PROPERTY SOLUTIONS

STRATEGIC PLAN 2023 – 2028

Property Solutions
P.O. Box
Lilongwe
MALAWI

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©2023 Property Solutions

All rights reserved. No part of this Strategic Plan may be reproduced or utilized in any form or
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storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing of the copyright owner.

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FOREWORD

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INTRODUCTION
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About Property Solutions

The main elements of this document include Mission, Vision, Core Values, Specific Objectives
and Actions which define areas of focus for the plan and steps for achievement. Among these,
there are Priorities that provide direction on where to start. Strategic Priorities and Initiatives
then describe in more detail how the priorities can be implemented. It finishes by analyzing the
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)

Mission
Our mission is

We will fulfil this mission through:

Vision
To become a

We aspire to be the best and to be successful

University Core Values

Excellence –

Integrity - Character is destiny. Trust and trustworthiness, together, must characterize words and
actions as individuals and as a

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Commitment - all should pledge to make wise use of resources available to them, including
financial resources, time, ability and facilities that the institution provides.

Professionalism - all should treat business with concern, commitment and a sense of
responsibility and apply the best possible skills, knowledge and experience to all clients.

Openness to diversity – the

Responsiveness-

Entrepreneurship –

Loyalty and respect– acceptance for ever; this is about a sense of belonging to something greater
than yourself

Selfless service-

Specific Objectives and Actions

This plan develops a series of specific objectives and actions to enhance excellence in five
central goal areas of the company;

 Faculty
 Education;
 Research,
 Creativity;
 Staff Excellence
 Infrastructure.

Strategic Priorities and Initiatives

The highest overall priority proposed for the next five years is to enhance faculty excellence.
Such a priority is timely and important because of the need to anticipate and be proactive about
forthcoming industry driven needs and match them with the faculty resources.

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Along with a faculty excellence priority, special emphasis should be given to promoting and
recognizing excellence and leadership in research, entrepreneurial ship and graduate education.
Improving the quality of research and graduate education is critical for ensuring a place among
the top private universities in Malawi.

These emphases can and should be pursued with a parallel focus on enhancing the teaching of
students at all levels. Excellence in teaching is an integral component of faculty excellence, and
this plan affirms Exploits University’s commitment to have faculty who achieve excellence in
both research and teaching. Research and teaching quality should be inextricably bound together
at Exploits University.

In the context of these overarching priorities, the plan proposes eight strategic initiatives over the
next five years.

1. Infrastructure development in a strategic location. Identify a strategic location where

the University can build its own premises according to the University’s own tastes which
will act as a going – on assurance to the various stakeholders of the University.

2. Faculty renewal in the context of academic priorities and sustainability. Identify

strategically important departments where the key performance indicators are identified
who excellent performance will lead into the success of the University as a whole.

3. Identify a few programmes of critical importance to the university and move them
into the critical position of leadership in the minds of the customer while working to
prevent others from losing such stature. This will also help in identifying programmes
that are not so popular so the university can make deliberate proactive efforts to change
the position of such programmes to the desired leadership position.

4. Create a culture in teamwork across the Lecturers and the University team. Enhance
the importance of teamwork by improving networking and relationship building amongst
the various stakeholders including the Lecturers and the Support team. This will be
achieved through emphasizing the importance of synergy and teaching excellence
through the allocation of resources to departments, programs, and faculty. Identify good

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 models for promoting a culture in support of teamwork and use these as benchmarks to
assess and improve relationships with other stakeholders.

5. Develop stronger connections across higher learning Institutions to enhance

educational opportunities for students and the quality and stature of disciplines or
fields. Develop policies that encourage networking amongst the higher learning
institutions students with the public which is the prospective employer to enhance
connectivity across academic disciplines with relevant industries within the students’
academic discipline.

6. Implement strategically focused, cost-effective enhancements to the infrastructure

in support of research and creativity. This includes in particular the university campus
libraries, shared research facilities in the sciences and business faculty’s, and
administrative support.

7. Make significant progress toward a more diverse faculty, student body, and staff in
terms of gender and race and ethnicity. Establish explicit and ambitious goals,
considering appropriate pipelines and the importance of "critical mass"; enhance
recruitment and retention processes; and ensure that mechanisms holding units
accountable are effective.

Assessment

The plan develops a framework for assessing progress that emphasizes the importance of

(a) Multiple measures for a given objective or priority,

b) Combining quantitative metrics and qualitative indicators,

(c) Minimizing the staff time devoted to such measurements.

This plan specifies a core set of metrics for assessing institutional progress toward key priorities.
For example, these include the number of top-ranked programs and departments; amount and
nature of faculty hiring; faculty and staff compensation; the age distribution of faculty; diversity
of the faculty, students, and staff; student learning outcomes; student surveys; library rankings;
and sponsored research.

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The mechanisms of assessment should be developed and finalized at the implementation stage of
this strategic plan and in consultation with academic units.

The Approach

This strategic plan treats Exploits University as an entity that combines the finest attributes of a
high notch institution with a deep commitment to public service, stemming from the caliber of its
Board of Directors plus the Senate members who are highly educated and want to contribute to
the noble cause of educating the Malawi whilst contributing to the better future Malawi.

