UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
MASTER OF EDUCATION
(EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP)
ARTICLE REVIEW ON TOP-DOWN MANAGEMENT: AN EFFECTIVE TOOL IN HIGHER EDUCATION?
EDU 702 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
LECTURER : ASSOC. PROF. DR. TEOH SIAN HOON
NAME : ZUBAIDAH BINTI ABDUL GHANI
STUDENT ID : 2009546185
IC NO. : 721231125354
EMAIL ADD. : zubyabdulghani@yahoo.com
HP NO. : 0196310671
Article Review
This research paper entitled 'Top-down management: an effective tool in higher education?' is written by Yau Tsai from Fooyin University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan and Sue Beverton from Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom. This paper is focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of top-down management in a university that has adopted globalisation with a strong market attitudes group. Also, the authors provide suggestions of ways in which adjustments might be made to top-down management processes.
Summary
Globalisation has been contributes rapid changes in aspects such as politics, economics, culture and technology in many countries. Education, also affected from these global effects development such as marketisation. Universities faced unprecedented challenges which response to major changes. In higher education, global developments of decentralisation and reduced managerialism had an impact on management styles and systems in higher education. This changing of environment was extremely severe in universities with long experience of top-down management styles. In order to give some illustration to the analysis of the problems with top-down management, a short outline of a case study based upon Taiwan's universities was included in the study. In this paper, five key questions are; the significant management changes in higher education in the global society; the changes to management style are felt by the faculty to be necessary in higher education; either top-down management or bottom-up management appear to bring more beneficial changes in higher education; the evidence of the strengths and weaknesses of top-down management; the adjustments in top-down management might be advisable when changes in higher education are undertaken.
The global effect of managerialism had an impact on changing management practices in higher education. Managerialism can be defined as a style of management through which a manager plays a crucial, determining and central role in implementing and measuring the necessary improvement of products. The emphasis of managerialism is more on controlling and financing but less on planning and establishing formal organizational structures. The most important element of managerialism is the search for the best use of resources in pursuit of objectives subject to changes. New forms of academic work require new ways of management.
Changes in education include financing, curricula, governance and management. Students' experiences, the professional life of teachers, governance and community co-ordination as critical components of changes in education. All educational changes of value should involve new forms of skills, behaviours, beliefs and even understandings.
First-order changes include the renewal of curricula, resources and new versions of evaluation and training, while second-order changes involve the adjustment of goals, structures and problem-solving approaches.
"Top-down" and "bottom-up" management exist in different education systems. Top-down management is considered as "centralised", referred to the power of the top to execute tasks. Bottom-up management is referred to a "decentralised" approach to decision-making and starts with the bottom level to develop institutional practice through osmosis and imitation.
The methodology used in this paper is case study of a department in the universities of one country. Also, the success of top-down management is predicated upon a willingness or readiness of the faculty to allow it to exist. Although this paper explores the strengths and weaknesses simply through literature, it provides a case study to understand the problems with top-down management in higher education. The case study illustrates some of the issues that may or may not be proved by ensuing or larger-scale research to be generalisable, but for the specifics of this case the issues discussed would appear to be important.
The case study is conducted in a department established in Taiwan's universities that have adopted top-down management for years. The newly-established department DAFL (Department of Applied Foreign Languages) is as a vehicle for preparing younger generations to improve their English proficiency in response to the needs of the job market. Under the global effect of marketisation, DAFLs the number of DAFLs keeps increasing from 4 in 1996 to more than 100 in 2005. The title "applied foreign languages" refers to the teaching and learning of spoken and written English necessary for engaging in different areas of professional practices. As a result, English learning in DAFLs should be more diverse and practical than the English learnt in the original DFLs (Department of Applied Languages) that have existed in Taiwan's universities for many years. In fact, quite a few studies conclude that the new department should focus their curricula on ESP (English for Special Purposes) in order better to develop those who have both professional knowledge and English proficiency. Yet, studies have meanwhile found that the teaching approaches or curricula of DAFLs are usually similar to those of the original DFLs. Most people are often confused about what can be learnt from DAFLs.
