change (early majority - 34%, and late majority - 34%), while a significant part resist adopting and accepting the change for as long as possible (about 16%). Considering the change strategy, individuals could resent the use of threatened punishment in the case of a force coercion strategy, could perceive the expertise as unclear in the case of a rational persuasion strategy, or may resist a shared power strategy that appears manipulative and insincere.


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Resistance to the change agent is directed at the person implementing the change and often involves personality differences. Isolated, selfish or emotional change agents are especially exposed to such problems. Change agents who differ from other persons in the change situation on such dimensions as age, education, and socioeconomic factors may also encounter greater resistance to change. Resistance to change may occur due to impediments at several levels: organization-level, group-level and individual level (Greiner, 1972). The most powerful organization-level impediments are power and conflict (change usually benefits some people or departments, at the expense of others), differences in departments’ orientation (different departments see the source of a problem differently as a result of their own viewpoints), mechanistic structures (a hierarchic, rules and procedures based organization is very likely to resist change) and culture (if change disrupts values and norms and forces people to change what they do and how they do it, resistance is likely to appear). At group-level, the most important impediments consist in group norms (often change alters tasks and relationships among groups, disrupting group informal norms that governs interaction between groups), cohesiveness (the higher the group cohesiveness, the more probable is the resistance to occur) and groupthink (the pattern of faulty decision making that occurs in cohesive groups when members ignore negative information and bad results in order to agree and feel comfortable). Finally, at individual level, people have many reasons to resist change such as: fear of the unknown, lack of good information, fear for loss of security, unperceived need to change, fear for loss of power, lack of resources, bad timing and habit (Schermerhorn, Hunt and Osborn, 2002). For example, one may resist the introduction of advanced computers because has never used the operating system, thinks that the new computer will be used as justification for personnel reduction, believes has been doing just fine and doesn’t need the new computer to improve etc. Another important impediment at individual level can be the selective perception of information, individuals selectively perceiving only that information which is consistent to existent views and opinions about the organization. Thus, a change, especially if it disrupts existent views, is likely to be resisted. Another approach regarding specific factors that contribute to change resistance could be specifically identified within: self interest (the way in which people see the change as harmful in one way or another), psychological impact (the perceived impact of the change on job security, professional expertise and social status in the organization), tyranny of custom (the tendency to be caught up in the web of tradition), the redistributive factor (people resist change because through the redistribution of tasks and responsibilities they will stand to lose some or all of their privileges), the destabilization effect (the introduction of new people into the organization who are not familiar with its culture and operations may create destabilization), culture incompatibility, and the political effect (the power relationships in the organization and the degree to which they are threatened) (Trader-Leigh, 2002).


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Figure 4. Sources of resistance to change

Organization-level impediments: - power and conflict - different department orientations - mechanistic structures - culture.

Group-level impediments: - group norms - cohesiveness - groupthink

Individual level impediments: - fear of the unknown - lack of good information - fear for loss of security - unperceived need to change - fear for loss of power - lack of resources - bad timing - habit - selective perception of information

Resistance to the change

itself


strategy


agent

1.4.1 Techniques for reducing resistance to change Dealing positively with resistance to change, in any of its forms, may include several techniques such as (Kotter and Schlesinger, 1979): - Education and communication. The objective is to educate people about a change

before it is implemented and to help them understand the logic of the change. This technique works best in the case of inaccurate or incomplete information among those who oppose resistance.

- Participation and involvement. This approach asks people to contribute ideas and advice or to work on task forces or committees that may be leading the change. This is especially useful when the change agent does not have all the information needed to successfully handle a problem situation.

- Facilitation and support. This technique involves providing emotional and material for people experiencing the hardships of change. The change agent listens to problems and complaints, provides training in the new ways, and helps others to overcome performance pressures. Facilitation and support is highly recommended when people are frustrated by constraints and difficulties encountered in the change process.


