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Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases
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24
King Saud University — The
Strategic Transformation of
King Saud University by 2030
Abdulrahman Al-Aali, Salem S. Alqahtani,
Sunila Lobo, and Ahmed Al-Motawa
College of Business Administration, King Saud
University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Background: Drivers for Change
www.ksu.edu.sa
King Saud University (KSU) is the oldest, and considered one of the most prestigious,
universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In order to achieve its ambitious vision, KSU
has embarked on a transformation program. This program is a turning point in the history
of the university and is made possible by two vital forces. Professor Abdullah Al Othman,
appointed as a new rector in 2007, has, in a short period, articulated a vision for the uni-
versity and demonstrated leadership in challenging the status quo. The second driver is
the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah, who provides unlimited support
to profoundly change the educational system to build the foundation for sound economic
growth and social development while enhancing the Kingdom’s position in the world.
KSU Today
International Recognition
KSD is the oldest university in Saudi Arabia and has a strong belief in scientific and
technological advancement, as well as making entrepreneurial efforts toward achieving
these goals. It has achieved the highest ranking among universities in the Middle East in
the 2010 Academic Ranking of World Universities, known as Shanghai Ranking; it was
the sole Arabian university ranked, listed among the 400 worldwide.1 U.S. News and World
Report magazine, one of America’s most prominent weekly publications, listed KSU 221st
in its annual worldwide rankings of college and universities (World’s Best Universities:
Top 400, 2010). The magazine also ranked universities in five major categories, with KSU
listed 58th worldwide in life sciences and biomedicines.2
According to the 2010 Webometrics ranking of world universities, KSU has
maintained its position as the top-ranking university in the Arab world. KSU is ranked
164th globally, an improvement of 35 places since the 2009 rankings. In particular, KSU
surpassed 10 Asian institutions of higher learning, placing it eighth in that region, and
solidifying KSU’s place as one of the world’s rising universities3. KSU’s arts and humani-
ties program has been ranked first in the Arab and Islamic world in 2010 by QS World
University Rankings, an annual list of the world’s top 500 universities.4
Yet, it is recognized that much needs to be done to facilitate the achievement of the
ambitions of youth in Saudi Arabia and to raise the standard of KSU graduates overall, not
only in terms of academic performance but also in terms of personal development and skill
training, in order to produce valuable members of the workforce as well as valuable mem-
bers of society. This will ultimately result in the university gaining further accolades and
recognition in the Gulf and worldwide for the quality of its graduates and the accreditation
of its programs.
M36_DAVI5674_01_SE_CS24.indd 265
M36_DAVI5674_01_SE_CS24.indd 265 5/12/11 10:35 PM
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266 ABDULRAHMAN AL-AALI, SALEM S. ALQAHTANI, SUNILA LOBO, AND AHMED AL-MOTAWA
Facts
KSU has a total of 65,000 students and 5,000 full-time faculty. In addition, KSU has the
highest concentration of western-trained faculty in Saudi Arabia. In planning this transfor-
mation program, KSU built upon its strengths as a pioneer university in the Kingdom since
1957. In addition:
• It has a large number of influential alumni (numbering 180,000) in both the government
and the private sector.
• There is significant government and public support, as shown by the establishment of
SR14 billion endowment in 2010, for several strategic projects and the recent visit by
King Abdullah to KSU to launch these projects.
• It has a comprehensive academic offering, and a large Saudi faculty making up
about 65 percent of the staff. This represents the highest proportion of local faculty
members among Saudi Arabian universities.
• A local and global network: KSU has built significant partnerships and relationships
with local leading industrial players and global higher education institutions.
In 2009, KSU signed a memorandum of understanding with SABIC for the establish-
ment of a plastics application development center within the Riyadh Techno Valley (RTV)
project worth US$100 million. Through its International Scientific Twinning Program, KSU
has begun to create alliances with leading international universities, signing agreements with
institutions such as the University of Illinois, the Harvard School of Public Health, the Indian
Institute of Technology, and the National University of Singapore, to name a few.
Scene
There are certain problems, however, that the University should address. For example,
a survey conducted in 2008, showed that 61 percent of current students surveyed were
unhappy with teaching effectiveness in transmitting skills or knowledge. Some 59 percent
of alumni surveyed were dissatisfied with the quality of overall education received.
The KSU leadership pondered different possibilities for minimizing the problems.