Four specific problems identified in the new department in most of Taiwan's universities. Firstly, the lack of consensus and shared vision; secondly, limited faculty development; third is problem is the implicit definition of curriculum contents; and inadequate access to external resources.
The findings that those problems of top-down management are interconnected and mostly related to the culture of the new department, linear decision-making procedures, teamwork and leadership. The researcher suggested the solutions; Reshaping the culture of the new department; Making the linear process flexible means that top officials should not always wait to make the final decision; Building teaching teams of ESP Teamwork implies the cooperation of specialists toward a common goal; Cultivating good leadership means that good leaders in universities should be more or less experienced in the related teaching, research or curriculum designs and have problem-solving abilities, communicative skills and the characteristic of open-mindedness. The researcher concluded that through adopting top-down management for decision-making in academic communities able to introduce balance into a chaotic situation. Only good culture of work can decide either top-down management can work well in higher education.
Critique
This research paper main purpose is to explore
the strengths and weaknesses of top-down management in a university towards the era of globalization. Also, the researcher suggested the solutions
to those problems faced by the top management which encountered in during the case study. The approach used only by drawing relevant literature but the researcher did not mentioned the methodology used in the case study. There is no data collection and the study conducted through literature and the discussion among the researchers of this paper. Therefore, the case study illustrates some of the issues that may not be proved by ensuing or larger-scale research to be generalisable.
I agree with the solution mainly in reshaping the culture of the new department since culture involves behaviours, attitudes and beliefs, even though reshaping culture will be the crucial task of the top officials of universities. Since culture is an inconsistent process, I agree that the process of political negotiation should be essential to reshaping the culture of the new department. The keys to successfully utilizing a top-down management style are clarity and decisiveness. As the manager, it is important to clearly communicate your expectations to each person who has a role to play in the organisation. When communicating expectations, the manager should be as specific as possible since ambiguity opens the door for potential failure.
In decision making, the researcher suggested that top officials should not always wait to make the final decision. They should often involve themselves in the discussion of the faculty members so that they can understand more about how various changes are planned in the new department. Top-down management requires the manager to be decisive, yet willing to make adjustments when circumstances change. If they hesitate in their decision-making responsibilities, their employees may view it as a sign that the confidence in the leadership ability has been misplaced. However, with so many managers involved in the decision-making process, the assignment of roles can sometimes create ambiguity. Further complications arise when responsibilities for specific aspects of a new department are distributed unequally and without a clear mechanism for communication.
Also, the researcher suggested the faculty members of the new department and other departments to share their teaching experiences and professional knowledge of ESP. I agree with the suggestion since team work is an approach that proactively seeks so that the characteristics of the new department should be definitely explored through the brainstorming session.
In cultivating good leadership, the researcher suggested that good leaders in universities should be more or less experienced in the related teaching, research or curriculum designs and have problem-solving abilities, communicative skills and the characteristic of open-mindedness. The researcher insisted that good leadership should lead to a healthy culture and efficient teamwork of the new department.
Conclusion
I concluded that this research paper provided the importance of top-down management to higher education in adjustments and reformations in the era of globalisation effect of marketisation. Also, the suggestions highlighted by the researcher able to make top-down management more efficient in higher education. However, this paper
had only explores the strengths and weaknesses simply through literature and the case study illustrated some of the issues that may not be proved by ensuing or larger-scale research to be generalisable. However, the specifics of this case the issues discussed would be important as a reference for next research related to top-down management subjects. Apart from education, the top-down approach remains extremely popular in other organizational and contemporary project management. Nevertheless, the bottom-up approach implies proactive team input in the project executing process. Team members are invited to participate in every step of the management process. The decision on a course of action is taken by the whole team. Bottom-up style allows managers to communicate goals and value, e.g. through milestone planning. The advantage of this approach is that it empowers team members to think more creatively. However,
the bottom-up approach is not the perfect solution, as sometimes it lacks clarity and control. The best way is to find a balance between the two opposite approaches and take the best practices from both of them.
References
