Strategy Formulation Framework for Vocational Education

Strategy formulation framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT analysis, balanced
scorecard, QFD methodology and MBNQA education
criteria
S.F. Lee
Head, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Hong Kong
Institute of Vocational Education, Vocational Training Council, HKSAR
K.K. Lo
Principal, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, Vocational Training
Council, HKSAR,
Ruth F. Leung
Senior Lecturer, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, Vocational Training
Council, HKSAR
Andrew Sai On Ko
Doctoral Student, International Management Centre, Oxford Brookes, UK,
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Hong Kong Institute of
Vocational Education, Vocational Training Council, HKSAR
Keywords

Vocational training,
Strategic planning,
SWOT analysis,
Quality function deployment,
Baldrige Award, Education

Abstract

This paper describes the
framework employed in strategy
formulation by the Vocational
Training Council's Hong Kong
Institute of Vocational Education.
The proposed framework
integrates three widely used
business management strategic
tools together with the education
criteria 1999 adopted from the
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award (MBNQA) for strategy
development in vocational
education. The methodology of the
proposed framework used is to
conjoin the SWOT matrix with the
balanced scorecard (BSC),
identifying the four critical
successful perspectives. Then the
next step is to analyse the MBNQA
education criteria 1999 for
education performance excellence
using quality function deployment
(QFD) methodology.

Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423
# MCB University Press
[ISSN 0268-6902]

1. Overview
1.1 VTC's role in vocational education

The Vocational Training Council (VTC) of
Hong Kong is set up with a mission to train
adequate manpower for both commercial and
industrial sectors in Hong Kong. It has a long
history and tradition in supporting the
government's human resource planning and
development activities. The courses offered
range from Diploma, Higher Diploma to
Associateship levels. In the year of 1998/99,
VTC had a total of over 15,000 full-time and
50,000 part-time students at post-secondary
level. One of the VTC's major roles is to
advise the Government of Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (HKSAR) on technical
education and industrial training matters.

1.2 The reorganisation within VTC and the
IVE (TY)

Since 1997, the VTC has undergone a major
reorganisation program, integrating two
technical colleges and seven technical
institutes into the Hong Kong Institute of
Vocational Education with three nexuses of
nine different campuses. The revitalised
VTC's mission is: ``To provide high quality,
cost-effective, internationally acceptable
vocational education, training and
qualifications for students of all ages, directly
applicable to the requirements of Hong Kong's
employers.'' In order to carry out this mission,
VTC has further identified seven broad
objectives to accomplish (Lee Ngok, 1998):
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1 efficient and cost-effective provider of
high quality vocational education and
training;
2 strengthened partnership with employers
and stakeholders;
3 improve VTC's physical and learning
environment;
4 improve motivation and development of
staff;
5 effective human resources management
and information;
6 effective and efficient utilisation of
resources;
7 enhance VTC's image.
For each objective, a series of strategies were
established. A summary and block diagram
illustrating the VTC's vision and mission
statements, objectives and strategies is
shown in Figure 1. This shows the details of
vision, mission, main objectives and
strategies of the organisation to be
implemented. Lee et al. (1998) of VTC also
highlighted the strategies of vocational
education for the changing needs of Hong
Kong in industrial engineering and
management fields.
The Institute of Vocational Education
(IVE) at Tsing Yi is one of the head campuses
of the three IVE nexuses. To be in line with
the VTC's mission and objectives, the IVE
(TY) has to take the lead in shaping the
strategic direction for its own nexus in the
vocation education arena. The IVE (TY)
management is in great need of a workable
vocational education strategy formulation
approach to fulfil its destiny. This is the
major reason for starting the work described
in this paper.

[ 407 ]

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria

Figure 1
Summary and block diagram illustrating the VTC's vision and mission statements, objectives
and strategies

Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

2. Strategy formulation framework
(SF framework) for vocational
education
2.1 The need of SF framework for
vocational education

In the past decades, the vocational
education sector worked in a relatively
stable environment, and seemed isolated
from much competitive pressure.
Experience in the field would be sufficient
for defining the future road map. A
structured decision-making process is not
an absolute necessity. However, the global
environment has changed so drastically
that the decision and operation processes of
educational institutions become more
volatile and dynamic than ever. It needs a
systematic but vigorous and proactive
approach in managing these changes. An
appropriate strategy formulation
framework could be vital for the
organisation's success or failure. Therefore,
it is intended to propose a strategy
formulation framework (SF framework) for
vocational education by integrating some
well-proven strategic tools used in the
commercial world and the well-accepted
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
(MBNQA)'s education criteria 1999.

2.2 The SF framework methodology

Figure 2 depicts the methodology of the
proposed SF framework for vocational

[ 408 ]

education. A brief description of this SF
framework methodology is outlined below.
The first step of the SF framework is to
have the SWOT matrix identify the critical
factors of the situation and then build the
balanced scorecard (BSC) with identification
of the different perspectives for success and
excellence performance. By doing that, a
more structural approach in setting up the
foundation of the BSC is applied, instead of
simply identifying the ``key performance
indicators'' (KPI) via gut feeling or by
brainstorming.
The next step of the SF framework is to
make use of the QFD methodology with the
BSC attributes identified as the ``whats'' and
the MBNQA education criteria 1999
(MBNQA, 1999) as the ``hows''. The education
criteria for MBNQA were modified
accordingly based on the local environment
and situations; their relationships under the
QFD are then studied. A holistic strategy
formulation framework is proposed to allow
institutions to develop and implement their
education strategic plan.
Ko (1999) proposed building the balanced
scorecard with SWOT matrix analysis. Lee
and Ko (1999) further implemented the SF
framework on Sun Tzu's The Art of Business
Management Strategies for business
management strategy formulation.
To validate the applicability and versatility
of the proposed methodology, the SF
framework is being adopted by the IVE (TY)
to formulate its vocational education strategy

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria

Figure 2
Strategy formulation framework for vocational education

Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

for the next five years. The experience of IVE
(TY) employing the SF framework will be
described in section 8 of this paper, while the
details of each strategic tool and MBNQA
education criteria included will be described
in sections 3 to 7.

