Warwick University Human Resource Model

Introduction

Warwick University was founded back in the year 1965 as part of the England government initiative to augment admittance to higher education. It is a plate glass study institution situated in Coventry in England, organized into four faculties of Science, Art, Social Science and Medicine within which there are other thirty-two departments. The university has approximately twenty-five thousand, six hundred students and an academic and research staff of at least two thousand, four hundred members. Out of that, the college has managed to consolidate an income of five hundred and ninety-one million Euros in the 2016/2017 fiscal year. Its extreme excellence in the provision of best quality education both domestically and internationally has been made possible by its exquisite operational model, financial, administrative management and exceptional human resource policies and procedures that define it.

Since the 1990s, there has been an increase in competition and demands for accountability as well as greater volumes of available information meant to change the ways of how higher education institutions operate (Warwickbs, 2018; https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wbs/subjects/ohrm/). For these institutions to execute ample and sustainable change incompetence and capacity, a contemporary method of perception or archetype that creates effectiveness and an aspiration to progressive learning need to be interspersed into institutional structures specifically, the Human Resource, The administration, the financial departments and the investment structure of the institution. Instruments are also developed to scope or benchmark the progress and the success of these efforts.

a. Warwick Human Resource Management Structure

The Warwick University Human Resource Management operates by application of concepts as well as methods from Social Science. The Structure is made up of diverse multi-disciplinary teams that search from explanations from various stages; some scrutinizes microstructures of daily work functions, while other seek clarification at the organization position. Currently, several HRM personnel are contented with how the HRM delivers and effect on their lives and those of their clients in unimaginable techniques. Within the HRM structure, there is the Industrial Relation Research Unit (IRRU), quite popular for its leading function in interpretation of industrial relations via conceptually knowledgeable, practical inquest. The structure is made up of main individuals who conduct a mix of conceptual and related practical work (https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wbs/subjects/ohrm/). It also engages with professionals in policy organizations inclusive of business institutions, National Health Service, the UK police department, social movements, employee organizations, charities, Non-Governmental Organizations, and European Commission.

The Centre created the Organization and Human Resource Management (HRM) of Warwick University for Strategy and Change at the institution in the early 1990s (https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wbs/subjects/ohrm/). It was modeled from the Harvard Model of HRM, which accentuates systematic resource administration. It also identifies the influence of the role of the human resource (HR) function of human resource design content (Agyepong et al. 2010). The researchers who created the Warwick HRM model were Hendry and Pettigrew, which was molded to focus on their research on calibrating the framework, pinpointing an inherent organizational context as well as external environmental context.

The Warwick University HRM takes into account the significance of organizational learning in the approach and in that assimilates Mintzberg’s HRM Model of emergent approach formation instead of a top-down rational planned strategy. Warwick HRM takes awareness of the business strategy that Pettigrew and Hendry examined the best performing institution; Harvard University with its innate operations by evaluating the consistency of their strategic orientations and how best they arrive its strategic target thus enabling it to compare Harvard’s operational performance and education with Warwick’s HR operational strategies, thus enabled an improvement in performance since the 1990s a strategic benchmarking (https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wbs/subjects/ohrm/).

Warwick had to adjust its HRM strategies by strategically benchmarking Harvard’s HRM operations and management thus taking advantage of what Harvard did best or improved competencies in the same area. The institution had to incorporate the internal and external context in which these functions take place as well as the processes by which such adjustments took place, along with relationships between the adjustments in both content and context (https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wbs/subjects/ohrm/).

Since the adoption of the Warwick’s HRM model, it has enabled the institution to identify and classify crucial environmental influences specifically those in England and internationally, thus the institution competitiveness has been through comparing HRM projects per taken internally and externally focusing on their main competitors such as Harvard and the University of Oxford on how they capitalize their HR personnel as their only sustainable competitive advantage that they possess in an ever-changing globalized world (https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/knowledge). It is meant to bear in mind that educational institutions more than ever before, human capital is considered the most vital aspect compared to financial, material and technological resources, where the dynamic nature of functions, specifically organizational, competitive and technological developments has subjected these institutions to always struggle to attract and retain the right and enough supply of qualified human resource personnel.

b. Warwick University Financial Management Structure

The Finance Office of Warwick University is headed by a finance Director who oversees all financial activities of the institution. The Deputy Finance Director assists him or her and direct finance functions such as the administration, services such as Warwick Hospital. Then there is a program team or a service team where there is the finance controller to ensure all finances are delegated to appropriate use (https://warwick.ac.uk/services/finance/aboutthefo/). There is a Finance Council Committee that involves members from various stakeholders from students, the Vice chancellor, the teaching staff and the administration representative. All these individuals develop the Warwick University Finance Department Structure.

The University of Warwick when it was founded in the year 1965, the Royal Charter granted it its legal status as an independent corporation. Its framework, objects, and power of governance were outlined in the Charter to support the statutes of the University. The Warwick Finance office (n.d.) has provided these statutes can only be amended after being approved by the Privy Council. The institution has two separate bodies with each possessing apparent defined operations and responsibilities, meant to manage and oversee all its functions; these being the Senate and the council (https://warwick.ac.uk/services/finance/finregproc/). Besides that, the institution is exempted from financial management all outlined in the Charities Act of 2006, making the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), which is the principal regulator that ensures that the institution is compliant with the Charity law (ibid).

