Management improvement of higher school potential

• 1.    Introduction

• 2.    The concept and essence of a higher school

When increasing the need of research for developing the production, the economy needs more scientific knowledge. Therefore scientific research becomes more and more necessary.

Lithuania, as a member of the European Union (EU), tries to achieve the goal of Lisbon strategy, i. e. to become, together with other EU countries, “the most rival and dynamic economy in the world”. The long-lasting economic development cannot be reached without a more ingenious research and technical results as well as new technologies [17, 27]. The growth of higher schools potential influences, though in some cases not effectively enough, the research and technical level of economy and investigations [25]. It should be noted that the Lithuanian economy, with entering the EU membership, became more open for implementing the world level innovations.

The EU, when seeking to remain competitive, has underlined that the research and innovations should become the centre of its political trends, financing and business. Such a goal should be supported by the state help effectiveness [26] as well as by innovation groups and the development of such groups, as the partnership of universities and the industry [12].

In the survey of the EU activities of 2007-2013 the scientific-research activities are regarded as a side of the so-called knowledge triangle. Meanwhile other two sides of it represent the modern education and innovations [18]. The potential of higher schools is harmoniously included in the above-mentioned the knowledge triangle and possessing the possibilities to develop more or less all 3 sides of the triangle.

The potential of a higher school is possible to divide conventially in two parts:

• 1.    research and technical potential (RTPot);

• 2.    education and intelligency services potential (EISPot).

These potentials are closely interconnected. The higher education, as a service, is based on the activities of research and technology. The presentation of higher education is based on technical activities. At universities the scientific knowledge is developed by fundamental investigations and applied research, and in this way the researchers are trained when realising the results during teaching and developing highly educated personalities, who are receptive to scientific knowledge and prepared to base his/her life on the latest scientific novelties. The RTPot of colleges nowadays influences at a less degree the present studies; in them the applied research development prevails. But it is also stressed in the colleges’ learning process that the obtained education and qualifications should correspond to the modern economy needs and the latest technologies level; the graduates should be able to work under the conditions of a rapid change of technologies.

When analising the higher school potential (HSPot), we base our conclusions on the results obtained when generalising the RTPot, including RTPot of higher schools.

In theoretical RTPot research it is possible to require a unanimous viewpoint concerning its essence and structure. Therefore it is necessary to review in short the main treatments of this category.

There are distinguished three points of view on RTPot [1-9, 22, 23]:

• 1.    RTPot is regarded as a unit of research-technical resources.

• 2.    The other group of scientists regards RTPot as an organic unity of research and technical potentials. For instance, it characterises the scientific potential as research results and the technical potential – as the examples of the new technology.

• 3.    The third group of scientists regards the research potential as the whole of resources, and RTPot is characterised as the results of research. The RTPot treatment as a whole of resources is mostly based on the methodological point of view.

The researchers adhering to this opinion see the potential of scientific-technical development in resources of social and economic growth in specific factors (resources) of production (research-technical) factors. Functioning of these resources allow to obtain new facts, new information, fresh scientific and scientific-technical results. Thus, moving forces of science and technology are seen and fixed in the sphere of the production results, but not behind it [1, 7, 22].

Thus, it is possible to define RTPot in a systemic way: the sum of total (of state, its higher school system, university, research institute, office, research trend, research “school” etc.) of technical research possibilities embodied in human and material units and their inner ties and relations, as well as in possible interactions of this system with a “the outside enviroment”. These potential possibilities express themselves by an ability to foresee the main research and scientific-technical directions and problems, to reach a high scientific and scientific-technical level of results, to realise in practice those results (in social and economic sphere, in science, culture, teaching process etc., in dependence in the system analysed [3-5].

However, and those scientists, who regard RTPot as a sum of resources, are not of the same opinion concerning the sum of potential elements. The following elements are unanimously distinguished:

• 1.    the personnel;

• 2.    material and technical resources;

• 3.    informational resources.

However, concerning other elements, which connect integrate all three mentioned kinds, opinions, are different. Some of them consider such an element as an organisation, others – as organisation and management. In our opinion, this element is RTPot structure. The structure characterises relations between people, connections between things, between people and things. As Ginevičius and Sūdžius [15] write, “a structure is the view of the inner system composition. Form and structure characterise configurations of composite elements and in many cases by connections and dependence express their essence and activities.”

