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ABSTRACT
The Resource Allocations and Management Program grant
funds a-project aimed at facilitating the use of management science
and information systems techniques by developing, documenting, and
testing a methodology that small postsecondary units can use in
considering the application of these tools. This document provides a
description and an overview of the data collection methods used in
this project. In developing the review phase, the thrust is to
provide an approach that is based on data collection and analysis and
is systematic in nature.'"Also developed is a general description of
the review phase structure that forms a basis for the development of
specific data collection methodology. (Author)
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COLLEGE MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
CENTER FOR ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH
of the
COLLEGE ,OF EDUCATION AND
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
OF HEALTH,
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA U S OEPARTMENT
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PROJECT INVESTIGATORS
ADDRESS
93 Blegen Hall
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
(612) 373-7822 .
COLLEGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
Working Paper
CMSIP-WP-74-2.1
Roger G. Schroeder
Associate Professor, Business Administration
Director, Center for Academic Administration Research
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
September 1974
4
PREFACE
The series of papers is being prepared by members of the College Management System
team are being supported by the Exxon Education Foundation through its Resource
The research efforts of the project are aimed at facilitating the use of management
a methodology that small postsecondary units can use in considering the application
of these tools.
availability.
Figure 1 indicates the topics to be covered in each of the papers in the
project series. A box has been drawn around the subject of this paper.
FIGURE 1
As can be seen from Figure 1, the improvement approach has three main
parts: 1) the Review Phase, 2) the Design Phase, and 3) the Implementation
Phase. The Review Phase describes the existing management system and the needs
for improvement. The Design Phase identifies major management system improve-
ment areas based on data from the Review Phase and it generates design improve-
ments for each of those areas. The Implementation Phase implements and evaluates
the resulting new management system. The reasoning behind the three phase structure
and a brief description of the methods used in each phase is contained in the
and an overview of the data collection methods used in this phase. The approach
being applied by the authors. However, the methodology could almost certainly be
systems. The first of these is the general management literature (eg., Anthony [3],
Ackoff [1], Koontz and O'Donnell [7], and McGuire [8]). This literature has ad-
vocated basic principles of management, but they are far too broad to be of direct
use in collecting data for the review of an existing management system and they
do not link the theory to the design of better management systems. As we will see
below, however, the structure provided by these principles is necessary for the
is represented by authors such as Glans, et al.. [6] and Couger [5]. These authors
have tended to discuss very detailed questions about systems operations. They
other techniques which are used to analyze the clerical or operating subsystems of
an organization. The approach tends to be ad hoc in nature and it presumes the type
of improvements which are needed. Moreover, the systems analysis approach has not
3
There is a need for the development of better methods for the review of
nature. The next section provides a general description of the review phase
structure which forms a basis for the development of specific data collection
methodology.
The purpose of the review phase is to collect data which can be used for
ments after they have been made. Data collection is at the heart of the review
phase. By carefully structuring the data collection, some of the ad hoc nature of
The discussion of the review phase structure is organized into four parts;
review phase, and a framework for data collection. Each of these parts contributes
Systems Definitions
an organization. This will help define what is meant by words such as "the manage-
system is shown in Figure 2 and the components of that system are described
below.
8
4
FIGURE 2
Outside 1.
Management Structure Environment
Environment
(people, resources)
Goals Management
Structure Institutional
Feedback
Directives Feedback
Inputs Outputs
Operations
review phase being discussed in this paper is concerned with the review of the
9
were considered: by processes (activities), by organizational components, or by
A process subdivision method was developed for this study. If one were
collect data by organizational units. The focus for review here is not on organi-
On the other hand, the method of dividing the system into functional operating
functions are typically defined from an operating standpoint, see for example
Gouger [5]. Again, changes in operations are not the primary interest of this paper.
entire list of processes designed for college management system review is included
III. Instruction
IV. Support
10
6
Processes in categories I and II are institutional in nature, while those in
I and II contain those processes which operate at the central administration level
and affect more than one department, e.g., budgeting. Processes in categories III
and operations aspects. Thus, processes cut across the college system as shown in
FIGURE
"11111111111
00 ement
men
Goals
Institutional
Feedback
11
7
Components of the Review Phase
A third aspect of the review phase structure is the data collection methods
used for the review activity. In order to help organize the data collection of
the review phase it is useful to categorize the data collection efforts into several
below as a component of the review phase. The five components are briefly defined
below.
the key--operations are not reviewed for the sake of independent operating
involve academic and non-academic department heads, since they are most
8
12
4. Institutional Goals: This component describes the goals and goal setting
the question of what the system is supposed to accomplish arises time and
goals from the broadest possible viewpoint before a new design is developed.
Also, in any revised management system the goal setting process will have
a prominent role. This component of the review phase would usually solicit
faculty, students, and alumni) since they all influence the college goals.
the extent to which the system is actually improved after changes have
been made. Thus, the review phase must establish a base-line against
which change can be evaluated. The project and management system evalua-
tion component of the review phase determines what base-line measures should
be developed and how they. would be used. Most of the base-line data consists
of the outputs of components one through four which are reorganized for
In order to meet the needs for design, implementation and evaluation, the
framework for data collection includes three perspectives; current status, desired
status, and priority of desired changes. The current status describes the manage-
ment system as it is now. It determines the present state of the-system with respect
status will require a variety of points of view, since desired status will usually
vary among individuals. The desired status will usually be measured along the
13
9
same dimensions as current status so that differences can be used to identify
also required. This leads to the third dimension of the review phase, priority
for change.
