The Educators...1.docx

NUST Business School HRM 535 – Organizational Leadership & Behavior Topic of The Educators Group of Colleges: Core by product of retraction of BSS

Submitted to; Ms. Maria Khan

Submitted by; Ali Rashid Awais Shahzad Sahab-e-Mina Kazmi Sameen Manzoor Shehroz Ahmad Gill

MBA 2K17 A

Date: 11 May, 2018. The Educators Group of Colleges: Core by product of retraction of BSS While sipping the coffee at the inauguration ceremony of 14 th campus of The Educators College, Mrs. Nighat Yasmin the directress of The Educators Group of Colleges, had flashbacks from the very initial stages of how she stabilized the shaking building of The Educators Colleges project and took all the responsibility on her shoulder to basically save the future of the students that was about to be jeopardized because of immature decision said to be made by the core company (Beaconhouse school system, BSS). Company Background 

Beaconhouse School System

‘’Beacon House School system’’ established in 1975, by now has become one of the largest private school organizations in the world. Mrs. Nasreen Mehmood Kasuri, who is also the current chairperson, founded it. Rising from its unpretentious beginnings as Les Anges Montessori Academy (1975), it has now grown into an international private school network imparting idiosyncratic learning to its over 300,000 students in around 130 branches spread in 8 countries (Pakistan, Malaysia, UK, Bangladesh, Philippines, Oman, Belgium and Thailand). Beacon house is also involved in associations and collaborations with Moray House School of Education in Scotland (1980), University of Bradford (1993), The world bank group and the international finance corporation. Beacon house has shepherd the progressive, broad based approach to learning the concept of global urbanites in addition to making an eloquent contribution in transforming private education in Pakistan. The Beacon house group, today is lot more than just a single school system with a group portfolio consisting of Beaconhouse School System, TNS Beaconhouse (IB world school), The Educators (2002), Beaconhouse National University (2003), The Early Years (TEY) (2006), Beaconhouse-Newlands (2011), Gymboree Play & Music (franchise in Pakistan), Concordia Colleges, Discovery Centre Smart School, Premier DLC, Beacon house Estate and Premier Trading Services (Pvt.) Ltd. Through these distinct and freewheeling divisions across multiple destinations and activities extending

beyond education, Beacon House group is catering the needs for development of diverse group of individuals from different socioeconomic backgrounds now for more than 35 years and is always ready to reinvent its approach towards education to meet the demands of the modern future. 

Educator Group of Colleges

One fine morning Mr. Javed Rasheed approached Mrs. Nighat Yasmin to talk to her about a business plan projected to him by Mr. Shahid Saeed Butt, the project director of the educator school system by Beaconhouse. Beaconhouse was planning on starting a chain of colleges by the name of “The educator colleges” in Sahiwal. There were three reasons for choosing Sahiwal as a target location. First of all, Beaconhouse was already running two branches of The Educator School System in Sahiwal and they wanted to start the colleges by the end of term of pioneer batch so they can fill the market gap by providing higher secondary education and target their own students through service extension. Secondly, Sahiwal came under Multan board and it maintained positions in the board regardless of the size of the region for a long time. So, the market had the potential to make the project successful. Lastly, the educator colleges were the first ever colleges of Beaconhouse so they were supposed to be an experiment before moving to big cities like Multan, Lahore etc. The agreement was finalized between both parties by agreeing on some mutually decided terms and conditions. So, that is how chapter of the Educator’s College began. Leader/Owner’s profile Mrs. Nighat Yasmin, the cofounder and management front of Educator’s Group of College is an Educationalist with an experience of more than twenty years in education industry. Mrs. Yasmin is an army brat so she used to move around across the country, providing her the opportunity to witness multiple cultures and ethnicities. This experience also exposed her to different unconventional situations so she was brought up to tackle every situation strategically.

