Internal Analysis of University of South Australia Essay Example

Internal Analysis of University of South Australia Essay The purpose of this report is to provide an internal analysis of the University of Australia, which is an organisation that operates in the Australian Transnational Education and Training Industry. In order to provide the analysis I have done the marketing mix using the 7Ps approach to describe the organisation. Then identified the strategy at business level using the 5 Question approach and explained how fuzzy the strategies were and how flexible the organisation is. Next I have done a SWOT analysis and identified the strategic capabilities of the organisation to explain what UniSA Is capable of and what strategies that needs to be focused on. Lastly to complete the analysis I have applied the balance scorecard method. From the analysis I have concluded to say that UniSA is doing well in the industry with high capabilities and the ability to grow more in the transnational level. The universities strategic alliances with many international organisations and the only university in Australia to have made an agreement with GradInternational for international job placements have attract many international students. Over all UniSA is strategically very well placed and is doing exceptionally well in the industry. Table of Contents Introduction4 Identifying and analyzing the existing strategy at Business Level5 SWOT Analysis6 Limitation of the SWOT analysis8 Analyzing UniSA’s current strategic capabilities using the 3 test We will write a custom essay sample on Internal Analysis of University of South Australia specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Internal Analysis of University of South Australia specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Internal Analysis of University of South Australia specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Approach 9 Applying the Marketing Mix12 The 7P’s of Services based Marketing Mix14 Key Stakeholders15 Measuring Organisation Performance16 Conclusion17 Reference List18 Introduction Transnational education is the provision of education to international students by Australian providers offshore. A university may have campuses in other countries or have agreements with universities from other countries to deliver their courses so that students overseas could finish their course in full or part of it without having to come to Australia at all. The university of South Australia (UniSA) is one of the leading transnational organisations in Australia (UniSA, 2011). The purpose of this report is to analyse the internal environment using marketing theories such as the marketing mix, identifying the existing strategies and doing a SWOT analysis to identify the strategic capabilities of UniSA. UniSA is the largest university in South Australia, with 36,156 students, 2396 staff and five campuses and an annual revenue exceeding $457 million (UniSA,2011). UniSA has partnerships and agreements with institutions and government bodies in over 30 countries while offering students in four countries, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and Singapore the opportunity to complete a UniSA degree in their home country (UniSA International, 2011). UniSA international leads the University of South Australia’s International engagement through the direction and management of international relations, student recruitment and related services to foster a diverse university community (UniSA International, 2011). There are three regional teams that undertake marketing, recruitment, enquiries management, admissions and applicant assessment, and processing of applications for international students. The three Regions are: Region 1: South East Asia (Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam, Lao and Cambodia), South Asia, the Pacific Nations, Africa and the Middle East Region 2  Ã‚  Ã‚   ? China, South East Asia (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia) Region 3  Ã‚  Ã‚   ? Europe and the Americas, Japan and Korea, study abroad, and domestically based international students. The regional teams undertake marketing, recruitment, enquiries management, admissions and applicant assessment, and processing of applications for international students. Identifying and analyzing the existing strategy at Business Level Question| Determined Position| 1. Does the organization plan to grow? | According to the UniSA vision UniSA plans to grow in the future by being the leading contributor to Australia having the best education system in the world. According to the strategic plan UniSA wants to go into agreements with institutions in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore so that courses could be completed in those countries. UniSA seek to establish an innovative medical school that focuses on addressing the health needs of disadvantaged populations. UniSA also wants to create a university College that would assist more students to gain access to and succeed in our programs| 2. What services does it plan to produce? | UniSA offers over 500 courses that includes undergraduate, postgraduate and Research programs. It also plans to offer Diploma programs and more medical courses and research courses. UniSA will also continue to partner with oreign education providers in order to expand their transnational education offerings while planning to situate some of their campuses overseas. | 3. What customer and geographic markets does it plan to service? | Locally as one of the very few leading Universities in South Australia students in the state are focused uponInternationally mainly students in Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and SingaporeUniSA will continue to grow transnational by signing up new agreements internat ionally mainly focusing on South East Asia. | 4. What generic strategy does it plan to follow to position itself uniquely