Strategic Decision Making &

Management by Objective of
Stamford University Bangladesh

Assignment
 On
Strategic Decision Making & Management by
Objective of Stamford University Bangladesh

Prepared For

Dr. Md Shafiullah, PSC

Course Instructor
Faculty of Business Administration
Eastern University

Prepared By
Tanvir Ahmed 101600042
Rakibul Hassan Sunny 101600043
Md. Belal Hossain 101600036

Eastern University
14.01.2011

Letter of Transmittal
January 14, 2011

Dr Md Shafiullah, PSC
Faculty of Business Administration
Eastern University

Sub: Application to receive the report.

Dear Sir,

Here is the report on “Strategic Decision Making & Management by Objective of Stamford
University Bangladesh” that you assigned us to prepare as a part of our study. The preparation of the
report was a real exciting one and we enjoyed every moment of it. We tried to follow the instructions you
gave and do all the requirements necessary.

If you need any assistance in interpretation this report or in implementing our recommendations, please
call on us.

Sincerely yours,

Tanvir Ahmed _______________________

Rakibul Hassan Sunny _______________________

Md. Belal Hossain _______________________

 Organizational Overview

Vision of Excellence: “Moving Teaching Excellence from Good to Great”

Stamford University, Bangladesh is moving forward with a Vision of Excellence: “Moving

Teaching Excellence from Good to Great”. From good to better, better to excellent and from
excellent to great are the steps involved to reach great. With a Long Range Strategic Planning
Stamford continues the transformative process of being one of the premier universities of higher
education in this region and it is evident by the milestones that have been set by us over the last
12 years. Our current plan articulates new directions for the university. This strategic plan
outlines an enhanced vision of excellence in our:

Updated and global standard academic programs;

Rich faculty members to prepare students for future leadership and service in multicultural,
global and technological societies;

Continuation of creating possible better facilities for students;

Greater emphasis on student success beyond the wall of Stamford;

Expected scholarly contribution in the area of instruction, research, creative expression and
service;

Continuing development and expansion in all areas and effort to develop partnerships on all-
important levels;

Continuous review of the factors involved in new directions;

Locating problems in different areas and keep on renovating it.

The Stamford Imperative
Preparing Students for Leadership and Service in Multicultural, Global and Technological
Societies.

Guiding Principles
Commitment to Excellence in Education

Commitment to Valuing People in All Aspects of Life

Commitment to Being Student, Study & Client Focused

Commitment to Quality & Global Educational Programs

Commitment to Social and Financial Responsibility

A Private University with Great Education

Stamford University, Bangladesh has introduced a new era in the education sector of Bangladesh
by providing global standard education. Stamford University is the first and only university in
Bangladesh that has achieved ISO-9001:2000 for quality. With this achievement, Stamford has
proven itself to be committed to providing quality education and effective management system
i.e., Stamford is student focused and strives to improve its quality of education continuously.
Stamford University has membership of top two international accreditation bodies; AACSB
International- the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) which is
globally recognized as the premier accreditation body in business school and Association of
Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). It is the only university in Bangladesh
either in public or private sector that has got membership of the above-mentioned accreditation
bodies.

Philosophy
Stamford University is a private university with great education in Bangladesh. Its primary
purpose is to improve the educational standard of Bangladesh up to Global Standard Education
“GSE” by providing international standard education and creating educational opportunities for
higher degrees for all walks of life. Stamford University is based on these principles:

Education should be open to all and irrespective of gender, religion, cast, color, age, time and
place.
Education should be of international standard and must have universal recognition.
Opportunity to learn should be open to anyone with the desire to achieve.
Education should be affordable and offered, as much as possible, at the student's convenience.
Education is a life-long process and must be relevant to the student's aspirations.
 Study and students should be the first priority and the primary function of
faculty/staff/administration should be to help the students in succeeding academically and in the
transition from university life to productive life as members of society.
To provide a quality education to students, free from parochialism and make them cosmopolitan
and global in the true sense.

