Establishing a Culture of Digital Change within Universities

Point of View

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Through traversing the evolutions of industry, the increasing demands for mass education and changing government policy, universities have successfully demonstrated their ability to evolve. The rate of change however continues to increase. The combination of global connectivity and pervasiveness of digital technology is driving change at levels never previously experienced.

Digital technology is changing the way organisations interact with their stakeholders both internally and externally. It has elevated expectations regarding how products and services are to be sourced and accessed. It is setting the standards related to how we communicate and engage with colleagues and customers. And it is playing a greater role in informing customers of alternatives and competitive options.

Universities are at the forefront of this change. As the creators and educators of knowledge they share a responsibility to ensure the next generation of industry leaders and employees can thrive in this increasingly digitally influenced landscape. However, universities themselves are not immune to this change.

The need to create value propositions that attract and retain students has never been more evident. The education options available to students from both global and domestic education providers continues to increase. Student expectations are rising and yet changes to government higher education funding has universities seeking ways to increase productivity and efficiency while also seeking to improve the student experience.

Universities need to consider how they respond to the influence of digital change. The answer lies in taking a holistic approach, embracing a culture of change and positioning IT as the leader of agile change.

The culture of change within university needs to evolve

Culture is a power thing. It is established through history, passing down traditions and time-honoured values. Culture of a university permeates its faculty and staff, defines its reputation and conveys a perception to its prospective market.

Internally universities are heavily influenced by individuals who are experts in their fields, often afforded levels of autonomy and freedom. In this context universities have been described as organised anarchies managed as “expertocracies”. They maintain a delicate balance across the varying objectives of teaching, research and administration. Operating in an environment where their goals can be ambiguous with a focus being people and not profit. A university’s ability to evolve its culture is bound within this environment, digital disruption is challenging the status quo everywhere, including universities.

Universities are complex, diverse and unique organisations. They are people orientated institutions whose goals and objectives vary across teaching, research and general administration. A fine balance exists between the authority and autonomy of faculty and the needs of management to drive the change necessary for their sustainability and growth.

Point of View

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind”.

– James W. 1890. The principles of psychology.

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Point of View

Digital change has become highly pervasive. Economically it is enabling innovation at a large scale, supporting the development of new products and services and disrupting entire supply chains. Socially it has changed the interactions between suppliers and customers, it has created an increasingly informed customer while politically it has changed the nature of campaigning and political lobbying forever. For universities the result is an increased level of competition alongside an increased market size and a more highly informed and influenced customer (student).

The culture (the way we do things around here) of universities must be able to adapt and evolve in line with the rate of change across industry and society. It is not a question of compromising overall university culture, rather evolving it to the changing nature of the digital society it serves. Not doing so will expose a university to new competitive forces and dissociate them from their customers.

Developing a common digital ground

Digital is a perplexing term. Many associate digital with technology products. This is not surprising considering the role of digital in product development. However, with technology now permeating its way throughout industry and society, “digital” has morphed into an inexact term with many interpretations. So, the question is not “what is digital” but what “digital means to you and the university”. Some thoughts to consider.

• Can digital influence the university brand and strategy?

• Can digital inform decisions and increase the responsiveness?

• Can digital add value across a university value-chain?

These questions highlight that digital is more than just a technology. It exerts influence on internal and external factors such that it needs to be considered a strategic informer and enabler. The question for a university is does it regard it as such and if not, how do university leaders drive the necessary change to make it so? Interestingly the need has already been identified.

The need for digital change across universities has been highlighted in the 2018 Caudit Top 10 Topics and the 2018 Educause Top 10 IT Issues reports, ranking #9 and #10 respectively. These reports discuss the need to influence and drive a culture of change necessary to address the influence of digital technology. This view also reflects the broader industry. A recent survey of 376 business leaders by Harvard Business Review identified that 79% of those surveyed, indicated that their organisations will undergo extensive or substantial change due to the influence of digital.

In a world of constant flux and resulting high levels of uncertainty how do you maintain some semblance of stability and performance whilst adapting at speed to leverage opportunities or move with demand.

So, what is the best approach to addressing the digital challenge?

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Point of View

The need for a holistic view

A study undertaken by MIT Sloan in collaboration with Deloitte comprising more than 4800 business executives revealed that the key drivers for digital change are not the technologies themselves. Culture along with strategy and talent development were identified as having the most significant influence on the success of digital change.

