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Emerald Article: Strategy formulation framework for vocational education: integrating SWOT analysis, balanced scorecard, QFD methodology and MBNQA education criteria S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo, Ruth F. Leung, Andrew Sai On Ko

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To cite this document: S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo, Ruth F. Leung, Andrew Sai On Ko, (2000),"Strategy formulation framework for vocational education: integrating SWOT analysis, balanced scorecard, QFD methodology and MBNQA education criteria", Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 15 Iss: 8 pp. 407 - 423 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02686900010353999 Downloaded on: 25-04-2012 References: This document contains references to 26 other documents Citations: This document has been cited by 5 other documents To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com This document has been downloaded 15084 times.

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Strategy formulation framework for vocational education: integrating SWOT analysis, balanced scorecard, QFD methodology and MBNQA education criteria
S.F. Lee Head, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, Vocational Training Council, HKSAR K.K. Lo Principal, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, Vocational Training Council, HKSAR, Ruth F. Leung Senior Lecturer, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, Vocational Training Council, HKSAR Andrew Sai On Ko Doctoral Student, International Management Centre, Oxford Brookes, UK, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, Vocational Training Council, HKSAR
Keywords
Vocational training, Strategic planning, SWOT analysis, Quality function deployment, Baldrige Award, Education

1. Overview
1.1 VTC's role in vocational education
The Vocational Training Council (VTC) of Hong Kong is set up with a mission to train adequate manpower for both commercial and industrial sectors in Hong Kong. It has a long history and tradition in supporting the government's human resource planning and development activities. The courses offered range from Diploma, Higher Diploma to Associateship levels. In the year of 1998/99, VTC had a total of over 15,000 full-time and 50,000 part-time students at post-secondary level. One of the VTC's major roles is to advise the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on technical education and industrial training matters.

Abstract

This paper describes the framework employed in strategy formulation by the Vocational Training Council's Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education. The proposed framework integrates three widely used business management strategic tools together with the education criteria 1999 adopted from the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) for strategy development in vocational education. The methodology of the proposed framework used is to conjoin the SWOT matrix with the balanced scorecard (BSC), identifying the four critical successful perspectives. Then the next step is to analyse the MBNQA education criteria 1999 for education performance excellence using quality function deployment (QFD) methodology.

1 efficient and cost-effective provider of high quality vocational education and training; 2 strengthened partnership with employers and stakeholders; 3 improve VTC's physical and learning environment; 4 improve motivation and development of staff; 5 effective human resources management and information; 6 effective and efficient utilisation of resources; 7 enhance VTC's image. For each objective, a series of strategies were established. A summary and block diagram illustrating the VTC's vision and mission statements, objectives and strategies is shown in Figure 1. This shows the details of vision, mission, main objectives and strategies of the organisation to be implemented. Lee et al. (1998) of VTC also highlighted the strategies of vocational education for the changing needs of Hong Kong in industrial engineering and management fields. The Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) at Tsing Yi is one of the head campuses of the three IVE nexuses. To be in line with the VTC's mission and objectives, the IVE (TY) has to take the lead in shaping the strategic direction for its own nexus in the vocation education arena. The IVE (TY) management is in great need of a workable vocational education strategy formulation approach to fulfil its destiny. This is the major reason for starting the work described in this paper.

1.2 The reorganisation within VTC and the IVE (TY)

Managerial Auditing Journal 15/8 [2000] 407423 # MCB University Press [ISSN 0268-6902]

Since 1997, the VTC has undergone a major reorganisation program, integrating two technical colleges and seven technical institutes into the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education with three nexuses of nine different campuses. The revitalised VTC's mission is: ``To provide high quality, cost-effective, internationally acceptable vocational education, training and qualifications for students of all ages, directly applicable to the requirements of Hong Kong's employers.'' In order to carry out this mission, VTC has further identified seven broad objectives to accomplish (Lee Ngok, 1998):
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emerald-library.com

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S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo, Ruth F. Leung and Andrew Sai On Ko Strategy formulation framework for vocational education: integrating SWOT analysis, balanced scorecard, QFD methodology and MBNQA education criteria Managerial Auditing Journal 15/8 [2000] 407423

Figure 1 Summary and block diagram illustrating the VTC's vision and mission statements, objectives and strategies

2. Strategy formulation framework (SF framework) for vocational education


2.1 The need of SF framework for vocational education
In the past decades, the vocational education sector worked in a relatively stable environment, and seemed isolated from much competitive pressure. Experience in the field would be sufficient for defining the future road map. A structured decision-making process is not an absolute necessity. However, the global environment has changed so drastically that the decision and operation processes of educational institutions become more volatile and dynamic than ever. It needs a systematic but vigorous and proactive approach in managing these changes. An appropriate strategy formulation framework could be vital for the organisation's success or failure. Therefore, it is intended to propose a strategy formulation framework (SF framework) for vocational education by integrating some well-proven strategic tools used in the commercial world and the well-accepted Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA)'s education criteria 1999.

