Secretary-General, University Grants Committee

at the Hong Kong Baptist University Faculty & Staff Assembly
12 November 1997

Prof Barrett, Dr Kang, Ladies and Gentlemen,

When preparing for this short talk, it occurred to me that I might find an appropriately inspiring quotation with which to introduce the fascinating topic of management reviews. Regrettably I could find none. I did, however, come upon the following news report:

The heaviest element known to science was recently discovered by university physicists. The element, tentatively named "Administratium", has no protons or electrons and thus has an atomic number of 0. However it does have one neutron, 15 assistant neutrons, 70 vice neutrons, and 161 assistant vice neutrons. This gives it an atomic mass of 247. These 247 particles are held together in the nucleus by a force called neutrons Since it has no electrons, Administratium is inert. It can be detected chemically as it impedes every reeaction with which it comes into contact. According to discoverers, a minute amount of Administratium added to one reaction caused it to take over four days to complete. Without the Administratium, the reaction occurs in less than one second. Administratium has a half life of approxiamtely three years, at which time it does not actually decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which assistant neutrons, vice neutrons and assistant vice neutrons exchange places. Studies seem to show that the atomic mass actually increases after each reorganization. Research indicates that Administratium occurs naturally in the atmosphere. It tends to concentrate in certain locations such as governments, large corporations and universities.

......dare I suggest even in the Baptist University.

To ensure that HKBU and all the UGC-funded institutions have in place appropriate and effective processes to manage devolved funds and other resources in support of their institutional aims and objectives, the UGC is planning to undertake Management Reviews of these institutions starting from early 1998.

The Management Reviews will look at the institutions' resource allocation, planning and financial processes. The Reviews will also consider how these processes are related to the institutions' roles and missions, as well as their academic objectives. They will also seek to promote the sharing of experiences and best practice. But their principal focus will be how to assist the institutions in enhancing the quality of their management to achieve their objectives.

The Management Reviews will, thus, not be assessments of institutions' management efficiency and cost-effectiveness per se, nor are they value-for-money audits. The UGC respects the institutions' autonomy in the internal management of their affairs and will not seek to micro-manage. The results of the Management Reviews will also not be factored into funding.

A Steering Group has been formed comprising UGC members and chaired by Prof William F Massy, Professor of Education and Business Administration at Stanford, to oversee and monitor the conduct and progress of the Management Reviews. Specific Review Panels (comprising UGC members and representatives of institutions) will be set up to undertake the reviews of individual institutions. A specialist team from a firm of management consultants has been commissioned to support the Review Panels in undertaking the study and making recommendations, and a senior representative of the consultancy firm will also be a member of the review Panels.

The consultant will support the Review Panels in conducting the Management Reviews and will have to collect, analyze and comment on the following information in respect of the UGC-funded institutions :

1. the processes used by the institutions to :

   • allocate resources internally, including the planning or other basis on which resources are allocated,

   • monitor the use of (and accountability for) such resources and any achievements thereby produced,

   • exercise financial (or other) control over the use of resources;

2. the roles and responsibilities of individuals and / or bodies with respect to the operations of these processes;

3. the functional organisation involved in the above processes, its contribution to them and the management of the functions involved; and

4. the information used by the institutions in undertaking the above processes, its sources, validity and use, and its relationship with information reported to or required by the UGC (or other external bodies).

The consultant will collect information in some or all of these areas prior to the Review Panelsí visits to the institutions. Specifically, the consultant will be required to prepare a report in respect of each institution setting out the management information it has collected and its analysis and recommendations to the Review Panel concerned. The visits themselves will then probably take at least one and a half to two days per institution. More time cannot realistically be allowed, given the likely heavy schedules of Panel members. The onus will therefore be on the consultant beforehand and on the institutions both before and during the visits to present the relevant information in the most clear and succinct way possible. After each Review visit has taken place, a report will be produced by the Review Panel on the institution concerned. As in the case of the TLQPR reports, it is envisaged that these reports, once finalised and endorsed by the Panel, will become the property of the institutions concerned, but they will also be expected to be published, at a time to be decided by the institutions, with the institutions' responses.

Apart from the individual reports, the consultants will be expected to produce an overarching report on the management of the institutions as a whole, covering more generic issues and drawing on international experience and practice where relevant. The consultants will be expected to submit this within two months after the completion of all the Review visits, for endorsement by the UGC. It is intended that this report will thereafter be published.

The first Management Review visits to the institutions have been scheduled for early April 1998 and the UGC is planning on the whole exercise being completed by mid 1999. The detailed timetable for the visits to institutions is still being considered by the Management Review Steering Group (in consultation with institutional representatives, who have been invited to suggest when they would prefer the reviews of their institutions to take place).

I trust it will be evident from what I have said that the UGC perceives the Management Reviews as first and foremost a collaborative and formative process. The Committee is very much aware of the pressures facing higher education institutions to achieve more with less, while at the same time maintaining and improving the quality of their primary functions of teaching and learning, research and service. The aim of the Management Reviews is to support the institutionsí own efforts at enhancing the quality of their management processes, so that they underpin educational and academic aims effectively. If in the process we can assist institutions with the eradication of administration so much the better.