WHERE ARE WE,
AND WHERE DO WE WANT TO GO?
BENCHMARKING TO INFLUENCE
STRATEGY
Tuesday 7 June 2011
Woburn House, London
Dr Robin Kirby,
Strategic Analyst, University College Falmouth
Strategic Analyst role
 Bringing:
 Information
 Analysis
 Environment scanning
 Personal insight
…into management decision making
Strategic Analyst activities
 Policy documents, reports, business plans
 Risk management
 KPI reporting
 HEFCE and funder returns
 National Student Survey, DLHE and league
table analysis and action plans
 Works closely with senior management team
Tools of the trade
Where are we now?
Reality check:
competitors / comparators
 Student satisfaction
 Graduate employability
 Levels of demand
 Fee levels
 External indicators of quality & reputation
 Course portfolio performance
NSS benchmarking
Course portfolio review
heidi data for market share
DLHE – in work or further study
95
93.2
90.1
90
88.5
86.7
86.8
86.8
Bournemouth
Solent
Bath Spa
87.4
87.6
Portsmouth
Brighton
84.7
85
83.4
80
77.2
75
70
UCA
UAL
UCF
Plymouth
UWE
AUCB
Where do we want to go?
Business planning –
5 year targets
 Student recruitment – University title
 Research Degree Awarding Powers – metrics
 Student satisfaction
 Employability
 Staff profile
 Widening Participation
 Diversification of portfolio
‘Digital Drift’ in the
creative industries
Regular benchmarking
 Course portfolio review
 National Student Survey and DLHE analysis
and action plans
 Reporting on KPIs and Strategic Plan
objectives
Project benchmarking
 New business planning process
 New course development process – market
driven
 2012 tuition fees, access agreement,
investment programme and value
proposition
 Funding bids – capital / additional student
numbers
Benefits of the role…
…and the approach
 Faster, better quality decision making
 Joined up decisions when large projects run
concurrently
 Challenging the hunch / anecdote / received wisdom
 Measuring progress and staying on track
 Establishing identity and position in the market
Thank you.
robin.kirby@falmouth.ac.uk
www.falmouth.ac.uk