Ghazali Education Trust Pakistan

Introduction

Ghazali education Trust (GET) is working in Pakistan’s backward rural areas since 1995.
This is non political and non trading organization which is spreading knowledge in 30
districts of Punjab and earthquake affected areas. In 271 schools of GET near about
32,000 students (male, female) are studying and 1,400 teachers are there to teach them. In
all these schools about 15,000 orphans and needy students are getting education. This is
the biggest private network in rural areas of Pakistan.

GET Vision:
“Better society through value based education”

GET Mission:
“Ghazali Education Trust is dedicated to explore and strengthen potential of students
through formal education and training with the active participation of community”

GET Values:

“Our values are transparency, commitment, respect and excellence”

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 Organization Configuration

According to Mintzberg every organization is composed of five parts. When we applied

this model on the Ghazali Education Trust we found the same parts as defined by
Mintzberg. These are illustrated below;

Top Management
CEO
BOD

Technical
Administrative Middle Support Staff
Support Staff Management R&D
HRD Regional Managers RMD
District Managers
IT
LACD

Technical Core
Teachers

1. Technical Core:
Technical core of GET consists of 1,409 teachers in total.

2. Technical Support Staff:

The technical core staff includes the resource mobilization, information technology,
research and development and land acquisition & construction departments.

3. Administrative Support:
Administrative support staff includes Human resource department.

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 4. Middle Management:
Middle management includes
• Five regional managers in Multan, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha and
Islamabad.
• Twenty four district managers.
• 10-15 principals in each district.

5. Top Management:
The hierarchy of the top management consists of the chairman, vice chairman, Board of
Directors, president, General Secretary and executive director.

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 Dimensions of Organization Design

Structural Dimensions

1. Formalization:
GET has a formalized structure; it follows strict written rules and regulations which
includes documentation of activities, policy manuals, and job descriptions. It follows
a five year future plan.
2. Specialization:
There is a well defined job description in GET and all the employees are required to
perform the assigned tasks according to their job description.
3. Hierarchy Of Authority:
GET is having a well defined hierarchy with clear reporting relationships that flows
from top to middle management.
Top Management Hierarchy:

Chairman

Vice chairman

BOD

President

General Secretary

Executive Director

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Middle level Management:

Regional manager

District manager

Principal

4. Centralization:
The system in Ghazali education trust is highly centralized with regards to function
like support and training, and decentralized with regards to policy decisions such as
changes in academic systems.
5. Professionalism:
Professionalism is highly valued at GET. To explain the current situation, training
has been divided into two modules: i) Teacher Training; ii) Administrative training.
Teacher training in the current system is being imparted en masse and is centralized
to quite an extent. The teachers are required to attend two days in a month in the
district head quarter for training purposes; DMS conducts these training, as he is the
master trainer.
As far as the administrative training is concerned it is being given at the Head Office,
Lahore, by, either, AFAQ or by volunteers who are hired on need basis. Different
employees are sent to enroll in PHD programs from UMT for employee development.
Training workshops are provided to the teachers on teaching effectiveness, and
diplomas are offered on Social Enterprise Management from LUMS.

Dimensions of Organization Design

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Contextual Dimensions

Size

As mentioned earlier GET is the biggest private education network in rural Pakistan. It’s
having 271 schools, more than 1400 dedicated and motivated workforce including 1,409
teachers, and 31,926 students. GET is providing scholarships to the needy students of
worth Rs.1, 123,634 on monthly basis.

Environment
The environment of GET includes its partners, its customers and government.

Community Partnerships and Government

GET believes in having positive relationships with the community partners and the
government. It is run through the consultancy and supervision of renowned professionals
and educationists. The changing governmental policies do not hinder the growth of GET.
Partners
Its global partners include,
• Helping hand U.S.A
• ICNA Relief Canada
• Muslim Aid U.K
• Foundations of the Faithful, U.S.A
• Ghazali Education forum, Norway
• Pakistan Education Foundation, London
• Punjab Education Foundation, Pakistan
• Cope Birmingham, U.K
• Rotry Club, Muzang, Lahore
• Irfan Textile Mills, Lahore
• Radio Ramadan ,Glasgow U.K
Customers:
The main customers of GET are under privileged people of rural and urban Pakistan.

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Culture
Core Values
The core values of GET are,

• Transparency at all levels

• Commitment with cause
• Mutual respect
• Excellence

Reward System
The employees at GET are also compensated on the basis of their individual
performance. The best performing District managers are rewarded with certificates and
shields that are given by the Chairman or CEO. Compliance by the core values is
appreciated and rewarded.

Organizational Strategy and Design

Mission

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“Ghazali Education Trust is dedicated to explore and strengthen potential of students
through formal education and training with the active participation of community”

Future Milestones

• 1000 basic schools in the rural areas of Pakistan by the year 2010.

• A 'Model High School' in each district/tehsil with special emphasis on female

education.

• Construction of at least 5 schools’ buildings every year.

• Availability of comprehensive libraries, sports goods and computer laboratories for

Ghazali Schools gradually

• A modern, up to date and furnished resource centre for educational research and
development.

• Sponsoring more than 50,000 needy students in coming years, targeting 10,000
orphans.

