Our strategy to create value
Introduction
In moving forward with purpose and creating value for our shareholders as we do so, our strategy and Annual Performance Plan (APP) keep us orientated and progressing in the right direction.
Our strategy spans a 10-year period, currently 2015 to 2025, while our APP is for 12 months, in this case 1 January to 31 December 2022.
Explaining our strategy
Our identity, meaning our purpose, dream and brand promise, drives our strategy, which informs our long-term goals and enablers. These synergies are shown in the following diagram.
Every year, we review and agree on our annual objectives, which we then capture in our APP. These objectives anchor the university’s broad direction in concrete actions through which we create value.
Shining the spotlight on strategic matters
Our world is changing rapidly, and the university – and indeed the whole higher education sector – has to keep pace with these changes.
One way to respond to changes instead of being reactive all the time, is to review our strategy.
At a two-day strategic planning session during November/December 2022, senior management and some of our planning experts discussed various pertinent issues affecting the NWU’s strategy and operations.
One of the strategic issues was the NWU’s business model, and in particular the model’s efficiency and effectiveness. The NWU Business School has been tasked with the responsibility to evaluate the current operational model.
A senior management team discussed various pertinent issues affecting the NWU’s strategy and operations at a bosberaad or legotla at the end of 2022. Leading the team is Prof Bismark Tyobeka, principal and vice-chancellor, in the front row, third from the right.
When it comes to being a comprehensive versus a traditional university, management resolved that the NWU is and should remain a traditional university. They also agreed that distance learning remains a crucial offering for the NWU.
Another strategic matter that came under the spotlight is that the student value proposition should be strengthened, and student-centricity reimagined at the NWU.
Everybody agreed that the NWU Business School is one of our flagship portfolios. Therefore, it needs to be appropriately resourced and allowed to implement its strategy and plan without unnecessary and rigid processes.
The diversification of income streams for the NWU was also discussed. To this end, management has resolved to pursue the establishment of NWU Enterprises (Pty) Limited to enhance our capability to harness third-stream income.
At the end of the planning session, Prof Bismark Tyobeka, our principal and vice-chancellor, said: “I am so happy with the work that the NWU senior management team has begun to set out for the future.”