History

Stamford University Bangladesh was founded in the city of Dhaka in 1994. Then it was known
as Stamford College Group, Bangladesh. It was upgraded as a private university with the
permission of the Government of Bangladesh in 2002 and emerged as Stamford University
Bangladesh. Stamford College Group, Bangladesh began its journey in 1994 as a full-fledged
educational institution with a promise of providing an international standard education. Stamford
University Bangladesh belongs to globally recognized Stamford University & College Group
that has 160 campuses now in Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and America. This institution has
been established with a view to making significant contribution to the development of education
in the country. Since its beginning this institution has been continuing its educational programs
in Bangladesh with great success and fame. More than 900 students have successfully completed
MBA program from this institution and most of them are now engaged in different national and
multinational organizations and 1100 students are studying under this program. More than 8000
students are studying under other undergraduate and graduate programs.

Goals and Objectives

Goals and Objectives The Board of Directors of Stamford University has affirmed a statement of
goals and objectives to guide the university's development. The specific goals and objectives of
the university are as follows:

° To serve the intellectual needs and professional aspirations of its students and to contribute to
the intellectual and professional development of the society;

° To create for students the environment and programs which help to satisfy current needs and
anticipate future ones;

° To establish different educational programs in global standard and if possible joint venture
university in Bangladesh with universities of the USA & the UK, which will facilitate our
students to get access into international job market in these fields directly; as a result, our
country will be able to earn valuable foreign currency;

° To provide Global Standard Education 'GSE' in Bangladesh;

° Our Research and Monitoring Team 'RMT' will be in search of new trends in education in
developed countries and identify them and evaluate their adaptability in Bangladesh to keep
 constantly updating the standard of education to match the 'GSE';

° To develop the degrees of the university up to 'GSE' level through the

membership/accreditation of internationally recognized accreditation bodies like ACBSP,
AACSB and to establish our degrees equivalent to the degrees of any good university in the
USA through World Education Services 'WES', the degree equivalence authority to recognize
degrees of countries outside the USA;

° To establish joint degree programs & credit transfer programs with US universities such as
Claflin University, New York University (NYU) & Stamford University, USA to facilitate
quality education and make foreign degrees available to the students staying in their own
country;

° To provide high quality education for development of human resource having the competence
to compete in the contemporary world market;

° To conduct and support research for advancement of knowledge and for socio-economic
development of the country through application of technology-oriented knowledge;

° Contributing to moral and ethical development of the common people for creation of a society,
free from corruption, and enduring and respecting each other for co-existence in peace and
harmony in good environment in the society;

° Creation of congenial academic environment for the youth for their intellectual advancement,
free from political and other disturbances;

° Dissemination of knowledge under the coverage of ethical, human and rational approach
reflecting national heritage, values and principles of Bangladesh with a view to producing
graduates who will be sound professionally and be upright morally;

° Creating an opportunity to have education for all groups of people in the country, including
common people, rural, urban and fresh students as well as jobholders through on campus,
online and distance learning education;

° To develop and train students to meet the gradually increasing demand for efficient graduates
and professionals in Bangladesh as well as in the international job market, including the USA
& Canada through special study programs in specific field;
Certification
Stamford University Bangladesh offers programs and awards degrees & certificates, which are
recognized by the govt. as Stamford has the approval of Bangladesh Govt. Our degrees are
equivalent to the degrees of any good university of the world including that of the USA through
World Education Services ''WES''. ''WES'' is the degree equivalence authority to recognize
degrees of different countries.

So Stamford University provides a certificate, which is nationally as well as internationally

recognized and students are able to use their certificates in Bangladesh as well as in different
countries of the world.
 Answer To the question no. 1:

Strategic decisions are the decisions that are concerned with whole environment in which the
firm operates the entire resources and the people who form the company and the interface
between the two.

Characteristics/Features of Strategic Decisions

a. Strategic decisions have major resource propositions for an organization. These decisions
may be concerned with possessing new resources, organizing others or reallocating
others.
b. Strategic decisions deal with harmonizing organizational resource capabilities with the
threats and opportunities.
c. Strategic decisions deal with the range of organizational activities. It is all about what
they want the organization to be like and to be about.
d. Strategic decisions involve a change of major kind since an organization operates in ever-
changing environment.
e. Strategic decisions are complex in nature.
f. Strategic decisions are at the top most level, are uncertain as they deal with the future,
and involve a lot of risk.
g. Strategic decisions are different from administrative and operational decisions.
Administrative decisions are routine decisions which help or rather facilitate strategic
decisions or operational decisions. Operational decisions are technical decisions which
help execution of strategic decisions. To reduce cost is a strategic decision which is
achieved through operational decision of reducing the number of employees and how we
carry out these reductions will be administrative decision.
The differences between Strategic, Administrative and Operational decisions can be summarized
as follows-

Strategic Decisions Administrative Decisions Operational Decisions

Strategic decisions are long- Administrative decisions are Operational decisions are not
term decisions. taken daily. frequently taken.