Obviously, any activity includes 4 components: material and technical resources, informational resources, labour force and all connections, relations and dependencies between technical, economical, social elements, determining the contents of such activities. In a pedagogical and scientific-technical action of a higher school, i. e. in a functional process of a higher school potential (HSPot), take part:

• 1.    material (physical) potential (building structures, equipment, instruments, materials etc.);

• 2.    intelectual potential (teachers, researchers, investigators);

• 3.    informational potential (materialised information resources, algorithms, programmes, models, projects (some of them may have a status of intelectual property etc.);

• 4.    a corresponding HSPot structure.

The most important element of pedagogical and research-technical activities (PRTA) is the human intelectual potential. In general, it should be noted that the economic and social activities become more intelectual. In manufacture of products, goods and services the intelectual activities take a more important place. Therefore the PRTA in a higher school, as one of the most important generator and supplier of innovations in economic and social field, should have the highest potential in human intelect – the research-pedagogical intelectual potential. The persons wishing to work in PRTA at a higher school, must have exclusive capabilities, research intuition, pedagogical mastership and other properties, without which they do not suit for this kind of activities.

After the developement of informational technologies, the internet PRTA became more widely and operatively accessible to information resources and scientific and technical data. An informational potential is not active per se; only joining the work process together with labour, material and technical stimulas it obtains an active form.

The HSPot internal ties and relations can be divided into the following groups:

• 1.    organisational and technological relations connected with labour division in PRTA (pedadogical and research technical activities);

• 2.    economic relations connected with the satisfaction of economic interests of workers engaged in PRTA;

• 3.    political, ideological and other social relations between workers in PRTA;

• 4.    technological connections between human and objective elements of HSPot;

• 5.    internal objective ties of HSPot (balance, proportionality etc.).

• 3.    Functions of higher school potential

Some supporters of the resource point of view also include research and technical potential (RTPot), financial resources and the social-economical effect. We admit that financial resources are only a presumption for renewing, reproducing the elements of this potential. The same can be said about HSPot. Having financing does not mean that financies will be necessarily turned into material elements of HSPot or applied to develop the personal potential. In its turn the social and economic effect, obtained behind the limits of the higher school, is the result of applying the HSPot.

Treating sistematically, the HSPot is a complex of interacting elements having a structure, which, in its turn, is described by a complex of permanent relations, ties and dependencies. For the HSPot, as a system, is characterised by continuity, proportionality of elements, proportionality of parts of an element. The HSPot, as a system, is described by a balance, hierarchy, functional uninterruptedness.

The HSPot always acts in a broader system – in the space of economic, scientific-technical, material, cultural, demographic, political, psychological, technological relations. The surroundings of HSPot include factors of state organs, the influence of activities, of competitors of the market etc. The outside factors compel the HSPot to forecast the change of surroundings to adapt the dinamics of the potential according to outside changes as well as to influence the outside changes, to take part in them.

During functioning of the HSPot, the non-material agents become more important elements of this potential. Some authors [21] maintain, when analysing the idea of higher educational institutions, that the presentation of such an idea becomes very important for their activities or even for their survival.

As Ruževičius [24] has noted, a higher school, as an organisation of research and academic studies, needs the following factors: organisational values, quality culture, investments, intelectual capital, saving development and socially responsible management systems, an universal management of quality, the image, motivation of the staff, management of fundamental changes etc. Thus, the importance of both the material elements of HSPot and the non-material ones are stressed.

The contribution of the higher school potential (HSPot) to the social-economic and scientific-technical development is determined by the realisation of its functions. Under the conditions of market economy the HSPot performs the following functions:

• 1.    marketing function, including a diagnostic one, analytical etc.;

• 2.    studies programmes, corresponding to the needs of economy

• 3.    scientific forecast (prognosing);

• 4.    development and realising innovations (including new scientific technical results (STRes);

• 5.    innovations (pedagogical and scientific, research-technical) in realisation practice.

development, mastering, improvement and realisation;

Any enterprise, organisation, office, acting on a market, consciously (for instance, according to a marketing plan) or spontaneously (intuitively, according to a previously accumulated experience) perform in a larger or smaller degree the marketing function. Marketing allows an organisation to adapt to market conditions. The deeper the changes on the market, the more important role must perform the marketing that an organisation could effectively function and thus remain on the market [10, 11, 19, 20, 28].

The higher school, functioning under market conditions, realises its potential:

• 1.    as the potential of research-technical activities (research-technical potential – RTPot);

• 2.    as educational services potential (ESPot).

