Benchmarking as a Strategic Tool to Manage Internationalization The session seeks to answer the most relevant questions on benchmarking and how to use it strategically as a tool to enhance and promote internationalization of the institution, recruitment markets, and faculty/student quality. Olga Sholderer, Senior Associate, Data Services, AACSB International, Singapore - Tampa – Amsterdam Dr. Mathias Falkenstein, CEO; Higher Education Management Group, Germany / Executive Policy Advisor; LUISS Business School, LUISS University, Italy October 31, 2019 Slide 1
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Benchmarking as a Strategic Tool to Manage Internationalization
The session seeks to answer the most relevant questions on benchmarking and how to use it strategically as a tool to enhance and promote internationalization of the institution, recruitment markets, and faculty/student quality.
Olga Sholderer, Senior Associate, Data Services, AACSB International, Singapore - Tampa –Amsterdam
Dr. Mathias Falkenstein, CEO; Higher Education Management Group, Germany / Executive Policy Advisor; LUISS Business School, LUISS University, Italy
October 31, 2019 Slide 1
Time Subject Learning objectives Training methods Presenters & Times
10:40 –11:05 Benchmarking 101 What do we mean by Benchmarking? Presentation & group work
Mathias Falkenstein15 min presentation5 min Group Work5 min presentation and discussion Total = 25 min
11:05–11:35 Peers & Competitors Define peers & competitors, criteria and clusters PresentationOlga Sholderer30 min presentation
11:35 – 12:00Institutional culture and context Benchmarking: The Inconvenient Truth Presentation & group work
All25 min
October 31, 2019 Slide 2
Self introductionsI am (name) from (institution & role) in (country)
and I am interested in benchmarking because …
October 31, 2019 Slide 3
Benchmarking 101
Mathias Falkenstein
October 31, 2019 Slide 4
Where does the term come from?The term benchmarking was first used by cobblers to measure people’s feet to produce shoes.They would place someone’s foot on a “bench” and mark it out to make the pattern for the shoes.
We all do itBenchmarking tells us our position or status in comparison to others.
October 31, 2019 Slide 6
The questions we ask
Where am I today?How do I compare to others?Am I at the top or the bottom of the class?What are the areas I need to improve?Are there others with similar problems?Have they solved them already, and if so what worked?
October 31, 2019 Slide 7
Collaborative benchmarking
is a process undertaken with the aim of improving performance by learning from others
is a voluntary process of self-evaluationentails systematic and collaborativecomparison of practices with the purpose of implementing change in order to improve
October 31, 2019 Slide 8
A simple but not straightforward process
1. requires time, effort and investment
2. is not just a technical exercise, but one of social and cultural engagement
3. factors pushing a change of culture and improvement
4. potentially, this can be threatening
October 31, 2019 Slide 9
You need commitment
Commitment of leadership to • steer the exercise• appoint a project team• commit resources• implement the results
October 31, 2019 Slide 10
And then you will need to put it into actionOnce you have identified the areas for improvement, you have the “ingredients” of an action plan which:
• must be realistic and properly resourced • have a timeframe• define specific tasks• allocate resources (human/financial)• define expected outputs• include monitoring and evaluation procedures
And most importantly it must contribute to the strategic development(and become part of an ongoing process of improvement)
October 31, 2019 Slide 11
Why do we do it?Benchmarking is a powerful tool to:gain deeper understanding of institutional strengths and weaknessesprovide systematic comparison of core institutional processes by placing institutional performance in context inform strategic planning and assist with decision-making in an increasingly competitive environment◦ setting realistic objectives and targets◦ building ownership of results at different levels
which all can lead to innovative practice and improved organisational performance
October 31, 2019 Slide 12
You need appropriate comparators (How)
• similar institutional profile • similar degree of institutional development• sufficient common strategic interest
◦ Or with a leader in the field? ◦ Or within/across the institution?
October 31, 2019 Slide 13
You need to be sure your comparisons are comparable (What)
agreeing on priority thematic areas
developing a list of indicators (quantitative and qualitative)
developing “benchmarks”
October 31, 2019 Slide 14
You need to gather and analyse reliable data
defining how the data will be gathered ◦ issue of quality and comparability of data
validating the data• internally• with partners • using external experts
scoring the institution • placing the institution against the benchmarks
analysing and producing a report• confidential for management or shared?• what information is made public ?
October 31, 2019 Slide 15
In conclusion…
Benchmarking (like strategic planning)is about positioning (regional, national, international)is designed to strengthen and enhance the performance and quality of an institutionis participative, dynamic and future focusedresults in decisions and actionsis fundamentally a change process
October 31, 2019 Slide 16
Exercise #1: Questions1. What are relevant benchmarking areas in
internationalisation for your institution?
2. How would you define and select peers and competitors?
3. What are potential drivers and barriers for benchmarking in your institution?
October 31, 2019 Slide 17
Peers & Competitors
Olga Sholderer
October 31, 2019 Slide 18
AACSB International
Global Network§ Affinity Groups§ Exchange§ Collaboration Concourse§ Volunteer Opportunities
Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement (Accreditation)
Professional Development Events§ Conferences§ Seminars§ Webinars and eLearning§ Exhibiting and Sponsorship
Business Education Intelligence§ Industry Reports§ DataDirect Database§ Country Profiles§ BizEd Magazine
Career Services§ BizSchoolJobs.com§ Advertising
Research Outputs
October 31, 2019 Slide 20
AACSB perspectiveComparable PeersA list of schools considered similar in mission and assumed to be appropriate for performance comparison. A minimum of six comparable schools must be provided.
Comparison GroupsThree types of comparison groups are involved in the accreditation process: comparable peers, a competitive group, and an aspirant group. Comparison groups provide relevant context for judgment, and inform strategic planning activities. Schools within the comparable peer group or aspirant group may be selected as PRT members.
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Methods of identifying your peers1. Threshold method
2. Executive Panel
3. Cluster Analysis
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1. Threshold Method
Ranges for the indicators that approximate your institution’s characteristics
Reach out for advice to the executives at your institution
Lay out any necessary context (socio-economic, demographic)
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3. Cluster Analysis
One of the simplest and most popular unsupervised machine learning methods : k-means clusteringSPSS, R, manually in Excel or using one of the Excel add-insGroups similar data points together and discover underlying patterns. K-means algorithm identifies k number of centroids, and then allocates every data point to the nearest cluster, while keeping the centroids as small as possible.
Be aware of assumptions for this method!
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Benchmarking Data Sources (public)
Policy Organisations European Tertiary Education Register (ETER)Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
RankingsTimes Higher Ed ShanghaiU-MultirankFinancial Times QSCWTS Leiden