“Success will depend less on the technologies themselves and more on your organisations ability to implement them innovatively by rethinking strategy, talent and culture” – MIT Sloan 2015

Successful digital change requires a holistic enterprise wide approach that starts with a recognition that digital technology can and will influence all parts of an organisation both externally and internally. Where digital can be a challenge is that it’s not a one size fits all, rather the approach needs to be one that recognises that digital will have different meaning and applicability to different parts of the organisation. One digital tool may be perfectly suited to use in one area but not in others.

Universities are not dissimilar to many large commercial organisations in that they comprise a series of diverse silos (faculties or similar), focused on a specific field or discipline. Each has had its own approach to addressing digital change. A key challenge is to find the right balance between adopting enterprise wide approaches versus tailored change strategies for specific areas.

• Learning, and teaching has acknowledged the influence of digital for some time. Lectures are being replaced by digital online content, exams are being replaced by online assessment tools and student collaboration is being facilitated by an ever-increasing array of tools, i.e. Google G-Suite.

• Student management have recognised that digital can improve the student experience through the application of digital tools that help manage the end to end life-cycle of a student. Moreover, students today demand a seamless digital experience.

• Facilities management are utilising new digital technologies to improve the utilisation university assets and improve on campus security for students and staff.

These examples illustrate that digital technologies can deliver benefits in various ways across a university however they are point solutions to addressing specific problems. One thing that the history of IT has shown us is that a fragmented approach to implementing technology will result in broader issues. It is for this reason that digital change needs to be approached as a holistic enterprise wide strategy.

“A fragmented approach to implementing technology will result in issues. Think of the challenges brought about by shadow IT”

The need for cultural change within universities has been acknowledged

Number #9 2018 Caudit Top 10 Topics

Number #10 2018 Educause Top 10 IT Issues

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Point of View

Culture can work both for and against change. The business leaders in the Harvard Business Review report mentioned earlier, highlighted that they expect the pressure exerted by digital change will accelerate and intensify. They also worry that organisational inertia and resistance to change will hold them back. University culture can be highly collegiate however it can also be resistant to change particularly when change is not aligned to the goals of those most influential.

This approach to digital strategy establishes the collective recognition of its importance to the university. Amongst leaders it promotes and informs the process of conceptualising how digital technologies can impact current processes and business models. This is the first critical step in achieving the enterprise wide recognition that the influence of digital needs to be addressed. Sponsorship from the university leadership is critical in this.

Responding with agility

Successful organisations continually assess the effect of and develop responses to, the introduction of new products and services. The digital phenomena is increasing the need to adapt and become agile. Agility requires an organisation to be flexible, one that can rapidly respond and adapt to change while delivering operational benefits and value to its customers. The goal is to create a culture that is resilient, accelerates change and ensures sustainability over time.

Enterprise wide change requires the support and commitment of senior leadership. Harvard Business Review identified that communication from leadership more than any other factor is the most effective means for building a change embracing culture. However, it shouldn’t be assumed that an enterprise wide change strategy needs to be implemented at an enterprise wide level. Jeanne W. Ross, principle research scientist at the MIT Center for Information Systems suggests that an increasingly common approach to implementing agile change is the creation of small cross functional teams.

Approached from a university perspective, this team should comprise people that can bring deep university knowledge, analytical, creative thinking and policy knowledge skills with the ability to understand how digital technology can be leveraged to benefit the organisation. MIT Sloan offer that knowing the business and being able to conceptualise how new digital technologies can impact current business processes is the most important knowledge and skill the team can possess. The challenge is how team members who are highly knowledgeable in their respective university area understand the opportunity offered by emerging digital trends.

Leading Edge Forum suggests that few organisations can effectively meet this challenge without the experience and expertise of their internal IT departments. “There is too much misleading market hype, and too many technological uncertainties, pit falls and dead ends for a business person to navigate”. The challenge for university IT departments is that they are regarded as the safe pair of hands, responsible for maintaining the integrity and operation of the university’s assets. Agility is seen as risky, yet more and more, it is being adopted to increase the rate of business change. How can university IT departments become agile?

Communication from leadership is more than any other factor the most effective means for building a change embracing culture.

