Managing for the Future in Higher Education: A Case Study on “Lean” Implementation within a UK Business School

Harry Barton, Baback Yazdani
(Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, UK)

Abstract: In an increasingly global and competitive market place, Higher Education (HE) institutions across the globe are becoming more “managerial” with an emphasis being placed on value for money and the improvement of student (customer) satisfaction. In the United Kingdom (UK) this is due to changes in government policy with reference to funding mechanisms across the sector which has seen a reduction in financial support to UK higher education institutions. As a result of such changes students now assume responsibility for meeting a significant part of the fees associated with the courses that they are undertaking. As a result an increasingly “market focused” and customer driven level of educational provision is being demanded by the key stakeholders namely government, employers and potential students. This has encouraged a more dynamic approach to the management of education within many institutions with new approaches to the delivery of education and management of staff being explored. Given such a context this paper investigates the implementation of a “lean thinking” approach to managing a UK Business School. This strategic development is intended to improve the overall performance of the organisation against an agreed set of metrics. Such metrics are intended to drive forward the School’s ability to achieve one or more global accreditations which are increasingly being used as global benchmarks within an increasingly competitive market for both national and international students and research funding. The overall lean operating system covers all the fundamental elements of a system encompassing: structure, management and leadership, processes, tools and technologies, and above all seeks to engage staff.

Key words: higher education; lean; management

JEL code: I23