This presentation discussed strategic issues in promoting excellence in the university system. In particular, it describes the role of structuring in organisational excellence.

1. DEPARTMENTALISATION AND
DIVISIONALISATION IN UNIVERSITIES
Anup K Singh

2. DRIVERS OF ORGANISATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Organisational is influenced by both
individual and structural factors
While leadership variables are well
examined, structural factors are less
researched and discussed
Strategy, structure and systems are major
hard factors of organisational excellence
All three of intricately related and influence
one other

3. THE ISSUE
Universities in India are ranked lower on excellence
Separate IIMs, IITs and other specialised institutions
were created because it was felt that the university
system would lead to mediocrity
There is evidence that free standing institutions have
performed better than university embedded
institutions
Decision making is slow in university system;
formalisation dominates the functioning of units;
following rules becomes more important than
institutional excellence

4. FUNCTIONS OF ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
Effective decision making
Better integration of roles and units
Reduction in conflict
Efficiency enhancement

5. ISSUES IN RESTRUCTURING UNIVERSITIES
Designed on government pattern
Predominantly based on functional structure
Over control of the Government
Excessive manpower
High formalisation
High centralisation
Lack of alignment with the corporate world

6. REGULATION
The UGC and AICTE are the regulatory bodies. They
assume that all academic units are more or less
same. Therefore, most norms should be same for
them
As institutions largely follow the norms set by the
regulatory bodies, they also treat all units more or
less similarly
However, there are separate professional regulatory
bodies that expect different things from different units
Over-regulation encourages centralisation and
standardisation rather than decentralisation of
institutions
Centralisation restricts and limits excellence

7. OWNERSHIP AND DIVISIONALISATION
Government follows a centralised,
departmentalised structure. The government
university is the mirror image of the
government
Private universities can think of greater
decentralisation

8. UNIVERSITIES AND 3S
In general, universities are mission-driven
They often do not develop competitive
strategies
They have perspective plans, ranging from 5 to
20 years
Most universities are in the government sector
and they largely develop plans to meet
government expectations
Competition and excellence are related. No
competition, no excellence

9. CONTD...
Traditionally, universities are highly centralised
system
They follow departmentalisation pattern in which
each academic discipline is treated as a department
Each department has parity with another department
in terms of academic norms, facilities, operations and
HRM
However, in reality, each department has its own
unique environment – students, placement avenues,
faculty, curricular requirements, regulator, etc.
Systems are largely affected by the structure of an
organisation

10. CONTD...
Divisionalisation, on the other hand, treats each
academic subject as a separate strategic business
unit
Each division is given sufficient autonomy to be
effective in its unique environment and to compete
with the institutions nested in its strategic group
Each division develops its own strategy and systems
to thrive
Thus, it is able to respond more effectively to its
environmental challenges
Values, aspirations, and culture bind different
divisions; but, they differ in their marketing,
operations, and HRM

11. CONTD...
Departmentalisation is a rule, while divisionalisation
is an exception in the university system
Divisionalisation is based on market requirements,
whereas departmentalisation is based on internal
orientation
Some units generate surplus, while others act like
parasites
Just because there are different departments, there
is no synergy among them
Top management apparently has more influence in
departmental structure but seems to lose the basis
objective of institutional excellence

12. THE ROLE OF TOP LEADERSHIP IN A
DIVISIONALISED STRUCTURE
Developing vision, mission and value
framework
Setting strategic direction and ensuring support
Strategy monitoring and control
Facilitating learning across units
Growth and diversification
Providing common facilities, like Finance, HR,
branding, public relations, etc.
Managing common labs and learning spaces

13. HYBRID STRUCTURING
A mix of divisionalisation and
departmentalisation with bias for the former
Central matrix roles are required, such as
teaching-learning centre, PR, branding,
international relations, etc.
Networking among units
Professional bureaucracy

14. DEPARTMENTS ARE AFFECTED BY:
Employment opportunities (Professional vs. Liberal arts)
and recruiters
Regulation (professional programmes vs. Liberal arts)
Nature of degree (MBA vs. BA; five year integrated vs.
Split degree)
Students’ willingness to pay, thus resource availability
Resource consumption (Science vs. Arts)
Research support (Science vs. Law)
Faculty availability (Medical vs. Management)
Theoretical and practical orientation (Pharmacy vs. Law)
Skill orientation (Architecture vs. History)