Written by Dr Guy Brown, London Campus Director, Northumbria University and Dr Eustathios Sainidis, Senior Lecturer, Northumbria University
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Case Study: Collaborative Learning
– Achieving Organisational Agility
Northumbria University London Campus
Northumbria University has a long track
record of collaborative venture provision
with HEI partners nationally and globally,
this includes franchise and validated
awards.
Key points
Vision:
From the outset both Northumbria University and QA
Higher Education recognised the need for agility through
partnership and collaboration as a driver of long-term
success. The vision of the campus was to develop innovative
research rich undergraduate, postgraduate and corporate
programmes designed specifcally to meet
the needs of London bound learners, one of the most
competitive and innovative learner destinations globally.
These programmes would embed work based and work
related learning practices with integrated professional skills
development. Programmes would be offered in a range of
blended modes including block mode and weekend delivery.
However, recognising a rapidly changing HE landscape characterised by the emergence of new private sector providers,
shifting student expectations of learning and teaching, increased focus upon skills development and the need for more
flexible modes of delivery, the University formed a joint venture partnership with QA Higher Education in 2012 to operate its
London Campus.
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Table 1 Peter Lassey’s (1998) Characteristics of a Learning Organisation
Traditional Organisation Learning Organisation
Punishes mistakes Learns from mistakes
| Operates traditional working practices Adapts working practices Sends employee on training courses Trains employees Plays safe Takes risks Managers monitor and supervise staff Managers coach and develop staff Discourages experimentation Encourages experimentation Command and control management Devolution of power Reviews instigated after disasters Routine reviews of activities Discourages staff suggestions Encourages staff suggestions Decision based on management hunches Decisions based on empirical data Work is within departmental boundaries Work is across departmental boundaries |
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Discourages questioning from workforce Encourages questioning from workforce
Both institutions have well-established
organisational cultures and whilst had
a shared desire to deliver high-quality
student experience, recognised the need
for signifcant investment in institutional
leadership, management capacity,
governance, relationship building and
cultural development in order to ensure
excellence in contemporary learning and
teaching.
A subsequent cultural development journey
began which involved stakeholders from both
organisations at all levels and all disciplines.
Recognising the need for agility, a cultural
development programme emerged which was shaped to
address the following:
A recognition that strategic decisions need to be cocreated and not characterised by paternalism.
A process of continual review capturing a wide range
of data to recognise the rapid changes in the higher
education landscape.
The need to progressively morph ways of working in
light of increased and increasing competition, emerging
student and sector expectations, and a subsequent
need for continual innovation in curriculum and ways of
working.
The need to create a culture which takes advantage of
change rather than fears change.
In working to create a culture which embedded such agility,
the Senior Management Team favoured a series of operating
principles which embraced the benefts of co-creation and
learning from organisational stakeholders.
A basic assumption of this culture was:
Learning can come from organisational stakeholders.
Effective ways of working should be informed by a wide
group of people.
Emerging strategy should be developed in such a way
which remains fluid and flexible with opportunity for
regular review and easy updating.
Our resource and strategy should be fluid and planning
more short-term than traditional in HE sector.
The strategy making process should be less linear than
traditional in the HE sector.
A policy of quick, decisive, informed and timely decisionmaking and subsequent strategising will enable
competitive edge.
Success is linked to having a informed and collegiate
team who demonstrate dynamic capability, resilience, and
openness for change and strategic agility.
Indeed, we realise the success of creating
such an agile culture was very much aligned
to the team we developed, ensuring there
cultural ft and associated competence to
engage in such an embedded strategising
environment.
Specifcally we sought individuals who
demonstrated the following traits:
Student Focus
Responsiveness To Change
Flexibility
Pace
Aptitude For Continual Learning And
Positive Attitude To Self-Development
Academic And Commercial Mindset
Real-World Experience
Team Dynamism
A Background Of Uncertainty
Problem Solving Capabilities
Up-To-Date Knowledge Of Technology And
It Acumen
Embraces Empowerment
Understands The Context We Operate
Values Driven
Business Driven
Recognizing the need for the development
of such a collegiate culture which embraces
strategy development as a fluid process, the
concept of the Learning Organisation was
adopted as a driver of agility.
Tjepkma (2002, p10) specifcally states a
Learning Organisation is one that:
Responds to and anticipates changes in
its environment by learning on a strategic
level, it deliberately aims at improving its
ability for learning.
In order to learn at strategic level, makes
use of the learning of employees, therefore
employee learning is enhanced at all
hierarchical levels.
learning
organisation
Mental Models
Personal Master
y
Shared V
ision
Systems Th
inking
Team Learning
Disc
iplines
Rossiter (1997, p67) further suggest a learning
organization is “an organisation where its entire
people, at all levels, continually seek knowledge, work
and learn together for continuous improvement, and a
shared desire for excellence”.
There are many different learning organisation
models a partnership could use to shape its practice
ranging from Pedlar’s (1991) Learning Company to the
later work of Marquardt (1996) and Garvin (2000).
However, two of the most widely cited and adopted
are Peter Senge’s (1994) Five Discipline Model and
Peter Lassey’s (1998) Characteristics of a Learning
Organisation. Based on their simplicity (Fry and
Griswold, 2003) Senge and Lasseys models were
adopted as a guide for the development of the satellite
campus of which this case study in based.
Senge frst developed his learning organisation
model in an article for the Sloan Management Review
in 1990, however, greater discussion of the skills,
tools and roles of those aspiring to create a learning
organisation are outlined in his 1994 ‘fve disciplines’
model. The fve disciplines on which Senge’s (1994)
learning organisation model is based are:Building on
the work of Senge, one of the most commonly adopted
models of the Learning Organisation is that of Lassey
(1998).
Building on the work of Senge, one of the most
commonly adopted models of the Learning
Organisation is that of Lassey (1998).
As shown on Table 1 to the left, this model
incorporates ideas discussed by Senge, specifcally
highlighting the features and attitudes that underpin
learning organizations.
1. Systems Thinking
2. Personal Mastery
3. Mental Models
4. Shared Vision
5. Team Learning
Peter Senge (1994) The Five Discipline Model
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Conclusion:
Being open to new ideas, using the knowledge of colleagues
and wider stakeholders, welcoming different perspectives
and embedding learning as a core philosophy of the
organisation is core to creating agility. You can’t enforce an
agile culture and mindset. It is something that needs space,
time and nurture to allow the team to learn and strengthen
new muscles and skills. Creating a safe space for the team
and organisation to take risks, try new ideas and learn from
mistakes is vital for a learning organization and agile culture
to develop.
The biggest challenge is …. to ensure the team are onboard
and organisational transparency occurs with clear
communication and focus. This needs commitment from
all levels of the organisation, a clear vision and a continued
ambition to change, grow and stand out from the crowd.
How to fnd out more:
Northumbria University:
Northumbria is a research-rich, business-focused,
professional university with a global reputation for academic
excellence. Northumbria is one of the largest universities
in the UK with almost 34,000 students from 132 countries.
Ranked top 50 in the UK for research power and had the
4th largest increase in quality research funding (REF 2014).
According to Times Higher Education, Northumbria had the
biggest rise in research power of any university in the UK.
Learn more about Northumbria University at:
www.northumbria.ac.uk
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The Agile Business Consortium is the leading not-for-proft
professional body for promoting and enabling business
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‘Creating a safe space for the team and
organisation to take risks, try new ideas
and learn from mistakes is vital.’
– Dr Guy Brown, London Campus Director
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