against competitors? | Creating world class research clusters and exciting research-intensive cultureBy working with high performance qualified staff and joining hands with prestigious partnersWorld brand recognition| 5. What position in the industry does it plan to hold in the future? | Vision : UniSA will be a leading contributor to Australia having the best higher education system in the worldMission: UniSA educates professionals and students to the highest standard| In order to start the internal analysis of UniSA I have identified the existing business strategy of the organisation by applying Hubbard’s five-question approach. There has been great emphasis in producing students with international and intercultural experience who can adapt to the ever-changing world and be recognized for their work internationally. However how they are going to achieve this is not very clear. In their strategic plan the main focus is on the students’ experience but the achievability and the measurability is questionable. Secondly they have focused on the transnational education providing it in more countries and planning to open up more campuses overseas. UniSA have taken the first and a big step in this by signing an agreement with IDP who is a large international education agent that liaise with overseas universities and students. Even though UniSA has made their strategic plan for 2020 and there are still more years to go the plan is not clear and very fuzzy. There goals are clear but how they plan to achieve is not very clear. Their plans are also long term and there is no explanation as to what they plan to achieve every five years. However having a fuzzy strategy makes an organisation flexible and the ability to adapt to the changing environment high. This could be beneficial in UniSA s case as a universities environment can constantly change. SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method introduced by Albert Humphrey in the 1960’s to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in an organisation. It involves specifying the objectives of the organisation and identifying the external and internal factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective. Strengths * Research programs * Teaching assistance and training for the staff and lecturers * Global recognition| Weaknesses * Delay in introducing the new programs * Restructure in departments * Staffing departments | Opportunities * High student expectation * Government backing * Access to the global market * Diverse community| SO Strategies * UniSA delivers to the expectations of students and constant ly reviews their programs to make sure they are up to standards * Advertise and markets around the world saying that courses of UniSA is backed and quality approved by the government. Promote an encourage staff| WO Strategies * UniSA is making strategic alliances with other universities that will help setting up their medical school * UniSA is promoting international intellects to lecture and take part in teaching programs at UniSA * UniSA is appealing to the diverse community take part in activities together| Threats * Changing demographics in courses * Changing political environment in Australia and overseas * Emerging new niversities| ST Strategies * UniSA is updated on which courses are more popular and should be ready to deliver according to the demand * UniSA is stable and will be running their courses despite the government volatility in other countries| WT Strategies * UniSA is building campuses overseas * UniSA id hiring staff globally for their overseas and local campuses| Limitations of the SWOT analysis The SWOT framework emphasizes the elements of strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats but provides no real guidance on how organisations can indentify these elements for themselves. Even though the SWOT analysis is flexible it is very vague. It does not specify how to distinguish a threat over opportunities. Another draw back of the SWOT analysis is the lack of detail because there are no justifications required for the classification of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities or threats. I have classified each element in the strategic plan in the SWOT analysis according to how I feel fit. This may not be the case for everyone. Also there is no prioritization in elements, which are another important fact that the SWOT analysis ignores. Analyzing UniSA’s current strategic capabilities using the 3 test Approach Strategy| Is it valuable to the customers? | Is it better than the capabilities of most competitors? | Is it difficult to initiate or replicate? | Outstanding learning outcomes and the quality and richness of the student experience| Yes students will find this valuable as experience is critical in University life. | Yes most universities does not consider this a priority| Yes managing and implementing programs and activities take time| World-class research clusters and exciting, research-intensive culture| Yes UniSA is the only university in SA that gives research such prominence. Yes most universities does not offer this| Yes as introducing research and setting up the culture requires setting up a whole new department. | Innovative solutions to social, economic, political and technological challenges| Yes students will appreciate the work done for the community and the country| To a certain extent| Yes this is easier through research. | Innovative and excellence in teaching| Yes as the students will be happy to know that they are taught by and from the best| To a certain extent| No however will take time. Any university can initiate this as this just requires hiring the right staff. Even though it is possible it will take time. | Working well with the uni’s high-performing staff and prestigious national and international partners| A good relationship with the staff and the partners will be beneficial to the students