Problem Statement
Sofna College offers international education for children of expatriates. As such, Sofna College's vision and mission should be geared to more culturally diverse curriculum and engagement. Given current case, school's early operation phase appears to cater, effectively, for needs of children of diplomats while during mission's stint. The expansion in next decades, particularly during 1950's, 1960's and 1970's, appears to further confirm school's success as regional hub of international education as enrolments increased and campuses expanded. By 1980's up to present day, Sofna College appears to be losing strategic direction by focusing, almost exclusively, on expanding campuses. Specifically, by missing up on major developments in curriculum design and human capital (i.e. instructors) investments, Sofna College appears to be consumed in internal (rather than external) development issues only to lose sight of a changing schooling scene. This loss of strategic sight is further complicated by financial burdens Sofna College continues to incur for building expansion purposes, burdens which only exacerbate school's bottom line for long-range investments, particularly human capital development and more innovate approaches to retain existing students and attract new ones.
Analysis
The "clannish" culture Sofna College has developed over years informs school's current problems. Given to unquestioned practices and a reliance on a history of "success", Sofna College has gradually lost appeal and hence decision by more parents to move out. The school's declining enrollment rates attest to, if anything, school's loss of educational appeal for an increasing number of parents (decision makers). Moreover, by maintaining status quo (manifest in long-serving faculty and hardly meeting, let alone communicative, board members), Sofna College has been caught up in a dead-end situation in which change could not be achieved from within.
This stagnation of organizational culture is reflected, as well, in lack of active engagement efforts at different levels. At an internal level, school's faculty and board appear to communicate at a minimum level and only communicating (let alone meeting) in order to negotiate contract renewals or, only occasionally, to discuss more "loans" for classroom expansions. At an external level, Sofna College does little, if anything, to actively seek prospective students and, for that matter, market specific, added-value services school offers (or would offer) in short, medium or long range. Indeed, by failing to communicate properly with external stakeholders (as is manifest in unchanged vision and mission statements in years), Sofna College does not only miss up on potential, short-range opportunities but is also more likely to lose brand value (and reputation) as competing schools continue to offer services needed by parents and students but not by Sofna College.
Solutions & Recommendations
In order for Jan Walker to bring a real turnaround, one most critical, first step she needs to make is changing corporate culture. This cannot, of course, be done on her very next day. However, if well planned, Sofna College can experience a real change at different levels. In order to manage change, Walker can first start by reviewing board membership criteria and bylaws as well as contractual conditions of long-serving faculty. In so doing, Walker should be gradual in her approach and should not, by any means, introduce abrupt changes (which, if done, could lead to "revolt" against her by established staff and board). Indeed, established order in organizations is something which amounts to a scared code which should be approached only carefully, particularly by an outsider. The corporate culture change should, accordingly, be implemented by more effective approaches to concerned stakeholders namely, board members, instructors and parents.
For board members, Walker should not start by applying existing criteria and bylaws to board members based on current performance but should, instead, start by inviting board members for an expanded meeting in order to discuss existing criteria and bylaws. The resistance by board members is, of course, predictable. Therefore, in order to avoid a broad revolt, Walker can pressure board members into compliance by appealing to broader community in order to exercise more pressure on board members who, fearful of losing face and reputation, would, hopefully, respond more proactively. By announcing a decision of publishing meeting outcomes (and attendance) for more accountability, Walker would, hopefully, force non-complying members to "bend" under community pressure for more solid outcomes. In so doing, Walker would be able to establish regular communication between board members.
For instructors, Walker can introduce gradual changes into job roles performed by long-serving faculty. This can be performed by "retiring" more senior faculty to advisory roles. Then again, resistance is expected and can, in response, be challenged by hiring fresh blood who, employed based on new skill sets (particularly of using multimedia facilities in class), would shore up competition as "old guard" and "rookies" compete over performance incentives.
For parents, Walker needs to adopt innovative marketing and branding strategies in order to keep up to pronounced mission of offering "a challenging international education". This strategy should, above all, adopt digital media platforms and applications as part of school's outreach for parents and broader community. As part of conducting a comprehensive website audit, interactive features and functionalities should be introduced into company's website in order not only to engage parents and students more actively but also, more significantly, to change Sofna College's corporate culture from one relying on long-standing, face-to-face relationships into one up to 21st challenges.
Finally, Sofna College needs to develop more innovative ways for revenue generating instead of relying primarily on endowments which will, sooner or later, dry up only to increase school's financial burdens. One most effective method in diversifying revenue streams is crowd funding. By combining school's inclination to "celebrate" different events and fund-raising needs, Sofna College would be able to mitigate pressure on school's limited funding streams and, of course, change her funding model into a more effective, diversified one.