Part of the solution may lie in recruiting more experienced international faculty. Other
possibilities include “implementing internationally accepted best practices for recruiting
and adopting temporary measures to attract visiting faculty to support current Saudi fac-
ulty, particularly the junior ones. These measures should be augmented with internationally
competitive compensation.”5 In addition, several external trends and forces have played a
part in the call for a major transformation of KSU. These include:
• Saudi school outcomes which do not lead to a globally competitive workforce
• Saudi demographics and job market needs
• Changes in Saudi’s higher-education sector
• The entry of international branded universities in the region
• A desired shift in Saudi Arabia towards the knowledge economy.
Vision: To be
a world-class
university and a
leader in develop-
ing Saudi Arabia’s
knowledge
economy.
Mission: To provide students
with a quality education, conduct
valuable research, serve the
national and international societies
and contribute to Saudi Arabia’s
knowledge economy through
learning, creativity, the use of
current and developing technolo-
gies and effective international
partnership.
EXHIBIT 1 King Saud University Budget
Budget Section Item 1428/1429 (2008) 1430/1431 (2009) 1431/1432 (2010)
(in SR, 000s)
1st Salaries, Wages, Allowances 1.663.866 2.000.000 2.229.344
2nd Operational Expenses 1.265.802 1.394.254 1.348.559
3rd Maintenance, Operations,
Cleaning Contracts, and
Programs
207.948 379.802 403.652
4th Projects 560.620 1.649.726 3.357.054
Total 3.698.236 5.423.782 7.338.609
Note: KSU budget for the year 2010 represents about 1.33 percent of total Saudi government budget.
Source: Finance Department, King Saud University, 2010.
5/12/11 10:35 PM

CASE 24 • KING SAUD UNIVERSITY — THE STRATEGIC TRANSFORMATION OF KING SAUD UNIVERSITY BY 2030 267
Understanding these trends and their impact was the critical context against which
KSU’s Strategic Plan was shaped. However, the need for a sound and coherent strategic
plan at KSU is marked by profound challenges and trade-offs, including:
• Upholding [the university’s] public mission to educate the youth of the Kingdom,
while also ensuring an outstanding education for each student.
• Ensuring graduates are sufficiently grounded in academic theory, while also mastering
the application skills demanded by the Saudi, regional, and global job market.
• Maintaining the richness and variety of [the] academic offering, while also attaining
global recognition in select disciplines.
• Achieving excellence in teaching, while also building distinctive research
capabilities.
• Advancing undergraduate education, while also bolstering graduate education to the
benefit of the Saudi society.
• Pursuing the global trends of interdisciplinary research, while also attaining excellence
within disciplines.
• Enabling an inclusive environment based on meritocracy and equality irrespective of
gender, while also respecting Saudi social traditions and norms.
• Serving the social and economic needs of the Kingdom, while also being recognized
as a global contributor to the knowledge economy.
Current State, Future Desired State, and Gap Analysis
It was clear that KSU had first to understand what a great university is like. Then, it would
have to determine its current status and bridge the gap to attain the goal of being a world-
class university. The purpose of the Twenty-Year Strategic Plan is to fill the gap between
its current state and the desired state. The next section briefly explains the overall KSU
Strategic Plan and then focuses more in detail on the strategic plan for the College of
Business Administration, within KSU.
What it Takes to be a Great University
KSU is one of 23 public and private universities in Saudi Arabia (not including private
colleges). KSU’s aspiration is to become a national and global model of teaching and
research excellence. It wants to continue to be the pioneer of higher education in the
Kingdom and become the first research-based university to play a pivotal role in Saudi’s
knowledge economy. A strategic plan is the first step towards achieving this ambition.
KSU has many levels to undertake as part of the strategic plan, including commis-
sioning McKinsey & Company, the global management consulting firm, in 2008 to shape
the initial strategy to adopt towards this goal. Furthermore, Rector Abdullah Al Othman
appointed a Strategic Planning Committee under a Strategic Plan Office, to prepare, by
April 2009, a twenty-year strategic plan for KSU. In total, the committee heard the input
of more than 4,000 KSU stakeholders, including alumni. Surveys, focus groups, SWOT
analysis, and one-to-one interviews and feedback were gathered from the KSU community
and conveyed to Strategic Planning Committee members through e-mails, phone calls and
one-to-one meetings.
After sifting through KSU’s rich history and the analysis of the facts from the
strategic planning diagnostic exercise, KSU found eight facts that expressed particularly
well the challenges that KSU faces, outlined below:
• KSU has 65,000 total students today while the top 80 universities in the world have a
maximum of only about 45,000 students.