2.2 The SF framework methodology

Figure 2 depicts the methodology of the proposed SF framework for vocational

education. A brief description of this SF framework methodology is outlined below. The first step of the SF framework is to have the SWOT matrix identify the critical factors of the situation and then build the balanced scorecard (BSC) with identification of the different perspectives for success and excellence performance. By doing that, a more structural approach in setting up the foundation of the BSC is applied, instead of simply identifying the ``key performance indicators'' (KPI) via gut feeling or by brainstorming. The next step of the SF framework is to make use of the QFD methodology with the BSC attributes identified as the ``whats'' and the MBNQA education criteria 1999 (MBNQA, 1999) as the ``hows''. The education criteria for MBNQA were modified accordingly based on the local environment and situations; their relationships under the QFD are then studied. A holistic strategy formulation framework is proposed to allow institutions to develop and implement their education strategic plan. Ko (1999) proposed building the balanced scorecard with SWOT matrix analysis. Lee and Ko (1999) further implemented the SF framework on Sun Tzu's The Art of Business Management Strategies for business management strategy formulation. To validate the applicability and versatility of the proposed methodology, the SF framework is being adopted by the IVE (TY) to formulate its vocational education strategy

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Figure 2 Strategy formulation framework for vocational education

for the next five years. The experience of IVE (TY) employing the SF framework will be described in section 8 of this paper, while the details of each strategic tool and MBNQA education criteria included will be described in sections 3 to 7.

environment for threats and opportunities (external factors), and the organisational analysis the process of analysing a firm's strengths and weaknesses (internal factors) (Weihrich, 1982).

3. The SWOT analysis


The SWOT analysis is the process of analysing organisations and their environments based on their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This includes the environmental analysis the process of scanning the business

The organisational analysis Strengths

Determine an organisation's strong points. This should be from both internal and external customers.

Weaknesses

Determine an organisation's weaknesses, not only from its point of view, but also more importantly, from customers. Although it

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S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo, Ruth F. Leung and Andrew Sai On Ko Strategy formulation framework for vocational education: integrating SWOT analysis, balanced scorecard, QFD methodology and MBNQA education criteria Managerial Auditing Journal 15/8 [2000] 407423

may be difficult for an organisation to acknowledge its weaknesses it is best to handle the bitter reality without procrastination.

3.2 Collateral insight of SWOT

The environmental analysis Opportunities

Another major factor is to determine how organisations can continue to grow within the marketplace. After all, opportunities are everywhere, such as the changes in technology, government policy, social patterns, and so on.

Threats

No one likes to think about threats, but we still have to face them, despite the fact that they are external factors that are out of our control, for example, the recent economic slump in Asia. It is vital to be prepared and face threats even during turbulent times.

3.1 The wizardry of SWOT

The wizardry of SWOT is the matching of specific internal and external factors, which creates a strategic matrix and which makes sense. It is essential to note that the internal factors are within the control of organisation, such as operations, finance, marketing, and other areas. On the contrary, the external factors are out of the organisation's control, such as political and economic factors, technology, competition, and other areas. The four combinations are called the maximaxi (strengths/opportunities), maxi-mini (strengths/threats), mini-maxi (weaknesses/ opportunities), and mini-mini (weaknesses/ threats). Weihrich (1982) describes the four combinations as follows: 1 Maxi-maxi (S/O). This combination shows the organisation's strengths and opportunities. In essence, an organisation should strive to maximise its strengths to capitalise on new opportunities. 2 Maxi-mini (S/T). This combination shows the organisation's strengths in consideration of threats, e.g. from competitors. In essence, an organisation should strive to use its strengths to parry or minimise threats. 3 Mini-maxi (W/O). This combination shows the organisation's weaknesses in tandem with opportunities. It is an exertion to conquer the organisation's weaknesses by making the most of any new opportunities. 4 Mini-mini (W/T). This combination shows the organisation's weaknesses by comparison with the current external threats. This is most definitely defensive strategy, to minimise an organisation's internal weaknesses and avoid external threats.

As mentioned, the wizardry of SWOT is the matching of specific internal and external factors. However, what about the matching items within internal factors and items within external factors. The primary reason is that matching these factors will create strategies that will not make sense. For example, with a combination of strength and weakness (both are internal factors), let's say one of the organisation's strengths is ``plenty of cash'' and one of its weaknesses is ``lack of training''. Therefore, mixing these two factors together, the management team might simply decide to plan more training for the staff members. The obvious remark for this purposeless strategy will be ``so what!'' It is mainly because people should not be trained just for the sake of training. A victorious training program must have a specific target in response to external changes. Organisations have to determine their specific needs for training in line with the external and internal factors. In other words the strategy must have an external factor as a trigger in order for it to be feasible.

4. The balanced scorecard


Kaplan and Norton (1996) developed the balanced scorecard (BSC) in the early 1990s. According to them, ``the balanced scorecard translates an organisation's mission and strategy into a comprehensive set of performance measures and provides the framework for strategic measurement and management''. Traditionally, most organisations look into their corporate performance by reviewing their financial aspects (Hepworth, 1998). However, financial measures alone do not provide a balanced view of the critical success factors of any organisation, mainly because financial measurements tend to measure the past. Therefore, what if an organisation knows what has happened, if there are no explanations of ``Why it has happened'' (Sanger, 1998)? The balanced scorecard is based on four key perspectives: 1 Financial goals ``How will we look to our stake holders?'' 2 Customer perspective ``How must we look to our customers?'' 3 Internal processes ``What internal processes must we excel at?'' 4 Learning and growth ``How can the organisation learn and improve?'' (Sanger, 1998). The concept of the balanced scorecard is very similar to the ``Theory Y'' approach which was developed by McGregor in 1960. McGregor's ``Theory X'' discussed that the