These are considered where The These are short-term based These are medium-period
future planning is concerned. Decisions. based decisions.

Strategic decisions are taken in These are taken according to These are taken in accordance
Accordance with organizational strategic and operational with strategic and
mission and vision. Decisions. administrative decision.

These are related to overall These are related to working These are related to
Counter planning of all of employees in an production.
Organization. Organization.

These deal with organizational These are in welfare of These are related to
Growth. employees working in an production and factory
organization. growth.

The strategic management process means defining the organization’s strategy. It is also defined
as the process by which managers make a choice of a set of strategies for the organization that
will enable it to achieve better performance. Strategic management is a continuous process that
appraises the business and industries in which the organization is involved; appraises it’s
competitors; and fixes goals to meet all the present and future competitor’s and then reassesses
each strategy.
Strategic management process has following four steps:

These components are steps that are carried, in chronological order, when creating a new
strategic management plan. Present businesses that have already created a strategic management
plan will revert to these steps as per the situation’s requirement, so as to make essential changes.

Components of Strategic Management Process

Strategic management is an ongoing process. Therefore, it must be realized that each component
interacts with the other components and that this interaction often happens in chorus.

Planning for Decision Making

While decision making without planning is fairly common, it is often not pretty. The terms used to
describe it--crisis management, putting out fires, seat-of-the-pants governing--all reveal the inelegance
and awkwardness of this way of life. Planning allows decisions to be made in a much more comfortable
and intelligent way. Planning even makes decisions easier by providing guidelines and goals for the
decision. We might even say that planning is a type of decision simplification technique (see the
discussion of these techniques below).

Decision makers will find four major benefits to planning:

1. Planning allows the establishment of independent goals. The vision which will shape the
decisions is set apart from surrounding events. Decisions are not made only as reactions to
external stimuli. "Management by firefighting" is replaced by a conscious and directed series of
choices. Managers now steer the organization, individuals now steer their lives, rather than being
steered by external forces. Sometimes the difference between planning and not planning is
described as "proactive" (taking control of the situation) versus "reactive" (responding to
stimuli).

2. Planning provides a standard of measurement. A plan provides something to measure

against, so that you can discover whether or not you are achieving or heading toward your goals.
As the proverb says, If you don't know where you're going, it doesn't matter which way you go.

3. Planning converts values to action. When you are faced with a decision, you can consult
your plan and determine which decision will help advance your plan best. Decisions made under
the guidance of planning can work together in a coherent way to advance company or individual
goals.

Planning is useful in emergency situations, too. When a crisis arises, a little thought about the
overall plan will help determine which decision to make that will not only help resolve the crisis
but will also help advance the overall plan. Without a plan, crises are dealt with haphazardly and
decisions are made which may ultimately be in conflict with each other.

4. Planning allows limited resources to be committed in an orderly way. Budgets, time,

effort, manpower--all are limited. Their best use can be made when a plan governs their use.

A simple example would be planning to buy a house or a car. Rather than having to decide
between buying the item right now with all cash or never having it, you can plan to buy it over
several years by making payments. Or, you might combine this plan with the plan to buy a
smaller house and add rooms later as they could be afforded. By planning you can thus
accomplish things that might otherwise look impossible.

Decision Levels
We all recognize that some decisions are more important than others, whether in their immediate
impact or long term significance. As a means of understanding the significance of a decision so
that we can know how much time and resources to spend on it, three levels of decision have been
identified:

1. Strategic. Strategic decisions are the highest level. Here a decision concerns general direction,
long term goals, philosophies and values. These decisions are the least structured and most
imaginative; they are the most risky and of the most uncertain outcome, partly because they
reach so far into the future and partly because they are of such importance.