– Harvard Business Review 2018

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Building agility requires behavioural change. However, it doesn’t happen on its own. Paul Jenkinson, Partner Digital Business Platforms with DXC Technology suggests that teams need to develop five agility attributes being:

• A growth mindset

• Self-organising, autonomous teams

• Strength based management

• Purpose centred – understanding the why?

• Emotional intelligence and mindfulness

Using a variety of tools and practices from 21st century management disciplines, such as lean change, management 3.0 and agile, these attributes can be developed amongst individuals and groups to move the organisation towards sustained agile performance. “The primary objective is to begin the process of sustainable behavioural change for the individuals and their teams. What is required is really a mindset shift from key stakeholders rather than a new digital toolset” says Paul Jenkinson.

Universities need to position their internal IT departments to be the leaders of agile change, leveraging digital technologies to enable the reimagination of the university for their long-term future. Historically IT has closed the gap to business using a role such as a business relationship manager. An internal IT business liaison that is intended to help inform IT of the varying needs of internal business units. Leading Edge Forum suggest these roles should now be positioned as digital business leaders, informing and driving a culture of agile digital change across the university.

As highlighted earlier, the small cross functional team approach is a model increasingly used to drive agile change. Applying this model, the digital business leaders become the facilitators of these teams. Applying design thinking principles and agile methodologies, they are tasked with identifying and assessing opportunities to realise benefits from digital change. The outcomes inform the broader university digital IT strategy and help prioritise areas for investment.

This is not a once year strategic IT planning session. It is the ongoing exploration of the potential opportunities that arise from continual digital change.

Digital change is inevitable

Change is constant. Digital is enabling change at increasing rates with undefined boundaries. Its reach is broad and wide, internal and external. Its access to information; analysis and interpretation of data and ability to automate responses has never been greater. The challenges for organisations, particularly those of long standing with deep established norms is how to address this new digital challenge.

This paper proposes that the increasing influence of digital technology requires that universities address their approach to managing change. Establishing agility is the key. However, the required change won’t happen on its own. Universities need to develop a culture of rapid and sustained change to turn the influence of digital technology into sustainable competitive advantage.

Approaches to rapid change

60% Agile

51% Design thinking

42% MVP

– Harvard Business Review 2018

Contact us for further information

talk_to_us@dxc.com

www.dxc.technology

Point of View

About DXC Technology

DXC Technology (DXC: NYSE) is the world’s leading independent, end-to-end IT services company, serving nearly 6,000 private and public-sector clients from a diverse array of industries across 70 countries. The company’s technology independence, global talent and extensive partner network deliver transformative digital offerings and solutions that help clients harness the power of innovation to thrive on change. DXC Technology is recognized among the best corporate citizens globally. For more information, visit www.dxc.technology.

© 2018 DXC Technology Company. All rights reserved. MD_9186a-19. October 2018

References

2018 Winning through change in the Digital Economy. Harvard Business Review

2018 Educause Top 10 IT Issues

2018 CAUDIT Top 10 Topics Report

2018 Digital Transformation and Leadership – The 5 Big Questions. Leading Edge Forum

2016 Turning Your BRM (Business Relationship Managers) into Digital Business Leaders – Leading Edge Forum

2015 Is Your Business Ready for a Digital Future? MITSloan Management Review

2012 The University Culture – Dr. Joseph Simplicio

1996 Managing university culture: an analysis of the relationship between institutional culture and management approaches. Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration

About the Authors

Dino Rossi

Dino Rossi is the Chief Technologist, Education, for DXC Technology in Australia and New Zealand. Dino is a member of the South Australian chapter of the Australian Information Industry Association and chairs the South Australian Chapter of the National Education Special Interest Group.

Dino also chairs the School of Information Technology and Mathematical Sciences Advisory Board for the University of South Australia and is a member of South Australian Training and Skills Commission. He previously occupied the role of Industry Practitioner in Residence for the University of South Australia, fostering mutually valued relationships between industry and academia, and is a previous Adjunct Research Associate, contributing course development and lecturing for specialist professional subjects.

Paul Jenkinson

Paul Jenkinson is a Partner, Digital Business Platforms, for DXC Technology in Australia and New Zealand. As a digital business transformation executive and innovative thought leader, Paul’s specialties include business agility, lean change, management 3.0, open space agility, solution focussed coaching and executive leadership development. Paul is a collaborative and articulate professional who thrives on assisting individuals and organisations fulfil their potential and realise their objectives with sustainable integrity.