RISK MANAGEMENT FOR MINISTRY OF HEALTH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (MOHEIs)

Risk and risk perception are important concepts for strategic planning and management of an organisation. Risk management (RM) refers to systematic collection and analysis of data to determine the potentially adverse effects of an organisation’s strategic objectives (risk), and the development of mitigation strategies to counteract organisational uncertainties.
Such uncertainties are increasing with the rapid development and expansion of the higher education sector (HE). Globalisation, increased competition for funding, advances in information and communication technology, increased social expectations, and many additional challenges have made the educational and research process more complex.
This research aims to: 1) assess the level of staff awareness/participation on risk management among the 14 Ministry of Health Educational Institutions (MOHEIs); 2) identify, evaluate MOHEIs’ risks as perceived by MOHEIs staff, and 3) develop a risk management plan with recommendations, to improve the management of risk in MOHEIs.
The RM endeavour is part of the new public management (NPM) reform of HE and it adds value to HEIs and their stakeholders. Both aim to: 1) improve the competitive advantage through a better understanding of risk in the operational environment, and 2) improve efficiency and effective use of resources. Diversifying funding sources, privatisation of some services (thereby sharing/transferring risk to other partners) and decentralisation of some authority to the lower organisation level will empower staff to identify risks at local level and assist in developing mitigation strategies that meet their departments’ or units’ needs.
The literature review reveals many risk management standards/frameworks, which use similar processes, that include six main steps (1) Defining Context, (2) Event Identification, (3) Risk Assessment, (4) Risk response, (5) Risk Communication and, (5) Evaluation and Monitoring. In the present work I have adapted the first three of these steps through a mixed action research approach.
Three data gathering methods were employed to collect qualitative and quantitative data: 1) content analysis of local, national and international published documents, 2) focus group discussions with eight senior managers and academic staff from various institutions and disciplines, and 3) two-round Delphi survey with participation of 158 MOHEIs staff.
The research revealed 20 risks, of which seven risks have been rated as MOHEIs top priority risks. These include: (1) breakdown of equipment/applications; (2) inadequate infrastructure; (3) breach of IT or data security; (4) low student satisfaction; (5) insufficient funding: (6) slow procurement processes; and, (7) rising cost of employment. A risk management plan was thus developed to mitigate these seven risks through 21 treatment strategies, 69 operational activities, and 46 key risk indicators.
This research highlights the need to develop a risk management framework or standard that caters for all MOHEIs levels and take into consideration the social and cultural values of the stakeholders. Until a risk management framework is established, the results of this research recommend quality assurance section to take the lead in implementing the proposed risk management plan.