3. The SWOT analysis
The SWOT analysis is the process of
analysing organisations and their
environments based on their strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This
includes the environmental analysis ± the
process of scanning the business

environment for threats and opportunities
(external factors), and the organisational
analysis ± the process of analysing a firm's
strengths and weaknesses (internal factors)
(Weihrich, 1982).

The organisational analysis
Strengths

Determine an organisation's strong points.
This should be from both internal and
external customers.

Weaknesses

Determine an organisation's weaknesses, not
only from its point of view, but also more
importantly, from customers. Although it

[ 409 ]

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria
Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

may be difficult for an organisation to
acknowledge its weaknesses it is best to
handle the bitter reality without
procrastination.

The environmental analysis
Opportunities

Another major factor is to determine how
organisations can continue to grow within
the marketplace. After all, opportunities are
everywhere, such as the changes in
technology, government policy, social
patterns, and so on.

Threats

No one likes to think about threats, but we
still have to face them, despite the fact that
they are external factors that are out of our
control, for example, the recent economic
slump in Asia. It is vital to be prepared and
face threats even during turbulent times.

3.1 The wizardry of SWOT

The wizardry of SWOT is the matching of
specific internal and external factors, which
creates a strategic matrix and which makes
sense. It is essential to note that the internal
factors are within the control of organisation,
such as operations, finance, marketing, and
other areas. On the contrary, the external
factors are out of the organisation's control,
such as political and economic factors,
technology, competition, and other areas.
The four combinations are called the maximaxi (strengths/opportunities), maxi-mini
(strengths/threats), mini-maxi (weaknesses/
opportunities), and mini-mini (weaknesses/
threats). Weihrich (1982) describes the four
combinations as follows:
1 Maxi-maxi (S/O). This combination shows
the organisation's strengths and
opportunities. In essence, an organisation
should strive to maximise its strengths to
capitalise on new opportunities.
2 Maxi-mini (S/T). This combination shows
the organisation's strengths in
consideration of threats, e.g. from
competitors. In essence, an organisation
should strive to use its strengths to parry
or minimise threats.
3 Mini-maxi (W/O). This combination
shows the organisation's weaknesses in
tandem with opportunities. It is an
exertion to conquer the organisation's
weaknesses by making the most of any
new opportunities.
4 Mini-mini (W/T). This combination shows
the organisation's weaknesses by
comparison with the current external
threats. This is most definitely defensive
strategy, to minimise an organisation's
internal weaknesses and avoid external
threats.

[ 410 ]

3.2 Collateral insight of SWOT

As mentioned, the wizardry of SWOT is the
matching of specific internal and external
factors. However, what about the matching
items within internal factors and items
within external factors. The primary reason
is that matching these factors will create
strategies that will not make sense. For
example, with a combination of strength and
weakness (both are internal factors), let's say
one of the organisation's strengths is ``plenty
of cash'' and one of its weaknesses is ``lack of
training''. Therefore, mixing these two
factors together, the management team might
simply decide to plan more training for the
staff members. The obvious remark for this
purposeless strategy will be ``so what!'' It is
mainly because people should not be trained
just for the sake of training. A victorious
training program must have a specific target
in response to external changes.
Organisations have to determine their
specific needs for training in line with the
external and internal factors. In other words
the strategy must have an external factor as a
trigger in order for it to be feasible.

4. The balanced scorecard
Kaplan and Norton (1996) developed the
balanced scorecard (BSC) in the early 1990s.
According to them, ``the balanced scorecard
translates an organisation's mission and
strategy into a comprehensive set of
performance measures and provides the
framework for strategic measurement and
management''. Traditionally, most
organisations look into their corporate
performance by reviewing their financial
aspects (Hepworth, 1998). However, financial
measures alone do not provide a balanced
view of the critical success factors of any
organisation, mainly because financial
measurements tend to measure the past.
Therefore, what if an organisation knows
what has happened, if there are no
explanations of ``Why it has happened''
(Sanger, 1998)?
The balanced scorecard is based on four
key perspectives:
1 Financial goals ± ``How will we look to our
stake holders?''
2 Customer perspective ± ``How must we look
to our customers?''
3 Internal processes ± ``What internal
processes must we excel at?''
4 Learning and growth ± ``How can the
organisation learn and improve?''
(Sanger, 1998).
The concept of the balanced scorecard is very
similar to the ``Theory Y'' approach which
was developed by McGregor in 1960.
McGregor's ``Theory X'' discussed that the

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria
Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

traditional management system assumes that
``the average human being has an inherent
dislike of work and will avoid it if he can''
(Dinesh and Palmer, 1998). McGregor's
``Theory Y'' assumes the opposite in human
nature and states that ``the average person
finds work as natural as play or rest''. Based
on ``Theory Y'', McGregor concluded, ``An
employee, if directly involved in the goal
setting process, can be relied upon for selfcontrol. Therefore, productivity can best be
improved by clarifying strategically aligned
goals.'' Almost 40 years later, Kaplan and
Norton's balanced scorecard is also based on
goal conformity as a means of improving
performance (Dinesh and Palmer, 1998). In
linking Kaplan and Norton's balanced
scorecard with McGregor's ``Theory Y'', one
must note that ``Theory Y'' deals with
individual performances, and the balanced
scorecard deals with corporate performance.
However, the linkage of the two performance
measurement tools makes sense, mainly
because corporate performance is merely an
accumulation of individual performances.
What makes the balanced scorecard stand
out is that it is a holistic performance
management system which is geared towards
defining performance measures and
communicating objectives and vision to the
organisation (Roest, 1997).