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- Negotiation and agreement. This approach involves offering incentives to actual or potential change resistors. Special benefits are provided in exchange for assurances that the change will not be blocked. It is most useful when dealing with a person or group that will lose something of value as a result of the planned change.

- Manipulation and cooptation. In this case, information is provided selectively and events are structured consciously so that the desired change to occur. In some cases, leaders of the resistance may be “bought off” with special deals to gain their support. Manipulation and cooptation are common when other tactics do not work or are too expensive.

- Explicit or implicit coercion employs the force of authority to get people to accept change. Often, resistors are threatened with a variety of undesirable consequences if they do not go along as planned. This technique is usually applied in crisis situations when implementation speed is essential.

Table 1. Techniques for reducing resistance to change

Technique Appropriate situation Advantages Disadvantages Education &

communication People lack

information or have inaccurate

information

Creates willingness to help with the change

Time consuming

Participation & involvement

Other people have important information and/or power to resist

Generates feed-back and builds

commitment to the change

Time consuming

Facilitation & support

Resistance traces to resource or

adjustment problems

Satisfies directly specific resource or adjustment needs

Time consuming and expensive

Negotiation &

agreement A person or group

will "lose" something because of the change

Avoids major resistance

Expensive and causes others to

seek similar "deals" Manipulation &

cooptation Other methods don't

work or are too expensive

Quick and inexpensive

Creates future problems if people sense manipulation

Explicit & implicit coercion

Speed important and change agent has

power

Quick and resistance overpowering

Risky if people get "mad"

Source: Schermerhorn Jr., John R., Hunt, James G., Osborn, Richard N., Organizational Behavior. Seventh Edition, John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey, 2002, p. 66

2. Managing change in higher education institutions 2.1 The need for change When it comes to higher education institutions, the main forces that drive change can be found in the rapid rise in competition, the significant decrease in university funding


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from government sources and greater government scrutiny, the growing consumer-rights and movement consumer expectations in higher education and, last but not least, the rapid spread of information and communications technology for university administration and teaching as a delivery mechanism for higher education services (Scott, 2003) Among the most influencing forces for change in higher education today is information technology and its rapid growth. IT has a strong impact on basic processes of teaching and learning that are fundamental to higher education (Pittinsky, 2003), but also a significant positive influence on administrative efficiency issues. Higher education leaders and change agents must understand that they must take full advantage of the emerging technological possibilities afforded by these advancements. Regarding higher education competition, nowadays’ students are exercising more discretion in selecting educational programs and, thus, there is increased competition for students among higher education institutions. The monopolies in higher education that universities once enjoyed in the Eastern European countries’ due to geographical location and territorial exclusivity in awarding degrees, are now being challenged due to technology advancements. Technology allows new competitors to bypass traditional barriers to entering the higher education marketplace (the large capital costs and accreditation). As a result, higher education is evolving from a federated system of universities serving traditional students from local communities to a global knowledge and learning industry driven by strong market forces. Specifically in Eastern European countries, one of the subjects of greatest concern is the impact that the move to “mass” higher education will have on the quality of teaching and the efficiency of administration. This growth in student numbers also caused concerns that a significant proportion will have greater difficulty in learning university level material, particularly when presented through traditional lecture-based teaching. This has reinforced a requirement to improve teaching, learning and administrative processes to address the needs of a larger and more diverse student population. All the above aspects imply changes in higher education institutions. As in any organization, higher education institutions achieve change in a top-down or bottom-up way. The top-down approach seeks to achieve change through the imposition of central university policies, using power-coercive strategies to effect change, while, on the other hand, the bottom-up approach involves organic change arising, for example, through academics working individually or in groups, to manage the university through rational discussion and democratic decision-making processes. Long term change in universities often begins with one approach and evolves into the other. 2.2 Types of change The structure of a higher education institution’s activities and roles can be summarized using three major components: firstly – governance, resourcing and


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communication, secondly – core activities of teaching & learning, research, community engagement and entrepreneurial activities, and thirdly – support and administrative activities for students and staff. In order to successfully manage change the three components must work in synergy.

