Qualifiers for a Post Graduate Professional University - Essay Example

Case Study The Key candidates for order winner and qualifiers for a Post Graduate professional University is being considered. There are several considerations for distinguishing between the key candidates or order winners and qualifiers as against the failures. The following traits are common in the order winners and qualifiers: 1. They have published some academic works in ordered journals. In other words, to qualify for being an order winner and qualifier it is necessary to have published work to one’s credit. Although it could be said that due to the long gap, or lead time between the review of the work and the published work coming into press, yet, a confirmed winner is one who could come out with published works against his name, winning against time and other uncertainties. 2. Even if the person is unlucky enough not to have his work published, even then, if it possible that his doctoral thesis is under approval, or being considered for approval, is also signs of a winner and qualifier. The fact that the person has been able to put forth efforts towards receiving a doctoral degree and it is under active consideration is also manifestation of order winners and qualifiers. 3. The choice of an advisor is also a significant matter since the influence of the advisor would be felt in the academic activity of the research scholar if not overtly than covertly. For this reason, it is necessary that the advisor need to be a person of sound knowledge in his field, a person who could be depended upon to give excellent guidance and knowledge and who would be useful in carrying out the advisory aspects regarding the studies. It is seen that in our University, the advisor is a person who could be relied upon to give sound and judicious advice and help the students in whichever way it is possible. The relationship which student bear towards the advisor is also important, since an excellent personal rapport would ensure good professional relationships also. Therefore it is necessary that the students should cultivate good professional and personal relationships with the advisor who could guide them in their academic pursuits. Thus the professional standing of the advisor would be helpful to the students in their academic activities It is seen that the order winners and qualifiers are the ones who have been blessed with good advisors and this is a significant aspect in being a winner (Boyer, 1997). 4. The Teaching faculty is also important in that the quality of training and imparting of knowledge has a definite bearing on the students. It is necessary that in a class there should be systems by which the teacher has the complete responsibility for the designing of the course and its teaching to the students. By this it is ensured that one person is totally accountable for the entire teaching and this could lead to order winner and qualifier basis. The fact that one has an excellent faculty who would be able to guide and assist the students would definitely lead to order winner and qualifier situation 5. Nowadays being a visiting professor or faculty is also considered a order winner and qualifier basis. This is because for many disciplines it is possible that the University would not be in position to have full time faculty due to several constraints, and the University would definitely look forward to getting visiting or Part-time faculty for their various courses. This enhances the value of the visiting professors and contributes to order winner and qualifier status. Moreover, the reputation of the University is also enhanced by the presence of the visiting professors since they are respected specialists with wide knowledge and teaching acumen in their field of study and teaching. This would contribute towards order winner and qualifier candidate for such visiting faculty. 6. The other factor what would contribute towards winner and qualifier would be in terms of the teaching abilities of the faculty and their ability to interact with the student community and the authorities. It is seen that such interaction would be beneficial both to the teachers and the taught. 7. The present job market is very tight and the ratio of demand and supply is tilting heavily towards the supply overwhelming the demand for jobs in the country. Under such circumstances, it is seen that it is necessary to develop strong and viable options by which the student community could benefit from University experiences. Since University studies are oriented towards professional and academic attainments, it is necessary that the students should be able to imbibe the full benefits of university exposure in order to become winner and qualifier. It is necessary that the student community gear themselves up for educational endowments through the right attitude, hard work and dedication that would render them winner and qualifier. The ways by which the organisation may deliver on the order winner and qualifier would be in terms of the following: Understanding the needs of the market and responding quickly to it. In the case of the University offering professional course to students, it would be in terms of knowing what the courses in demand are at present, and how students could be attracted to take up the courses with the University. It needs to know the special characteristics that it possesses over the other competitors in the market. This could be in terms of better faculty, lower costs, higher quality of teaching and also, significantly, the fact that students who pass out from this university have better and faster options of getting employment opportunities In other words, the KSF, or key selling factors would be in terms of: Cost of the courses offered in comparison with other in the