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traditional management system assumes that ``the average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can'' (Dinesh and Palmer, 1998). McGregor's ``Theory Y'' assumes the opposite in human nature and states that ``the average person finds work as natural as play or rest''. Based on ``Theory Y'', McGregor concluded, ``An employee, if directly involved in the goal setting process, can be relied upon for selfcontrol. Therefore, productivity can best be improved by clarifying strategically aligned goals.'' Almost 40 years later, Kaplan and Norton's balanced scorecard is also based on goal conformity as a means of improving performance (Dinesh and Palmer, 1998). In linking Kaplan and Norton's balanced scorecard with McGregor's ``Theory Y'', one must note that ``Theory Y'' deals with individual performances, and the balanced scorecard deals with corporate performance. However, the linkage of the two performance measurement tools makes sense, mainly because corporate performance is merely an accumulation of individual performances. What makes the balanced scorecard stand out is that it is a holistic performance management system which is geared towards defining performance measures and communicating objectives and vision to the organisation (Roest, 1997).

SWOT matrix with balanced scorecard (BSC) perspectives.

4.2 The link between SWOT matrix and the balanced scorecard

Kaplan and Norton indicated that the first step of the actual implementation of the balanced scorecard is to clarify the company vision and strategy (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). It is believed that by first implementing the SWOT analysis, to develop a set of strategies that make sense, will serve as a stepping stone toward the actual implementation of the balanced scorecard. The balanced scorecard has been widely applied in corporate performance management and can easily be extended to strategic planning of an organisation.

5. Quality function deployment (QFD) methodology


The earliest use of QFD can be traced back to the Kobe shipyard, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd of Japan in 1972. In the 1990s, there were many successful examples from various industries (Halbleib et al., 1993; Erikkson et al., 1993; Hauser and Clausing, 1988; Stubbs and Diaz, 1994) using the QFD quality tool extensively. Their results were encouraging and impressive. QFD is an engineering method for converting customer demands into quality characteristics and for developing product design by systematically deploying the relationships of customer demands and product characteristics. The QFD methodology is broken into numerous analytical steps, most of which are documented as charts. It is a three-step process: quality design, detailed design and process deployment. It is the development of an operating mechanism to transform customers' expectations into specific design and manufacturing requirements (Straker, 1995). QFD employs mathematical analysis using a series of matrices, which depend on functional relationships, to arrive at the highest level of quality in producing a product. Through the analyses of the various relationships of functional components, one is able to quantify quality and establish priorities. It is also commonly known as a process that provides structure to the development cycle and helps an organisation plan for the effective use of the other technical tools to support and complement each other and address priority issues. It can pinpoint the areas of customer concern where the specialised tools can have benefit. Actually, QFD is not just a tool but also a planning process (Sullivan, 1988).

4.1 Critique of the balanced scorecard

McAdam et al. (1999) reviewed the balanced scorecard based on their framework of total quality management (TQM) (Schalkwyk, 1998) and the main critiques are as follows: . ``TQM is strategically linked to business goals.'' Despite the facts that Kaplan and Norton outlined the four perspectives (financial, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth) as the key elements of organisational strategies that must be measured, the BSC remains a means of effectively measuring strategy rather than a means of deciding strategy. This is the main reason that the SWOT analysis matrix serves as a great ``stepping stone'' to build the key performance indicators (KPI) of the BSC. . ``Customer understanding and satisfaction are vital.'' The BSC does a great job in strengthening the link between customer improvement initiatives and the organisation's strategy. However, the BSC does not indicate how new customers and markets can be identified (McAdam and O'Neill, 1999). It is believed that the BSC's major weakness is the lack of ``Hows''. By linking the BSC to the quality function deployment (QFD) methodology, the entire ``Hows'' can be identified. Figure 2a and 2b show the

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QFD is defined by Dr Yoji Akao as (Mallon and Mulligan, 1993):


Converting the customers' demands into quality characteristics and developing a design quality for the finished product by systematically deploying the relationships between the demands and the characteristics, starting with the quality of each functional component and extending the deployment to the quality of each part and process. The overall quality of the product will be formed through this network of relationships.

6. The link between balanced scorecard and quality function deployment methodology
Traditionally organisations operated based on management by results, which is a behavioural science. Typical management will establish objectives. Then the objectives will be evaluated by measuring the performance and the results; that is objective management. The top management is only interested in the end of quality improvement, the results only. The methods, systems or resources needed to achieve results are usually left to the ingenuity of the middle management. Policy management, on the other hand, is a strategy to ensure results by focusing on the means as opposed to measuring performance after the fact (Sullivan, 1988). Policy management will take the form of a business plan to overlay existing systems and transform management focus from results to the means of achieving results. Policy management is structured as a method to achieve an organisation's business or policy objectives. The means to achieve becomes the primary focus and results measure only how well policy management was carried out (Sullivan, 1988). Organisations can apply QFD as a strategic planning tool (Maddux et al., 1991). QFD is a unique and powerful quality assurance tool that is designed to ensure the voice of both the internal and external customers is clearly heard and followed in the development of a product or service (Pitman et al., 1996). The heart of QFD is its matrix called the ``house of quality'' (HOQ). It is made up of two main parts, the ``whats'' and the ``hows''. When using QFD, the most important tasks are to define and understand the ``whats'' the needs of the customers and to define the ``hows'' to meet the customers' needs (Tan et al., 1998).

