A STEEPLE Analysis of Newcastle College - Case Study Example

A STEEPLE analysis is business strategy that is used to analyze the social, technological, economic, political, legal and ethical environment in which an organization operates in. The reasons why an organization uses this analysis is that the organization is able to be in line with the changes that occur in the environment, it helps the organization in taking decisions that would help it in avoiding failure and also making the organization to adapt fast enough to changes taking place in the environment. Newcastle College. It is a higher learning institution located in Newcastle England with a student population of over 40,000 students and over 6000 students being full time students while the rest are part- time students. The students come from all over the world with over 40 different nationalities. It’s based next to the train station, metro station and the international airport thus making it easily accessible. The mission statement of the institution aims at meeting the educational needs of the students, providing quality education, value and appreciates the diversity of its community, provide modern resources. It also involves valuing their students and members of staff while securing a future for the institution through growth and development. They offer various courses in different professions such as film studies, business studies, accounting, information technology, economics, English and literature, government, history, journalism, politics and physics. Social Analysis. The college has an ultra modern lifestyle academy worth over 16 million pounds with a sports, tourism and beauty centre. It has an excellent restaurant facility, a gym and also a salon for students to relax and rejuvenate after a long and tiresome day. The salon is located at the top most floor of the building with excellent facilities for hair treatment, hair cuts and a nail bar and the services are available at affordable prices. They also have cardiovascular equipment, training machines, a fitness studio and they offer various classes in yoga, Pilates and different kinds of exercises to allow the students to keep fit. While at the Spa, students can enjoy Jaccuzi, relaxation beds, steam baths and a whirlpool .They also boast of the finest restaurant with great menus to enjoy. At the performance academy, they have a theatre that allows all the students to relax. It has a recording studio, a radio station, dancing studio, media production facilities, and performance theatres.The Mandela building has offered the Art and design students an opportunity to express themselves through creativity. It possesses a modern well built ceramic studio, fashion studio, as well as darkrooms. The Engineering students have also not been left out as they have modern organic chemistry laboratories, a centre of vocational excellence in Aerospace, allied engineering and an aviation academy located at the airport (Kew and Stredwick 21 ) . Technology Analysis. The institution has implemented the Data Relay Satellite solutions technology with an aim of improving record keeping for the students’ facility. The software captures data that is located both within and out of the campuses and it has a capacity to capture data from the students and also keep their attendance register. The technology captures the data in a central location thus reducing time that would have been used to gather all these data on a manual basis. The technology has enabled the students to consult their lecturers directly while asking questions as it avails the course outline to all individual students, it has been used for doing student surveys, marking exams as well as processing the qualification documents for those students who qualify to join the institution. While building their data centre, the institution was able to engage the services of keysource by using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling software to get an idea of the facility to put up. The system allowed them get an idea of the technical and structural aspects of the centre, the security apparatus to be set up, the fire equipments and the airflows that were to be put up. For the students with special needs, they have come with the assistive technology to make the learning process easier .They have special hardware and software equipment for students with special needs. These include special keyboards with special mouse, large19” inch Thin Film Transistor (TFT) displays to avoid glaring and screen reading and magnifying screens. Other software’s that are used include special voice software’s such as Dragon, special software’s such as write gold, easy reader software’s that allows the user to go through the audio files. They also have electronic magnifying devices, audio dictionaries, calculators, digital recorders task lighting. Students also have access to the closed Circuit TVs(CCTV`S ) scanners, dolphin producer software, Braille embossers,alerters for the deaf, support chairs ,hearing aids and an arms back and wrist rest. Legal framework The college is governed under a legal framework and under the clause, college means Newcastle College. Under this code, it states that a code of ethics will determine the behaviors of the members of the corporation .Therefore, the code allows all the members to effectively perform their duties without a violation of the law. The code requires that all the members of the corporation be familiar with the development plan of the college, the instruments of Government, articles of Government and the financial memorandum that governs the institution. The articles of government give the principal the power to implement all the decisions that have been discussed under the corporation’s meeting and to manage the college under the set budget framework. Under the financial memorandum, the principal has been given the powers to be the Chief accountant of the college and he is accountable for all the funds that are available to the college. The members of the corporation are also not allowed to receive any remuneration on behalf of the college unless under the guidance of the secretary of state for education and skills as it is stipulated under clause 11(1). Ethical issues. Any person who works especially as an agent of the college is expected to exercise due care and diligence at all times while on duty. For example, when functions of the college are delegated to a committee the members of the committee, they are expected to work with regard to the system of natural justice. When the institution is required to make very hard and difficult decisions then some issues may have to be overlooked and it should be noted that even if such decisions are being made, it should be very clear that the decisions could be challenged by a tribunal (Kew and Stredwick 21). The members of the corporation are also advised to avoid situations that put them into conflict with the duties of the college. Therefore, any decision that would interfere with an independent decision being made should be avoided at all costs. The corporation members also do not allow the members to engage with the press or media unless under the approval of the chairman. If the chairman is not available then, authority should be sought from the vice chairman. It is also considered to be very unethical for any member to go criticizing other members in public in reference to the meeting they had been holding. For purposes of accountability, the college avails its information for free to the students and staff unless the meeting is considered to be very confidential. Quality Inspection After an inspection done by the government, a report was released in April 2004 citing the college as one of the best performing college in England with outstanding performance in the English department and the faculty