West Chester Private School Case Study

West Chester Private School Case Study

Organizations operate in environments affected by various legal, economic, and technological factors. Organizations also face competition from large and small companies within the same industry. Although some organizations can effectively deal with competition, some cannot compete favourably, forcing them to close down. West Chester Private School (WCPS)is one of the organizations that considered closure because they could not effectively compete against other organizations. This report will focus on WCPS’s effectiveness as an open system during the closure of its campuses, the organizational culture at the time WCPS decided to close the two campuses, the application of the behavioural decision-making model in WCPS’s decision to close its campuses, technology and innovation challenge WCPS faced and solutions that would make WCPS more competitive, how the administration could have handled the closure effectively and recommended long-term and short-term goals for WCPS.

WCPS’s Effectiveness as an Open System During the Closure of Its Campuses

The business environment is vital to an organization’s success by influencing its strategies, decisions, and processes. The environment also shapes an organization’s goal and future outlook by creating opportunities and constraints. Organizations interact with their external environment in an open system through a mutually beneficial relationship. For example, the environment puts pressure on the organization, and the organization influences some parts of the environment. Organizations also use the feedback from their environment to identify areas for improvement and make necessary changes to increase performance. Therefore, organizations need to understand their external environment, including the technological, legal, economic, environmental, and political factors. It also uses the relations formed in the external environment, such as the relations with the government and legal bodies, to create a conducive environment for business. West Chester Private School was ineffective as an open system at the time of closure because it could not create a mutually beneficial relationship. It also failed to plan for the financial risks despite knowing that the economic recession was leading many organizations out of business, including the education sector. WCPS was also unable to put proper measures in place to deal with the competition in the education sector, thus facing stiff competition from charter schools.

The Organizational Culture at the Time WCPS Decided to Close the Two Campuses

The internal environment of an organization includes the shareholders and owners, board of directors, organizational culture, employees, organization’s image or goodwill, and resources. The organization’s culture is the collective behaviour of its members and the visions, values, habits and beliefs attached to their actions. When WCPS decided to close the two campuses, its organizational culture was the market culture. According to Zakharchyn (2022), the market culture includes placing the organization’s needs first. WCPS decided to close the two campuses because of low enrollment, thus putting the organization’s interests first. The organization did not consider the children who would have to look for other campuses to join and how the decision would impact parents who had enrolled their children in the campuses that were being closed. The organization could have notified the parents before closing the campuses because an early notification would have enabled them to try and get a spot for their children at one of the nearby schools. The market culture also created a bad reputation for the organization because the parents felt betrayed since the timing of the announcement about the closure only favoured the organization. The decision also focused on protecting the organization’s interests at the expense of the students and parents, which is why there was no room for negotiation. The parents tried negotiating with the administration to continue running the school for another academic year so that the families would have enough time to look for a school for their children, but their request was denied. The organization also rejected the parents’ proposal to pay more tuition and did not give a clear justification for the closure.

Application of the Behavioral Decision-Making Model in the WCPS’s Decision to Close Its Campuses

Behavioural decision-making includes cognitive, affective, and social processes humans use to choose between and identify alternatives. The processes are influenced by the preferences, beliefs, and values of a decision-maker. The decision made by Dr. Murphy and Educations Management Services (EMS) regarding the process of going about the closure was poor because they did not consider alternatives that could have effectively addressed the competition issue. The school could have increased enrollment by marketing and maintaining a high quality of education because it had already gained a strong reputation for offering the best-advanced curriculum and creating a learning environment that fostered a family-oriented, safe atmosphere that valued community. The behavioural decision-making model was applied in the WCPS’s decision to shut down its campuses by focusing on the social and cognitive processes in the decision-making process based on the preference for securing the institution’s sustainability and attitudes. Dr Murphy and Education Management Services (EMS) were ignorant about the students’ and parents’ welfare and decided to announce the closure at a time when it was convenient for the institution despite knowing that the parents and students would be inconvenienced. The behavioral decision-making model was also applied to evaluate the risks and benefits of the decision and provide a proper justification for the closure.

Major Technology and Innovation Challenge WCPS Faced and Solutions That Would Make WCPS More Competitive in Meeting Stakeholders’ Needs

The major technology and innovation challenge WCPS faced is difficulty providing innovative and modern learning and teaching experiences to the children, thus impacting the quality of education offered. The school did not have the technological infrastructure used in other schools, leading to reduced competitiveness. One of the solutions that would make WCPS more competitive in meeting the needs of the students and parents is postponing the closure to give parents enough time to look for schools where their children would join after the campuses were closed. Some parents had already mentioned that they would support the closure if the school run for one more academic year because they would have enough time to transfer their children. Therefore, the school would create a good reputation and maintain a good relationship with the parents and children even after leaving the campus, thus creating a good image that can be leveraged to attract more learners. The second solution is collaborating with the parents in decision-making to understand their needs and agree on a mutually beneficial decision. The solution for meeting the teachers’ needs is using a virtual learning system to support emergency remote teaching and train them to familiarize themselves with online teaching.