QFD integrates matrices and charts into a system to realise customer requirements, functions, quality requirements, parts definition, break-through methods and manufacturing methods. QFD uses matrices to identify and prioritise elements relating to intersecting concepts of customer requirement or quality characteristics, quality requirement/cost, function/ reliability, and so forth (Wassermann, 1993). QFD also shows all the information to the project that helps the organisation set the target or determine the priority of action needed to be taken. In addition, the matrix compares the product or service with other competitive products or services so that the organisation can make improvements in the previous stage of design. The main goal of QFD is to increase customers' satisfaction by improving their own quality and by exciting the customer through innovation. QFD helps an organisation plan for effective application of its quality tools by directing the application toward issues of importance to customers. Organisations should use the QFD process as one of their principal planning tools in their TQM effort. The selection of priority items for increased customer satisfaction provides a company with a distinct product focus. The customer requirements that are currently satisfactory to customers can be handled using existing procedures and processes. In addition, the QFD process causes the company to focus on customer requirements for which the products are not currently competitive. This effective application tool should be combined with TQM. In the management aspects, QFD also helps to: . identify and prioritise customer needs obtained from every possible source; . analyse the details of design and process improvement meeting the needs of engineers; . stimulate continuous improvement; . encourage communication and build teamwork within an organisation; . reduce lead-time, optimise engineering resources and improve quality; and . build partnerships with customers' participation.

7. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in education criteria for performance excellence
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) is an initiative by the US Government to promote the concept of quality and quality management to enterprises in order to maintain their national competitiveness. Traditionally, only manufacturing and commercial organisations would apply for MBNQA. However, from 1999, education institutions are eligible to apply for the MBNQA with the newly introduced education criteria 1999 for performance excellence (MBNQAEC) and the major criteria are summarised as follows:

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1 Leadership: 1.1 Leadership system. 1.2 Public responsibility and citizenship. 2 Strategic planning: 2.1 Strategy development process. 2.2 Course strategy. 3 Student and stakeholder focus: 3.1 Knowledge of student needs and expectations. 3.2 Student and stakeholder satisfaction and relationship enhancement. 4 Information and analysis: 4.1 Selection and use of information and data. 4.2 Selection and use of comparative information and data. 4.3 Analysis and review of course performance. 5 Staff focus: 5.1 Work systems. 5.2 Staff education, training, and development. 5.3 Staff wellbeing and satisfaction. 6 Educational and support process management: 6.1 Education design and delivery. 6.2 Education support processes. 7 Course performance results: 7.1 Student performance results. 7.2 Student and stakeholder satisfaction results. 7.3 Staff results. 7.4 Course-specific results.

8. The SF framework: linking between SWOT, BSC, QFD and MBNQA-EC and implementing the SF framework for vocational education strategy in IVE(TY)
In the last five sections, the essential aspects of each of the strategic management tools and Malcolm Baldrige education criteria, which are the backbones of the SF framework, are outlined. The following discussion is focused on the methodology of integrating these tools to generate the proposed SF framework and the experience of the IVE (TY) adopting the SF framework to develop its vocational education strategy. There are three phases of SF framework: . Phase 1: to conduct SWOT analysis. Through group discussion and brainstorming, the top management team conducts a preliminary organisational analysis and environmental analysis to generate a SWOT (section 3 and Figure 2a) for the organisation. Figure 3 gives some general guidelines for consideration when devising a set of vocational education strategies for vocational education institutions. Based on these general guidelines, the IVE (TY) top management examines its current internal and external environmental factors, taking the future into perspective. As a result, a SWOT for IVE (TY) is being developed (Figure 4). . Phase 2: to conjoin the SWOT matrix with the balanced scorecard (BSC). Adopting the wizardry of SWOT (section 3.1) and the four key critical successful perspectives, i.e. financial goals, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth suggested by the BSC (section 4), the top management should be able to generate a SWOT matrix with BSC classification (Figures 2b and 2c). Figure 5 shows how the IVE (TY) transformed the preliminary SWOT analysis into a SWOT matrix with BSC perspectives. . Phase 3: to customise the MBNQA education criteria for performance excellence. Each education institution should examine the MBNQA education criteria for performance excellence (MBQNA EC) to suit their specific circumstance and cater for their own needs. The department of Industrial Engineering and Management at the IVE (TY) has taken in the MBNQA-EC as its course management system. Its interpretation and implementation for the education criteria of MBNQA is shown in Appendix 1. . Phase 4: to consolidate the SWOT (BSC) and MBNQA EC using quality function deployment (QFD) methodology for vocational education strategy formulation

Figure 3 General guidelines for SWOT analysis in education sector

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Figure 4 SWOT analysis for IVE (Tsing Yi)

and implementation. The BSC serves as a powerful tool while defining the ``whats'' within QFD (section 5), the education criteria of the MBNQA indicate the ``hows'' in the strategic planning of the QFD. The consequent QFD helps to identify the critical criteria and success implementation factors. Therefore, it is envisaged that linking up SWOT, BSC and MBNQA education criteria with QFD will make a more holistic strategic management system. It is suggested that this holistic approach is known as the SF framework. Figure 2 depicts the methodology of the SF framework, i.e. to conjoin the SWOT matrix with the balanced scorecard (BSC), quality function deployment (QFD) and MBNQA education criteria for performance excellence. Figure 6 further shows how the IVE (TY), step by step, followed this SF framework, the consolidated QFD for strategies formulation the in Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education at Tsing Yi.

years, these changes trigger the changes in strategic planning of courses meeting the vocational education requirements in the region.