GET’s Operative Goal

RMD Goals:
• Fundraising campaigns, in and out overseas market and from corporate world
• Up-graded donor data on the bases of country, program, active or inactive
• Information sharing with Govt. and NGOs sector
• Invite prominent figures form Govt. NGOs and Corporate sectors to see our work
R&D Goals:
• To strengthen all departments of GET by developing quality assurance tools
• To carry out research in order to find the impact of the activities of all
departments of GET
HRD Goals:
• Recruit/hire/engage the competent and committed personnel to meet the
objectives of GET.

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 • Plan and execute professional/co-professional training program for the staff of
GET
LACD Goals:
• Design and execute construction plan where resources are offered for GET school
buildings.
• Renovate already existing GET school buildings.
IT Goals:
• Maintain Overall support to Staff.
• Provide solutions for IT based problems.
• To improve communication using web.

Organizational strategy

Porter’s Competitive Strategy

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We have identified GET as following the Focused Cost Leadership. GET is providing
service that caters to a particular segment of market i.e. students of underprivileged area
of Pakistan. Its education services are a standard but are provided at much lower cost.

Mile’s & Snow’s Growth Strategy

There is enough evidence to support the fact that GET is following a prospector strategy
when it comes to growth. They aggressively seek new market and are willing to take
risks. This fact is supported by the values of the following table.

GET growth chart (1997-2008)

Years Schools Teachers Students

1997 22 22 506
1998 56 80 1344
1999 115 190 4920
2000 151 324 7273
2001 176 422 9111
2002 239 735 16484
2003 240 813 18718
2004 245 952 19498
2005 262 1193 25686
2006 267 1400 30000
2007 271 1409 31926

Organizational Structure

Hybrid Structure

Provided by the guidelines by our textbook, we identified GET’s is having a Hybrid

structure. GET is following a combination of Functional and Divisional Structure. Herby
some functions like Planning and Supply of services are decentralized as self-contained
units like Ghazali College for Women (GCW), Pakistan Rural Education Program (PREP

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and Student Aid Project (SAP). While some functions like Human Resource Department
(HRD), Research and Development (R&D), Information Technology (IT), Land
Acquisition and Construction Department (LACD), Resource Mobilization Department
(RMD) are centralized at the Head Office Lahore.
Refer to GET Organogram, fig. 1.1

Organization Life Cycle and Control

Life Cycle

We studied GET according to the life cycle stages and we identified that it fits the most at
the formalization stage.

Structure

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As mentioned before, the structure of GET is to a large extent formal and centralized.
More emphasis is on written rules and regulations. The hierarchy is clear and well
defined and the tasks are performed according to strict job descriptions. This shows that it
lies at the formalization stage.
Services
There are four lines of services in GET, Ghazali colleges for women that strives to enable
women to be a role model of Islamic society, Students Aid Project which aims to pave
the way for those who are deprived and deserving, Pakistan Rural Education Program
which is determined to bring quality education in everyone’s reach and Orphanage.
Ghazali has opened three orphanages in Lahore, Multan and Sargodha.

Reward and Control systems

The reward and control system of GET is impersonal and formalized. The rewards are
provided to employees on individual performance to ensure that the people work
effectively towards the organization goals.

Innovation
GET has a well established, separate research and development department for achieving
improved innovation.

Goals
GET is at formalization stage because the goals are internal stability and market
expansion. It has a formal structure and it mainly focuses on productivity, internal
planning and setting goals in advance, but its focus is external and to grow extensively.

Organization Life Cycle and Control

Control

GET consists of all the three control strategies in its structure.

Bureaucratic control

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By studying GET’s structure we identified that the dominant control system in GET is the
bureaucratic control. It follows a strict control system according to written rules and
standards and a strong hierarchy of authority. Employees are required to perform their
duties according to the assigned tasks in the job descriptions and the performance of
employees is assessed on the basis of the specified standards.

Market Control
As GET is a not-for profit organization, it also exhibits some elements of market control.
Its aim is to attract more and more donors and function efficiently, so it also assesses
performance on the basis of price competition and exchange relationships.

Clan Control
GET also uses clan control to evaluate its performance. As given by its core values we
can see that the cultural aspects of the organization are also taken into account. Its shared
values, beliefs and trust, its commitment with its cause and mutual respect show that
cultural values are also considered in the process of controlling employee behavior.

Organization Culture

Culture:

Mission culture

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GET follows mission culture because it emphasizes a clear vision of the organization’s
purpose of educating needy students. It focuses on the achievement of goals that are to
increase literacy rate in the society, while focusing on the rural areas of Pakistan.

Core Values of Culture

1. Excellence in all levels

GET focuses on the excellence of work. It prefers quality of education to maximize
the literacy rate of the society and character building of new generation through
education training.
2. Transparency at all levels
Transparency is the main strength of GET. As allocated budget for different plans is
spent on the same there are no chances of bribery. All procedures are clear .There is
central examination system and regular monthly tests for higher classes as well as
same curriculum of studies for all schools.
3. Commitment with cause
GET is strictly committed with its cause. It does not compromise over its cause at any
price.
4. Mutual respect
GET emphasis on giving respect to the teachers who are performing as guides.
Maximum honor, dignity and job security is ensured while providing them with
regular moral and professional training.

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