• Of KSU’s students, 90 percent are undergraduates and 10 percent are graduates in
comparison with a 50/50 ratio at benchmarked institutions.
• KSU’s faculty spends 16 percent of its time on research while faculty at benchmarked
universities spends as much as 30–35 percent of their time on research.
• KSU’s funding per student is US$15,000 (of which 97 percent are public funds),
while benchmarked universities spend between US$30,000 and US$45,000
(of which 30–50 percent are public funds).
5/12/11 10:35 PM

• Some 15–20 percent of first- and second-year KSU students have a failing Grade
Point Average (below 2.0 on a scale up to 5.0). By contrast, at benchmarked
universities, only 2–5 percent do.
• Critical academic and administrative decision rights lie outside of KSU, with
other government bodies, whereas leading public universities around the world
hold these decision rights within the institution to enable greater flexibility of
operation.
• Seventy percent of KSU alumni have observed that they lacked practical experience
and skills when they entered the job market (this perception is shared by employers).
• Over 60 percent of the different stakeholder groups surveyed (students, faculty,
alumni, staff) felt that KSU’s reputation was weakening in the Kingdom.
Despite the significant challenges implied by these eight facts, there was nonetheless
tremendous positive sentiment expressed by stakeholders towards KSU. The overwhelm-
ing majority want KSU to be successful in pursuing teaching and research excellence, and
believe that, with the appropriate strategic direction and execution, KSU has remarkable
potential to shape the future of Saudi Arabia.
The following steps were pursued by KSU in devising its plan.
1. Strategy formulation
2. Strategy implementation
3. Strategy evaluation.
A brief description of each phase is given below based on KSU plan documents.
Number of people
providing input
*
Surveys
KSU
Leadership
Faculty
Students
Staff
Alumni
External
stakeholders
280
1,370
1,340
825
295
140
SWOT workshops 1-on-1 Interviews
Focus group
• 891 faculty (60% male, 40% female)
• 866 students (61% male, 39% female)
• 492 staff
• 282 female and 98 male students
through 3 SWOT workshops
• 130 female and 203 male staff members
• 61 female and 109 male leadership
• 182 female and 192 male faculty
members through 2 SWOT workshops
• 110 female and 85 male KSU alumni
* KSU’s Strategic Planning Committee
• 110+ deans, vice-rectors, vice-deans,
assistant deans interviewed (in 35+
deanships)
• 10 1-on-1 interviews with top 5%
students
• 13 1-on-1 interviews with bottom 5%
students
• 139 employers and Government leaders
through SPC* interviews
• 100+ alumni interviews by phone
And feedback from the whole KSU
community conveyed to SPC*
members through e-mails, phone
and 1-on-1 meetings
• 86+ faculty member (63 female, 23
male) in a focus groups
• 104+ students (60 female, 44 male) in 9
focus groups focus groups
In designing the Strategic Plan, we heard the input of more than 4000 KSU
stakeholders and reviewed KSU’s Key data
EXHIBIT 2 KSU Stakeholders Consultation
Source: KSU Strategic Planning Committee team analysis.
5/12/11 10:35 PM

Phase I: Strategy Formulation
The formulation process includes:
1. Diagnostics
• SWOT workshops: SWOT workshops are done to evaluate strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats. The competencies, resources, and other aspects are
analyzed.
• External trends. External assessment: marketplace, competitors, social trends,
technology, regulatory environment, etc.
• Internal trends: Internal assessment is done for the college and deanship assets,
resources, people, culture, systems, partnerships, suppliers, etc.
• Benchmarking and best practices: Benchmarking is the process of compar-
ing one’s college and department processes and performance metrics from other
benchmarked universities. Dimensions typically measured are quality, time, and
cost. Improvements from learning mean doing things better, faster, and cheaper.
Benchmarking involves management identifying the best institutions in their indus-
try, or any other industry where similar processes exist, and comparing the results
and processes of those studied (the ’targets‘) to one’s own results and processes to
learn how well the targets perform and, more importantly, how they do it.
2. Components
• Vision: This expresses what the college and department wants to become: it should
be compelling, vivid, and concise, challenge everyone to reach for something signif-
icant, inspire a compelling future, and be time-bound. A vision sets out aspirations
for the future. The vision is the ‘dream’ of the future, a picture painted in words,
which is intended to inspire people by appealing to the heart as well as the head.