For example: Decisions about what to do with your life, what to learn, or what methods to use to
gain knowledge (travel, work, school) would be strategic. Whether to produce a low priced
product and gain market share or produce a high priced product for a niche market would be a
strategic decision.

2. Tactical. Tactical decisions support strategic decisions. They tend to be medium range,
medium significance, with moderate consequences.

For example: If your strategic decision were to become a forest ranger, a tactical decision would
include where to go to school and what books to read. Or if your company decided to produce a
low priced product, a tactical decision might be to build a new factory to produce them at a low
manufacturing cost.

3. Operational. These are every day decisions, used to support tactical decisions. They are often
made with little thought and are structured. Their impact is immediate, short term, short range,
and usually low cost. The consequences of a bad operational decision will be minimal, although
a series of bad or sloppy operational decisions can cause harm. Operational decisions can be
preprogrammed, pre-made, or set out clearly in policy manuals.

For example: If your tactical decision is to read some books on forestry, your operational
decision would involve where to shop for the books. You might have a personal policy of
shopping for books at a certain store or two. Thus, the operational decision is highly structured:
"Whenever books are needed, look at Joe's Books."

An important comment should be made here. Issues should be examined and decisions should be
made at all of these levels. If you discover that nearly all of your thinking and decision making is
taking place at the operational level, then you are probably not doing enough strategic thinking
and planning. As a result you will lead a reactive life, responding only to the forces around you
and never getting control of your life, your direction or your goals.

Strength of Stamford University Bangladesh:

1. Stamford has a good asset condition.

2. The institution gives better services.

3. It has a strong relationship with the customers.

4. Stamford has skilled employees.

5. Stamford has modern equipment with all through the lab facilities.

Weakness of Stamford University Bangladesh:

1. Sometimes Stamford University Bangladesh using low cost material.

2. The company has a lack of innovative skill.

3. The product quality is not so good.

Opportunities of Stamford University Bangladesh:

1. SUB can make itself a leader in the education industry.

2. It can bring more foreign faculties.

Threats of Stamford University Bangladesh:

1. The Govt. has given a red alert.

2. The company may loose some students.

3. Some campus may be closed.

Identify Strategy:

By analyzing the SWOT Of SUB we can set our strategies like as follows:

• Adding new faculty from abroad or IBA.

• Recruit skill staff.

• Improving the quality service to customer.

• Have to accrue new technology to be effective.

 Answer of Question No 2

Concept of Management by Objectives:

Management by Objectives (MBO) is a process of defining objectives within an organization so
that management and employees agree to the objectives and understand what they are in the
organization. Management by objectives" is a procedure for planning and implementing ministry
in an orderly, effective manner.

Management by objectives involves:

-Formulating a purpose for ministry in harmony with that of God.

-Making plans to achieve the purpose.

-Organizing people and procedures to implement the plan (implement means to put it into
action).

-Perfecting the plan through evaluation.

Peter Drucker
Management by Objectives was first outlined by Peter Drucker in 1954 in his book 'The practice of Management'.
According to Drucker managers should avoid 'the activity trap', getting so involved in their day to day activities that
they forget their main purpose or objective. One of the concepts of MBO was that instead of just a few top-
managers, all managers of a firm should participate in the strategic planning process, in order to improve the
implement ability of the plan. Another concept of Management by Objectives was, that managers should implement
a range of performance systems, which are designed to help the organization to function well.
 Principles of Management by Objectives

 Cascading of organizational goals and objectives,

 Specific objectives for each member,
 Participative decision making,
 Explicit time period, and
 Performance evaluation and provide feedback.

Management by Objectives also introduced the SMART method for checking the validity of the
objectives, which should be 'SMART':
 Specific
 Measurable
 Achievable
 Realistic, and
 Time-related.

Some of the important features:

1. Motivation – Involving employees in the whole process of goal setting and increasing
employee empowerment. This increases employee job satisfaction and commitment.
2. Better communication and Coordination – Frequent reviews and interactions between
superiors and subordinates helps to maintain harmonious relationships within the
organization and also to solve many problems.
3. Clarity of goals: With MBO, came the concept of SMART goals i.e. goals that are:
Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic and Time bound. The goals thus set are clear,
motivating and there is a linkage between organizational goals and performance targets of
the employees.