Combining the three dimensions fbr review and the fth components results
in the framework for data collection shown in Figure 4. Each of the X's represents
FIGURE 4
Dimensions
Current Desired
Components Status Status Priorities for Change
Managerial Topics X X X
Operating Topics X X X
EnVironmental Context X X X
Institutional Goals X X X
The data collection methodology for each of the five review phase components
is described below. Only an overview of the methodology is given here; other papers
indicated in Figure 1 describe the methods for each component in more detail.
10
Managerial Topics
and outputs of each process. To begin, a list of about fifteen questions is used
which pertains to each process. These questions deal with process characteristics
college). Data is requested on the current status, desired status, and priority
Step one also includes the review of existing documents in the college.
Examples are goal statements, policy manuals, minutes of board meetings, consti-
tutions, and other important documents which describe the managerial process.
Many of these documents are collected during the course of the interviews with
administrators.
tiveness, need for improvements of various types, and priorities for change.
all individuals who are familiar with the processes. In a small college the
on the size of the college. This data helps provide an assessment of needed
15
11
improvements and is also used to evaluate the effect of changes after they have
been made.
within pi.ocesses. It traces information flows in general terms from one process to
one. The data is used to identify general problems that occur in information and
Step three also includes drawing an activity flow chart of each process. The
flow chart describes the major decisions and other activities which are included
in the process, the types of information used, and how the activities relate to
each other. These flow charts are drawn by an analyst in discussions with adminis-
ships which need improvement, to indicate what types of improvements are desired
and to provide a base-line for evaluation of changes after they are made.
Operating Topics
The operating topics area collects data on the relationships of the oper-
ating system to the management structure. The data collection focuses on two
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12
would utilize the flow charts described in step three of managerial topics as a
first set of interviews, the analyst would examine the major data files in the
organization. This examination helps identify the condition of the data base
used to provide current information and the existence of data not presently used
this step uses a series of interviews with decision makers on information needs.
These interviews relate data currently available in the files to needs and priori-
ties as perceived by the persons responiible for the decisions. There is also an
opportunity for interaction between the analyst and the decision makers based on
The types of problems are identified by several dimensions; guidance, timing, level
used to determine whether management system changes are needed to improve relation-
Institutional Goals
board of trustees. One way to carry out this study is to use an instrument like
the Institutional Goals Inventory from Educational Testing Service. That instrument
includes ninety goal statements plus allowance for up to twenty additional goal
37 13
There are three uses of institutional goal data:
management system.
(2) To indicate problem areas where the direction that is being pursued
is
not in agreement with the direction that one or.more of the constituent
can trigger a search for explanations and solutions and thereby result
All of these uses contribute to the design improvements and to the base-line
proving the information available to the college for its goal setting process.
Environmental Context
which affect the design options for improvements to the management system. Types
and by screening of the data from other parts of the review phase.
The data gathered for the environmental context component is primarily re-
lated to the design effort. It indicates in general terms which design directions
are feasible (constraints) and which directions might be the most desirable (faci-
14
18
Project and Management System Evaluation
changes that have been made as a result of the project. In order to evaluate
management system. The same dimensions of the base-line are also measured after
interpreted to assign probable cause and thereby separate the effects of manage-
ment system changes from other outside influences. The result is an assessment of
success of the new management system and the project which produced it.
Base-line evaluation data is obtained primarily from the other parts of the
review phase. Each of those parts documents the current status of the manage-
ment system prior to any changes. That data which is considered pertinent forms
a part of the base-line evaluation data. The detailed methodology indicates what
data is needed for base-line evaluation and prescribes a. method for developing
that data.
SUMMARY
The review phase of the college management system improvement project col-
lects data that is to be used for (1) the design of an improved system and (2) the
a structure for collecting the review phase data and an outline of the data
collection methodology.
selection of the subsystems which are used for review purposes, definitions of
the review components and the data collection framework. The framework consists
of the review phase are: managerial topics, operating topics, institutional goals,
environmental context, and project and management system evaluation. The three
dimensions are: status of the current system, desired status, and priorities for
change.
A variety of data sources are used to document the current status, desired
status, and priorities for change in the management system. The general nature
Managerial Topics X X X
Operating Topics X X
Environmental Context X X X
Institutional Goals X t X
The data collected in the review phase permits a definitive assessment of changes
that are needed in the management system and a basis for evaluation of the changes
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16
Appendix A
III Instruction
IV Support Services
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4. Level of Detail: The level of detail of specification of each process is
there are different procedures used for each group, there would be
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Small College Processes
E. Organizational Structure
A. Financial
1. Budgeting
2. Fund Raising
B. Facilities
1. Allocation of Positions
2. Personnel Policy Making
3. Promotion
4. Recruiting
III. Instruction
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IV. Support Services
A. Business Services
a. General Ledger
b. Accounts Payable
c. Accounts Receivable
d. Payroll
e. Control of Receipt and Disbursement Of Funds
f. Cath Budgeting
g. Cost Analysis of Operations
h. Management of Investments
i. Internal Audit
a. Data Processing
b. Athletics
c. Residence Halls
d. Food Services
e. Bookstore
f. Laundry
g. Health Service
h. Printing Shops
i. Student Unions
j. Police and Security
k. Parking
1. Transportation
a. Maintenance
b. Custodial
B. Student Services
3. Student Counseling
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5. Placement
6. Financial Aid
7. Advising
C. Academic Support
1. Library
a. Cataloging
b. Circulation
c. Acquisitions
D. Development
1. Public Information
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References
5. Couger, J. D., and R. W. Knapp (eds.), Systems Analysis Techniques, Wiley, 1974.
6.' Glans, T. B., et al., Management Systems, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston,
1968.
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