Teaching & learning, research, community engagement and entrepreneurial activities

Support and administrative activities for students and staff

Governance, resourcing and communication

Figure 5. Sinergy in the structure of a university’s activities and roles Source (adapted): Scott, Geoff, Change Matters: Making a Difference in Higher

Education, European University Association’s Leadership Forum in Dublin, 2004 Each of the three major components must be continuously tracked and measured. For example, considering the core activities and roles, it is important to regularly conduct satisfaction surveys among beneficiaries, and to use specific measures for each sub-component, such as: retention and graduation rates, performance assessment, graduate employability and salaries, employer satisfaction with their graduates etc. (teaching & learning), doctoral completions, refereed publications per full time staff member, number and value of grants won to applications, research income etc. (research), the positive impact on the communities higher institutions serve and to their overall financial performance (community engagement). Changes in higher education institutions may involve each component of their structure: changes concerned with core activities (curriculum change, the use of new teaching and assessment methods, introducing new approaches to the use and support of IT-enabled learning, innovations in practice-oriented learning, new ways of formulating research partnerships etc.), changes of facilities or new approaches to staff development, and, finally, changes regarding the development of new administrative structures, new decision-making processes and changes in governance arrangements. It is important to notice that many change cases require simultaneous and aligned change in all the three major components.


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2.3 Key factors Change in higher education institutions has significant particularities in comparison to business organizations, due to several key factors. Leadership and governance structure of higher education substantially shape any change process. The governance structure of higher education resembles more like the governance and leadership of a democratic country than the governance and leadership of a typical business organization (Duderstadt and Womack, 2003). That is why creating and agreeing on change objectives is problematic for higher education providers, as planned change on any national scale in democratic countries has been proved inefficient, with only short-term effects and mostly lead by special interests. The dynamics of change in higher education are also strongly influenced by the diversity of internal and external constituencies. Internal constituencies of higher education institutions include students, faculty, staff, administrators and governing boards, while external stakeholders include parents, the public and their elected leaders in government, business, labour force, the press and other media, foundations, and other public and private institutions in the community. Diverse stakeholders and constituents are less likely to come to an easy agreement about objectives (Welsh and Metcalf, 2003). Another key factor influencing change success in higher education is the phenomenon of institutional sub-cultures, studies revealing that distinct sub-cultures are usually generated from the coupling of higher education institutional sub-units (Weick, 1976). Each step of the change process should be aligned with the culture in order to be successful, but it is extremely difficult to align a process with multiple cultures within one organization such as a higher education one. 2.4 Key points and pitfalls Managing change in higher education institutions implies taking into consideration several rules in order for the change to be successful (Scott, 2004). Not any relevant change idea that comes along must or may be put to practice, but, instead, priorities must be set. In order to set priorities, the potential impact of each change must be assessed, while ensuring that what is to be pursued is consistent with the university’s core values, mission and overall direction. The criteria to be used to determine the university’s improvement and innovation priorities need to be communicated to and accepted by (not imposed to) those who are to implement it. It is best to set just two or three overall key strategic directions for change, rather than dozens: “People will march for a phrase; they will not march for a paragraph and, even less, a page.” (Bain, 2003) The staff involved in the change must be motivated to put it into practice. Staff will not engage in a change effort and the learning that comes with it unless they perceive it relevant, clear and feasible. Motivation can be both extrinsic (financial crisis, threat of


