Bandar Seri Begawan - An expert in various fields of science that included psychology presented a talk at the Institute for Leadership, Innovation and Advancement (ILIA), Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) yesterday.

Entitled 'Integrated Planning, Strategic Alignment and Management Metrics', the lecture by Dr Kevin Downing was attended by students and staff of UBD as well as members of the public.

Dr Downing talked about the increasingly challenging tasks faced when developing and writing for higher education institutions. Though strategic plans are well thought of in advance, many of these plans tend to fail.

He argued that these consequences were due to a failure of 'implementation' which is not generally understood by many organisations.

To counter this, the solution involves adopting an integrated approach to planning, and Dr Downing drew from his vast experience at a range of institutions that included City University of Hong Kong which he has helped conduct from 198th (2004) to 95th (2012) in the QS World University Rankings.

He gave in-depth advice and detailed examples of how 'metrics' can be used to promote integrated planning and maximise the chances of successful strategic implementation. He also explained in detail how a strategy can be formulated and implemented to create research, teaching excellence and a sustainable spirit of innovation.

A Director, Knowledge Enterprise and Analyser at City University of Hong Kong, Dr Downing's portfolio includes planning, institutional research, and quality assurance. He has the responsibility for rankings on behalf of City University and is the Chair of the Middle East and Africa Professional Leaders in Education academic conference committee.