When functioning, the HSPot performs the marketing function; it investigates (diagnoses) potential needs for education services and scientific, scientific-technical results users’ needs, performs the analysis of these needs as well as an expedient coordination of its inner coordination, when orienting the activities to a satisfaction of consumers’ needs.

When realising the RTPot, marketing instruments usage is more developed.

There are investigating the needs of potential consumers for research-technical results; the analysis of such needs are carried out, together with an inner coordination of scientific-technical activities by orienting to the satisfaction of the users’ needs. Having in mind the RTPot connections with the outside marketing, the balancing of the supply and demand is performed in the range of possibilities. It is striving by a marketing to fix these needs of consumers for research-technical results (RTRes), but also to take part when shaping them. Having in mind the inner ties of RTPot, marketing performs the role of scientific, scientific-technical activities (STA) trying to direct the possibilities in a maximal complex way to meet the consumers’ needs. Thus, the RTPot marketing function is realised by coordinating STA and forecasting the consumers’ needs for connecting the potential’s renewing, shaping, restructuring with perspective needs of consumers and presenting an optimal product for them.

The function of RTPot marketing is realised both by management subsystem activities and to a great extent by RTRes developers’ work connected with their activities actuality, novelty and competition ideas grounding and realisation. Nobody can better than the developers of scientific-technical results, RTRes see their activities and their results in local manufacturing, economy. Therefore, namely they must start to explain the RTRes users’ needs (diagnostics), to base the necessity for some management solutions. Only later in the marketing realisation the sub-system of management (from faculty, institute, university etc.) must join trying to ensure fully the process of decision-taking and realisation oriented to RTRes practical realisation, commercialisation. For insuring an effective marketing it is necessary to take orientation to a permanent collaboration with the users of RTRes to enter into long-time relations and maintain them. Such relations allow to better understand the processes of RTRes users’ innovation, their complexity, to understand what they value and what they expect from the collaboration with higher schools. The basis of the long-term relations is the exclusiveness of the present RTRes. Thus the realisation of RTPot marketing function means the balanced management sub-system and actions of RTRes developers.

The commercial success of realisation of functioning RTPot marketing function depends on the following points:

• •      the consumers’ potential needs, their change tendencies and

possibilities of RTPot collation and comparison;

• •     the RTPot possibilities evaluation of competing on market other

systems (universities, institutions etc.);

• •      the capability to turn the consumer’s development needs into a real

order for definite RTRes.

As a result of RTPot activities, two points, defining the marketing function contents, may be recomended:

• 1.    the developed and presented result, based on a diagnosis and analysis, satisfies the consumer’s expectation;

• 2.    based on a scientific forecast and its own RTPot, to present a substantially new, a higher-level research product, which was hardly probable for the consumer.

To satisfy better the needs of economy, production under present conditions, it is necessary to develop, to systematically realise the function of RTPot marketing function. Clearly, in order to improve manufacturing, one should know it and the latest world achievements in a definite field. But practically some researchers are far away from modern manufacture problems and are interested in narrow problems. Under the conditions of large intensification of manufacture, when basic models are being changed every 2-4 years, the researchers must know the real development of manufacturing process, depth problems of it. Thus, teachers, researchers must continue investigations also in the manufacturing stage, to forecast and analise manufacturing problems. Only in this way it is possible to define the importance and complexity of these problems, their ties and relations whith other unsolved questions and suggest scientific solutions and improvements.

The modern marketing, as a science, more and more concentrates its attention to the value by presenting to the consumer the model of higher values [14, 19, 20]. As Virvilaitė [28] has noted, “the new marketing of consumers consists of three main processes – the definition of value, the development of value and the transfer of value.”

When increasing in Lithuania the number of higher schools, when developing among the higher schools the competition for persons striving to obtain a higher education, the marketing of educational services (EdServ) becomes more actual. While public higher schools have an economical advantage by obtaining financies from the budget, they can present the MES for a less price and for some better students even make them free of charge – the marketing is not actual in their activities. When reforming the studies, some conditions of higher schools functioning will become equal and EdServ quality importance will rise.

The development of EdServ for the post-reformed period requires methods and principles of marketing, its achievements on traditional market of goods and services, also to estimate their application possibilities in research spheres, to adapt them in a new sphere taking into account the specifics of the higher school.

In a higher school, as in other specific field, the contents of marketing is defined by a product, service contents. From a modern point of view, the EdServ contents must include:

• •    the presentation of scientific research based on the corresponding modern education;

• •    the development of an educated, creative, capable for self-education and business activities;

• •    the development of receptivity to innovations to new scientific ideas.