4. Subordinates have a higher commitment to objectives they set themselves than those
imposed on them by another person.
5. The principle behind Management by Objectives (MBO) is to make sure that everybody
within the organization has a clear understanding of the aims, or objectives, of that
organization, as well as awareness of their own roles and responsibilities in achieving
those aims. The complete MBO system is to get managers and empowered employees
acting to implement and achieve their plans, which automatically achieve those of the
organizationorganization's objectives
Core Concepts

• participate in the strategic planning process, in order to improve the implement

ability of the plan, and
• Implement a range of performance systems, designed to help the organization stay
on the right track.

Limitations
There are several limitations to the assumptive base underlying the impact of managing by
objectives, including:

 It may over-emphasize the setting of goals over the working of a plan as a driver of
outcomes.
 It may underemphasize the importance of the environment or context in which the goals
are set. That context like- the availability and quality of resources.
 Companies may evaluate their employees by comparing them with the "ideal" employee.
Trait appraisal only looks at what employees ‘should be’, not at what they ‘should do’.

When this approach is not properly set, agreed and managed by organizations, self-centered
employees might be prone to distort results, falsely representing achievement of targets that were
set in a short-term, narrow fashion. In this case, managing by objectives would be
counterproductive.

The use of MBO must be carefully aligned with the culture of the organization. While MBO is
not as fashionable as it was before the 'empowerment' trend, it still has its place in management
today. The key difference is that rather than 'set' objectives from a process, objectives are
discussed and agreed upon. Employees are often involved in this process, which can be
advantageous.

Management by Objectives may fail if the following occurrences happen.

Failure to teach the philosophy of MBO
As management by objectives may seem, managers who would put into practice must understand
and appreciate a good deal about it. They, in turn, must explain to subordinates what it is, how it
work, why it is being done, what part it will play in appraising performance, and above all, how
participants can benefit.

Failure to give guidelines to goal setters

Management by objectives, like any other kind of planning, cannot work if those who are
expected to set goals are not given needed guidelines. Managers must know what the corporate
goals are and how their own activities fit in with them.
Difficulty of setting goals
Truly verifiable goals are difficult to set; particularly they are to have the right degree of stretch
and pull, quarter in and quarter out, year in and year out. Goal setting may not be much more
difficult than any other kind of effective planning, although it will probably take more study and
work to establish verifiable objectives.

Emphasis on short –run goals

In most MBO programs, managers set goals for the short term, seldom for more than a year and
often for a quarter or less. There is clearly a danger of emphasizing the short run, perhaps at the
expense of the longer range.
 The MBO of Stamford University Bangladesh
Stamford is one of the leading private university in Bangladesh. It has a separate management
team who are maintain the MBO program. Those people select an objective and work on it.
Some MBO are given below of Stamford University:

Stamford has huge student and different type of faculties. For this they need more campuses and
facilities. The management took the campus problem as a objective and started work on it. At
last they achieve the objective and increase their campus in Dhanmondi and Siddeshari.

The other objective of this University was to maintain the quality of education. The management
level is working on it. But they are not yet achieve the goal. The problem behind is the huge
number of students and the lacking of quality teachers.

Another MBO of Stamford is employee satisfaction. They are achieving this objective by
providing their employees different type of facilities. The environment for the work is also good.
The management level realizes that without the employee performance the organization cannot
run properly. That is the main reason behind the given priority of the employees.
Failure Associated with MBO:

There are a number of complaints from the students of Stamford University. There are some
failures also associated with MBO. The following are some complaints from the students:

1.Bad Quality

The quality of education is not that much good. All of the department students are not getting the
same standard education. Some of the departments are doing well but not all.

2.Qualified Teacher:

Stamford has many qualified teacher but some are under the standard. It is a big challenge for the
management. They are trying to overcome the challenge.

3.Poor Reputation:

Sometime students of Stamford create violence within the university campus. The management
is not concern about the problem. It is also a big deal for the management. They need to
overcome these problems as quick as possible.
 Conclusion

After analyzing the importance of strategic decision making and the MBO’s of Stamford
University we saw that they are strategically doing their decision. They adopted strategic
management decision as a part of their organization. To increase the value of an organization the
two concept strategic decision making and management by objective is very much important.
The Stamford University are successfully adopted and using those concept in their management
level.