• Mission: The mission is basically the purpose of existence; it provides context for
major decisions and capable of fulfillment. It is not time-bound.
• Values: Values guide every major decision making; it embodies the spirit of the
university or the related college.
3. Specifics
• Objectives: The major actions are referred to as objectives, which should support
the vision and mission. The objectives should be specific, measurable, attainable,
relevant, and time-bound, and can be evaluated.
• Initiatives: These are the main actions which lead to the achievement of the objec-
tives. These can be in the form of projects or programs.
• Key performance indicators, timelines, and deliverables: These are quantifiable
methods for measuring success. These are indicators and monitors of success
which include performance measurement, operations, procedures, and processes.
They describe who does what, when it will be completed, and how the organiza-
tion knows when steps are completed.
4. Evaluate
• Performance review: This is a major process of evaluating the progress and perfor-
mance of the objectives and initiatives. Monitoring can be done through Balanced
Scorecards, Microsoft Project, or other tools.
• Revision of plans: This includes managing risks and issues, and taking contingency
actions.
KSU Strategic Plan’s Nine Strategic Objectives
KSU’s Strategic Plan outlines the strategic objectives and recommendations to address the
challenges stated in the earlier section, and an action plan for implementation. The plan is
outlined in Exhibit 3.
The nine strategic objectives are supported by 49 initiatives, as detailed in Exhibit 4.
Phase II: Strategy Implementation
The implementation of the strategic plan will include the regular management of initiatives,
evaluation and mitigation of risks, reviewing of deliverables, and communication of imple-
mentation. KSU recognized that initiative management will encompass the continued efforts
Values:
Based on our Islamic and tradi-
tional cultural values, we strive for:
• Quality and Excellence:
We hold our values according
to extremely high standards,
honoring lofty ambitions
and the pursuit of excellence
through a commitment to
the rigorous intellectual stan-
dards in teaching, learning
and innovation.
• Leadership and Teamwork:
We are committed to pro-
moting individual and institu-
tional leadership roles, which
drive social development,
professionalism, responsibil-
ity, and innovation, collabora-
tion and cooperation are rec-
ognized as necessary means
of attaining excellence.
• Freedom of Inquiry:
Rigorous and honest
intellectual exploration is
fundamental to our academic
traditions, and reflected in
every facet of scholarship at
King Saud University.
• Fairness and Integrity:
We abide by the principles of
social justice, equal oppor-
tunity and cultural diversity,
holding members of our
community to the high-
est standards of honesty,
respect, and professional
ethics.
• Transparency and
Accountability:
We are committed to openly
placing our scholarly ideas
and works for society and
scholars to judge. In our
pursuit of excellence, we hold
everybody in our community
accountable for respecting
and upholding our values in
all forms of their scholarly
activities.
• Lifelong Learning:
We are committed to lifelong
learning inside and outside
the KSU community, ensuring
continued intellectual growth
and welfare of society.
5/12/11 10:35 PM

EXHIBIT 4 The 9 Strategic Objectives and Their Supporting Initiatives
Strategic Objective Initiatives
GOOD EVERYWHERE;
GREAT IN FOCUS
AREAS
1.1 Develop area of excellence: Healthcare
1.2 Develop area of excellence: Education
1.3 Develop area of excellence: Finance & insurance
1.4 Develop area of excellence: Management
1.5 Develop area of excellence: Engineering/ICT
1.6 Develop area of excellence: Engineering/Petrochemicals
1.7 Develop area of excellence: Engineering/Water resources development and management
1.8 Develop area of excellence: Urban Planning
1.9 Develop future technologies
DISTINCTIVE
FACULTY
2.1 Strengthen faculty recruitment process to match international standards
2.2 Attract visiting professors in each department
2.3 Increase benefits and improve support for existing faculty members
2.4 Design and deploy new performance based faculty tracks
LESS IS MORE 3.1 Transform the existing branch campuses into standalone universities
3.2 Reduce the size of the student body at the Riyadh campuses by raising entry criteria
3.3 Raise funding per student
3.4 Form advisory committee to analyze higher education capacity and advise government
3.5 Build internal capacity at the Muzahmiya campus
3.6 Expand current graduate offering in each program
3.7 Increase international intake of graduate students
To provide distinctive education, produce creative research, serve society and contribute
in building the Knowledge economy and community through learning, creative thinking
envirionment, the optimal use of technology and effective international partnership
Good everywhere;
great in focus areas
Strengthen our comprehensive university with academic
areas of research and teaching excellence
Distinctive
faculty
Less is more
Supportive learning envirionment
Create an engaging environment at KSU for faculty, students, and staff
Sustainable future
Build KSU’s endowment and diversity sources of funding
Flexibility and accountability
Create a performance contract with the government
Organizing for purpose
Establish an organization and governance model that support KSU’s mission
Stronger
graduates
Building bridges
Nine strategic objectives to support KSU’s mission
Increase student
quality and reduce
volume by raising
entry criteria and
funding per student,
and increase share
of grad students
Enable KSU
students to learn
hard and soft
skills throughout
their academic life
Build bridges
internally within
KSU and
externally with
local and inter-
national groups
KSU’s
mission
Attract and
develop
distinctive faculty
1
2 3 4 5
6
7
8
9
Source: KSU Strategic Planning Committee; team analysis
EXHIBIT 3 KSU’s Strategic Plan
5/12/11 10:35 PM

to reach milestones, deadlines, and indicate the key performance indicators accordingly. This
will also lead to regular management of risks and mitigating them according to their severity
and impact. The implementation plan also envisioned a comprehensive communication plan
to disseminate information to all stakeholders.