4.1 Critique of the balanced scorecard

McAdam et al. (1999) reviewed the balanced
scorecard based on their framework of total
quality management (TQM) (Schalkwyk,
1998) and the main critiques are as follows:
.
``TQM is strategically linked to business
goals.'' Despite the facts that Kaplan and
Norton outlined the four perspectives
(financial, customer, internal processes,
and learning and growth) as the key
elements of organisational strategies that
must be measured, the BSC remains a
means of effectively measuring strategy
rather than a means of deciding strategy.
This is the main reason that the SWOT
analysis matrix serves as a great
``stepping stone'' to build the key
performance indicators (KPI) of the BSC.
.
``Customer understanding and
satisfaction are vital.'' The BSC does a
great job in strengthening the link
between customer improvement
initiatives and the organisation's strategy.
However, the BSC does not indicate how
new customers and markets can be
identified (McAdam and O'Neill, 1999). It
is believed that the BSC's major weakness
is the lack of ``Hows''. By linking the BSC
to the quality function deployment (QFD)
methodology, the entire ``Hows'' can be
identified. Figure 2a and 2b show the

SWOT matrix with balanced scorecard
(BSC) perspectives.

4.2 The link between SWOT matrix and the
balanced scorecard

Kaplan and Norton indicated that the first
step of the actual implementation of the
balanced scorecard is to clarify the company
vision and strategy (Kaplan and Norton,
1996). It is believed that by first implementing
the SWOT analysis, to develop a set of
strategies that make sense, will serve as a
stepping stone toward the actual
implementation of the balanced scorecard.
The balanced scorecard has been widely
applied in corporate performance
management and can easily be extended to
strategic planning of an organisation.

5. Quality function deployment
(QFD) methodology
The earliest use of QFD can be traced back to
the Kobe shipyard, Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries Ltd of Japan in 1972. In the 1990s,
there were many successful examples from
various industries (Halbleib et al., 1993;
Erikkson et al., 1993; Hauser and Clausing,
1988; Stubbs and Diaz, 1994) using the QFD
quality tool extensively. Their results were
encouraging and impressive.
QFD is an engineering method for
converting customer demands into quality
characteristics and for developing product
design by systematically deploying the
relationships of customer demands and
product characteristics. The QFD
methodology is broken into numerous
analytical steps, most of which are
documented as charts. It is a three-step
process: quality design, detailed design and
process deployment. It is the development of
an operating mechanism to transform
customers' expectations into specific design
and manufacturing requirements (Straker,
1995).
QFD employs mathematical analysis using
a series of matrices, which depend on
functional relationships, to arrive at the
highest level of quality in producing a
product. Through the analyses of the various
relationships of functional components, one
is able to quantify quality and establish
priorities. It is also commonly known as a
process that provides structure to the
development cycle and helps an organisation
plan for the effective use of the other
technical tools to support and complement
each other and address priority issues. It can
pinpoint the areas of customer concern
where the specialised tools can have benefit.
Actually, QFD is not just a tool but also a
planning process (Sullivan, 1988).

[ 411 ]

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria
Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

QFD is defined by Dr Yoji Akao as (Mallon
and Mulligan, 1993):
Converting the customers' demands into
quality characteristics and developing a
design quality for the finished product by
systematically deploying the relationships
between the demands and the characteristics,
starting with the quality of each functional
component and extending the deployment to
the quality of each part and process. The
overall quality of the product will be formed
through this network of relationships.

QFD integrates matrices and charts into a
system to realise customer requirements,
functions, quality requirements, parts
definition, break-through methods and
manufacturing methods. QFD uses matrices
to identify and prioritise elements relating to
intersecting concepts of customer
requirement or quality characteristics,
quality requirement/cost, function/
reliability, and so forth (Wassermann, 1993).
QFD also shows all the information to the
project that helps the organisation set the
target or determine the priority of action
needed to be taken. In addition, the matrix
compares the product or service with other
competitive products or services so that the
organisation can make improvements in the
previous stage of design. The main goal of
QFD is to increase customers' satisfaction by
improving their own quality and by exciting
the customer through innovation. QFD helps
an organisation plan for effective application
of its quality tools by directing the
application toward issues of importance to
customers. Organisations should use the
QFD process as one of their principal
planning tools in their TQM effort.
The selection of priority items for
increased customer satisfaction provides a
company with a distinct product focus. The
customer requirements that are currently
satisfactory to customers can be handled
using existing procedures and processes. In
addition, the QFD process causes the
company to focus on customer requirements
for which the products are not currently
competitive. This effective application tool
should be combined with TQM.
In the management aspects, QFD also helps
to:
.
identify and prioritise customer needs
obtained from every possible source;
.
analyse the details of design and process
improvement meeting the needs of
engineers;
.
stimulate continuous improvement;
.
encourage communication and build
teamwork within an organisation;
.
reduce lead-time, optimise engineering
resources and improve quality; and
.
build partnerships with customers'
participation.