She did her masters in chemistry from

university of Bahawalpur in 1980 and started her first job at Garrison Degree College as a campus manager. After working there for five years her interest in management

studies developed further, she went to Institute of Business administration Karachi to pursue her master’s degree in management sciences. She worked in both administrative and teaching roles with prestigious higher education institutions of the country that helped her form strong personal and professional links in education industry. She has worked at Kinnaird College Lahore as a Senior Subject Specialist. Along with it she also worked as HR Manager in different companies. These days she’s holding the position of DSO of Southern Punjab. Organizational Structure The Organizational structure of Educator’s group of colleges is divisional. Strategies for each division are designed by the administration itself. The Administration and Finance department at each college work separately and they report directly to Mrs. Nighat Yasmin. (see Appendix 1) Educational Industry in Pakistan The education industry in Pakistan has been expanding steadily at all levels from the past four decades but it has failed to bring the kind of transformation required in the planning and policy making that can make the sector successful. The sector has failed to keep the pace with the growing population so as a result the number of schools and teachers available is far less than required for the rapidly growing population. Moreover, it is struggling to provide equal opportunities to all areas. The course, teachers’ training and infrastructure are way outdated and cannot fulfill the current requirement of the industry. As a result, the literacy rate has not augmented as much as it should and there are large inconsistencies in the literacy rate of different areas. There are also clear disparities in the opportunities provided to the males and females in Pakistan. The quality of education has also been decreasing, especially at the higher levels. Which suggests that the growth of the sector has been formed on an insubstantial educational foundation, which is likely to affect the country’s future growth potential, and ability to get the benefit from the growth. Promises Not Kept

The contract when signed between Beaconhouse and Mrs Nighat Yasmin included the provision of core competencies of The Educator School System also designed by Beaconhouse. These proficiencies included the training of teachers, the teaching plans and feedback from student forum. These promises were done because it was going to be the very first college of The Educators and all of the energy was planned to be focused for the success of this project. The need for doing such commitments were also inevitable as the capital was limited and to encounter this issue it was planned to target young scholars for teaching and the aim to polish them was to be fulfilled by “teacher training”. The wisdom behind this tactic was that the fresh graduates or unemployed persons with skills could be given low salaries yet the result goal could be achieved. This was combined with providing the young appointed teachers with the teaching plans that would be subject wise incorporating the topic planning and the course outline that could help them lighten the burden and also for the reason to provide them with the direction of the path. The student feedback forum was also important to be implemented since the nature of the project was at the beginning level and continuous improvement was the target that could only be done by filling the gaps and those gaps were to be efficiently identified by none other than the students. The success was seen by the founders as the strategy and tactics were faultless. Regardless of fact that the plan was impeccable yet the problems came in the implementation phase and those issues got intensified to this extent that after 6 months of the initiation of the project, Beaconhouse had to bade goodbye. All of this started when after the inauguration of The Educators College for Girls was done and the appointed teachers started to panic in the very beginning, as it was their first ever experience of handling the students of intermediate level, because the teacher training was not done efficiently and they were only being provided with the short-term solutions which were not sufficient enough to carter the situation faced by them on daily basis. Along with this another fraud was pointed out by the coordinator of the campus, Nida Gillani having experience of around 10 years of educational industry, that the teacher plans provided were not originally designed by Beaconhouse admin but they were the mixture of plans that the other college and academies were following.