9.1 Changes in the manufacturing sector

9. Conclusions
The manufacturing and services sectors in Hong Kong have faced changes in the past

Since the open door policy of China was implemented in the late 1970s, Hong Kong's manufacturers have been moving and establishing their production plants in China, noticeably in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) area. Although this has made some employment re-adjustment necessary, particularly at the unskilled labour level where the loss of jobs to the PRD is much greater, it is still beneficial to Hong Kong's manufacturing industry in the long run in order to stay competitive. This also has shifted the skill requirements from the original and mainly production emphasis to a broader range of activities with much heavier emphasis on activities such as sourcing of raw materials, product design, sampling and mould making, production planning, management and control, quality control, managerial functions and professional and technical and services, etc. Hong Kong's manufacturing industry is also changing from an original equipment manufacturing (OEM) mode to an original

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Figure 5 SWOT of Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Tsing Yi) on balanced scorecard

design manufacturing (ODM) mode, and even original brand manufacturing (OBM) mode. Being highly export-driven, Hong Kong's products are vulnerable not only to tariff policies of export countries, but also to their increasingly stringent environmental protection and consumer safety regulations. In addition, Hong Kong's competitive edge in the global market has shifted from the traditional emphasis on cost to quality and design-to-market lead time.

9.2 Changes in service sector

As the contribution of the manufacturing sector to GDP is decreasing, there has been a

corresponding increase by service sectors. Hong Kong's service sector consists mainly of freight and transportation, telecommunications, banking, real estate development and professional services such as legal, accounting, insurance services; and social, community and personal services. Also included are the import/export, wholesale, retail, and restaurant and hotel sectors. Information technology has gradually gained a larger share in terms of service and technical support. Higher awareness of consumers' rights and better informed consumers, coupled with fierce competition for business, both locally and internationally, have made companies

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operating in Hong Kong very conscious of their products' or services' quality and the manner in which they are delivered.

9.3 Changes in the future planning of courses

Vocational education is unique from other streams of higher education in that it prepares the student for employment. Traditionally, the students are trained for a particular discipline such that on graduation, he or she will have acquired adequate knowledge of most the practical aspects of that job, short only on actual working experience. However, in the present day Hong Kong demands more than this. In Hong Kong, changes are rapid, significant and frequent. A person may have to change jobs several times during their working life, or, even on the same job, the contents and tools used will be changing constantly and rapidly. Thus, preparing graduates for lifelong education, in addition to immediate employment, must also be given an equally high priority when preparing a vocational education curriculum. On the other hand, Hong Kong has been and will continue to be undergoing economic restructuring. On top

of preparing the students for continual development, the courses offered must also be flexible and dynamic enough to follow closely in step with the changing needs of the community in which the vocational education institute serves. The methodology of the proposed SF framework, by conjoining the SWOT matrix with the balanced scorecard (BSC), quality function deployment (QFD) and MBNQA education criteria for performance excellence, is effective and useful in strategic planning. Appendix 2 shows the strategic planning of new courses in IVE (TY) in the future years after the analysis. As a summary, these new initiatives are: . Information technology and e-business; . Web technology and mechatronics engineering; . Internet technology and telecommunications; . building technology and services; . information technology and logistics management; . property management and services; and . health, safety and environment management.

Figure 6 Use of quality function deployment (QFD) methodology in balanced scorecard and Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in strategic planning

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Pitman, G., Motwani, J., Kumar, A. and Cheng, C.H. (1996), ``QFD application in an educational setting: a pilot field study'', International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, Vol. 13 No. 4. Roest, P. (1997), ``The golden rules for implementing the balanced business scorecard'', Information Management & Computer Security, Vol. 5 No. 5. Sanger, M. (1998), ``Supporting the balanced scorecard'', Work Study, Vol. 47 No. 6. Schalkwyk, F.C. (1998), ``Total quality management and the performance measurement barrier'', The TQM Magazine, Vol. 10 No. 2. Straker, D. (1995), A Tool-book for Quality Improvement and Problem Solving, PrenticeHall International Ltd, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Stubbs, N. and Diaz, M. (1994), ``Impact of QFD utilisation in the development of a nondestructive damage detection system for aerospace structures'', International Journal of Materials and Product Technology, Vol. 9 Nos 1/2/3, pp. 3-22. Sullivan, J. (1983), ``A critique of theory Z'', Academy of Management Review, Vol. 8, pp. 132-42. Sullivan, L.P. (1988), ``Policy management through quality function deployment'', Quality Progress, pp. 18-20. Tan, K.C., Xie, M. and Chia, E. (1998), ``Quality function deployment and its use in designing information technology systems'', International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, Vol. 15 No. 6. Wassermann, G.S. (1993), ``On how to prioritise design requirements during QFD planning process'', IIE Transactions, pp. 59-65. Weihrich, H. (1982), ``The TOWS matrix: a tool for situational analysis'', Journal of Long Range Planning, Vol. 15 No. 2.