[ 412 ]

6. The link between balanced
scorecard and quality function
deployment methodology
Traditionally organisations operated based
on management by results, which is a
behavioural science. Typical management
will establish objectives. Then the objectives
will be evaluated by measuring the
performance and the results; that is objective
management. The top management is only
interested in the end of quality improvement,
the results only. The methods, systems or
resources needed to achieve results are
usually left to the ingenuity of the middle
management. Policy management, on the
other hand, is a strategy to ensure results by
focusing on the means as opposed to
measuring performance after the fact
(Sullivan, 1988). Policy management will take
the form of a business plan to overlay
existing systems and transform management
focus from results to the means of achieving
results. Policy management is structured as a
method to achieve an organisation's business
or policy objectives. The means to achieve
becomes the primary focus and results
measure only how well policy management
was carried out (Sullivan, 1988).
Organisations can apply QFD as a strategic
planning tool (Maddux et al., 1991).
QFD is a unique and powerful quality
assurance tool that is designed to ensure the
voice of both the internal and external
customers is clearly heard and followed in
the development of a product or service
(Pitman et al., 1996). The heart of QFD is its
matrix called the ``house of quality'' (HOQ). It
is made up of two main parts, the ``whats''
and the ``hows''. When using QFD, the most
important tasks are to define and understand
the ``whats'' ± the needs of the customers and
to define the ``hows'' to meet the customers'
needs (Tan et al., 1998).

7. The Malcolm Baldrige National
Quality Award in education criteria
for performance excellence
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
(MBNQA) is an initiative by the US
Government to promote the concept of
quality and quality management to
enterprises in order to maintain their
national competitiveness. Traditionally, only
manufacturing and commercial
organisations would apply for MBNQA.
However, from 1999, education institutions
are eligible to apply for the MBNQA with
the newly introduced education criteria
1999 for performance excellence (MBNQAEC) and the major criteria are summarised
as follows:

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria
Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

1 Leadership:
1.1 Leadership system.
1.2 Public responsibility and citizenship.
2 Strategic planning:
2.1 Strategy development process.
2.2 Course strategy.
3 Student and stakeholder focus:
3.1 Knowledge of student needs and
expectations.
3.2 Student and stakeholder satisfaction
and relationship enhancement.
4 Information and analysis:
4.1 Selection and use of information and
data.
4.2 Selection and use of comparative
information and data.
4.3 Analysis and review of course
performance.
5 Staff focus:
5.1 Work systems.
5.2 Staff education, training, and
development.
5.3 Staff wellbeing and satisfaction.
6 Educational and support process
management:
6.1 Education design and delivery.
6.2 Education support processes.
7 Course performance results:
7.1 Student performance results.
7.2 Student and stakeholder satisfaction
results.
7.3 Staff results.
7.4 Course-specific results.

Figure 3
General guidelines for SWOT analysis in education sector

8. The SF framework: linking
between SWOT, BSC, QFD and
MBNQA-EC and implementing the SF
framework for vocational education
strategy in IVE(TY)
In the last five sections, the essential aspects
of each of the strategic management tools and
Malcolm Baldrige education criteria, which
are the backbones of the SF framework, are
outlined. The following discussion is focused
on the methodology of integrating these tools
to generate the proposed SF framework and
the experience of the IVE (TY) adopting the
SF framework to develop its vocational
education strategy.
There are three phases of SF framework:
.
Phase 1: to conduct SWOT analysis.
Through group discussion and
brainstorming, the top management team
conducts a preliminary organisational
analysis and environmental analysis to
generate a SWOT (section 3 and Figure 2a)
for the organisation. Figure 3 gives some
general guidelines for consideration when
devising a set of vocational education
strategies for vocational education
institutions. Based on these general
guidelines, the IVE (TY) top management
examines its current internal and external
environmental factors, taking the future
into perspective. As a result, a SWOT for
IVE (TY) is being developed (Figure 4).
.
Phase 2: to conjoin the SWOT matrix with
the balanced scorecard (BSC). Adopting
the wizardry of SWOT (section 3.1) and the
four key critical successful perspectives,
i.e. financial goals, customer, internal
processes, and learning and growth
suggested by the BSC (section 4), the top
management should be able to generate a
SWOT matrix with BSC classification
(Figures 2b and 2c). Figure 5 shows how
the IVE (TY) transformed the preliminary
SWOT analysis into a SWOT matrix with
BSC perspectives.
.
Phase 3: to customise the MBNQA
education criteria for performance
excellence. Each education institution
should examine the MBNQA education
criteria for performance excellence
(MBQNA EC) to suit their specific
circumstance and cater for their own
needs. The department of Industrial
Engineering and Management at the IVE
(TY) has taken in the MBNQA-EC as its
course management system. Its
interpretation and implementation for the
education criteria of MBNQA is shown in
Appendix 1.
.
Phase 4: to consolidate the SWOT (BSC)
and MBNQA EC using quality function
deployment (QFD) methodology for
vocational education strategy formulation

[ 413 ]

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria

Figure 4
SWOT analysis for IVE (Tsing Yi)

Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

and implementation. The BSC serves as a
powerful tool while defining the ``whats''
within QFD (section 5), the education
criteria of the MBNQA indicate the
``hows'' in the strategic planning of the
QFD. The consequent QFD helps to
identify the critical criteria and success
implementation factors. Therefore, it is
envisaged that linking up SWOT, BSC and
MBNQA education criteria with QFD will
make a more holistic strategic
management system. It is suggested that
this holistic approach is known as the SF
framework.
Figure 2 depicts the methodology of the
SF framework, i.e. to conjoin the SWOT
matrix with the balanced scorecard (BSC),
quality function deployment (QFD) and
MBNQA education criteria for
performance excellence. Figure 6 further
shows how the IVE (TY), step by step,
followed this SF framework, the
consolidated QFD for strategies
formulation the in Hong Kong Institute of
Vocational Education at Tsing Yi.

9. Conclusions
The manufacturing and services sectors in
Hong Kong have faced changes in the past

[ 414 ]

years, these changes trigger the changes in
strategic planning of courses meeting the
vocational education requirements in the
region.

