Responding to change : designing a university for the 21st century

Abstract

This paper examines the need for universities to develop alternative organisational forms to deliver services which will meet the demands of government, business, and communities for a highly trained, technically skilled, well educated workforce. It postulates that in order to survive in the increasingly competitive tertiary sector, successful universities will need to be efficient, focused, committed to learning and be able to effectively reach beyond space and time. It looks at how communications technology can help forge new links between business and universities to create competitive advantage. Universities are ideally suited to this future but need to change from the traditional bureaucratic forms they have taken. We propose a small, flat organisational structure with a flexible, multi-skilled core, a strong group of strategic partners working on a contractual basis and a supporting resource of part-time flexible labour.