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Collaborations, Alliances and Mergers

Higher education is going through a significant period of change that is having far reaching implications. These changes are being driven by a number of factors including internationalisation, globalisation of higher education provision, and increasing competition fuelled in the UK by changing student needs and expectations. Changes to student funding in England in particular will have a big impact on institution behaviour.

Institutions are being challenged as never before to consider their fundamental role, position in the market, organisational structures, relationships with other providers, and partnerships with others, as well as a range of policies and processes. This is causing institutions to reflect on how they operate and are structured – particularly how they engage with other institutions and organisations to deliver value to their students and other stakeholders. This raises the profile of collaborations, alliances and mergers (CAM) in the sector.

The CAM Agenda

Over the years the Leadership Foundation has developed trusted relationships with the sector and sector bodies. This means that it is well placed to offer advice and support in the three areas of what is being called the ‘CAM agenda’:

Collaboration where two or more partners are seeking to work together in a particular area of business, which may involve combining existing operations or creating something entirely new.
Alliance which is a more systematic form of collaboration between two or more partners, covering a wider range of their operations.
Merger where two or more partners combine to create a single institution, which may retain the name and legal status of one of them or be an entirely new legal entity.

Options for Supporting Higher Education

The Leadership Foundation is working at a national level with the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) and other sector bodies on the CAM agenda and on the wider work being done to improve efficiencies. As a result, and in response to demand from the sector, we are now able to offer to offer advisers to support HEIs in their strategic thinking and action around this increasingly important agenda.

We can work as a trusted critical friend, supporting and advising before you make any formal commitments to a possible collaboration, alliance or merger, or helping you progress plans that are already in place. This advice could cover a wider range of activities, including:

Working at a strategic level during the early, often totally confidential part of the process when a small group of senior leaders are considering possible options.
Building the business case for a collaboration, alliance or merger and helping to gather the evidence to inform decision making.
Developing a vision for the project that involves a range of institutions and potential partners to help shape decision making.
Engaging with stakeholders, especially staff and students, in a neutral way to help move the debate about options forwards.
Engaging senior management and governors in thinking about the management structure and governance arrangements for the proposed project.
Facilitating a joint working group or shadow board to explore options and implementation.
Assisting institutional partners in the development processes of achieving mergers appropriate to their particular settings.
Actively working with partners in particular facets of the reconfiguration process.

More information is available in the Collaborations, Alliances and Mergers brochure.

Contact us for a Confidential Initial Conversation

If you would like to have an initial, completely confidential, discussion about your thoughts, aspirations and options for the future, please contact:

Tom Irvine, Director of Consultancy
T: 020 7849 6915
E: tom.irvine@lfhe.ac.uk

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