Use of League Tables in Decision-Making - Essay Example

?League Tables: Their Use as Basis in Decision-Making Background knowledge about a is the key to any informed decision making. In management of firms, governments and other institutions, decision makers must research a particular matter in question including alternative courses of action, methods of implementation, and their consequences. These consequences should include an analysis of individual effects of each factor and the sum effect of combination of factors if circumstances necessitate application of many options. In big institutions, decision-making is a minor challenge as decision makers are professionals. Recently, there has been increased public awareness on basic service providers including schools and hospitals and people have tended to be choosier in this respect. On one hand, a professional has an easy time choosing which hospital offers the best health care or the school that provides the highest quality education because he or she would know the parameters to observe and compare. On the other hand, the task would be herculean for a member of the public as the factors that amount to quality service are largely a mystery, unknown to many. League tables are one of the many attempts to aid in decision making by providing detailed performance information about institutions of interest. League tables rank offer quantitative and qualitative factors for use as basis by decision makers in picking an institution of choice. For instance, high discipline standards in a school result in good performance and any parent with a taste for quality would take their child to a school that posts high grades in examinations. Though this system seems to work, it is only effective if everyone was ambitious and wanted only the best and not just what is available as many a parent just takes their children to school without caring about the school’s performance in previous evaluations. It is for this reason that schools that post high grades keep getting higher grades while those with low grades keep getting worse because the low grade schools usually admit children with non-ambitious parents. On the other hand, league tables may change these institutions from basic service providers to profit making institution out to outdo their competition at all costs such that the high ranking on the league tables may have little or nothing to do with the quality of service (Browne 2011, p. 188). Factors Affecting the Efficiency of League Tables Management factors The first managerial concept in the application of league tables is the maxim of ‘trust in numbers’ that begs to question the sudden interest in numbers in social sciences. This is because quantitative analysis has been a preserve of natural sciences for a long time. However, nowadays every field wants to have their ideas observed, analysed and reported in numeral terms. Many social scientists express concerns about attempt to quantify social parameters like education, health care and parenting among others. Of importance to note, for instance, is that it is impossible to measure the value of education offered at a certain school in the same manner one would measure the volume of a fluid in a lab (Porter 1996). Second is the concept of ‘politics of numbers’ where experts question if administrative institutions like governments and corporate firms can really be trusted to dispense knowledge for public consumption in the right way. For instance, to further some unspecified motives posting league tables in places and at a time when they are most likely to swing public preferences in a pre-determined way is beneficial. In addition, the parameters analysed in the league tables may be in such a way that a certain class of students are encouraged to prefer one school to the other depending on the interests of the maker of the tables (Kinsman 2003). League Tables and Choice League tables provide a basis on which customers can chose the provider that fulfils their needs. Instead of gambling about when making choices, people get a chance to make real evidence based choices. For instance, a parent will take their children to a school that posts high grades since it is there that his or her child stands the best chance of emerging successful. Schools, in addition to their basic purpose of providing academic development to students, work harder to give other services that parents consider important. For instance, faith based institutions double as religious centres and this encourages investing not only in the academic aspect of their children’s future but the religious and social aspects as well. This is good for both the school and the customers resulting in growth and high quality service, respectively. These tables act as a link between the schools and would be customers by not only providing information about the institutions to customers, but also doing so in comparison to other institutions offering similar services. They enable potential customers to learn about an institution before enlisting its services by providing statistics for comparative analysis (Morse 2004, p. 13). Sustainability Though the intention for having league tables is a noble one, it is important to note that too many choices can be confusing to consumers. For instance, there are many schools that achieve good grades and this number increases every year. With time, the number of ‘best schools’ has increased exponentially such that it is impossible to decide which ‘best’ is really the best for one’s child. What started out as a way of reducing the burden of decision-making loses that very property of simplicity by presenting even more options to choose from than were there to start with. Unless the system finds new evaluation methods, it is bound to fail in the end as institution adapt to it resulting in its becoming a norm rather than a standard. Since the current trend of the league table system is not sustainable, change should come from the institutions by those responsible for the league tables allowing for changes in the criteria used in ranking (Morse 2004, p.13). Competition With time, most schools with a means find a way of increasing the utility of their service to their customers. Those that cannot cope or do not have the means to do so are either forced out of business or result to unscrupulous means to get better rating. For example, some schools encourage cheating of common exams using various channels at the level of students, teachers, or even their managements. In this way, the institutions in question manage to get good ratings in the league tables, same or better than ethical schools. For institutions without a common evaluation