There was no place for such actions to be tolerated by Mrs. Nighat Yasmin as she had invested almost all of her life savings and these frauds could lead to only the failure of the project as these things were not giving results. So, block by block, the issues started to arise and the day came that she got direct to the Chairman of Beaconhouse, Mrs. Nasreen Mehmood and she said to close the branches which could not be afforded because such action was disastrous for both, the financial investment by Mrs. Nighat Yasmin and the future of the enrolled students that were around 300 in both girls and boys campuses. And since Mrs. Nighat Yasmin was the front and closing down of the two branches would only harm her not the Beaconhouse brand and only she would have to face the projected repercussions such as legal suits and loss of reputation as a result of closing down. Developmental Encounter The strategic problems need strategic solutions that are very much dependent on the rational thinking capability of the decision maker. So was what Mrs. Nighat Yasmin did, taking benefit of all the professional experience she had and attaching the strings to the related links and networks she had at that time, she nurtured a pre-mature dying project into a healthy prosperous one. The actions taken were quick and so on point. The very first step that was taken by her was to validate the existence of the campuses done by getting them registered as “Educators Group of Colleges” with tradename and trademark at SECP (Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan). After legally making it an independent organization the problem was to face the realtime issues for which she needed expertise especially in the teaching sector. For this an offer was made to Mr. Javed Rashid (Retd. Professor of FC, Lahore) to be a partner of 30%. The thought backing up this was to utilize his maestro expertise of 30 years of teaching experience by making him fully involved in developing “Teaching Methodology” booklet. The perks of this action were reaped by the young teachers as the booklet was having all the possible problems and their solutions. Since, there was so much need of such guidance book that every single teacher admired the action and weekly sessions were there with Mr. Javed that helped the teachers to learn all the dimensions of

teaching category. This action was taken to encounter the issue of the absence of teacher training. For compensating the teaching plans, every teacher was being supervised by Mrs. Nighat Yasmin and Mr. Javed both for making lesson plans. By this the teachers were being trained to manage their chores themselves and follow the commitment they have done in the outline so that they could not blame the other factors for not fulfilling the obligations. (Exhibit 1, Scheme of Study/ Lesson Plans) Along with all of this, Leap time was introduced that ensured that the teacher takes over the class in no longer than 2 mins that was monitored by the coordinator as well as the CCTV cameras. For ensuring this discipline in the campuses, the teachers not obeying this rule was penalized by giving them extra periods which were in accordance to a standard set and all of this was ensured by efficient communication that every being knew what they’ll have to face. This was not the case in only this thing but all the policies and rules made were communicated well and feedback was also taken regularly to see what kind of changes are required. In any educational sector, teachers and the students are the ones that makes the institute successful. The other composing parts are also important but the smooth performance of these two determines the survival. This thing was also very much clear to the directress, as to motivate the students extrinsically, a system of award (nonmonetary) was introduced. The concept revolved around “Star of the Week/Month”. The students securing positions in daily tests were given “Star of the Week” badges, and for monthly test toppers “Star of the Month” badge was there, awarded to them in assembly in front of the whole college (List in Exhibit 2). This not only boosted the morale of the high achievers but a confidence was being inculcated continuously that the institute owns them. The test system was designed in such a manner that practicing the award system was very much clear. Daily tests were being given every day after the assembly for which a period of 30 mins was reserved that included portions of all the subject topics the students had covered a day before, i.e. if the assembly ends at 8:00, the test period is from 8:00 to 8:30 (Exhibit 3, timetable) and after a month, Monthly tests were given that

included a month’s syllabus. Since, the classes were 1 st year and 2nd year (board classes), Mock test session was also designed to be conducted in December that had papers of board pattern (Date Sheet in Exhibit 4) and the students needing special attention were identified through this session and for 3 months those students were given extra classes through I.C.U system.

Crop Reaped Well Hard work always payoff is known to everyone. That’s what happened in the case as when the result of the pioneer batch (2004-2006), 2nd position was secured by Madiha Akhtar of girls’ camps in Multan board in Pre-Medical domain. Recently, Sajeela Ghulam Nabi 1st position Bsc, Shazma Yaqoob 2nd position I.com, Faizan Abbuzar 2nd position ICS in Sahiwal Board. Likewise, the success stories never stopped as The Educators College always had contributions in the Board positions and one by one the campuses were opened mainly in the Southern Punjab. 14 campuses are operating in more than 10 cities and the college also levelled up by getting affiliated with BZU Multan for offering degree of BA and BA(Hons.) in different subjects. Every year more than 250+ students passes their intermediate exams from each campus with A+ exams that ensures the honorable survival and helps in persistence of good image of the brand throughout.