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job loss, the prospect of a financial reward, praise from one’s boss, negative student feedback, pressure from colleagues) and intrinsic (seeing that what is proposed is consistent with one’s moral purpose, having a sense of personal ownership of and commitment to what is planned). Sometimes, workshops and presentations in order to generate motivation can be quite useful, but must be carefully planned as staff workshops or presentations led by outside experts unfamiliar with the daily realities of the university’s operating context have little effect (Fullan, 2001). Any change must be consistent with the higher education institution’s culture. Still, peer group and collegial networks in which university staff is engaged develop particular sub-cultures, which can help or inhibit change, influencing engagement in the learning necessary to put desired changes into practice, in the same way students peer groups’ sub-cultures influence their motivation to engage in learning. However, there are several characteristics that a supportive institutional culture should have: commitment to collective action; evidence-based decision-making; controlled, focused, targeted, and personal communication (multiple modes and multiple locations for messages); systematic approach to identify, reward and disseminate good practice; recognition and toleration of diversity; consultative and transparent decision making; existence of reciprocal informal networks (not individualized and isolated); willingness to face and address poor performance; acceptance of responsibility and accountability; staff pride to be a part of the institution; commitment to responsiveness and quality job with students and other beneficiaries; well perceived senior executives (skilled, supportive and able to take tough but correct decisions). There is also important to know that change in one activity of a higher education institution usually needs change in other activities, too. It is important to align changes in core activities (teaching, research, community engagement etc.) with developments in support, infrastructure, budgeting, administrative and communication activities. Thus, change becomes a team effort. Support and general staff must be brought together with academic staff into a team effort around key areas of activity and reform, with each member contributing their own specific area of expertise. The leader of the team must have expertise in the change area and the capability to optimise the contribution of each member. Benchmarking is also imperative when it comes to managing change in higher education institutions. Effective solutions to key change problems may exist in other similar institutions. Strategic networking with similar institutions is extremely important to the effectiveness of addressing agreed change priorities. Leadership plays an extremely important role in the success of any change process, as change does not just happen but must be led. High levels of knowledge and skill are necessary but not sufficient. Personal and social emotional intelligence is also needed, while understanding that listening must precede leading is essential. Some key characteristics of an effective change leader are: being able to remain calm under pressure or when things go wrong, having a sense of humour and being able to keep work in perspective, having a clear vision of where the educational institution must


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head, being able to deal effectively with conflict situations, wanting to achieve the best outcome possible, the ability to empathise and work with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, being able to make a hard decision, being able to set and justify priorities, willingness to listen to different points of view before coming to a decision, willingness to face and learn from errors and listen to feedback, being able to identify from a mass of information the core issue etc. Dealing with change in higher education institutions also involves several pitfalls or myths which leaders must be aware of and avoid: the consensual myth (“We’ve all agreed that this is a good idea so that’s what we’re going to do!”), the change event myth (“The hard work’s done, we’ve got the plan, now all you have got to do is implement it.”), the silver bullet myth (“Just follow this method to successful change and all will be well.”), the brute logic myth (“I’ve told them three times and they still can’t see that this change will make things better.”), the linear myth (“It’s easy: we’ll get the plan approved, get the infrastructure in place, run a staff workshop on it and it’ll be working by next semester.”), the knight on the white charger myth (“Now that we’ve got a better Dean this institution will start working!”), the either or myth (“There’s nothing I can do—I’m a victim of forces beyond my control.”). 3. Implementing computer assisted marketing information systems in higher education institutions A marketing information system (MIS) in a higher education institution includes all formal and informal, manual and computer assisted, written and verbal activities to obtain, store, process and distribute data. A computer assisted MIS is based on one or more computers, consisting of a data bank, and one ore more computer applications which together enable the computer-supported storage, manipulation, and distribution of data to support the higher education institution’s activities and its management decisions. The activities of teachers, clerical employees and students result in a data bank filled up to date data on the higher education institution and its environment. This data bank enables the production of valuable information for institution managers (trends, forecasts etc.), as well as information to be used by teachers, students or clerical staff (in registering, processing and outputting student, finance, personnel and other data for routine work). 3.1 Computer assisted MIS frameworks A computer assisted MIS for higher education institutions can be seen as formed by two major subsystems – administrative and managerial (Visscher, 2001).