9.1 Changes in the manufacturing sector

Since the open door policy of China was
implemented in the late 1970s, Hong Kong's
manufacturers have been moving and
establishing their production plants in
China, noticeably in the Pearl River Delta
(PRD) area. Although this has made some
employment re-adjustment necessary,
particularly at the unskilled labour level
where the loss of jobs to the PRD is much
greater, it is still beneficial to Hong Kong's
manufacturing industry in the long run in
order to stay competitive. This also has
shifted the skill requirements from the
original and mainly production emphasis
to a broader range of activities with much
heavier emphasis on activities such as
sourcing of raw materials, product design,
sampling and mould making, production
planning, management and control, quality
control, managerial functions and
professional and technical and services,
etc.
Hong Kong's manufacturing industry is
also changing from an original equipment
manufacturing (OEM) mode to an original

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria

Figure 5
SWOT of Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Tsing Yi) on balanced scorecard

Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

design manufacturing (ODM) mode, and even
original brand manufacturing (OBM) mode.
Being highly export-driven, Hong Kong's
products are vulnerable not only to tariff
policies of export countries, but also to their
increasingly stringent environmental
protection and consumer safety regulations.
In addition, Hong Kong's competitive edge in
the global market has shifted from the
traditional emphasis on cost to quality and
design-to-market lead time.

9.2 Changes in service sector

As the contribution of the manufacturing
sector to GDP is decreasing, there has been a

corresponding increase by service sectors.
Hong Kong's service sector consists mainly
of freight and transportation,
telecommunications, banking, real estate
development and professional services such
as legal, accounting, insurance services; and
social, community and personal services.
Also included are the import/export,
wholesale, retail, and restaurant and hotel
sectors. Information technology has
gradually gained a larger share in terms of
service and technical support.
Higher awareness of consumers' rights and
better informed consumers, coupled with
fierce competition for business, both locally
and internationally, have made companies

[ 415 ]

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria
Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

operating in Hong Kong very conscious of
their products' or services' quality and the
manner in which they are delivered.

9.3 Changes in the future planning of
courses

Vocational education is unique from other
streams of higher education in that it
prepares the student for employment.
Traditionally, the students are trained for a
particular discipline such that on
graduation, he or she will have acquired
adequate knowledge of most the practical
aspects of that job, short only on actual
working experience. However, in the present
day Hong Kong demands more than this. In
Hong Kong, changes are rapid, significant
and frequent. A person may have to change
jobs several times during their working life,
or, even on the same job, the contents and
tools used will be changing constantly and
rapidly. Thus, preparing graduates for lifelong education, in addition to immediate
employment, must also be given an equally
high priority when preparing a vocational
education curriculum. On the other hand,
Hong Kong has been and will continue to be
undergoing economic restructuring. On top

of preparing the students for continual
development, the courses offered must also
be flexible and dynamic enough to follow
closely in step with the changing needs of the
community in which the vocational
education institute serves.
The methodology of the proposed SF
framework, by conjoining the SWOT matrix
with the balanced scorecard (BSC), quality
function deployment (QFD) and MBNQA
education criteria for performance
excellence, is effective and useful in strategic
planning. Appendix 2 shows the strategic
planning of new courses in IVE (TY) in the
future years after the analysis. As a
summary, these new initiatives are:
.
Information technology and e-business;
.
Web technology and mechatronics
engineering;
.
Internet technology and
telecommunications;
.
building technology and services;
.
information technology and logistics
management;
.
property management and services; and
.
health, safety and environment
management.

Figure 6
Use of quality function deployment (QFD) methodology in balanced scorecard and Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
in strategic planning

[ 416 ]

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria
Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

References

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function deployment and its use in designing
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situational analysis'', Journal of Long Range
Planning, Vol. 15 No. 2.

Appendix 1. Malcolm Baldrige National
Quality Award (MBNQA) education criteria
for performance excellence
The course board is adopting the Malcolm
Baldrige National Quality Award ± education
criteria 1999 as its quality management system
framework. The course board recognises that
these education criteria can provide a valuable
framework for performance excellence. They
help the course board to assess and measure
performance on a wide range of key
institutional performance indicators: student/
stakeholder, educational service and
outcomes, operational, and financial. The
practice of self-assessment allows the course
board to identify its strengths and to target
opportunities for improvement on processes
and results affecting all key stakeholders ±
including students, departments, staff and our
community. These criteria also help to align
resources; improve communication,
productivity and effectiveness; and achieve our

[ 417 ]

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria
Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

goals. The course board would use these
education criteria to assess and measure its
course performance to pursue excellence in the
Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education
(Tsing Yi). The Education Criteria 1999 are:
1 Leadership:
1.1 leadership system;
1.2 public responsibility and citizenship.
2 Strategic planning:
2.1 strategy development process;
2.2 course strategy.
3 Student and stakeholder focus:
3.1 knowledge of student needs and
expectations;
3.2 student and stakeholder satisfaction
and relationship enhancement.
4 Information and analysis:
4.1 selection and use of information and
data;
4.2 selection and use of comparative
information and data;
4.3 analysis and review of course
performance.
5 Staff focus:
5.1 work systems.
5.2 Staff education, training, and
development;
5.3 staff well being and satisfaction.
6 Educational and support process
management:
6.1 education design and delivery;
6.2 education support processes.
7 Course performance results:
7.1 student performance results;
7.2 student and stakeholder satisfaction
results;
7.3 staff results;
7.4 course-specific results.