vicinity or town. If the costs are lower, this could be a order winner and the ability to teach well would be a qualifier. Thus it is seen that if more and more students join the courses being offered, this would result in lowered costs in the long run, due to the economies of scale. Higher costs being charged by the University would have to be justified with better training and teaching infra-structures which may, or may not become order winner and qualifier Quality is also a key factor in that it justifies pricing and service provision. Quality could be said to be a KSF for an enterprise when compared to the other courses available alongside, which do not meet standards of the students. Thus since the quality being offered is reasonable, it needs to be said that it could be a order winner. Service provision: Both in the case of manufacturing and trade the aspect of service is important from point of view of the provider. In the case of University studies, the service provision would be in terms of offering the best relevant education possible at the most competitive prices affordable. The service provisions needs to address to the problems faced by the students and how best it could be alleviated through proper courses and teaching. It also needs to consider completion of the courses before the examinations and offering individualized attention as much as is possible The degree of operational flexibility is also an important determinant of winner in the context of operation management. Flexibility allows the org. to move swiftly from one aspect to another, and in the context of University studies would entail making necessary genuine concessions for the students as may be necessary to be done from time to time. However, this need not encroach upon the disciplinary aspects of the Institution and should be well within the realms of equity and justice. Operational flexibility needs to enhance the overall worth of the institution and not undermine it through lowering of standards. In the long run operational flexibility would offer winner and make qualifiers for the institution. Tradeoffs: It is seen that most organisations compete on one strong point, which could be in terms of strong service delivery system, lower price etc. A high quality jewellery merchant cannot reduce his prices because of the high overheads which his trade demands, including advertising and sale promotion. But the service aspect may not be strong in the case of this jewellery merchant. But, say for instance, an automobile service shop maybe able to reduce prices by adjusting his profit margins, but he may need to stock a large inventory to satisfy the needs of various customers. In this case, the service aspect assumes predominance over the selling aspects. (Operations Strategy, 2006). Coming to the second part of the question, it is seen that the potential implications of delivering improved levels of order winner/qualifier on the SCM, could be seen in the following manner: There are certain qualifiers that vie for gaining the approval of the buyers. This could be in terms of level of service, quality, benefits of buying, trade offs and after sales servicing and the goodwill enjoyed by the company in the marketplace. The order winner would be in terms of the factors that make up the final decision that could be he price or cost to the buyer. It is probable that in case of helicopter which the Company wished to purchase, the qualifier would be the safety and accessibility aspects, since the risks of helicopter travel are high. The cost aspect would be secondary, and the winner would be the seller which could offer the safest helicopters available. Thus if the manufacturers are able to ensure the following parameters, the SCM would be definitely improve. In terms of quality aspects, the quality and nature of the goods being sold, in this case the quality of training being provided to the students. “The firm may derive advantages from superior ability to transform material or information (technology or operations), to quickly master new technologies and bring processes online (technology or organizational capability), or to quickly design and introduce new products, service a broad range of products, customize products or services on demand, or provide short lead times (skills).“ (Operations Strategy Forum: 2006: Key Success Factors). In the event of the improvement in the supply chain management by way of better brand positioning, improved and scientific production techniques, making optimum use of human capital and the practice of sound personnel management principles, with enhanced use of all inputs, it is possible to derive improvement in SCM. This is reflected in better profits and lowered costs, good quality improvement of product or service and increased ROI. The return on equity is an important indicator of the firms economic stability and its profit earning capacity. One of the major benefits in the event of better order winner/qualifier, the overall capacity utilization, use of resources and human capital would be enhanced and this would result in a healthy balance sheet for the firm. One of the most significant aspects of any business is the return to shareholders, and this is amply evidenced in the case of large profit making corporations which are consistently offering uninterrupted dividends to shareholders. Dividend payments to shareholders signify the relationships that have been established between the Company’s top management and the shareholders and can be considered as the pillar of order winning while presence of profits could be the qualifier. The other qualifiers would be in terms of whether adequate reserves are present in the P&L Account that could offer dividends and the board of directors has consented to the release of