Phase III: Strategy Evaluation
KSU, for the purpose of evaluation and performance measurement, is installing Strategy
Architect software, a balanced scorecard automation system. Through this software, align-
ment of objectives, strategy mapping, and cascading can be achieved. The automated soft-
ware will be used to implement visual dashboards to monitor and assess performance, leading
to optimal execution of the KSU Strategic Plan as well as the college-level strategic plans.
Strategy reviews of individual college and departments will lead to regular perfor-
mance analysis, corrective actions, and analysis and updating of measures. The performance
results, changes and action plans will be communicated to all stakeholders of the university.
Future plans and outcomes will be analyzed so that forecasts can be made which will be in
line with the university’s vision and mission.
An Example of a Strategic Transformation: College
of Business Administration’s Strategic Plan
“A world class university does not exist without a world class business college.” This is
what Professor Al Othman, KSU Rector, stated in an interview with the principal author of
this case. Actually, this statement is mentioned more than once by the Rector. This is why
Strategic Objective Initiatives
STRONGER
GRADUATES
4.1 Differentiate and strengthen preparatory year between 3 broad academic areas to increase
its impact
4.2 Embed innovative teaching methods throughout KSU programs (e.g. case studies, problem-based
and cooperative-collaborative learning, student presentations, classroom technology)
4.3 Launch Teacher’s Academy to support and develop faculty skills
4.4 Raise English skills requirements for graduation
4.5 Create an Honors program for KSU’s top students
BUILDING BRIDGES 5.1 Create an institutional advisory board
5.2 Create advisory board for each faculty
5.3 Create external relations office and strategy
5.4 Create community relations program and strategy
5.5 Provide competitive grants to foster interdisciplinary research and programs
SUPPORTIVE
LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT
6.1 Launch campus infrastructure review and upgrade including an upgrade of library
and IT infrastructures
6.2 Detail student, faculty, and staff code of conduct
6.3 Develop extracurricular activities portfolio
6.4 Create a student governing body
6.5 Launch annual environment and infrastructure survey
SUSTAINABLE
FUTURE
7.1 Build an endowment
7.2 Diversify sources of funding by cultivating target donor relationships
7.3 Create annual report task force to transparently publicize endowment successes and usage
7.4 Start donor recognition program
7.5 Build an organization to support all fundraising activities within KSU
FLEXIBILITY &
ACCOUNTABILITY
8.1 Develop a performance agreement with the government
8.2 Build KSU’s internal financial capabilities
8.3 Build internal HR process capabilities
8.4 Build procurement capabilities
ORGANIZING FOR
PURPOSE
9.1 Consolidate complementary colleges into single faculties
9.2 Reduce number of Vice-rectors and Deans
9.3 Introduce new governance model to solve male vs. female governance inefficiencies
9.4 Simplify KSU’s council structure, membership and governance
9.5 Raise the quality of administrative support staff
Source: To come
EXHIBIT 4 The 9 Strategic Objectives and Their Supporting Initiatives—continued
5/12/11 10:35 PM

the “Good everywhere; great in focus areas” has targeted three colleges: the College of
Medicine, the College of Engineering, and the College of Business Administration (CBA).