The Financial Regulations for the University of Warwick (n.d.) has published a memorandum between Warwick University and HEFCE as well as the teaching agency has outlined the terms and condition on how finances are acquired and utilized, but the university must take account of all the HEFCE publications on financial management such as auditing and accountability that promotes sound frameworks of financial and management control assisted by the Finance and General Purpose Committees (https://warwick.ac.uk/services/finance/corporate_information/taxstrategy/). The financial regulations is interpreted in concurrence with the procedures of the University financials, where there are set down on principles meant to be pursued.

Basically, accounting is the language of any university, and in Warwick University, how finances are managed are indicated by how the institution is appearing to be. Most of the sources of financial sources are industries, tuition fees, business houses, donors, and the general public (https://warwick.ac.uk/services/finance/resources/regulations/). But the most crucial aspect of financial management is the transparency in the accounting methods and allocation of finances to all faculties and departments of the University. The university council of Warwick is the most significant group in the financial management. According to Dyson (2004), he analyzed and made a comparison of the result of their financial measures and goals of the institution and that of another industry and business houses to assess the university’s overall competitiveness, efficiency and productivity in meeting the educational platform initially set forth.

The rationale that Warwick University financial management applies methodologies and techniques, which are compared to the donors and other institutions so as to stay afloat of the ongoing, overview of the incomes, expenses, and payments, thus developing an accurate and applicable financial picture (https://warwick.ac.uk/research/strategy/). Costs that is visible and significant to the effective allocation of resources, and activity-based costing taking into consideration all the costs incurred in the production and delivery of education services.

The financial management of the university involves four implementation activity based on identifiers of activities, which is a detailed scrutiny of every undertaken. Second step the council per take is assigning resource costs to activities, which involves the identification of direct cost, indirect costs, administrative and general costs (https://warwick.ac.uk/services/finance/resources/regulations/). The third step of the implementation is the identity output, where all outputs are determined by all the turnouts for which an activity drains resources and the final step is the assignment of activity costs to drains. In this last step, the university council within the financial management applies the activity runners to accredit the cost of the activity to outputs in regard to demands for the critical functions.

c. Investment Structure of the University

The Warwick University investment structure is one unique entity made up of the investment committee, a Chief Investment Officer (CIO) as well as consultants that are outlined in the institution’s Investment Policy. The meetings of the Investment committee include the student’s representatives and a faculty who consult each other and assist the campus to be informed (https://warwick.ac.uk/services/gov/committees/isc/). On a daily basis, the CIO works with the Finance and Administration division made up of the Vice President (VP) Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Special Funds, Accountant, Budget Director, Controller and Assistant Controller.

The University has managed to develop links with the national and multinational organization; specifically the financial and manufacturing sectors by the University Estate Committee ensuring the modes of funding and investment are legal. For instance, in the year 2007, a 1980 founded Warwick manufacturing group that was developed as a body to advance the institution’s investment programs celebrated a ten-year partnership with the BAE Systems; an aerospace company in Britain, that had resulted from large returns for the defense and the company (Woodman, 2016). The Barclays and BAE systems funded the science square that was initially opened in the year 1984 by Thatcher Margaret at the outskirts of the campus. At this time the university has utilized the park to house at least eighty-five high technology companies, which was an exquisite investment the institution made, that also introduces and involves Warwick students into the company’s programs and projects.

In this case, among the thirty-two universities in England, Warwick University investment framework underlies its functionality on comparing its financial acquisition and sustainability on the metrics of these organizations such as BAE Systems to promote its performance in the provision of knowledge and skills to students from various faculties such as science and technology and optimized performance. In addition, the institution has formed a voluntary network with the eighty-five high technology companies to offer extra skills thus promoting its objective in educating learners to meet the dynamic expectations of the contemporary global economy. In addition to collaborative management (https://warwick.ac.uk/services/spg/spa/spacemanagement/capitalfunding), under the investment structure of Warwick University, the campus signed a fifty-year deal in the year 1993, where a significant portion of the campus library to house corporate archives, significant vital too to the learners in knowledge accumulation. Needless to say, recently one of the major investment frameworks acquired to boost the financial and the education paradigm of the university was a ten-year deal between the Warwick Business School and the Shard in London so that to strengthen connections between the school and several businesses. The investment structure of the institution acts as an additional resource for the management and promotion of learning of the Warwick University, which has developed strong ties across England with various organizations and businesses.

Conclusion

Warwick University has slowly evolved in the three structures of HRM, Financial management and investment structure in its environment, which is quite demanding to the basic mission of the institution. HRM has put up frameworks that focus on improving and acquiring personnel that can transform the service delivery to meet the current trends of the economic world. Financial operations have exponentially expanded to and a language widely recognized in these institutions beside Warwick, picturing how well or not governments, industries, business, the general public, and donors have financed the university under watchful eye of the Council of Committees. Finally, the investment structure of Warwick define the legal frameworks that are constructed on a pool basis employed to allow several investors that can offer alternative income streams besides the normal sources of finances the institution receives.

References

Agyepong, S. A., Fugar, F. D., & Tuuli, M. M. (2010). The applicability of the Harvard and Warwick models in the development of human resource management policies of large construction companies in Ghana.

Dyson, R. G. (2004). Strategic development and SWOT analysis at the University of Warwick. European journal of operational research, 152(3), 631-640.

Soni, G., & Kodali, R. (2010). Internal benchmarking for assessment of supply chain performance. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 17(1), 44-76.

Vasilić, M. (2014). Financial benchmarking the example of confectionery industry companies. Economics of Agriculture, 61(4).

Woodman, C. (2016). Warwick University plc: neo-liberalism, authoritarianism and resistance. Prometheus, 34(1), 39-48.