of Arts and Design. The English Department was awarded various awards for their quality work thus earning the Beacons Award for Quality. They have students from all over the world undertaking the course and exams at various levels as diploma, degree, foundation of degree and postgraduate levels. The good performance was attributed to equipped campuses with three major libraries that have a capacity of five hundred students and over 125,000 books. They also have an information Technology workshop, modern lecture room, music hall, Language laboratory, theatres and an ultra modern sports facility. Also available is a cafeteria and three coffee shops (Kew and Stredwick 21). A discussion and application of Porters 5 forces model. This is a business tool that is used by major organizations to measure the attractiveness of the business as compared to its competitors. To be able to measure the attractiveness of the organization one must be able to measure the threat of alternative goods being supplied by the competitors, the entry of new competitors who may have more affordable prices and quality goods, the bargaining power of the suppliers, whether the customers have a good bargaining power and whether the level of competition is high or low. As a major provider of higher Education, the college has had continued growth as compared to other higher institutions of learning in the United Kingdom. This is largely due to their expansion program that includes more marketable courses for the job market. The merger of the college with other institutions such as Skelmersdale and Ormskirk and acquisition of colleges such as Training West Lancashire (TWL) training and Carter has seen the institution grow tremendously. Their ability to offer courses from the entry level to the honors level makes it possible for the college to attract new students from all over the world. At the Newcastle College, they were able to establish a centre of vocational excellence (COVE) in conjunction with the college of Durham that has seen the employees in the construction industry further their education through vocational based courses from the entry level to the honors level. The construction of the Lifestyle Academy that offers students a place to unwind is an indication of Newcastle’s commitment to approach higher education from a different perspective .This academy has offered a different experience to students and staff due to the resources that are available in the centre (Kühn 14). Another outstanding achievement of the college has been the ability to introduce the facility that integrates the offenders and law breakers back to the community. In the year 2005, the college came up with the Offender Learning and Skills Directorate (OLAS) program with an aim of training the offenders and ultimately providing them with skills that will enable them get gainful employment. The college has also been at the fore front of providing special learning equipments for the disabled students thus making learning a successful process for the students. The college has also set up a contact centre which is responsible for creating awareness of the institutions training facilities with the local and international community. They are also involved in making contacts with potential employers and they have managed to create strong links and ties in the hospitality, retail, manufacturing and Information Technology industries. The institution has made it possible for some of its employees to attend courses in; food processing, team management and customer care training services (Kühn 14). The performance academy has also been in the forefront of attracting major and specialist staff in major industries using their professional involvement. They have modern studios, production theatre, music venues, recording studios and rehearsal rooms thus providing a good working environment for the staff and the students. They have strong links and ties with professional drama companies such as the Northern stage and out of these ties, the college has been able to come up with a very professional curriculum and the ability to teach proper acting and stage management. For example, the students worked with Yellow jacket a band from America while drama students were in involved in a drama television series known as `Wire in the Blood` as part of their professional development. With these facilities, they are able to attract too many students as compared to other institutions of learning. The college also values diversity in the organization by appreciating staff and students from all races, differences in gender, religion, class, age and disability. They vehemently oppose discrimination with an aim of providing support to everyone who needs it. The potential impact of Technology on Newcastle College The use of technology in Newcastle College has enabled the teachers to focus and pay more attention to the students. Technology has been used for enhancing and to enrich the students learning experience. For example, the individual learning program is being used by the college and it draws from other information systems. It also has an inbuilt progress meter and offers online dialogue facilities that enable teachers have easy access and it aids in the monitoring on the progress of the students. It has also been used for monitoring performance due to the systematic approach that the college has adapted with the issue of education. With the use of technology, the college has been able to set up performance targets and budgets and it is usually a very transparent process and thereafter the performance can be audited and if need be and corrective measures are undertaken immediately. The Information Technology department has been able to integrate the whole society at the Newcastle College regardless of where the members are located and therefore people are able to interact and share ideas from different locations. With the implementation of the Data Relay Satellite technology, there has been a considerable saving of time because much of the work in the institution is computerized and very little work is done manually (Kühn 14). The tutors have been able to ask students questions directly and made the students registers more accurately. For example, teachers can be able to do online booking to have access to students and it is also possible to come up with a strategic plan for students that entail their careers. Therefore data on students and staff is available more accurately and with reliability while reports can also be generated immediately as when they are required. It has successfully been used to improve on staff development and rewarding process for the tutors and staff by giving the staff rewards and incentives through the Business Excellence award scheme. Conclusion The management and leadership of Newcastle college has been able to sustain the growth and performance of the college through partnership with all the stakeholders and therefore they are able to overcome many obstacles and at the same time attract more students as compared other institutions of higher education. The implementation of the STEEPLE analysis and the five porter’s techniques has enabled the company to achieve its objectives. Works Cited Carter, Linda .Harnessing technology: Realizing the benefits .Nov 2008.Website Retrieved on May 9, 2009. http://cc.msnscache.com/cache.aspx?q=to+what+extent+is+technology+being+used+in+newcastle+college&d=75874519494930&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=1f262616,89502fc8. Kew, John, and Stredwick, John. Business Environment: Managing In A Strategic Context. United States of America: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Edition: CIPD Publishing, 2005. Kuhn, Richard. Process-Based Strategic Planning. Edition: 2, illustrated United States of America: Springer, 2002. Read More