The implementation of Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award ± education criteria
in the course management
1. Leadership

The course board will provide leadership to
guide the course management teams in
setting directions, seeking future
opportunities, and building and sustaining a
learning environment. The course board will
give emphasis to create a leadership system
based on clear values and high performance
expectations that address the needs of all
stakeholders. The leadership includes the
responsibilities to the public and the
practices of good citizenship.
1.1 Leadership system:
.
The course board will set directions and
sustain a leadership system conducive to
high performance, individual
development, initiative, organisational
learning, and innovation. It includes
creating values and expectations;
projecting and communicating a strong

[ 418 ]

.

focus on students and learning;
encouraging innovation; developing and
maintaining an effective leadership
system; and effectively communicating
values, directions, and expectations
The course board will maintain a climate
conducive to learning including safety
and equity. It will also review the
leadership system, using staff feedback,
and reviewing overall course
performance.

1.2 Public responsibility and citizenship:
The course board will address the issue of
how to integrate its values and expectations
regarding its social responsibilities and
community involvement into its
performance management practices.

2. Strategic planning

The course board will carry out strategic
planning which addresses all aspects of
course-level planning and the deployment of
plans. This includes primarily the
development and deployment of key
educational and other mission-related
requirements, taking into account the needs
of students and other key stakeholders.
The strategic planning process enables the
course board to:
.
Understand key student and stakeholder
and societal requirements as input to
setting directions. This is to help to ensure
that ongoing process improvements are
aligned with the course's strategic
directions.
.
Optimise the use of resources, elevate and
maintain staff capability, and provide
bridging between short- and longer term
requirements.
.
Ensure that plan deployment will be
effective ± that there are mechanisms to
communicate requirements and achieve
overall alignment.
2.1 Strategy development process:
.
The course board will develop its view of
the future, set directions, and translate
these directions into a clear basis for
communicating, deploying, and aligning
critical requirements. Alignment refers to
effective integration of staff development,
curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
.
Issues on all the key influences,
challenges, and requirements that might
affect the course's future directions and
decisions will be discussed.
2.2 Course strategy:
The course board will address the course's
strategy and action plans and how they are
deployed based on the projection of the
course's performance. The critical action
plan requirements include staff resource
plans to support the overall strategy.

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria
Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

3. Student and stakeholder focus

The course board will seek to understand the
needs of current and future students and that
of the stakeholders on an ongoing basis. It
stresses the importance of course
relationships and of the use of an array of
listening and learning strategies. Although
many of the needs of stakeholders must be
translated into educational services for
students, the stakeholders themselves have
needs that the courses must also be able to
accommodate. The course board will have to
balance the differing needs and expectations
of the students and the stakeholders and
among stakeholders themselves.
3.1 Knowledge of student needs and
expectations:
.
The course board will determine the needs
and expectations of its current and future
students to maintain a climate conducive
to learning for all students.
.
The course board will determine and
anticipate changing needs and
expectations for future students. It will
take into account the following:
demographic data and trends; changing
requirements of graduates in the
workplace or other institutes; changing
local, and global requirements; and
educational alternatives for prospective
students. The course board will analyse
the overall information to develop
actionable data for planning.
3.2 Student and stakeholder satisfaction and
relationship enhancement:
.
The course board will identify and
enhance the satisfaction of its students
and stakeholders to build relationships to
improve educational services and to
support related planning. The four aspects
of relationship-building are: regular and
special access needs; proactive follow-ups
with stakeholders; key measure and/or
indicators used to monitor the
effectiveness of key relationships; and
how the course board develops
partnerships with key stakeholders to
pursue common purposes.
.
The course board will assess student and
stakeholder satisfaction as well as
dissatisfaction for the purpose of
improving the educational and support
services of the course board.

4. Information and analysis

The course board will identify and analyse all
key information to effectively manage the
courses and to drive performance
improvement. The course board will address
all basic performance-related information
and comparative information as well as how
such information is analysed and used to
optimise course performance.

4.1 Selection and use of information and
data:
The course board will address the selection,
management, and use of information and
data to support overall course goals, with
strong emphasis on action plans and
performance improvement. Performance
improvement depends heavily on
information and data that relate to all aspects
of course operations.
4.2 Selection and use of comparative
information and data:
The course board will examine the external
drivers of improvement ± data and
information related to best practices, new
practices, and performance of comparable
courses in the region.
4.3 Analysis and review of course
performance:
.
The course board will address course-level
analysis of overall performance ± the
principal basis for guiding the course's
processes toward key results. It links
analysis and performance review to help
to ensure that analysis is kept relevant to
decision making.
.
The course board will review its
performance and capabilities and use the
review findings to improve performance
and capabilities relative to goals and
plans. Such reviews will take into account
changing educational and operational
needs. The course board will address how
review findings are translated into
priorities for improvement ± sufficiently
specific for effective deployment
throughout the course and to appropriate
stakeholders.

5. Staff focus

The course board will focus on all key human
resource issues and practices directed
toward creating an environment with a
strong focus on students and learning, and
toward developing staff that enable them to
adapt to change. The course board will
address these in an integrated way, aligned
with the course's mission and strategy.
5.1 Work systems:
The course board will address how the work
and job design and recognition approaches
enable and encourage all staff to contribute
fully and effectively.
5.2 Staff education, training, and
development strategy:
.
The course board will develop staff
education, training, and development
strategy to meet overall course objectives.
.
Education and training address the
knowledge and skills staff need to meet
overall course and personal objectives.
Examples include assessment practices,
learning styles, problem solving,
teamwork, leadership skills,
communication, interpreting and using

[ 419 ]

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria

.

Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

.

data, use of new technology, process
analysis, and other training that enhances
staff effectiveness and work safety.
The course board will look into basic
information ranging from the linkage
between education and training to course
action plans to the evaluation and
improvement of education and training,
taking into account course performance,
staff performance, and personal
development of staff.
The course board will stress evaluation of
education and training. Such evaluation
might address factors such as staff selfevaluation, effectiveness of education and
training delivery, impact on the
organisational unit, and course
performance.