Appendix 1. Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) education criteria for performance excellence
The course board is adopting the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award education criteria 1999 as its quality management system framework. The course board recognises that these education criteria can provide a valuable framework for performance excellence. They help the course board to assess and measure performance on a wide range of key institutional performance indicators: student/ stakeholder, educational service and outcomes, operational, and financial. The practice of self-assessment allows the course board to identify its strengths and to target opportunities for improvement on processes and results affecting all key stakeholders including students, departments, staff and our community. These criteria also help to align resources; improve communication, productivity and effectiveness; and achieve our

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goals. The course board would use these education criteria to assess and measure its course performance to pursue excellence in the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Tsing Yi). The Education Criteria 1999 are: 1 Leadership: 1.1 leadership system; 1.2 public responsibility and citizenship. 2 Strategic planning: 2.1 strategy development process; 2.2 course strategy. 3 Student and stakeholder focus: 3.1 knowledge of student needs and expectations; 3.2 student and stakeholder satisfaction and relationship enhancement. 4 Information and analysis: 4.1 selection and use of information and data; 4.2 selection and use of comparative information and data; 4.3 analysis and review of course performance. 5 Staff focus: 5.1 work systems. 5.2 Staff education, training, and development; 5.3 staff well being and satisfaction. 6 Educational and support process management: 6.1 education design and delivery; 6.2 education support processes. 7 Course performance results: 7.1 student performance results; 7.2 student and stakeholder satisfaction results; 7.3 staff results; 7.4 course-specific results.

focus on students and learning; encouraging innovation; developing and maintaining an effective leadership system; and effectively communicating values, directions, and expectations The course board will maintain a climate conducive to learning including safety and equity. It will also review the leadership system, using staff feedback, and reviewing overall course performance.

1.2 Public responsibility and citizenship: The course board will address the issue of how to integrate its values and expectations regarding its social responsibilities and community involvement into its performance management practices.

2. Strategic planning

The implementation of Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award education criteria in the course management 1. Leadership

The course board will carry out strategic planning which addresses all aspects of course-level planning and the deployment of plans. This includes primarily the development and deployment of key educational and other mission-related requirements, taking into account the needs of students and other key stakeholders. The strategic planning process enables the course board to: . Understand key student and stakeholder and societal requirements as input to setting directions. This is to help to ensure that ongoing process improvements are aligned with the course's strategic directions. . Optimise the use of resources, elevate and maintain staff capability, and provide bridging between short- and longer term requirements. . Ensure that plan deployment will be effective that there are mechanisms to communicate requirements and achieve overall alignment. 2.1 Strategy development process: . The course board will develop its view of the future, set directions, and translate these directions into a clear basis for communicating, deploying, and aligning critical requirements. Alignment refers to effective integration of staff development, curriculum, instruction, and assessment. . Issues on all the key influences, challenges, and requirements that might affect the course's future directions and decisions will be discussed. 2.2 Course strategy: The course board will address the course's strategy and action plans and how they are deployed based on the projection of the course's performance. The critical action plan requirements include staff resource plans to support the overall strategy.

The course board will provide leadership to guide the course management teams in setting directions, seeking future opportunities, and building and sustaining a learning environment. The course board will give emphasis to create a leadership system based on clear values and high performance expectations that address the needs of all stakeholders. The leadership includes the responsibilities to the public and the practices of good citizenship. 1.1 Leadership system: . The course board will set directions and sustain a leadership system conducive to high performance, individual development, initiative, organisational learning, and innovation. It includes creating values and expectations; projecting and communicating a strong

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3. Student and stakeholder focus

The course board will seek to understand the needs of current and future students and that of the stakeholders on an ongoing basis. It stresses the importance of course relationships and of the use of an array of listening and learning strategies. Although many of the needs of stakeholders must be translated into educational services for students, the stakeholders themselves have needs that the courses must also be able to accommodate. The course board will have to balance the differing needs and expectations of the students and the stakeholders and among stakeholders themselves. 3.1 Knowledge of student needs and expectations: . The course board will determine the needs and expectations of its current and future students to maintain a climate conducive to learning for all students. . The course board will determine and anticipate changing needs and expectations for future students. It will take into account the following: demographic data and trends; changing requirements of graduates in the workplace or other institutes; changing local, and global requirements; and educational alternatives for prospective students. The course board will analyse the overall information to develop actionable data for planning. 3.2 Student and stakeholder satisfaction and relationship enhancement: . The course board will identify and enhance the satisfaction of its students and stakeholders to build relationships to improve educational services and to support related planning. The four aspects of relationship-building are: regular and special access needs; proactive follow-ups with stakeholders; key measure and/or indicators used to monitor the effectiveness of key relationships; and how the course board develops partnerships with key stakeholders to pursue common purposes. . The course board will assess student and stakeholder satisfaction as well as dissatisfaction for the purpose of improving the educational and support services of the course board.

4.1 Selection and use of information and data: The course board will address the selection, management, and use of information and data to support overall course goals, with strong emphasis on action plans and performance improvement. Performance improvement depends heavily on information and data that relate to all aspects of course operations. 4.2 Selection and use of comparative information and data: The course board will examine the external drivers of improvement data and information related to best practices, new practices, and performance of comparable courses in the region. 4.3 Analysis and review of course performance: . The course board will address course-level analysis of overall performance the principal basis for guiding the course's processes toward key results. It links analysis and performance review to help to ensure that analysis is kept relevant to decision making. . The course board will review its performance and capabilities and use the review findings to improve performance and capabilities relative to goals and plans. Such reviews will take into account changing educational and operational needs. The course board will address how review findings are translated into priorities for improvement sufficiently specific for effective deployment throughout the course and to appropriate stakeholders. The course board will focus on all key human resource issues and practices directed toward creating an environment with a strong focus on students and learning, and toward developing staff that enable them to adapt to change. The course board will address these in an integrated way, aligned with the course's mission and strategy. 5.1 Work systems: The course board will address how the work and job design and recognition approaches enable and encourage all staff to contribute fully and effectively. 5.2 Staff education, training, and development strategy: . The course board will develop staff education, training, and development strategy to meet overall course objectives. . Education and training address the knowledge and skills staff need to meet overall course and personal objectives. Examples include assessment practices, learning styles, problem solving, teamwork, leadership skills, communication, interpreting and using

5. Staff focus

4. Information and analysis

The course board will identify and analyse all key information to effectively manage the courses and to drive performance improvement. The course board will address all basic performance-related information and comparative information as well as how such information is analysed and used to optimise course performance.