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Computer assisted marketing information system

Administrative subsystem Managerial subsystem

Enrollment and deletion administration Grouping students Personal data administration Absenteeism administration Guidance and counseling Test and exam scores administration

General administration

Financial administration

Resources administration

Personnel administration

Student administration

Capacity planning

Educational planning

Financial planning

Academic year evaluation

Figure 6. A computer assisted MIS framework

Source (adapted): Visscher, Adrie J., Computer-Assisted School Information Systems: The Concepts, Intended Benefits, and Stages of Development, Information Technology in

Educational Management, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands, 2001, p.6 The administrative subsystem supports various types of data handling activities on student, financial, personnel and other data. The student administration component is the heart of the administrative subsystem. The managerial subsystem contains information system modules intended to assist higher education institution managers. The capacity planning module assists the planning of: the number of lesson and task periods that will be allocated to teaching and non-teaching staff, the technical infrastructure (computers for students and staff, photocopiers and other machines) and the buildings. The results of the capacity planning module provide the starting point for the educational planning module (available lesson and task periods are allocated to individual teachers, and the student, rooms and teacher timetables are constructed). The financial-economical planning component is about drawing up budget estimates, trends, and other financial parameters. The academic year evaluation module retrieves evaluative information for an entire academic year like: budget spent, personnel aspects (for example, illness of staff), results (both for students – grades, and for staff – research activity), resource utilization (for example, room-student ratio), student absenteeism, patterns in students’ choices pf subjects, trends in costs types (increasing, decreasing, constant). The computer assisted MIS described above can provide several data processing functions for higher education institutions’ staff: computer database update (entering


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data), information retrieval and document production, data communications (information exchange between management, staff members and students), decision making (for example, automatic admissions of candidates), decision making support (computing possible solutions for structured managerial problems or diagnosis for ill-structured managerial problems) etc. Considering the more complex situation of ill-structured managerial problems in higher education institutions, a computer assisted MISs could provide several useful outputs like: relationship between variables (for example, student absenteeism and student achievement), patterns (for example, trends in costs/incomes, or students’ or academics’ achievements), “what if” answers (for example, how many extra teachers are needed if student intake grows or decreases by a certain percent) and evaluative data (for example, to what degree the results improved after the change of teaching methods). A more concise framework of computer assisted MIS can be described as a range of major modules concerning (Wild and Walker, 2001): alerts (monitors data and reports when critical criteria have been met), analyst (analyses and presents results across a range of user predefined reviews and surveys), assessment (monitors and analyses students’ performance), attendance (records and monitors groups and individual attendance), curriculum planner (assists the planning of subject matters for courses), development planner (assists creation of individual projects and associated tasks, with details of targets and monitoring techniques), equipment register (assists the maintenance of equipment, stock checks, safety checks, acquisitions and disposals), financial management (general ledger, accounts payable and receivable etc.), budget planning, key stage diagnosis (produces reports on comparisons between institutions, teacher assessments against national benchmarks etc.), management information data access (personal data, curriculum vitae, contact data, financial data etc. of staff and students), examinations, timetabling, options (students’ subject options allocation), personnel (personal, professional and contractual information) and visitor log (prints personalized badges, records entries and departures etc. and it is used in the reception area of the institution). 3.2 Managing the change Although a computer assisted MIS in a higher education institution can bring several benefits to its users (better insight into how the institution functions, better evaluation of performance, better use of resources, better information for curriculum planning, better internal communication etc.), it is also a source of increased monotony of clerical work and a feeling of frustration from a part of the staff who is not familiar with technology or even “techno-phobic”. The implementation of a computerized MIS, like any innovation, can be both problematic (it challenges the staff to modify or abandon their tried and seemingly true ways of doing things) and complex (the change process occurred at different institutional levels and at different rates simultaneously) (Nolan et al., 1996).