The academic strengths of the university are grounded in the following attributes: Location,
Quality Experienced Lecturers, Composition of Board and Senate Members, Great Customer
Service, Module Composition which gives the University a Competitive Advantage, Library and
the Computer Laboratory.

The focus of this strategic plan is that "greater sum," that the Plan wants to achieve with the
implementation of these ideas. The plan suggests that the university can take even greater
advantage of its distributed strengths while also reinforcing those strengths and facilitating the
"bottom-up" blossoming of innovation and creativity characteristic of the Lecturers and staff
members. The University should aim at developing long term relationships with its various
stakeholders whilst also aiming at motivating employees so they can stay longer with the
institution.

The challenges and opportunities of Exploits University’s changing environment suggest the
need for enhanced institutional capacity to chart strategic directions and mobilize resources both
financially and human around those directions.

A few examples: The infrastructure development is a major issue for the university in light of
anticipated expectations and aspirations of the institution in the next seven to ten years, and this
requires an institution-wide response. This challenge also presents an opportunity to increase
significantly the diversity of the university.

The growing infrastructure costs of research and scholarship (e.g., libraries, research facilities)
require an institutional response that sets priorities and ensures support is cost-effective.
Financial pressures from the economy at large create a need to rethink how the university fulfills
and revitalizes its commitment to its goals and objectives. Institutional, university-wide
strategies and tactics will help Exploits meet such challenges effectively over the next five years
and take advantage of opportunities for academic enhancements.
An Aspiration

The plan puts forth an overarching aspiration for the university: to be widely recognized as a top
private Malawi University, and a model university for the interweaving of liberal education and
fundamental knowledge with practical education and impact on industry problems.

This aspiration reflects shareholders view of higher education and its special and unique capacity
to bridge the furnish the students with entrepreneurial thought and ideas and the world of
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practice and action. Having an aspiration for the institution as a whole is important for the
university theme of this plan.

The general strategy proposed here for achieving this aspiration is captured by two words: focus
and connectivity.

(1) Focus on strong or potentially strong academic programs that are strategically important to
the university and maintain areas of excellence within each of the basic academic Groupings-
Business and social sciences. In other words, create and maintain academic leadership across the
broad areas but do so selectively and strategically within each.

(2) Build greater connectivity among the diverse stakeholder groups with the intention of
achieving overall synergies. Greater connectivity implies that it will be easy for stakeholders to
relate which will enhance networking and employability of the University’s graduates. The idea
is to make boundaries between the University’s graduates and the prospective employer as
permeable and seamless as possible.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities (SWOT)

Strengths

1. Location – the university is strategically located where students can easily come by public
transport and for those driving, there is ample parking space.

2. Quality Lecturers – the lectures employed have vast working experience plus have
recognized academic qualifications from reputable Universities.

3. Composition of Board and Senate Members – the members of the council bring vast
experience from their varied backgrounds. By Virtue of having 70% of the members being
Doctors of Philosophy, the advice and direction offered to the university has the quality of
education at heart

4. Customer Service – the service that is offered by the team is just good

5. Module Composition – Competitive Advantage – all modules have the entrepreneurship

course as one of its general courses which makes Exploits Better University that is distinctive
from the rest.

6. Library- the library is a plus on the university.

7. Computer Laboratory – the computer laboratory allows the students and the lecturers to have
internet access whilst on campus. This is a good initiative which differentiates Exploits with
other institutions.

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Weaknesses

1. Resources

1.1 Finance Resources

1.2 Human Resources

1.3 Physical Resources

2. Length of stay in the Industry

3. Supporting Materials

4. Debt Collection
Opportunities

1. Government Directive to have a First Degree as a minimum qualification for Civil

Servants- this has made civil servants to go in search of higher education.

2. Changes in Social Patterns- there seem to a growing need in more adults studying over
the evening and weekend to improve their education credentials.

3. National Council for Higher Education- the coming up of a regulating body is a plus on
the university because once the requirements are met, the numbers just flock.

4. Introduction of Diplomas by other examining bodies and Short courses – this is an

opportunity to provide further tuition to others which will enhance the financial position
of the institution

5. Computer Laboratory – this is an opportunity to help in marketing the institution as few

institutions of higher learning have this to be used by students let alone part time
Lecturers.

6. UNIMA intake system (4 Semesters) – the timing of the selection system by UNIMA
offers the University to run 4 semesters in a year. This will result in the university
recruiting the “cream” that would have been left by UNIMA due to its space limitations.
Threats

1. NCHE – failure to meet their requirements may result to the downfall of Exploits

2. Boom in Education Industry – the intense competition can lead to few numbers coming to
enroll with Exploits. There is need to come up with strategies that makes Exploits stay
ahead of its competition.

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 3. Technology Development – the technology used should be current so the University can
be sustained. i.e. the use of the Student Database System.

This Strategic Plan was presented to Council on ….……………….and approved

on………………………………………

…………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………

Board Chairperson Board Member

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