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data, use of new technology, process analysis, and other training that enhances staff effectiveness and work safety. The course board will look into basic information ranging from the linkage between education and training to course action plans to the evaluation and improvement of education and training, taking into account course performance, staff performance, and personal development of staff. The course board will stress evaluation of education and training. Such evaluation might address factors such as staff selfevaluation, effectiveness of education and training delivery, impact on the organisational unit, and course performance.

how the course board ensures that staff are properly prepared. 4 The course delivery refers to all strategies used to engage students in learning. The elements examined are the observations, measures, and/or indicators used to provide timely information to help students and staff. 5 Information for process improvement includes information from stakeholders; benchmarking practices; use of assessment results; peer evaluation; research on learning and assessment; and the use of new learning technology.
.

5.3 Staff well being and satisfaction: . The course board will address the work environment and work climate that support and enhance the well being, satisfaction, and motivation of staff. It will encourage and support staff to develop and utilise their own potential. . The course board will assess its work environment and work climate and determine staff well being, satisfaction, and motivation. The course board will relate staff well being, satisfaction, and motivation results to course, subject, and individual performance results to identify improvement priorities.

6.2 Education support processes: The course board will address the design, maintenance, and improvement in its support processes. Support processes are those that support the course's overall education activities and operations such as tutorial, laboratory and use of information technology. It also includes enrolment, registration, placement, marketing, and public relations. The course board will focus on all course improvement activities, using a set of measures that reflect overall mission-related success. It provides ``real-time'' information measures and indicators of progress for evaluating and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of services, aligned with the course's mission and strategy. The analysis and review of course performance is used to identify causal connections to support improvement activities, planning, and change. The course performance results will provide a comprehensive and balanced view of the course's effectiveness in improving its performance, at present and in the future. 7.1 Student performance results: The course board will address the principal student performance results based upon mission-related factors and assessment methods. Critical factors are: . student performance should reflect holistic and mission-related results; . current levels and trends should be reported; and . data should be segmented by student group(s) to permit trends and comparisons that demonstrate the course's sensitivity to education improvement for all students. 7.2 Student and stakeholder satisfaction results: . The course board will address trends and levels in student and stakeholder satisfaction based on relevant measures and/or indicators, and address these results compared with similar courses. . The course board will ensure that satisfaction levels provide a useful tool in

7. Course performance results

6. Educational and support process management

The course board will focus on all key educational and support processes. They are the central requirements for efficient and effective process management effective design, evaluation, continuous improvement, and focus on high performance. 6.1 Education design and delivery: 1 The course board will examine how it designs, introduces, delivers, and improves its educational programs and offerings. It will also examine how these programs and offerings are maintained to meet design requirements and further improvements. 2 The course board will examine organisational learning through focusing on how learning in one subject area replicated and added to the knowledge base for other course subjects. 3 The design of educational programs and offerings include four aspects: . how student educational and wellbeing needs are addressed; . how sequencing and offering linkages are addressed; . how to design a measurement plan that makes use of formative and summative assessments;

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assessing key factors that contribute to or inhibit education, and encourage inclusion of education and growth dimensions in satisfaction measurement. 7.3 Staff results: . The course board will address the staff results those related to well being, development, satisfaction, and performance of staff. . The course board will include results on course-specific human resource factors. Course-specific human resource factors include those created by the course board to measure progress against key goals, such as extent of training and development, measures and/or indicators of effectiveness. . The course board will collect the comparative information so that results can be evaluated relative to comparable institutions. 7.4 Course-specific results: 1 The course board will address key performance results that contribute significantly to the course's mission and goals. 2 Appropriate for inclusion are: . measures of productivity and operational effectiveness, including timeliness; . results of compliance and improvement in areas of regulations; . improvements in admission standards; . improvements in institute's safety and hiring equity; . contributions to community betterment; . improved performance of administrative and other support functions; 3 The course board will collect comparative information so that results reported can be evaluated against other organisations. Such data might include results of surveys, peer ratings, etc.

. .

. .

. .

Design, installation, development, and transaction and management of e-business. Advertisement, marketing, customer service, customer relationship management via WWW. Logistics support behind e-business. Integration of e-business with enterprise resources planning (ERP), customer relation management (CRM), and supply chain. Distributed systems for e-commerce. Extranet and Internet for e-commerce strategies. E-business global strategies for expanding market. Transition from e-business strategies to an e-business blueprint. e-commerce security. Technical, business, and legal issues on the Internet. E-banking, digital cash, electronic payment systems. Business re-engineering with respect to e-business. Use of IT and e-business in process improvement. Application of IT and e-business in quality management. Industrial and supervisory management in IT and e-business.

2. Web technology and mechatronics engineering


.

Appendix 2. Multi-disciplinary courses


1. Information technology and e-business
. .

Principles for growing business on the World Wide Web. How leading edge technologies will transform business. Opportunities and pitfalls in doing business on the Internet. Global perspective and managerial perspective on e-business. Using computer networking and the Internet to grow business. Infrastructure for e-business to accelerate the business goals. Components of e-business.

