Stakeholders analysis

Organization description

The Utrecht University of Applied Sciences (HU) supports students and professionals. About 35,000 students follow courses in both Utrecht and Amersfoort. The Utrecht University of Applied Sciences (HvU) was created in 1988 by a merger of several universities of applied sciences in the city and province of Utrecht. On 1 September 2005, the HvU merged with De Horst University of Applied Sciences in Drieberg. At the same time, the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences changed its name to Utrecht University of Applied Sciences (HU). (Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, 2021)

Introduction

Every year the education HBO-ICT organizes two open days where HBO-ICT is presented and where the Hogeschool Utrecht tries to enthuse potential students for ICT and the university itself. The goal of this project is to create enthusiasm with the potential students and to show what different directions within the HBO-ICT are like. This is done by means of an AI controlled fight with robots. The interactive nature, the technical background and the knowledge diversity of the project team makes it possible to uncover every graduation direction (5 of them) of the study HBO-ICT. Our task includes: coming up with innovative implementations for the individual robots, the game itself, and the actual presentation.

Stakeholders

In order to be able to map out the requirements and wishes for this project, there must first be clarity about who the stakeholders are. The starting point here is the Stakeholder Theory of R. Edward Freeman. According to Freeman, the stakeholder theory is a theory that takes into account multiple groups that are affected by business entities such as employees, suppliers, shareholders, governments and managers. (http://stakeholdertheory.org/, 2021)

All stakeholders at a glance

In order to get a clear overview of stakeholders, all stakeholders must first be identified. Together with the input of the project group, a list of stakeholders was created. This list can be found in the full stakeholders analysis file behind this link

Zooming in on the potential student.

After a written interview with one of the stakeholders, (see "Figure A: Overview stakeholders" in the full file) a conclusion can be drawn to the question, "Who is the average visitor of the HU HBO-ICT open day?". During fall (relevant for the upcoming open day), there is often a mix of study choice seekers who are in the year before their exam year and exam candidates. So these are students who are already orienting themselves and students who really have to make a choice for a study programme, before the first of May. Within HBO-ICT, most of the new students are graduates from HAVO. There is also a fairly large group of MBO students and finally, there are also a few students who have graduated from VWO. "You can also see newcomers from HBO, but they are hardly present at the open days during autumn," according to the organizers. The age of the potential visitors is generally between 17 and 23 years, with a few exceptions. These potential students are mainly from the province of Utrecht. There are also potential students around; The Hague, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Nijmegen. The organisers' experience shows that potential students ask a lot of (funny) questions during the online open days. On the physical days, it is the parents who ask the most questions.

Conclusion objectives per stakeholder

As can be seen in figure b in the file: Overview stakeholders in categories, each stakeholder has influence, a goal and benefits from this project. Below this is explained in more detail for each stakeholder.

The principals:

The principals are teachers of the Hogeschool Utrecht. From an interview with them it appeared that it was difficult to make clear to the visitors during the previous open day(s), what each course within HBO-ICT actually does. The goal of them is through this project, to show during the next open days, what each graduation course within HBO-ICT actually does. In addition, they want clear documentation on the learning moments and the steps that are taken during the project, so that any project groups in the future could continue this project.

Organizers HU open day(s):

The organisers of the open day(s) organise the entire open day. They want to inform the visitors as clear as possible about the study programme and its graduation subjects.

Utrecht University of Applied Sciences:

The aim of the HU University of Applied Sciences is that as many potential students as possible choose the HU, instead of going to a competitor.

Visitors to the open day(s):

People visit open days mainly to orientate themselves on the choice of a bachelor's programme and/or to find out what it is like to study at the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. The ultimate goal is to make the right choice of study that suits them, with the lowest possible risk of dropping out because the course does not suit them.

Sources

Eight Media. (n.d.). HU als organisatie | samenwerking en duurzaamheid | Hogeschool Utrecht. HU. Retrieved November 5, 2021, from https://www.hu.nl/organisatie#:%7E:text=Hogeschool%20Utrecht%20(HU)%20begeleidt%20studenten,dat%20ze%20willen%20blijven%20leren.

About | Stakeholder Theory. (n.d.). Stakeholdertheory. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from http://stakeholdertheory.org/about/

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