Page 321 - Universitas Terbuka Center of Excellence In Asia 2010 and The World 2020 (A Journey Towards a Leading Open and Distance Education Institution 1984-2008)

competitive capacity and the capacity to continue to exist as a leading distance

higher education institution. Learning from the experience of a number of
organizations, as critically discussed in Thomas J. Peter and Robert H.

Waterman's In Search of Excellence, there are eight characteristics of
organization that can contribute to an institution's survival in competition. The

eight characteristics will be discussed in detail as one of sets of references in
UT's future improvement and development in accordance with the vision and

mission to be realized .

The first characteristic is strong motivation to act and to move forward. An
institution with this sort of motivation will always th ink critically to improve itself,

and will never be trapped in the current condition. The motivation to change and
to improve should continuously grow, and be enhanced and become the vision

and life-style of each individual staff. The adopted value should be "Keep on
doing, keep on improving , and keep on trying " until it starts to bear fruit. Solution

to any problem faced by the institution should be found , and continuous
improvement should be consistently carried out. Institutions with this kind of

attitude will never stop innovating.

The second characteristic is approach to clients. Most organizations learn
from their clients. Clients give valuable inputs about quality, service, and

reliability, so that the organizations can meet their clients ' needs and
expectation and survive in tight competition . Good organizations listen

attentively to their cl ients and appropriately follow up the inputs. Most product
innovation and improved services stem from clients ' inputs.

The third characteristic is the spirit of autonomy and entrepreneurship. An

innovative organization gives chance to innovators , who can produce new th ings
needed by the clients and necessary for the survival of the organization .

Creativity is highly appreciated . Each individual learn to take risks and to try out

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