process, ranking them fairly is almost impossible, as the process by which they obtain their results is usually not scrutinised. The desire to emerge at the top of the table causes institutions to concentrate only on the evaluation process disregarding the learning process itself. The public has had to suffer the consequences of this competition as the institutions end up producing graduates that are perfect in doing and passing exams with exemplary grades but cannot apply the skills learnt in college in real life. Schools ignore challenging subjects in order to beat competition by encouraging or forcing students to take subjects the management consider easy, ignoring student preferences, to ensure the schools post good grades. This results in a shallow curricular and acute shortage of professionals in fields that require passion driven hard work. Young people take careers they never wanted in the first place and consequently, the education system produces citizens who are successful in their careers but are not motivated to keep up the path that has been chosen for them (Maguire, Wooldridge & Pratt 2006, p.66). Cost Cutting In an attempt to lure more customers their way, many institutions reduce tuition fees and other costs incurred by students in the course of their studies. While this is a good thing for students from poor families, it has its limits. For instance, reducing fees means cutting costs by paying fewer and lower wages, reducing the facilities available for students to use in their studies, or increasing the number of students admitted in the school. Low wages demotivates employees who are already under more than enough pressure to put the institution at the top of the table. Discouraged employees are more likely to be involved in exam irregularities among other vices. In addition, if students do not have enough learning materials, they learn theoretically but have no way of learning by themselves by way of research, practical work and demonstrations. Increasing the school populations has it demerits too, the first being congestion. Congestion has many effects that disrupt the learning environment, making it difficult for teachers to disseminate knowledge to students effectively. Congestion can, however, be curbed by expanding the physical size of the institution, which presents yet another challenge. Large institutions are harder to manage, especially if the management was used to manage a smaller one, it becomes hard to adjust and manage a bigger one effectively. In addition, these changes require a lot of planning and capital; compromising the quality of service offered as the management spends valuable time outsourcing (Benavot & Braslavsky 2007, p. 208). Consumer Perspective League tables usually concentrate on the academic side of school learning. School are supposed to be institutions where individuals nourish their minds, but their bodies and minds as well. It is common believe that schools that post exemplary results academically are poor in co-curricular and extracurricular activities and therefore do not serve as centres of holistic development as they are supposed to be. This perception is true in some cases but there is no standardised way of determining the other aspects of an institution like the one for academics. Therefore, though there are league tables to guide people when choosing a school for a loved one, the decision makers have to do their own research or follow their instincts when comparing the performance of schools other than the academic one given in league tables. A common example of a result of following ones instinct is the perception that free schools are poor quality. The government or other well-meaning institution funds a school to enable students to learn free of charge. However, researchers have observed that people shun such institutions on basis of the belief that something worth anything should at least a price measurable in monetary terms (Morse 2004, 56). Marginalisation of Schools Institutions are not built on the same background; some have a strong financial backing that enables the management to acquire all the learning requirements for students with little effort. Others schools, and this is the class that most schools fall, can only manage basic amenities for use by students. In this class of schools, it does not matter how good the management is, as the school can simply not afford the cost of quality education, which is quite expensive. It is discriminative to rank students from schools with such varying conditions without considering the environment in which each one learnt. League tables make the rich schools richer as they post good grades and raise their fees to reduce the number of people that can afford to send their students there. On the other hand, poor schools adjust their fees downwards to attract the low-income consumers, making these schools even poorer and lowering their poor grades (Reid 2003, 60). Conclusion League tables are a good way of informing consumers on available options when deciding on which service institution should serve them, in this case, a school. However, it is important to consult all stakeholders when designing league tables to ensure that all factors that make up quality service are included in the assessment, and to prevent one stakeholder from using the tables to further selfish motives. To avoid marginalisation of schools with limited financial ability, there should be standardised fees and facilities where possible. If not applicable, the league tables should reflect the differences in their analysis. In addition, the authorities in charge should control both the schools and the evaluation system to ensure accuracy and integrity of league table results. Finally, league tables are a good way of ensuring that children get quality education though some modification is due. For instance, there should be no pressure on schools to post good grades to prevent school management from taking extreme and Unacceptable measures. References Benavot, A, Braslavsky, C 2007, School knowledge in comparative and historical perspective: changing curricula in primary and secondary education, Springer, Hong Kong. Browne, K 2011, An introduction to sociology, Polity, Cambridge, UK. Green, C 2005, The privatization of state education: Public partners, private dealings, Routledge, London, UK. Morse, S 2004, Indices and indicators in development: An unhealthy obsession with numbers? Earthscan, Oxford, UK. Reid, K 2003, Tackling truancy in schools: A practical manual for primary and secondary schools, Routledge, London, UK. Wooldridge, T & Pratt, S 2006, The urban primary school, McGraw-Hill International, Canada. Read More