Appendix 1:

Founder

CFO

Cordinator (Education)

Teaching Faculity

Administrator

Cordinator (Administration)

Head of Student Affairs

Non-Teaching Staff

Exhibit 1 (Scheme of Study/ Lesson Plans)

Exhibit 2 (Star of the Week Student List)

Exhibit 3 (Daily Timetable)

Exhibit 4 (Date Sheet for Sendups/Mock session test)

Question and Answers 1) What were the strategies being followed by the management that worked out in the end for them? Ans: strategies and policies were always there as the educators was operating under the Beacon house’s administration but the thing that actually worked out for them was the leadership role that changed the fate of the college. The administration of Mrs. Nighat yasmeen went through the following strategies that helped the college to give a tough competition in the market: ● Partnering with Mr. Javed Rashid (Retd. Professor of FC, Lahore) was the first step and one of the best initiative taken by the Directress (Mrs. Nighat Yasmeen) who brought his 30 years vast experience in the college along with him that helped them to filling the gap in the market. ● Introduction of teaching methodology was another strategy to make the project successful. In the tough competition in the industry among the intermediate students, the motivation and involvement of the students was quite necessary and to engage them, the management came out with the non-monetary awards for the students in the form of student of the week/month award that was used to given to the students who topped the daily routine tests. ● To keep a hawk eye on the absenteeism of the teachers and to keep a check if the policies are exactly being followed or not, the supervision plan was made that was being monitored by Mrs. Nighat by her own and through CCTV cameras to ensure the discipline in the campus. Furthermore, negative enforcement also used to imposed on the teachers by giving them extra periods in case of not following the rules. Since, everything was there but, the leadership qualities and traits owned by Mrs. Nighat Yasmeen was the main factor behind this all whose leadership style created the difference and due to her efforts, the educators now proudly claims of running 14 campuses in different areas of the Punjab region.

2) What were the core competencies of the Educators under Mrs. Nighat’s leadership that differentiated them from the competitors? Ans: By having a strong understanding about the ground realities of the market and industry, Mrs. Nighat was well aware with the changes that were needed to create the core competencies of the college. She had the plan how Educators can create a core competency that would make them stand out from other institutions. They hired the energetic and enthusiastic novice’s from the universities who came up with innovative teaching styles including the new ways of solving the papers to get the attention of the checker as they were having the diverse knowledge regarding university level studies .This was also beneficial as they not only guided the students regarding the importance of intermediate level education for the make or break situation for your career path but also provide them insights regarding universities and their education system and importance. The need for doing such commitments were also foreseeable as the resources were limited. This was combined with providing the young appointed teachers with the teaching plans and trainings that would be subject wise incorporating the topic planning and the course outline that could help them lighten the burden and provide standard quality education. The student feedback forum was another core competency which was important to be implemented since the nature of the project was at the beginning level and continuous progression was the target that could only be done by covering loopholes if any and they could be only efficiently identified by none other than the students. 3) How and what types of leadership power did the leader use in this case to turn around the sinking project? OR what values as a leader are demonstrated by Mrs. Nighat Yasmin in this case? Ans: An integral part of leadership is to affect the people one leads to make them follow. Leaders are diverse in nature but at the end what matters is the manner, in which a leader equips his followers with direction, planning and implementation with an

emphasis on motivating them. How leaders make use of their power to inspire participation from their subordinates inclines the performance of their organization. In this case, Mrs. Nighat Yasmin all the time had legitimate power being the head of the project through which she determined the overall direction of the project and with years of experience in the field of education and management, she definitely affected her subordinates through expert power. She knew and was quite clear on what was required to be done to save the sinking ship of the educator college project. She took all the necessary measures to bring the project back on track. She supervised teachers personally to make them learn through her experience. At the same time, she had referent influence that made her followers believe in her in the difficult times. Mrs. Nighat Yasmin, as leader also practiced coercive and reward power in which she introduced ‘leap time’ and teachers who were found not abiding by this policy were penalized in the form of additional lecture hours. As this being the case of a college, students were equally imperative in determining the success, so for students, ‘star of the week’ concept was introduced to keep them motivated. Through all these leadership powers, she turned a fading project into a booming one.