The activities of higher school marketing for realising the EdServ include the following trends:

• •    to direct users of the service (persons striving for a higher education);

• •    to persons, having a direct influence on the service users (parents, teachers of schools, gymnasiums, lyceas etc.);

• •    to enterprises, organisations interested in educating definite training specialists;

• •    to offices intermediating at the work-force market of labour exchange, offices of job-finding etc.;

• •    to organisations presenting educational services;

• •    to the society and its institutions engaged in development of the human capital.

The contents of a higher school are influenced by the following egzogenic factors:

• •    state policy of economy and research;

• •    state policy of research and studies;

• •    state social-demographic situation and policy;

• •    the demand of specialists on labour market;

• •    competitors’ growth, development dinamics and their strategies;

• •    other outside factors.

The contents of EdServ also largely depend on endogenic factors of:

• •    teachers’, scientists’, researches’ qualification structure;

• •    material-technical basis;

• •    higher-school infrastructure;

• •    marketing monitoring system;

• •    innovative teaching programmes;

• •    teaching-educational process in a quality management systems;

• •    advertisement and communication system level;

• •    other inner agents.

The marketing system of EdServ should be oriented to presenting the teaching-educating process as an innovative one. The marketing of some unique teaching “schools”, of distinguished researchers, pedagogues and teaching technologies is prospective too.

When realising the function of studies curricula , corresponding to the economic interests, the function of development, mastering, improvement and realisation , it is necessary to increace the receptivity of a higher school to try to adopt the European higher schools progressive teaching and learning experience. Realisation of study curricula should be based on the service quality, and the improvement of studies curricula must satisfy the needs of the service comsumers.

For formulating and basing a definite scientific research-technical aims a level of higher school potential forecast (HSPF) is of great importance. The function of it is based on the knowledge of the past and the present time processes and phenomena. It also allows to foresee the possible sequence and prospective events. The universities have the greatest possibilities and opportunities to complex evaluations and prognosis of many economic, research, technical, ecological processes taking place in Lithuania. Mainly in them are accumulated many teachers, researches of different scientific trends and they are able to evaluate and discuss processes and phenomena and to forecast their development.

The function of innovation development is based on the actions, characterising the investigated object and realises in a practical way the research novelties. The description of the properties and parameters of an object, the systemisation of knowledge of it, explanation of the processes taking place in it, regularities of them present a new scientific knowledge. The function of innovation development solves the task not only of knowledge but also of practical realisation. Emboding new research and technical results requires to foresee new ways for developing techniques and technologies for finding new solution etc. Under the internalisation processes in Europe, when the exchange information on teaching and studies, assimilation of novelties became urgent in the institutions of higher education.

The function of research and technical results (RTRes) is performed in the stages, where scientific knowledge is already based on the stages of scientific-technical activities. As Ginevičius and Rimkus [16] noted, that under market conditions the commercialisation of research results became very actual. On the other hand, in the research-technical field this function implies a specific object – the process of teaching. Here, when realizing new research, research-technical results in educational process, the ties between research and education are maintained. By transferring scientific knowledge to students a highly-developed mentality, an intelectual potential is developed, for developing economy, research and culture in future. Only a teaching process based on transferring scientific knowledge and taking part in it may correspond to modern knowledge economy development tasks.

Ruževičius [24] for characterising the activities of higher school, in other words, for HSPot functioning recommends the system of quantitative and qualitative indices. The quantitative indices include:

• •    indices of people entering the competition;

• •    indices of people graduated from a higher school and employed (the level of earnings);

• •    indices of students’ opinion and evaluation questionnaire;

• •    indices of employers, social partners’ opinions and evaluation;

• •    qualification of teachers (academic degree);

• •    the quantity of teachers’ research and educational publications;

• •    the quantity of popular publications;

• •    participation of teachers in scientists’ development (consultations for Doctoral students, taking part when maintaining Doctoral thesis and Habilitation ones);

• •    teachers’ participation in international and national (academic) research and business scientific organisations;

• •    the quantity of lectures at international and national conferences and other academic and business meetings (participation of teachers in research and definite kinds of business meetings);

• •    participation in the EU and other international and national business projects;

• •    the quantity of foreign partners taking part in common research project and teaching students;

• •    the value of ordered investigations;

