University Core Competence Theory And Practice

The research on the theory and practice of university core competitiveness is the new field and tendency of contemporary university research and the certain consequence of its function expansion, system transform and environment change. In the new century, faced with boundless competition, economic globalization, new technology revolution, and the tendency of the internationalization, popularization and marketing ability on Chinese higher education, confronted with the complicated situation of resources shortage, disturbing environment, disordered system, low efficiency, increasing surviving pressure, the university demands new theory to explain new perplexity and contradiction, to integrate the problems of resource and ability, to seek new ways of new survival and development. Consequently, the research on university core competitiveness emerges on the basis of the present situation.The research on university core competitiveness is not only an interpretative research but also a functional one, which originates the reality of university in struggling for its existence and development, honor and status and stresses the integrality, subjectivity, competivity, and assembility of ability in the study of university. In the research university is regarded as the system of organization, ability and competition, and the source, essence, character, structure and function of university core competitiveness are analyzed comprehensively and reconstructed reasonably by using the theories of organization, competition, knowledge economic and positivist way. In fact, the straits in university are the ones of university core competitiveness, which arethe ones of ability constituting and forming .The function of the research is helping university get rid of the straits. Therefore, the research not only studies university core competitiveness's growing system and training way, and builds the appraising system and mode; but also explores the design of university organization, management reforming and development strategy deeply."University core competitiveness" is a transplanting concept and the product of "core competitiveness " and "university". It learns from the achievements of the research both on core competitiveness and university, and it is the confluence of two disciplines and two researches. Therefore, based on the nature of the university and according to the definition that theorists of Prahalad and Hammer have given, we have summarized the concept of "university core competitiveness", which is a kind of integrating ability founded on the nature and special resources of university, to force university to innovate and pursue excellent accumulative knowledge constantly, to organize collective learning and harmonize various university knowledge, technology, and ability. It makes the university unique in having the most prompt reaction to the environment, the most excellent resources distribution, the greatest social effectiveness and developing strategy. University core competitiveness is a deep-going task to communicate, get involved each other and cross the boundary of the organization. It involves many people from different levels and all of functions; it won't be reduced while being used; it won't be consumed with the time flying as tangible assets. On the contrary, it will be improved while being shared and applied. University core competitiveness needs fostering and protecting. The concept is the original point for problem research and it is also the basis for people todefine the patterns and methods of cognition and thought of university core competitiveness. On the premise of defining the concept, the research analyzes the similarities and differences between university and enterprise, and points out the six characters the university core competitiveness, personification, value, invisibility, entirety, enduring, rigidity, etc. So, it makes the university core competitiveness clear.The university core competitiveness is the organic union of structure and function. The research puts forward and builds five structure patterns (level structure pattern, self-organizational equation, energy level system pattern, strategy resource pattern and UC=[hardware, software] pattern), and stresses such patterns which must adapt with the situation of university sources and ability. Although they all have the functions of promoting university competitive power, organizing university strategy sources, developing university characteristics adapting with the change of university environment, different universities may have different structural patterns in which their functions differ.University core competitiveness is not generated itself but developed through long-term accumulation and training. How to diagnose, discern university core competitiveness and it put into the practice of university reform is the important part in this research. It is difficult to measure the university core competitiveness totally in quantifying way and more desirable for experts to judge it according to experience and data they possess. Therefore, we adopt the way of "soft evaluation". It has two advantages: Firstly, it is not limited by statistic data; Secondly, we could make full use of personal intelligence and experience and consider problems in full scale to avoid and reduceone-sidedness and limitation that statistic data maybe has. But "soft evaluation" also has some obvious disadvantages: Firstly, it is easy to be influenced by estimator's personal thoughts and their experience limitations. Secondly, very complex evaluating work will take estimators more time to find out facts of the unit which are estimated. Therefore, in order to make a remedy for "soft evaluation", we adopt "ways of analyzing factors" to rectify the evaluation result. According to proving each other, the result of two evaluations shows no difference basically.University core competitiveness reveals the new relationship between university organization and environment, which is continuously changed and interconnected. University and environment have simultaneous, corresponding, unanimously changing characteristics in terms of content and type. The university could harmonize with the environment, meet the demand of environmental change, gain resources and opportunities of survival and development to improve core competitiveness on the condition that it would modify organization structure, management pattern, and choices of developing strategy in accordance with developing and changing environment. Therefore, the research emphasizes that learning organization is the new pattern of university organization design, and makes a design of flat-type, matrix-type, decentralization and knowledge management for university organization on the basis of "ecology system pattern"; At the same time, it reconstructs the university management system and developing strategy to enable the university to gain the competitive advantage of sustainable development.The research on university core competitiveness is an innovative research which is of actual value to the university in three aspects: Firstly,it provides the university with new pattern and thought which based on entirety and comprehensive ability. The new pattern and thought changes the situation in which the university research emphasizes only parts, technology (such as curriculum, teaching method), and self-improvement instead of entirety, developmental strategy and scattering, closure and singleness of environment change. Secondly, it pushes the university towards the principal part position in which it should face society and market and participate in the competition. It stimulates them to construct and develop the university independently, not playing the obedient role again Thirdly, the key to win the competition is to consider it as the goal of university and emphasize sustainable competition advantage which is based on the integration of special knowledge, techniques and resources. The research on university core competitiveness, thereby guide the university to the developmental orbit of intension development, deeper transform and taste improvement.