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Basically, changing the MIS of a higher education institution to a computer assisted one is firstly a radical and top-down change, usually imposed by the a strong and visionary leader, and then it becomes an incremental and bottom-up change, as the process of implementation and the learning involved goes through several years, in which all staff gives feedback and generates several minor changes to the system. Once the need for a change is proved through organizational diagnosis, the course of action decided and the change agent established, implementing the change of the MIS (MIS) can be seen as an gradual process (Fung, 1995): - awareness – making the innovation known to potential users and transmitting

arguments in order to create a positive attitude; - attitude – the transition from a state of knowing an innovation exists to the state of

making a decision for adoption; - adoption of the idea – potential beneficiaries of the new MIS decide to search for

more knowledge and understanding about the change’s functionality and benefits; - adoption of the MIS on trial; - adoption of the MIS in practice; - adaptation of the MIS – the functionality and subsystems are modified and

tailored according to the institution’s needs and users’ feedback; - application of the MIS – users get more and more accustomed to using the

innovation; - institutionalization – users are expected to be able to master the skills required for

the MIS with confidence, gaining the full, intended benefits of the innovation.

Awareness Attitude Idea adoption

Trial adoption

Practice adoptionApplication Adaptation

Institutionalization

Figure 7. Implementing the change of a MIS Source: (adapted) Fung, A.C.W., Managing change in ITEM, Information Technology in

Educational Management, Chapman and Hall, London, 1995


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4. Case study: Managing change at Babeş-Bolyai University’s Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (Cluj-Napoca, Romania) 4.1 Research method In order to practically analyze the concept of change in higher education institutions we conducted a survey research among two of the main internal constituencies and beneficiaries of such an institution: students and teaching staff. The main purpose of the survey was to make a general diagnosis of the organization in order to identify the need for change from the point of view of students and teaching staff, as well as to predict the potential resistance sources in the case of needed changes be put into practice. We questioned a number of 534 students and 53 members of the teaching staff, using a stratified sampling technique, considering stratification criteria like year of study and specialization for the sample of students, and department and academic rank for sample of teaching staff. The institution from which students and teaching staff were sampled – Babeş-Bolyai University’s Faculty of Economics and Business Administration – represents the largest faculty of the university and can be considered a representative cluster for the university as a whole. The university also represents one of the largest higher education institutions in Romania, and, therefore, we could, in certain areas, extend the sample’s representatives to the entire Romanian higher education system. 4.2 Results and discussion Students were asked to rate a set of aspects related to their faculty experience on a scale from 1 (unsatisfied) to 5 (satisfied). The results are presented in Table 2. The research shows a very worrying fact: considering mean scores, with the exception of perceived relations with colleagues, which are considered almost satisfying, all the aspects have a mediocre mean score (bellow 4). Moreover, there are several aspects which are considered more unsatisfying than satisfying: secretarial staff behavior out-goings and trips with colleagues, study fee, secretariat access hours and stationery queue waiting time. The fact that the relation with colleagues is rather satisfying in comparison with the out-goings and trips with colleagues which is rather unsatisfying, can be due to at least two reasons: the large number of students (students don’t get to know each other well enough, although they get along well) and their evolution along academic years, which changes the composition of study groups in the second year of study from the total of three years. Anyway, the faculty should consider certain instruments in order to facilitate and even fund trips and maybe students’ associations in organizing social events and trips, in order for them to know each other better and to have more social interaction.


