Page 91 - Crisis in Higher Education

Understanding the Root Causes • 65

solutions do not work because they do not address the root causes of the
problems. Creating an effective solution requires identifying these causes
and understanding how they helped to create the problems. Before proceed-
ing, it is essential to have a clear understanding of the customers and their
expectations.

4.2 UNDERSTANDING THE CUSTOMERS
OF HIGHER EDUCATION

As with other parts of the economy, any attempt to solve the problems
faced by institutions of higher learning should begin with full knowl-
edge of their customers and what they expect from the institutions. As
described in Chapter 1, colleges and universities are key players in two
demand– supply relationships: one with students and the other with orga-
nizations that hire their graduates. People familiar with supply chains
might argue that many and possibly all companies have two sets of rela-
tionships. Typically, a company acquires inputs such as materials, infor-
mation, and knowledge from its suppliers and transforms those inputs into
outputs that it sells to its customers. For example, the final customers buy
cars from an automaker, who procures engines from an engine assembly
plant, who buys metal castings for the engine block as well as other com-
ponents from various suppliers. The company that casts the engine block,
in turn, buys materials and other inputs from its suppliers, and so on. An
automotive supply chain is a vast series of relationships between suppli-
ers and customers. Banks provide checking accounts and other services to
its customers, and banks depend on suppliers to provide checks, process
transaction, transfer funds electronically, and many other activities. Both
auto making and banking illustrate classic supply chain relationships.
Why is higher education different? If the supply chain perspective is
applied to higher education, applicants would be the raw material for the
university. The parent would be the supplier, and the organization who
hires the graduates would “buy” the finished product, graduates, from the
university. Not only is this view dehumanizing, it is fundamentally flawed.
Applicants with help from their parents make choices about which college
or university to attend and what major to study. Once accepted, students
have many options. They may decide to change majors, have a double
major, transfer to another university, or drop out because higher education