This section gives a snapshot of the CBA plan. It details the strategic change program for
CBA. It also provides recommendations to help CBA achieve excellence in education,
aimed at providing graduates for the financial and insurance industries in particular.
CBA Background
CBA houses eight departments: Accounting, Economics, Finance, Management, Marketing,
Management Information Systems (MIS), Public Administration (only graduate programs),
and Quantitative Analysis (a service department). These departments offer 11 tracks with
different curricula. These curricula are structured into 145 credits and cover six areas:
general university requirements (12 credits), Preparatory Year Program (31 credits), CBA
core courses (18 credits), Department courses (69–75 credits), Free electives (5–9 credits),
and Cooperative Training (6 credits).
Why Should There be Increased Efforts in Business Education?
Of the nine focus areas, CBA will take charge of the development of finance and insurance,
and management programs as strategic areas for which there is a real need in Saudi Arabia
and in the region. The financial and insurance sectors of the economy demand all-rounded
people with bachelor’s degrees in business, capable of fulfilling different roles in finance,
accounting, risk management, marketing, human resources, and other departments. This
demand will be significant, due to:
• Expected above average growth of the financial and business sectors of the economy
• Recent historical growth well above the average of all sectors of the Saudi Arabian
economy
• Opinions of Saudi employers in the banking sectors stating the lack of local talent
and the great need for it.
On the graduate business front, there are three main reasons why KSU is further
developing its program offerings in order to excel in this area:
• The demand for managers with graduate degrees in business (Master of Business
Administration, MBAs) will exceed 45,000 in Saudi Arabia and as much as 70,000 in
the GCC overall per year by 2020, as a result of the rapidly growing local economies.
• The better business schools in the region have a limited capacity of fewer than 2,000
graduates per year, and are unable to meet this demand.
• Highly ranked business schools do not emphasize areas that are locally relevant like
Islamic banking, or the sectors of the economy that are fuelling demand in Saudi
Arabia, like insurance.
Overall, in the coming years there will be a significant shortage of well-educated
talent for several business sectors of the economy in Saudi Arabia unless KSU rapidly
begins to both improve and expand its offerings. If successful, this could offer a clear
competitive advantage for both CBA and, by association, KSU.
Elements of the CBA-KSU Strategic Plan
Achieving excellence in business education does not only involve having regionally relevant
world-class business curricula, but also requires excellence along many dimensions that are
not unique to CBA, but are also relevant for the whole university. These comprise people,
teaching and learning, research, and governance and management. CBA, in its own diag-
nostic, named issues or weaknesses concerning some of these dimensions as detailed below:
• People
• Faculty: capacity, benefits, attracting visiting faculty, and practitioner positions
• Students: quality, English level, drop-out rates, and full-time commitment;
• Teaching and learning
• Practical experience, preparatory year included in the 4.5 years of the undergraduate
program, innovative teaching methods, working students, and collaborative culture;
5/12/11 10:35 PM

• Partnerships and collaboration: industry partnerships, and collaborative culture
• Research: collaborative and inter-disciplinary culture
• Governance and management: representation in College council, decision rights.
These issues were also found to be university-wide concerns and are addressed by
different initiatives of the overall Strategic Plan for KSU.
Specific Areas to Address at CBA Undergraduate Programs
However, some areas of concern still need to be addressed in a manner specific for CBA.
These areas are admissions, curricula, and partnerships. The three aforementioned areas of
concern (people, teaching and learning; curricula) to be addressed specifically by CBA have
been also identified by the College’s own strategic plan and pinpointed by its SWOT analysis:
• With respect to ‘quality of students’, the following weaknesses were identified by
CBA: too many students and lack of motivation for learning among intakes.
• With respect to ‘curriculum,’ CBA identified as strengths the fact that the curricu-
lum is comparable to that of any top school’s as well as the desire of the faculty to
continuously adapt curricula. Meanwhile, the lack of coordination between depart-
ments, as well as the mismatch between education and industry demands, was seen
as a weakness.
• In terms of ‘partnership,’ CBA considered the mismatch between industry and
education demands, and the inadequate application of theory, as weaknesses. The
willingness of market players to cooperate was identified as an opportunity.