5.3 Staff well being and satisfaction:
.
The course board will address the work
environment and work climate that
support and enhance the well being,
satisfaction, and motivation of staff. It will
encourage and support staff to develop
and utilise their own potential.
.
The course board will assess its work
environment and work climate and
determine staff well being, satisfaction,
and motivation. The course board will
relate staff well being, satisfaction, and
motivation results to course, subject, and
individual performance results to identify
improvement priorities.

6. Educational and support process
management

The course board will focus on all key
educational and support processes. They are
the central requirements for efficient and
effective process management ± effective
design, evaluation, continuous improvement,
and focus on high performance.
6.1 Education design and delivery:
1 The course board will examine how it
designs, introduces, delivers, and
improves its educational programs and
offerings. It will also examine how these
programs and offerings are maintained to
meet design requirements and further
improvements.
2 The course board will examine
organisational learning through focusing
on how learning in one subject area
replicated and added to the knowledge
base for other course subjects.
3 The design of educational programs and
offerings include four aspects:
.
how student educational and wellbeing needs are addressed;
.
how sequencing and offering linkages
are addressed;
.
how to design a measurement plan that
makes use of formative and summative
assessments;

[ 420 ]

how the course board ensures that staff
are properly prepared.
4 The course delivery refers to all strategies
used to engage students in learning. The
elements examined are the observations,
measures, and/or indicators used to
provide timely information to help
students and staff.
5 Information for process improvement
includes information from stakeholders;
benchmarking practices; use of
assessment results; peer evaluation;
research on learning and assessment; and
the use of new learning technology.
.

6.2 Education support processes:
The course board will address the design,
maintenance, and improvement in its
support processes. Support processes are
those that support the course's overall
education activities and operations such as
tutorial, laboratory and use of information
technology. It also includes enrolment,
registration, placement, marketing, and
public relations.

7. Course performance results

The course board will focus on all course
improvement activities, using a set of
measures that reflect overall mission-related
success. It provides ``real-time'' information ±
measures and indicators of progress ± for
evaluating and improving the effectiveness
and efficiency of services, aligned with the
course's mission and strategy. The analysis
and review of course performance is used to
identify causal connections to support
improvement activities, planning, and
change. The course performance results will
provide a comprehensive and balanced view
of the course's effectiveness in improving its
performance, at present and in the future.
7.1 Student performance results:
The course board will address the principal
student performance results based upon
mission-related factors and assessment
methods. Critical factors are:
.
student performance should reflect
holistic and mission-related results;
.
current levels and trends should be
reported; and
.
data should be segmented by student
group(s) to permit trends and
comparisons that demonstrate the
course's sensitivity to education
improvement for all students.
7.2 Student and stakeholder satisfaction
results:
.
The course board will address trends and
levels in student and stakeholder
satisfaction based on relevant measures
and/or indicators, and address these
results compared with similar courses.
.
The course board will ensure that
satisfaction levels provide a useful tool in

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria
Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

assessing key factors that contribute to or
inhibit education, and encourage
inclusion of education and growth
dimensions in satisfaction measurement.
7.3 Staff results:
.
The course board will address the staff
results ± those related to well being,
development, satisfaction, and
performance of staff.
.
The course board will include results on
course-specific human resource factors.
Course-specific human resource factors
include those created by the course board
to measure progress against key goals,
such as extent of training and
development, measures and/or indicators
of effectiveness.
.
The course board will collect the
comparative information so that results
can be evaluated relative to comparable
institutions.
7.4 Course-specific results:
1 The course board will address key
performance results that contribute
significantly to the course's mission and
goals.
2 Appropriate for inclusion are:
.
measures of productivity and
operational effectiveness, including
timeliness;
.
results of compliance and
improvement in areas of regulations;
.
improvements in admission standards;
.
improvements in institute's safety and
hiring equity;
.
contributions to community
betterment;
.
improved performance of
administrative and other support
functions;
3 The course board will collect comparative
information so that results reported can
be evaluated against other organisations.
Such data might include results of
surveys, peer ratings, etc.

Appendix 2. Multi-disciplinary courses
1. Information technology and e-business
.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Principles for growing business on the
World Wide Web.
How leading edge technologies will
transform business.
Opportunities and pitfalls in doing
business on the Internet.
Global perspective and managerial
perspective on e-business.
Using computer networking and the
Internet to grow business.
Infrastructure for e-business to accelerate
the business goals.
Components of e-business.

.

.

.
.

.
.

.

.

.
.

.

.

.

.

.

Design, installation, development, and
transaction and management of
e-business.
Advertisement, marketing, customer
service, customer relationship
management via WWW.
Logistics support behind e-business.
Integration of e-business with enterprise
resources planning (ERP), customer
relation management (CRM), and supply
chain.
Distributed systems for e-commerce.
Extranet and Internet for e-commerce
strategies.
E-business global strategies for expanding
market.
Transition from e-business strategies to
an e-business blueprint.
e-commerce security.
Technical, business, and legal issues on
the Internet.
E-banking, digital cash, electronic
payment systems.
Business re-engineering with respect to
e-business.
Use of IT and e-business in process
improvement.
Application of IT and e-business in quality
management.
Industrial and supervisory management
in IT and e-business.

2. Web technology and mechatronics
engineering
.

.

.

.

.

Virtual manufacturing: virtual reality has
become real and applicable in modern
manufacturing. It will provide
manufacturing industries with the ability
to create, develop and test new products in
a virtual manufacturing environment
such as CAD/CAM, CAE, virtual
prototyping.
Web design: explore the high level issues
about Web design, focusing on sites that
enable emotion as well as the designers
who build them. It can control message
and deliver to a targeted audience.
Web site design and development: focus
on design, systems performance,
Intranets, e-commerce, and site analysis.
Software for the Web: it can add action
and excitement to the Web site, create 3D
worlds that visitors can actually walk
through, support rotating objects and
animated textures.
Mechatronics: it is an interdisciplinary
area of mechanical, electronics, computer
and automation engineering. It is
concerned with the blending of
mechanical, electronic, software and
control theory engineering topics into a
unified framework that enhances the
design for process and products.

