To see a problem as an opportunity

SWOT Analysis Report of Akdemistanbul™

1. IntroEveryone wants to succeed but not everyone wants to tidy things up on how to succeed. Some sleep on what they should do till it piles up above them and they find themselves in a chaotic mess not knowing what to do and where to go. Akdemistanbul may fall in this trap if it doesn’t take decisive measures to face this problem. It’s not easy but the good news is that it’s possible when we really want to and we plan accordingly.

Founder of Akdemistanbul

Akdemistanbul?

Ahmet AGIRAKCA

Fullname: Akdemistanbul Eğitim Yayıncılık ve Danışmanlık Hizmetleri LTD ( Akdemistanbul for Education, Publication and Consultancy Services LLC)

Address: Akşemseddin Mh., Akdeniz Cd No:99-101, 34080 Fatih/İstanbul / TurkeyWebsite: www.akdemistanbul.com.trEmail: info@akdemistanbul.com.trPhone: +90 (0212) 521 4116

CEO of Akdemistanbul

About

Muhammed AGIRAKCA

Akdemistanbul is a private institution that offers courses in

Turkish and Arabic language along with other distance learning

services. It has also an edition house that specializes in

publishing Arabic and Turkish language books and materials. It

represents some universities from Europe and Middle East and

it co-partnered with them to offer Associate Degrees and

Bachelor’s Degrees tracks.

1. Registration assistance for online and distance courses offered

by the following universities:(European Islamic University in

Netherland,Polytechnical European University in Bulgaria,

Islamic Online University in Qatar, Ouzai University in

Lebanon).

2. Arabic and Turkish language courses and crash courses for

some placement tests ( YDS, TÖMER,...etc).

3. Consolidation courses in Arabic Didactics and theology.

4. Publication of books ( Akdem Yayinlari Edition House).

Partner Universities

Islamic European University

European Polytechnical University

Islamic Online University

Al Imam Ouzai University

Akdem offers:

SWOT

1. Biggest Arabic language teaching private institution in

Turkey.

2. Strong ties with Turkish government and MENA

countries.

3. Strong ties with Imam Hatip High and Middle Schools.

4. Qualified Arabic native-speakers teachers.

5. Strategic location in the heart of Istanbul

Strengths

1. Ad hoc Organizational and administrative management.

2. Weak outreach of international students coming from

abroad.

3. Inability to concretize relations with MENA.

4. Lack of project management skills and diversity of

financial streams.

5. Insufficient Infrastructure and lack of necessary

technological tools in classes

6. Small numbers of branches.

7. High rate of employees turnover

Weaknesses

1. Fame among Arab residents in Istanbul.

2. Opening an Arab University where the language of

instruction is Arabic

3. Flow of Investors from and to MENA and Turkey.

4. Designing majors and specialties for Imam Hatip

High Schools at undergraduate and postgraduate

level.

5. Current government policies are pro-MENA.

6. Location where the majority of residents are

migrants

Opportunities

1. Political instability in the country.

2. Universities steadily opening new majors in Arabic leading more

students whether Turkish or non-Turkish to join these

programmes, and public institutions offering free Arabic courses,

and other actors opening unauthorized courses.

3. Lack of innovation in teaching methods adopted and used in

Akdemistanbul.

Threats

What is that challenge

Akdemistanbul has problems in getting things right in terms of

organizational and administrative structure.

Discussion

Root-Cause Analysis

Results of Root Cause Analysis

1. Centralized administration:a. Lack of consistent control and evaluation procedures.

2. Lack of administrative intuition:a. Lack of training and workshops for the staff.

3. Lack of business managers:a. Not seeing the importance

b. Financial burden

People causes:

Results of Root Cause Analysis

1. Absence of planning and decision-making section:

a. Lack of staff.

b. Financial burden.

2. Monitoring and evaluation:

a. Lack of time.

b. Lack of expertise.

Methods Causes

Pareto Analysis

Results of Pareto AnalysisCentralized Administration Lack of Administration Intuition Absence of monitoring and evaluation

Leadership & Decisions

Leadership in Akdemistanbul is a merge of

democratic and coercive styles and

decisions are authority with input style

Skills to be developed

Practice is the essence of information

People SKills

Communication Coaching Team

Administrative SKills

Project Management Resource Management

Proposed steps

First Step1. Identification and clarification of the mission.

2. Definition of SMART objectives and goals.

3. Researching the environment to be able to perform an ex ante

evaluation.

4. Determining priorities and evaluating alternatives.

5. Designing an action plan that serves as a baseline.

6. Identification resources available and needed.

Second Step1. Determining organizational structure and rebuilding it.

2. Designing a yearly project plan.

3. Creating procedural policies for internal and external interactions.

Third Step1. Performing a risk management analysis.

2. Creating metrics for goals and objectives and defining KPI.

3. Implementing a general monitoring system for control and

auditing.

4. Setting contingency plans and corrective actions.

Stakeholders Analysis1. Senior managers who act as a Board of Trustees.

2. Second level managers ( general managers and

presidents of departments).

3. First level management( executive assistants,

designers,...etc).

4. Partners(universities, public institutions,etc).

5. Potential investors.

6. Students and customers.

Stakeholders Analysis

Limitations and barriers1. Will of change by leadership.

2. Duration and degree of disruption caused by

the new change.

3. Allocation of necessary time.

4. Allocation of necessary finance.

5. Possibility of excluding some stakeholders by

leadership.

6. Survival policy discourse.

Conclusion

Organizational and administrative structure may

cause serious financial and administrative damage

to Akdemistanbul in the long-run and makes it

vulnerable to economic and political changes.

Recommendations

Preparing for change

1. Change management strategy

2. Preparation of change management team

Implementation of the change

Monitoring and Evaluating Change

1. Collection and analysis of feedback

2. Diagnosis of gaps and managing resistance

3. Implementation of corrective actions

Change can happen if you gather all the pieces

Thank you

*Mehdi Zouaoui, Education Consultant