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Table 2. Average students’ satisfaction degree - scale from 1 (unsatisfied) to 5 (satisfied)

Mean Mean Relation with colleagues 4.1 Library staff behavior 3.5 Informatics laboratories endowment 3.9

Informatics laboratories access 3.4

Courses rooms endowment 3.9 Cafeteria staff behavior 3.4 Cafeteria placement 3.9 Group activities (projects) 3.4 Stationery products 3.9 Courses teaching methods 3.3 Courses and seminars ambience

3.8 Students / rooms (space, seats) ratio 3.3

Events organized inside the faculty 3.7

Evaluation methods 3.2

Relation with the teaching staff 3.6 Cafeteria products 3.2 Stationery copying (Xerox) services 3.6

Relation with the faculty board 3.1

Library schedule 3.6 Cafeteria serving time 3.1 Library capacity (number of seats) 3.6

Relation with the secretarial staff 3

Faculty’s website 3.6

Relation with the administrative staff 3

Courses timetable 3.5 Secretarial staff behavior 2.9 Cafeteria schedule

3.5 Out-goings and trips with colleagues 2.7

Stationery schedule 3.5 Study fee 2.5 Stationery staff behavior 3.5 Secretariat access hours 2.2 Library endowment 3.5 Stationery queue waiting time 2

An obvious problem definitely regards the secretariat. Neither staff behavior, nor access hours are satisfying. Actually, relations with the secretarial and administrative staff also have both mediocre mean scores. The main reason for this situation could be the lack of a computer assisted marketing information system. The need for change is clear and stringent. In the same time, incremental changes implemented throughout the last years proved that a strong resistance to change should be expected from secretarial and administrative staff. Considering stationery queue waiting time (as well as cafeteria waiting time which has a mediocre mean score), the change needed is increased capacity. Although the cafeteria is limited to a certain space allocated and can not be physically expanded, the stationery’s capacity could be increased. Teaching staff were asked to rate the importance and performance of a set of aspects related to the higher education institution’s activities, on a scale from 1 (not important at all, and, respectively, very low performance) to 5 (very important, and, respectively, very high performance). Selected results are presented in Table 3.


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Table 3. Teaching staff’s mean opinions - scale from 1 (“not at all”) to 4 (“very”) Importance Performance

Endowment of classes and laboratories 3.7 3.3 Diversity of bachelor degree programs 3.4 3.2 Faculty’s image 3.7 3.1 Public information about educational services 3.6 3 Encouragement of new students international exchanges 3.5 2.9 Diversity of master degree programs 3.5 2.9 Quality of teaching 3.8 2.9 Encouragement of students’ initiatives 3.5 2.8 Relationships with foreign universities 3.5 2.8 New teaching, learning, evaluation methods implementation

3.5 2.8

Encouragement of new professors - international exchanges

3.6 2.7

Partnerships with Commerce, Industry and Agriculture Chambers

3.3 2.7

Adaptation of curricula to enterprise needs 3.6 2.6 Endowment of library with literature 3.6 2.5 Partnerships with enterprises – Consulting &Marketing research

3.4 2.5

The integration of graduates in European marketplace 3.4 2.4 Partnerships with enterprises, in general 3.4 2.4 Partnerships with enterprises – Trainings 3.5 2.4 Setting up alumni organizations 3 2.3 The research shows a again very worrying facts: all the aspects are considered to be important to very important, but still, most of the aspects’ performance puts the faculty in negative perspective from the teaching staff’s perspective. All the aspects need certain improvement if it is to consider the staff’s opinion, with few positive exceptions like the diversity of bachelor degree programs, the endowment of classes and laboratories and the faculty’s image. Significant improvements are needed for example in the case of adaptation of curricula to enterprise needs and the integration of graduates in European marketplace. Furthermore, teaching staff suggested a possible solution for this problem which consists in changing the curricula (Table 4). As it can be seen, about 42% of the teaching staff considers a high or very high necessity that the curricula needs to change with.


