Institutional development

Higher education reflects the development  pattern of rapidly changing and globalising world: Universities, business schools and other higher education institutions have to reassess and define their scope, markets and resources amidst increasing and fierce competition from old and new providers.

While a limited number of top institutions go global through major campus investments and alliances, the majority of higher education institutions, however, do still – and will in future - serve a largely domestic or regional population. They search for best ways to combine top quality international education and development with local and regional needs.

This is a difficult task for most educational institutions, but even more so for those who are tied into a national public system which regulates - often very tightly – the scope of content, target audience, programme formats, faculty, delivery and management of the institution.

Reforms of educational systems, however, are underway everywhere in Europe – driven by the Bologna process - and across the world. Universities and schools reach out to benchmark, innovate, cooperate, engage in thorough quality improvement processes, in order to be ready to respond to the demands of their customers and the communities they serve.

This is where InterContext is able to add value.

Developing an International Vision for Higher and Continuing Education Institutions and Assessing Opportunities and Strategies for Successful International Positioning

Building on the national, legal and educational context, as well as on the objectives of the school, coaching and sounding board sessions are offered to the rector/dean/director and his/her management team in which

• Explore the ideas and ambitions of the leadership team
• Put them in relation to the international environment
• Identify tensions and constraints
• Work through the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of 1.the geographic and national base and 2. the existing competence and skill range
• Develop a realistic international vision for the institution
• Work on necessary steps to build a strategy towards this vision

Implementing an international vision for an educational institution means hard stakeholder work for the organisation: management, faculty, boards, students and administrative staff, as well as the alumni and recruiters. All have to contribute and be convinced with different arguments and incentives.

With the leadership team and the stakeholder groups we will help to work towards consensus on the key requirements for the institution, be it on:

• The faculty mix, the profile and development side
• The programme/product portfolio
• The student selection (where applicable) and skill development
• Language policies
• Community and alumni activities
• PR, media relations and marketing

A core element of successful internationalisation is the building and good use of effective international partnerships and alliances.

We offer:

• Advice and support in identifying suitable partners
• Contacts and and coaching of the process

Assistance in designing and carrying out joint international projects (i.e. conferences & programmes)

Coaching for Quality Evaluation Processes

As Director General of the European Foundation for Management Development (efmd) 1995-2000, Bernadette Conraths was responsible for the creation and launch of the first European Quality Improvement and Accreditation System for business schools, EQUIS. It was elaborated by a large group of senior European experts and leaders from management education and corporations. Today EQUIS has reached international stature, with over 80 institutions accredited in Europe and world wide.

Bernadette cooperates closely with the EQUIS team, as well as with other associations, who offer evaluation or accreditation schemes, in particular the Institutional Evaluation Programme of the European University Association (EUA). The programme has evaluated over 130 universities in Europe.

Her support includes:

• Working as an auditor or team secretary
• Conducting briefings and consulting sessions for schools applying for or undergoing the evaluation process
• Providing focused advice for specific areas of improvement

For more information, please consult
the EQUIS pages of the efmd website at http://www.efmd.be
the EUA website  www.eua.be  under Institutional Development

Personal Development

In a world and in organisations essentially driven by paradoxes and dilemmas, by uncertainty, competition and speed, the personal development of decision makers becomes both more crucial and more complex.

In global world, all organisations public or private, gain both more visibility and more responsibility for their actions. Preparing people beyond their professional fitness to face and master these daunting tasks cannot possibly be achieved by traditional higher education.

Responsible leadership in a global and complex environment means integrating rational and irrational dimensions. It aims at understanding and balancing emotionality and rationality, innovation and preservation.

In today’s workplace, public and private leaders and managers are well educated, rationally and intellectually fit people, overloaded with information and cognitive learning. They will at this point find the strongest learning effect through emotional and intuitive exposure. An experience to build on through reflection – and leading to a review of their own (leadership) actions in the light of the new personal dimensions discovered.

InterContext wants to pilot different ways to enhance leadership skills for people who are ready to learn by going beyond their boundaries and comfort zones, who are seeking greater awareness and understanding of context.

Exposure Reflection Action

ERA can create a space and an opportunity

• For emotional exposure and learning
• For reflection on and awareness of the broader context of the organisation and its role in societies
• For more creativity and innovation in a manager’s own personal development and in his/her organisational context

By:

• Experiencing radically different realities
• Living through emotional challenge
• Learning about diverse cultural values
• Understanding the political and social context
• Exploring underlying philosophical dimensions
• Discovering the arts as a supporting personal experience

ERA includes:

• An action learning/exposure part for the manager in a totally different environment (professional, geographic, social), to be tailored to the specific leadership development needs.
• A period of facilitated reflection on the insights gained from key experiences and issues: Dilemmas, values, ethics, culture … This is supported by relevant selected readings and experiences from philosophy, history, politics, drama, arts – creating awareness, deeper understanding and triggering creativity.
• A facilitated session on the integration of the ERA experience into the personal and professional context – improving system thinking, empathy, innovation competence and ambiguity tolerance … leading to concrete steps for leadership improvement.

ERA will be implemented in cooperation with partners of different domains, depending on the particular development orientation of the people involved.

At present ERA is in a pilot stage. If you are interested in participating in it, please contact Bernadette Conraths.