CBA has benchmarked against world-class universities’ undergraduate programs
and identified some key points as a result of this, along three areas:
• Quality of incoming students
• Admit classes between 250–500 students per annum
• Impose admission criteria to determine excellence
• Welcome diversity through international students (share depending on regional
needs/public status);
• Curriculum
• 1–2 year foundation program
• Business classes on average 40–60 percent of total coursework
• One degree program per school with a mandatory depth area to emphasize one field
(e.g. often driven by needs of the local economy) or broad choice of electives for
choosing concentration areas or breadth of education;
• Partnerships with industry and international academic institutions: provide students
with study abroad and internship opportunities.
Application of Key Points to CBA-KSU
1. Quality of incoming students: A useful framework to apply the key points about
quality of incoming students to the undergraduate program of the CBA is illustrated
in Exhibit 5, along with best-practice examples.
2. Curriculum: The College needs to overcome two major challenges: the preparatory
year taking away time from the business curriculum, and the fact that students in-
terested in an economics degree and students aiming at a business degree are in the
same program, creating departmental tensions (e.g. business students and econom-
ics students must have the same set of core courses even though they have different
needs). The first challenge can be addressed by: (1) upgrading the current preparatory
year, part of the general recommendation for KSU. The new proposed preparatory
year will deliver content more appropriate for a Bachelor in Business that includes
some of the foundational non-business courses that are now given at the College; (2)
Extending the program for one semester to adopt a 1+3.5 years format, similar to
the longer programs that other colleges in KSU already offer. This recommendation
was adopted in 2009. The second challenge can be addressed by providing, within
the College, two separate programs that split after the preparatory year: a program
5/12/11 10:35 PM

for Business majors and another for Economics students. Although somewhat non-
traditional, this approach has worked very well in leading institutions like Oxford
and NYU Stern. See Exhibit 6.
3. Partnerships: The third area to be addressed specifically at CBA is partnerships with
industry and international academic institutions. The solution lies in identifying
potential partners following well-defined criteria, and approaching them only after an
internal plan has been developed to outline the desired functioning of the partnership.
Specific Areas to be Addressed for CBA Graduate Program
Currently, there are several graduate programs offered at CBA. The largest program is the
Masters of Public Administration. Additionally, there are Master’s programs in Health
and Hospital Administration, Economics, Accounting, and Business Administration, and
Master of Business (MBus). Lately, PhD programs in Business Administration, Public
Administration, and Accounting have also been initiated. This comprehensive offering
leaves few gaps in the college portfolio. One of these gaps is an MBA program of inter-
national standard not only at the curricular level, but also with full student commitment,
shorter program duration, and richer campus life. Such a program would cater to individu-
als looking to make a significant shift and upward move in their careers. The demand for
managers and the lack of regionally relevant programs indicate that there is a clear oppor-
tunity to fill this gap and this should be a priority for CBA-KSU. The current departmental
diversity makes for an excellent platform to start a new international-style MBA program
based on contributions from all parties within CBA.
In its SWOT analysis, CBA identified a group of strengths and weaknesses around
student quality, curriculum and teaching methods, and partnerships. A scan of internation-
ally recognized MBA programs, as well as schools that have progressed through the rank-
ings at a rapid pace, reveals seven categories necessary for success:
1. Definition of vision
2. Attracting and admitting good students
3. Curriculum and faculty
EXHIBIT 5 CBA-KSU Undergraduate Student Body Benchmark
Tailor student incentives to performance
and economic need
Offering support for qualified international
students through scholarship
Define minimum admission criteria and
strictly adhere to them, e.g.,
– Preparatory year perfomance
– Standardized tests
– English skills
Define upper limit for incoming class
Approach companies to guarantee
intemships and publicize student
success stories
Provide in formation of placement and
careers of graduates from CBA
undergraduate program
A high quality student body is sustained by a 3-step approach
1
Actions Example/best practice
Wharton lists positions accepted by
recent graduates and career statistics
in their website
Career services office contacts
potential employers and makes
information and applications available
online
Define class size according to
available resources (financial, human
and structural)
AUB defines strict entry requirements
–1200* in SAT I
–230** TOEFL or IELTS 7.0
UC Berkeley has a wide array of aid
available for national and foreign
students based on academic
achievement and financial need
– 8 grants
– 2 subsidized loans
– 3 scholarships
Attract
Admit
Support
Source: To come
5/12/11 10:35 PM

4. Partnership with industry and universities
5. Teaching methods to foster entrepreneurship
6. Network among students and alumni
7. Campus infrastructure and environment.
In terms of best practice, to make fast progress three keys to success were identified:
1. Strong affiliation with leading business schools for exchange of visiting faculty and
learning of best practices for internal processes
2. Independence from a governing university to be more flexible
3. Strong affiliation to an industry to educate along industry demand and have attractive
placements.