[ 421 ]

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria
Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

3. Internet technology and
telecommunications
.

.
.
.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.
.

.

.

.

Nature of telecommunications/
information infrastructure.
Basic data communications.
Communications media.
Business communications (FTP, Telnet,
HTTP, ATM, Frame Relay . . . etc.).
Computer telephony, wireless
technologies and satellite
communications.
High quality messaging and e-commerce
on technical foundations, standards, and
protocols.
Mobile information network:
architecture, resources management, and
mobile data.
Enterprise networks and telephony: from
technology to business strategy.
The information superhighway: strategic
alliance in telecommunications and
multimedia.
Virtual private networks achieving
secure Internet commerce and
enterprisewide communications.
Security protocols.
Implementing secure Intranets and
extranets.
Management of telecommunications
network.
Crisis management on Internet
technologies and telecommunications.
The future of computing and
communications.

4. Building technology and services
.

.

.

.

.

[ 422 ]

Building industry represents one of the
largest enterprises in Hong Kong.
Fundamentals of energy in buildings:
include design and test of strategies for
daylighting, passive heating and cooling,
and improve indoor air quality methods;
focus on measurement and analysis of
thermally driven and wind-driven airflow,
lighting intensity and glare, heat flow and
thermal storage, and heat transfer within
buildings and major components.
Fundamentals of heating, ventilating, and
air-conditioning (HVAC) systems:
concentrates on the calculation of heating
and cooling load in order to size suitable
HVAC equipment; estimate energy
consumption of the HVAC equipment.
Architectural acoustics and lighting:
acoustics describes interactions between
people and sound, indoors and outdoors.
Lighting concern issues of light and
energy, light to create interior space,
obtrusive light and night sky pollution,
lighting technology and technology
forecasting, etc.
Indoor environment modelling: uses
computational simulation techniques to

.

.

.

.

predict indoor environment, such as
thermal comfort and indoor air quality.
Electrical services: electrical supply and
distribution, safety and protection, energy
saving.
Building automation: intelligent building,
supervisory control and data acquisition.
Project management: control of project,
scheduling, safety and risk management,
legal issues.
Construction technology and materials:
material property and selection, fire
protection, new technology for
construction.

5. Information technology and logistics
management

The control and supply of goods is an
economic life-blood for both developed and
developing countries, contributing to
prosperity and personal well being. Yet we
often take for granted that the supply chain
which provides us with ready access to goods
is a complex set of product flows, production
processes and distribution channels which
require technical and managerial skills.
Ahead lies a growing challenge to managing
the application of IT and designing logistics
management systems if we are to ensure
future effectiveness and efficiency. Some of
those challenges are:
.
globalisation of the market place for the
procurement of products and raw
materials;
.
recognition that logistics can provide
competitive advantage and improve profit
performance;
.
increasing concerns about the impact on
the environment of logistics activities;
.
effective supply chain management
particularly on a global scale.
As business logistics include a variety of
activities like material flow, product
distribution, transportation, purchasing and
inventory control, warehousing, customer
service, etc., the course is aimed at
encouraging students to acquire the
necessary IT skills and competencies and
become better equipped in understanding
and mastering logistics management.

6. Property management and services

With the needs in managing the ever growing
number of new properties in Hong Kong, as
well as the ability to prevent and resolve
problems caused by its ageing properties,
there is a great demand for professionally
trained personnel to be employed in property
management and services. This proposed
course be designed to equip students for a
wide range of employment opportunities in
this field both in the public and private sector
of the real estate industry. The course will
provide students with a balance of knowledge

S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo,
Ruth F. Leung and
Andrew Sai On Ko
Strategy formulation
framework for vocational
education: integrating SWOT
analysis, balanced scorecard,
QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria
Managerial Auditing Journal
15/8 [2000] 407±423

and skills between the technical and
management perspective.
On the technical side, students will acquire
understanding in:
.
building services ± electrical and utilities;
.
building safety, defects and rectification;
and
.
maintenance of property.
In the management perspective, students will
acquire knowledge in:
.
property office administration;
.
property management;
.
lease management;
.
estate agency and marketing;
.
estate and facilities management;
.
property analysis and valuation;
.
principle of law, legal system and
contract;
.
economics; and
.
professional practices.
In the personal development perspective,
students will focus on:
.
IT;
.
language and communications skill;
.
productivity and quality improvement
techniques.
Career prospects: graduates may be
employed as property supervisors, technical
officers, and assistant estate supervisors/
officers.

7. Health, safety and environment
management

The proposed course is designed to equip
students to fulfil a variety of roles within the
increasing employment market of the safety

and environmental management sector.
Students will study a wide range of specialist
subjects across many disciplines, with a
focus on the safety and environment aspect
from the technical/engineering and
management perspectives.
The course combines essential elements,
such as:
1 Environmental management:
.
environmental management
systems;
.
environmental auditing;
.
environmental performance
evaluation;
.
environmental labelling;
.
life-cycle assessment; and
.
environmental aspects in product
standards.
2 Safety engineering and management:
.
health and safety at work;
.
safety legislation;
.
safety management system;
.
risk management, risk assessment
techniques;
.
ergonomics and safety;
.
chemical/physical/biological
hazards;
.
accident causation models, accident
prevention and investigation;
and
.
health and safety information and
communication.
Career prospects: graduates may be
employed as assistant health and safety
supervisor/officer in a wide range of
industrial and business sectors.

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