How The Administration Could Have Handled the Closure Effectively

The administration could have handled the closure effectively with stakeholders by applying various theories. In the classical approach, the administration could apply the behavioural management theory to improve decision-making. According to Argote (2015), the behavioural management theory is based on the assumption that all approaches to the workplace should be in the interest of workers and the company. The behavioural management theory could have been applied to ensure that the needs and opinions of every stakeholder are met. The theory could also be applied to create and maintain direct contact between the organization and stakeholders to mitigate misunderstandings and conflict within the organization. The organization can also use the theory to learn and coordinate efforts. For example, it could have been applied to coordinate the efforts to implement the changes caused by the closure of the two campuses. The theory is also applicable in maintaining continuous improvement by motivating and strengthening the organization’s efforts.

Further, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory could apply to the human relations approach. The theory suggests that people are motivated by self-actualization, esteem, safety, physiological needs, and love (Cordell & Thompson, 2019). Therefore, the organization could have made decisions that meet the psychological, self-actualization, esteem, love, and safety needs to maintain a good relationship with them. Next, the contingency management theory could have been applied to the modern management approach. The contingency management theory assumes that no management approach is suitable for every organization and that management approaches are influenced by internal and external factors (Omazić et al., 2023). The theory also states that an organization’s structure is influenced by the technology being used, the size of the organization, and leadership style.

Recommended Goals

WCPS can improve its performance by setting and meeting various goals linked to efficiency and profitability. Goals guide organizations’ processes by enabling the organization to create a purpose, make better decisions, and provide daily motivation (Hu & Bettis, 2018). The goals should include long-term and short-term goals. Long-term goals are the objectives that an organization wants to achieve in a period between a month and a year or more. Conversely, short-term goals are the objectives an organization wants to accomplish within less than a month. One long-term goal for the future direction of WCPS is to increase enrollment in the remaining campuses. This suggestion will help the organization increase its competitiveness and financial condition. The short-term goal for the organization’s future direction is to train teachers on how to teach and engage learners virtually. Currently, WCPS is experiencing low enrollment because it has not embraced online learning. Therefore, if it implements online teaching and learning and trains teachers to increase their expertise in online learning technologies, it can enrol more students, thus increasing competitive advantages.

Conclusion

WCPS can implement the four management functions to improve management and meet the recommended goals. The functions include controlling, leading, organizing, and planning. The organization can use ‘controlling’ to provide the resources the teachers need to learn how to use online teaching technologies and ‘monitoring’ to monitor the progress of the training program to ensure that it effectively equips the teachers with the needed skills and expertise, thus meeting the short-term goal. The organization can use ‘leading’ to facilitate the collaboration between the stakeholders, thus increasing the quality of education and leading to increased enrollment. The organization can use ‘organizing’ to plan students’ enrollment based on the availability of resources. WCPS can use ‘planning’ to ensure enough resources to facilitate efficient learning and setting goals to improve performance. For example, planning can be used to set enrollment goals, thus increasing enrollment and leading to a competitive advantage. Finally, WCPS can also use management functions to create a collaborative environment where stakeholders are actively involved in decision-making.

 References

Argote, L. (2015). A behavioural theory of the firm. Journal of Management Inquiry, 24(3), 321–321. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492615572538

Cordell, A., & Thompson, I. (2019). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The Procurement Models Handbook, 154–156. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351239509-47

Hu, S., & Bettis, R. A. (2018). Multiple organization goals with feedback from shared technological task environments. Organization Science, 29(5), 873–889. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2018.1207

Omazić, M. A., Labaš, D., & Uroić, P. (2023). Contingency theory. Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02006-4_1098-1

Zakharchyn, H. (2022). The factor of organizational culture in the system of organizational behavior. Market Infrastructure, (66). https://doi.org/10.32843/infrastruct66-19

The purpose of this assignment is to analyze how businesses interact with their internal and external environments. Students will also apply their knowledge of decision-making models, technology and innovation challenges, management theories, and goal setting.

Write a paper (1,600-1,800 words) in which you address the following based on the information provided in the “West Chester Private School Case Study” resource.

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Review how organizations interact with their external environment (as open systems). Evaluate the effectiveness of West Chester Private School (WCPS) as an open system at the time of the closure.
Review the readings provided on the internal environment of organizations. Evaluate the organizational culture at the time the decision to close two campuses was made.

West Chester Private School Case Study

Evaluate the decision made by Dr. Murphy and Educations Management Services (EMS) in terms of the closure process. Explain how the behavioural decision-making model was applied in the WCPS’s decision to shut down its campuses.
Analyze one major technology and innovation challenge that WCPS faced and propose a solution that would make WCPS more competitive in meeting the needs of the three primary stakeholders affected.
Provide an explanation, using appropriate management theories, for how the administration could have handled the closure effectively with stakeholders. Include one theory from each of the following: the classical approach, the human relations approach, and the modern management approach.
Provide a suggestion for two goals: one long-term and one short-term, for the future direction of WCPS. Include a justified rationale of the suggestions.
Concluding statement: Integrate the four functions of management as a means to revamp management at WCPS and meet the recommended goals.
You are required to use at least two external scholarly sources in addition to the textbook and the case study resource.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.