The recommendations for CBA’s new plan follow the above-mentioned seven
dimensions, and addressed the three key success factors.
Concluding Remarks Regarding CBA Plan
In short, the CBA of KSD has the opportunity to become a leader in business education
in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world. Through close internal cooperation and collaboration
with industry players and leading international academic institutions there is a chance to
rapidly develop. This is a golden opportunity for KSD to become the leading business
school and shape business practices for graduates in Saudi Arabia and around the world.
Conclusion
It is clear that this is a very ambitious transformation program that CBA and KSU
have embarked upon. It will take time for the university to reach the standard of the
top-performing universities it has benchmarked itself against, so KSU needs to prioritize
certain key areas which are achievable in the short-term and other areas in the longer-term.
Most importantly, KSU leadership needs to focus on change measures which are appropri-
ate for a public university and which are contextually sensitive to the norms, values, and
Suggested curriculum structure to benefit from current program while
addressing CBA’s challenges and requirements for accreditation
Goal
Curriculum/
Faculty
Extra-
curricular
Educate a cohort of ~300–400
high-potential undergraduates a
year
Expectation is that 100% of all
students will have secured a job
by graduation
Last
semester
3rd year
2nd year
After prep. year only students with high
GPA and IELTS 6 (TOEFL 520) get
offered admission to business program
Mandatory major (4 to 6 courses)
Program faculty composed of 60%
KSU, 20% visiting from partner schools
and 20% from industry
3rd year is spent at international partner
schools
Optional additional semester to
complete last year with thesis
Note: GPA = Grade Point Average
Agreement with major
companies in KSA guaranteeing
an internship for all students in
the summer from the 2nd to 3rd
year
New prep year according to
KSU strategic plan
CBA students get the same
prep year as engineering
Specific foundational courses
to complement prep. year
Business fundamentals
Soft-skills courses
Non-business electives*
Business electives**
Summer internship program
Spent in partner schools in
accordance to their program
(agreed with KSU mentor)***
Summer internship overseas
Courses towards a major
25–50% of classes with
practitioner participation
Prep.
year
1st year
(founda-
tional)
2
EXHIBIT 6 CBA-KSU Suggested Undergraduate Curriculum
Source: To come
5/12/11 10:35 PM

specific needs of Saudi Arabia (i.e. tertiary education for the knowledge-intensive indus-
tries in a knowledge economy). A Western model for what it takes to be a great university
will not be totally applicable in the more collectivist culture of the Middle East. Achieving
excellence therefore should be measured in the context of a particular country’s needs, and
not according to a global contextual ranking system.
Two guiding principles will be critical to the success of any effort to transform KSU:
1. Involving the entire campus community in the transformation program
2. Not necessarily looking to individualistic cultures as a model, as ‘one size does not
fit all.’
In addition, the Kingdom and thus KSU is strongly influenced by the norms of the
family-based society in Saudi Arabia. Change which harnesses, rather than disrupts this
culture of Saudi Arabia should be embarked upon within the university and with external
stakeholders. This is important and should be of topmost priority if KSU’s major program
of strategic transformation is to succeed.
Despite this caveat, the commitment, vision, and ambition shown by KSU to transform
itself into a world-class university, underpinned by its society’s norms and values should
help it weather any obstacles or setbacks it may face in its long journey ahead.
References
“US World & News Report ranks KSU 221st,” KSU News Portal,
http://enews.ksu.edu.sa/2010/10/05/us-world-news-ranking, October 5 2010.
King Saud University strategic plan documents and reports, provided by university.
King Saud University website, www.ksu.edu.sa.
Notes
1. “AcademicRankingofWorldUniversities(ARWU),”www.arwu.org/ARWU2010_4.
jsp, 2010.
2. “World’s Best Universities: Top 400,” US News and World Report, www.usnews.
com/education/worlds-best-universities/articles/2010/09/21/worlds-best-universities-
top-400-?PageNr=1, September 21 2010.
3. “Ranking of World Universities,” Webometrics, www.webometrics.info/top100_
continent.asp?cont=aw, 2010.
4. “World University Rankings,” QS, www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/
world-university-rankings, 2010.
5. TBA
5/12/11 10:35 PM
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