• •    teachers’ participation in business and public sectors organisations competence-development training;

• •    the quantity of organised research meetings;

• •    participation in reviewing the research and school editions, editorial boards, conference organising committies, presiding conferences and their sections;

• •    representations of the faculty, university at the technical committies of state ruling institutions, councils, expert commisions;

• •    representations of the faculty, university at national and international research, academic and business organisations;

• •    the efficiency of young reserchers (the quantity of Doctoral students defended the dissertation, their publication quantity and the indicators of their introduction);

• •   the quantity of the courses read in a foreign language;

• •   international students’ exchange quantity;

• •   international teachers’ exchange quantity;

• •   international studies curricula accreditation;

• •    the common with foreign universities or integrated into networks of international universities or programmes quantity;

• •    the number of final and course works compiled by orders of organisations;

• •    the number of students’ final and research works;

• •    the number of students’ papers delivered at conferences, industrial plants;

• •    the number of students’ research publications;

• •    awarding students and their research works at international, national and other competitions.

According to Ruževičius’ opinion, the quality of the higher school is shown by the following indices:

• •    a broad network of collaboration (with educational and research institutions); an effective presentation in associated business institutions; an enlarging permanent collaboration with foreign institutions;

• •    the quality of curricula (the opinions about the graduates’ finished works and acquired competences); the indices of accreditated indicators for outside evaluation;

• •    the quality of organisation (democratic ruling, striving for leadership, close work of administration and self-government; publicity; common arrangements of students and teachers; formation of traditions and academic society; flexibility; association culture);

• •    response to regional needs (accessibility to higher education in regions; development of project activities for different regions of the country; organisation of stipulating studies);

• •    the surroundings of quality studies and work (improving material resources, application of the latest informational technologies, the aesthetic quality of surrounding, publishing possibilities etc.);

• •    the studying organisation (the qualification and competence become better: the studies of the second stage, Doctoral studies, Habilitation indices);

• •    support for students (all auditoriums have an access to internet and apparatuses of multimedia, automobile parking places etc.);

• •    the improving qualities of research activities;

• •   the influence on the urban (regional, country) culture;

• •   teachers’ internal (of university, faculty) and external (of branch,

national, international) nominations;

• •    the usage of growing organisational advantages (cooperation of some higher schools subdivisions; possibilities of studies curricula choice; the possibility of concentration of human and material resources);

• •    application of latest information dispersion methods;

• •    the students’ comments (a positive opinion of students about practical teaching, levelling studies, work and learning conditions);

• •    the system of studies quality management;

• •    the system and culture of the saving development and in an organisation;

• •    the system of socially responsible activities and culture in an organisation;

• •    the integral management system (of quality, nature protection, social responsibility, safety and health) in organisations.

• 4.    Conclusions

The quantitative and qualitative indices of higher schools activities presented by Ruževičius [24] are more often applied, as seen in their contents, to higher schools of universities type. But these indices may be used to characterise the colleges activities.

When analysing the functioning of HSPot in the aspect of innovations, it is possible to distinguish a higher school potential. Such a potential represents the HSPot innovative characteristic describing the higher school possibilities to generate, produce and implant novelties both in teaching, in research and technical fields. As Bivainis and Drejeris [13] noted, a financial potential cannot be included in an innovative potential. Therefore the elements of higher schools innovations potential correspond by their structure to HSPot elements. By the authors’ opinion, at present only a small part of HSPot can be characterised as the innovative potential of a higher school.

• 1.    Speeding up the Lithuanian economy in the context of the European Union is closely connected with the higher school potential development and improvement of its usage.

• 2.    The higher school potential means the whole resources for developing research and technical novelties. It includes:

• a)    material potential (buildings, equipment, instruments, materials etc.);

• b)    intellectual potential (teachers, researchers, investigators);

• c)    informational potential (materialised informational resources);

• d)    a corresponding structure (including an organisational management structure, the management system potential, clearness of purpose, the goal orientation etc.);

• e)    non-material elements (image, shaped mission, values, strategies, including marketing, etc.).

• 3.    The potential of a higher school under the conditions of market economy performs the following functions:

• a)    marketing function (including diagnostic and analytical ones);

• b)    study programmes, corresponding to economic needs development and realization;

• c)    scientific forecast (prognosis);

• d)    development and realization of innovations (pedagogic, scientific-technical);

• e)    innovations realization in practice.

• 4.    The functioning of a higher school potential under an increasing competition requires an active development of a marketing function.