Part 1
SWOT analysis for the De Montfort University is carried out in order to realize the services offered by the university and the resources attained by it. This analysis will facilitate evaluation of DL marketplace in order to offer recommendations based on weaknesses and threats identified in SWOT (Dälken 2014).
|
Strengths · Increasing number of international students visiting the university · Offers range of courses at PG and UG level · Recruits students from China, India, Malaysia and many more · Growing international presence · Popularity among overseas students in distance learning mode · Increasing awareness of the university in international marketplace |
Weaknesses · Increased start-up expenses · Simpler to imitate · The university gores on strike on a frequent basis · Students get transferred to different schools |
|
Opportunities · Incased chances of profitable market expansion in untapped nations · Potential of attaining extra revenue through offering international courses |
Threats · E-book readers decrease need for physical books · Reopening of a public library nearby · Large chains have increased buying power |
Based on the weaknesses and threats identified in the De Montfort University certain effective recommendations are provided that can improve its global market position and can facilitate it in gaining competitive advantages. These recommendations are explained below:
In order to stop transferring of students, the university is recommended to offer frequent orientation classes so that they are motivated and develop positive attitude towards the university and the benefits of courses offered by it (Dobbs 2014).
To decrease the threat of e-books the students must be made aware of adverse health impacts of it. Excessive reading of e-books rather than old-fashioned books might result in certain diseases such as sleep deficiency. Students must be made aware that attending university classes can help them in understanding concepts in a better way.
Porters competitive forces model is employed in order to realize the critical success factors along with major performance indicators in order to make sure whether the success objectives set by De Montfort University are addressed or not.
Figure 1: Porters Five Forces Analysis
(Source: Laszlo and Cescau 2017)
- Threat of new entrants- Capital endowments needed to support long term assets like land giant entitlements and large economic scale are barriers to entry. As the university promotes curriculum standards and has improved reputation it becomes very difficult for the new universities operate under such competitive pressure (Grant 2016).
- Bargaining power of suppliers- In a situation of few suppliers existence like computer manufacturing companies that sells vital components such as CPU within the industry and book publishers get into competition of bids among vendors. To attain the objective of attaining effective supplier network the university vertically integrates higher education supplies and delivery.
- Rivalry among existing competitors- There are more than 4000 degree guaranteeing universities and colleges (Laszlo and Cescau 2017). Universities in higher education industry have high fixed ratio that indicates operation in full capacity. For attaining objective of gaining competitive advantages over them, the university responds promptly with the increasing demands of new academic courses.
- Threat of substitutes- This threat exits regarding availability of price-performing product alternatives. Most of the state supported universities have high tuition rates that are equivalent to potential students. In order to attain the objective of maintaining business sustainability, the university sets course prices at price elastic point of higher education within the sector (Madhavaram, Hunt and Bicen 2017).
- Bargaining power of buyers- Buyers are diffused and fragmented in the industry. The buyer characteristics decrease the effective power of students in terms of tuition fees negotiation. In attaining the objective of increased admission the university is recruiting and targeting the standout 12-25% of high school classes that offers generous power to the consumers to select options and negotiate.
Based on the SWOT and Porters five forces analysis De Montfort University is suggested to make certain changes on its website for dealing with concerns related with culture and trust. Moreover, it might also consider employing online communication took in order grab attention of its target audiences. The university can develop its website that will be simple to navigate and will be mobile friendly (Živkovi? et al., 2017). The university must consider to design its website in a way that it is simplified and the click within the internet within the page and then immediately click away. The university must also consider certain social media communication tool in order to communicate with all its students such as through Facebook and Twitter. The social media can be used by the university in order to make students aware of the campus culture. Sharing the campus life through employing YouTube, Instagram and Twitter (Santos and Laczniak 2015). Website generation of this university must consider explaining interesting facts about it so that driving visitors back to the website can increase the company’s SEO rankings. The social media sites employed by the university might be effective enough to grab a huge student base. The university must consider its website to have certain information to the undergraduate students to conduct certain modules that consists subjects related with cultural diversity (Porter and Heppelmann 2014). Social media channels are employed by the University will explain the accomplishments of the university with having pictures and posts related with the alumni group. The university can provide a wider platform to boost their media attention that can facilitate reconnection with one another. Through social media, the Universities can connect with featured schools and certain creative ideas can be attained by it for attaining certain comprehensive lead generation strategy.
References
Dälken, F., 2014. Are porter’s five competitive forces still applicable? a critical examination concerning the relevance for today’s business (Bachelor’s thesis, University of Twente).
Dobbs, M., 2014. Guidelines for applying Porter’s five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates. Competitiveness Review, 24(1), pp.32-45.
Grant, R.M., 2016. Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley & Sons.
Laszlo, C. and Cescau, P., 2017. Sustainable value: How the world’s leading companies are doing well by doing good. Routledge.
Madhavaram, S., Hunt, S.D. and Bicen, P., 2017, May. The FREE (Firm Resources and External Environment) Framework as an Alternative to SWOT: An Abstract. In Academy of Marketing Science Annual Conference (pp. 49-49). Springer, Cham.
Porter, M.E. and Heppelmann, J.E., 2014. How smart, connected products are transforming competition. Harvard Business Review, 92(11), pp.64-88.
Santos, N. and Laczniak, G., 2015. Marketing to the poor: A SWOT analysis of the Market Construction Model for engaging impoverished market segments. Social Business, 5(2).
Živkovi?, Ž., Nikoli?, D., Savi?, M., Djordjevi?, P. and Mihajlovi?, I., 2017. Prioritizing Strategic Goals in Higher Education Organizations by Using a SWOT–PROMETHEE/GAIA–GDSS Model. Group Decision and Negotiation, 26(4), pp.829-846.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