dividends, instead of providing these funds for reserves that could increase the market value of shares of the Company. It is seen that one of the implications of the improvement would be in terms of certification from international bodies like ISO 9000 which could be achieved if the companies perform well in all areas of documentation. It is seen that although ISO 9000m certification is a must in Europe for product acceptance, it is not so in the case of Canada. There are many companies in Canada who operate without ISO certification. Therefore it could be said that for Europe, this certification is a order qualifier, which must be met, whereas in the case of Canada it is only an order winner. (Operations Strategy: Defining how firms compete. P 42). In other words, an order qualifier needs to be met for getting business but order winners would be a bonus and selling point. However, with more and more companies streamlining their production, it is seen that there are a lot of cross-over from winner to qualifiers since many companies are meeting the standards for buyers and marketers. Besides the implication of international recognition through certification, and the ability of products and services to be traded globally, it is seen that this could lead to entry into world markets and enhanced operations. Through it there would be larger volumes of exports and international trade, which would bring better business prospects for the Company. In the context of globalization it is seen that enhanced order winner and qualifier would lead to increased profitability and greater turnover. It is seen that very few companies have a strong selling point or characteristic individually, since over a period of time, this may be considerably eroded due to actions of competitiveness etc., and newer firms entering the markets without superior technological skills and advancement. Therefore order winners over a period of time would become order qualifiers, that is the minimum standards or requirements needed for the successful marketing of their products or services. Therefore, it is seen that in the changing technological scenario, with more and more competition in almost all spheres of commercial transactions, it becomes necessary for firms to reinforce or introduce innovations in their order winners, or bring in more order winners, in order to sustain, develop or promote its marketing activities. In the era of monopolistic competition or oligopolistic competition, it is seen that the Company could have order winners, but with the advent of global markets, with goods and services vying in the international market place, it has become necessary that niche traits be developed, which would be difficult or even impossible for others to copy or imitate. For instance, Xerox Canada was first only a copier machine. When competition grew, at the expense of Xerox, it decided to move from providing only “hardware to offering solutions that can improve the customer’s processing of information.” (Operation Strategy: Defining how firms Compete: P 45). The concept of operation strategy of which order qualifiers and winners form an integral part, needs to play a more significant role in determining the long term benefits that these strategies could contribute to the growth and development of the firm. By developing a solid operational strategy through the use of the principles of operations management, it is believed that the company could seek out newer and more efficient methods of doing business, adding to shareholder value and payment. It is necessary that the Management should understands the roles played by the order qualifiers and winners concept, since it is of great importance for managerial decision making and profit charting for the future years. In the years to come, the trend of business is more towards globalization and in this ever-changing environment, it is necessary that Companies keep themselves abreast of the latest technologies in their specialized field of activities and contribute towards the ultimate of enhancement of shareholder value, or the corpus of the company through judicious use of technology and human capital . It is seen that the changing trends of international marketing has made marketing a strongly charged and dynamic force, with inherent risks, challenges and benefits. It is necessary that Companies be able to seize the opportunities made available to them and Initiate strategies that could guide the company’s future. The Operation Strategy of the Company needs to be synced along with the other functional strategies and also dovetailed with the overall business strategy of the Company. The integration of goods and services in the changed environment is necessary in order to bring about upward movements in selling and profit graphs and also offer benefits to the workforce in terms of enhancement of emoluments and benefits. The operation strategy needs to consider the significant role played by the Company‘s workforce towards share value maximization and optimum profitability. Finally, it needs to be reiterated that in the overall structure of the Company, the aspects of operational strategy should be embedded as a long term growth plan that could seek to offer the benefits of high quality goods and services at the most economical rates for the buyers and also, seek continuously to introduce and implement progressive techniques for the overall growth and development of the Company and its workforce. Works Cited Boyer, Ken. Choosing an advisor. Doctoral Issues. Career Advancement strategy in a buyer’s market. Decision Sciences Institute. 1997. 2 Feb. 2008. . Operations Strategy. Thomson Gale. 2006. 2 Feb. 2008. . Operations Strategy: Defining how firms compete. Order-qualifiers and order-winners. P 42. 2 Feb. 2008. . Read More