Ambidextrous Approaches to Postgraduate Programme Development in Higher Education

Abstract

The higher education sector in the UK is evolving rapidly, with significant growth in postgraduate provision in the last two decades. Neoliberal reform, market deregulation, and changes to funding mechanisms, have led to an expansion in the number of students and providers, with universities operating in a globally competitive and increasingly marketised sector. To survive and thrive, public sector organisations operating in dynamic, commercially oriented environments must balance the push and pull of internal and external drivers, in the need for consistency and flexibility, efficiency and investment, consolidation and innovation, risk-mitigation and risk-taking. This chapter uses a framework of organisational ambidexterity, drawn from industry and deriving from March’s concepts of exploitation and exploration, to explore how educational leaders experience such dualities in developing postgraduate taught programmes, and the implications for practice. It draws on a qualitative study of the leadership of programme development at one university in the UK. The findings provide evidence of both postures in strategic and operational activity. Exploration is described as an outward-facing activity, aligned with flexibility, expansiveness, adaptability and choice, bringing multiple benefits and extending the organisation’s absorptive capacity. Exploitation is described as inward-facing, aligned with efficiency, refinement, quality and consistency, bringing economic benefits and improving the quality of the student experience. Descriptions of the interplay suggest an organisational structure and culture which promotes contextual ambidexterity, with some tensions and trade-offs. The significance of organisational culture and boundaries were highlighted as key considerations for leaders in negotiating the balance of ambidextrous activity.