Virtual manufacturing: virtual reality has become real and applicable in modern manufacturing. It will provide manufacturing industries with the ability to create, develop and test new products in a virtual manufacturing environment such as CAD/CAM, CAE, virtual prototyping. Web design: explore the high level issues about Web design, focusing on sites that enable emotion as well as the designers who build them. It can control message and deliver to a targeted audience. Web site design and development: focus on design, systems performance, Intranets, e-commerce, and site analysis. Software for the Web: it can add action and excitement to the Web site, create 3D worlds that visitors can actually walk through, support rotating objects and animated textures. Mechatronics: it is an interdisciplinary area of mechanical, electronics, computer and automation engineering. It is concerned with the blending of mechanical, electronic, software and control theory engineering topics into a unified framework that enhances the design for process and products.

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3. Internet technology and telecommunications


. . . .

. .

Nature of telecommunications/ information infrastructure. Basic data communications. Communications media. Business communications (FTP, Telnet, HTTP, ATM, Frame Relay . . . etc.). Computer telephony, wireless technologies and satellite communications. High quality messaging and e-commerce on technical foundations, standards, and protocols. Mobile information network: architecture, resources management, and mobile data. Enterprise networks and telephony: from technology to business strategy. The information superhighway: strategic alliance in telecommunications and multimedia. Virtual private networks achieving secure Internet commerce and enterprisewide communications. Security protocols. Implementing secure Intranets and extranets. Management of telecommunications network. Crisis management on Internet technologies and telecommunications. The future of computing and communications. Building industry represents one of the largest enterprises in Hong Kong. Fundamentals of energy in buildings: include design and test of strategies for daylighting, passive heating and cooling, and improve indoor air quality methods; focus on measurement and analysis of thermally driven and wind-driven airflow, lighting intensity and glare, heat flow and thermal storage, and heat transfer within buildings and major components. Fundamentals of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems: concentrates on the calculation of heating and cooling load in order to size suitable HVAC equipment; estimate energy consumption of the HVAC equipment. Architectural acoustics and lighting: acoustics describes interactions between people and sound, indoors and outdoors. Lighting concern issues of light and energy, light to create interior space, obtrusive light and night sky pollution, lighting technology and technology forecasting, etc. Indoor environment modelling: uses computational simulation techniques to

predict indoor environment, such as thermal comfort and indoor air quality. Electrical services: electrical supply and distribution, safety and protection, energy saving. Building automation: intelligent building, supervisory control and data acquisition. Project management: control of project, scheduling, safety and risk management, legal issues. Construction technology and materials: material property and selection, fire protection, new technology for construction.

5. Information technology and logistics management

4. Building technology and services


. .

The control and supply of goods is an economic life-blood for both developed and developing countries, contributing to prosperity and personal well being. Yet we often take for granted that the supply chain which provides us with ready access to goods is a complex set of product flows, production processes and distribution channels which require technical and managerial skills. Ahead lies a growing challenge to managing the application of IT and designing logistics management systems if we are to ensure future effectiveness and efficiency. Some of those challenges are: . globalisation of the market place for the procurement of products and raw materials; . recognition that logistics can provide competitive advantage and improve profit performance; . increasing concerns about the impact on the environment of logistics activities; . effective supply chain management particularly on a global scale. As business logistics include a variety of activities like material flow, product distribution, transportation, purchasing and inventory control, warehousing, customer service, etc., the course is aimed at encouraging students to acquire the necessary IT skills and competencies and become better equipped in understanding and mastering logistics management.

6. Property management and services

With the needs in managing the ever growing number of new properties in Hong Kong, as well as the ability to prevent and resolve problems caused by its ageing properties, there is a great demand for professionally trained personnel to be employed in property management and services. This proposed course be designed to equip students for a wide range of employment opportunities in this field both in the public and private sector of the real estate industry. The course will provide students with a balance of knowledge

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and skills between the technical and management perspective. On the technical side, students will acquire understanding in: . building services electrical and utilities; . building safety, defects and rectification; and . maintenance of property. In the management perspective, students will acquire knowledge in: . property office administration; . property management; . lease management; . estate agency and marketing; . estate and facilities management; . property analysis and valuation; . principle of law, legal system and contract; . economics; and . professional practices. In the personal development perspective, students will focus on: . IT; . language and communications skill; . productivity and quality improvement techniques. Career prospects: graduates may be employed as property supervisors, technical officers, and assistant estate supervisors/ officers.

7. Health, safety and environment management

and environmental management sector. Students will study a wide range of specialist subjects across many disciplines, with a focus on the safety and environment aspect from the technical/engineering and management perspectives. The course combines essential elements, such as: 1 Environmental management: . environmental management systems; . environmental auditing; . environmental performance evaluation; . environmental labelling; . life-cycle assessment; and . environmental aspects in product standards. 2 Safety engineering and management: . health and safety at work; . safety legislation; . safety management system; . risk management, risk assessment techniques; . ergonomics and safety; . chemical/physical/biological hazards; . accident causation models, accident prevention and investigation; and . health and safety information and communication. Career prospects: graduates may be employed as assistant health and safety supervisor/officer in a wide range of industrial and business sectors.

The proposed course is designed to equip students to fulfil a variety of roles within the increasing employment market of the safety

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