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Table 4. The need to change curricula

Very low necessity 1.9%Low necessity 13.2%Average necessity 43.4%High necessity 26.4%Very high necessity 15.1%

Another area that needs improvement and change is the partnerships with companies, both in general and in particular, considering specific services to be offered to respective partners: trainings, consulting and marketing research. Relationships with foreign universities and especially encouraging new professors through international exchanges also seem to lack performance, although are considered pretty important. It is obvious that a new perspective on international relations must be approached. Although the endowment of classes and laboratories is considered of good performance, the endowment of library with literature lacks performance, thou considered important. Again, the management perspective needs to change from hard elements acquisition to soft elements procurement like, for example, literature access to international paper and articles data bases. Regarding setting up alumni organizations, it is worrying that even though seen as a low performance aspect, teaching staff does not perceive its importance as they should. Thus, it is also necessary to induce attitude changes towards the potential of such organizations, so that teaching staff perceive its possible benefits and support such organizations enhancements. During the research, we also tried to identify communication barriers within faculty departments, from the teaching staff’s perspective. Results are presented in Table 5. Table 5. Communication quality within faculty departments - scale from 1 (“very

low”) to 5 (“very high”)

Mean Collegiality 3.56 Transparency 3.47 Communication 3.34 Professionalism 3.81 Constructive spirit 3.42

Although there are no obvious signs to worry, none of the aspects scored high. If it is to consider the importance of a very good communication quality in this matter, we might say that communication within faculty departments needs improvement.


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The research also showed several aspects regarding the teaching staff’s attitude towards the potentiality of implementing modern marketing informational system instruments. Results are presented in Table 6. Table 6. Teaching staff’s attitude towards modern marketing information system

instruments

Preferred information receiving methods E-mail 60.4% Paper 15.1% Verbal 7.5% Direct online access 45.3%

Usefulness of a… Mean (from 1 very useful to 5 not useful) Department database 1.58 Faculty database 1.48

Usefulness of a … NR Yes No Discussion group 1.9% 75.5% 22.6% Computer assisted discussion 1.9% 50.9% 47.2% Electronically documents’ editing 3.8% 67.9% 28.3%

Teaching staff has a very positive attitude towards e-mails and direct online access, in comparison to traditional information receiving methods (verbal and paper) and mostly finds useful the use of department and faculty databases, as well as discussion groups and electronically documents’ editing instruments. All of these findings may suggest that in the case of a marketing informational system change, the resistance to change will be minimal. Moreover, some of them are not yet implemented in the institution’s information system, thus being obvious that such a change would be necessary and welcomed. Finally, using the teaching staff perspective, we tried to identify specific elements/modules that should be comprised in a computer based MIS to be implemented in the future. Responses about the needed information are presented in Table 7.


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Table 7. Teaching staff’s needed information (relative frequencies in %) Number of students per exam 83 Partnerships with other universities 73,6 Student name list 71,7 Didactic norms 69,8 Faculty’s events 67,9 Salaries 60,4 Schedule of educational activities 56,6 Existing IT&C infrastructure 56,6 Exams passing rates 54,7 Conditions for didactic activity interruption for research activities

54,7

Professors contact data 52,8 Training courses opportunities 49,1 Schedule of evaluation activities 43,4 Available rooms 37,7 Student contact data and grades 30,2 Schedule of professors 28,3 Holydays 22,6 Considering the information needed by more than 50% of the teaching staff, we could identify several areas that are totally missing from the current institution’s MIS, don’t have the necessary accuracy or are difficult to obtain/search. These information elements should be imperatively included in any future computer assisted MIS: number of students per exam, partnerships with other universities, student name list, didactic norms, salaries, existing IT&C infrastructure, exams passing rates and conditions for didactic activity interruption for research activities. References Bain, George (2003) Address on the Vice-Chancellor’s job to the Universities Personnel

Association Conference David A. Nadler (1987) The Effective Management of Organizational Change in Handbook of

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New Jersey Fullan, M (2001) The new meaning of educational change. Third Edition, Teachers College Press,

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Management, Chapman and Hall, London George, Jennifer M., Jones, Gareth R. (2005) Understanding and Managing Organizational

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managing the change of marketing information systems in higher education institutions

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