as they will have better opportunities when the stake holders are happy| Yes| Yes forming relationships and maintaining is not that easy. Ability and adaptability in building and maintaining productive partnerships with industry, business and the community| Yes as adaptability according to stake holders will bring great opportunities to the students and the university| Yes as most universities does not give attention to these details| Yes forming relationships and maintaining is not that easy. Most universities are not flexible at all. Considerable and creative contribution to the prosperity and well-being of the nation| Yes everyone likes to think that they are hel ping the betterment of life in their country| Yes| Yes initiating it wouldn’t be that hard but to actually practice it will not be easy| Improving and expanding transnational education| This will make UniSA a more popular university globally and students will be happy to be recognized globally| Yes most competitors do not offer transnational education| Yes most universities do not have the capabilities and the resources to offer transnational education| From the above table we can see that all strategies do have value and most of them are superior to the ones of the competitors. UniSA has chosen its strategies smartly. This was done in 2008 as a review of the mission and vision statements and all information was taken from a report printed called Horizon. This report explains how these strategies were chosen after consultation with stakeholders of the university and according to the capacity and the capability. As a university with years of experience in excellence UniSA has the capability and the resources to make processors perfect. UniSA also has a big advantage due to the prestigious research programs that it offers. This gives UniSA a strategic advantage over many universities. The highly qualified and experienced staff and support team is an asset that UniSA boasts of through out the years. By years of implementing and experimenting activities and curricula’s now UniSA has the ability to provide its students a unique multicultural and innovative experience in university. As far as capabilities are concerned improving and expanding transnational education will be difficult for the university at the moment. UniSA is already introducing major courses such as medicine within the next year and most of the resources and focus has been on that. Even though these strategies are on hold temporarily it will be given attention soon as all these strategies are expected to be achieved in 2020 giving UniSA ample time. Appling the Marketing Mix The marketing mix is a set of marketing rules that are controllable that institutions use to produce the response it wants from various target markets (Ivy, 2008). It consists of everything that the university can do to influence the demand for the service that it offers. Tangible products usually uses a $P’s model, the services sector on the other hand uses a 7P’s approach in order to satisfy the needs of the service provider’s customers. Theses are product, price, Place, Promotion, People, Physical fasciitis and Processers (Ivy 2008). In the case of UniSA what is being sold is education while the customer are the students. Product| Price| Place | Promotion| People| Physical| Processors| Courses delivered in Australia on campusCourses delivered offshore off campusCourses delivered through the Open University, OnlineOne of the best and renown universities for its Research Expertise| Domestic full paying studentsGovernment subsidized domestic studentsInternational onshore and offshore full paying studentsScholarships for Domestic and International studentsConsulting fees for research students| 5 Campuses in Australia4 Campuses OverseasOnline EnrolmentSigned up with IDP who recruits students from over 40 countries| Is an innovative outward looking university with more than a century’s experienceOffers world class scholarships that meets the needs of the global community and solves real world problemsOver 500 courses available globally Multi cultural environment with support systems available| Well-experienced and highly qualified staff and executive board. Multicultural staffing boardTrained staff available to handle international studentsPeer monitoring programsLanguage assistance programs. | Campuses overseas and locallyEach campus with distinctive profiles offering modern and sophisticated facilities. Campuses located amidst cultural and educational precinct. All campuses are clean, safe and close to transport hubs| SO9001:2000 accredited organisationAQTF amp; AUQA compliantESOS compliant onshore and offshoreIn-house internal audit ensuring continuous improvement| The 7P’s of Services based marketing mix Key Stakeholders Stakeholders| What to do the stakeholders want from their involvement? | How consistent are the values and attitudes of the stakeholder with UniSA? Students| * Good education * Good university experience * Globally accepted qualification| Inconsistent – * Markets change * Demographics change * Students ideas and needs change| Employees| * Rewarding career * Fair pay * Good working environment| Consiste nt * There could be slight changes like the attitudes towards work but employee needs are mostly consistent| Governments| * High quality education provided to the students * High standards and results to stipulate funding| Variable * Due to political changes * Due to policy changes * Educational needs * Results| Overseas partners| * Economic benefit * Recognition| Consistent * Because what ever changes happen overseas partners would still expect the same from UniSA. | Stakeholder satisfaction is critical for successful organisations in a hypercompetitive environment (D’Aveni,2004). In order to complete the internal environment analysis it is important for UniSA to identify its main stakeholders. They are students and their families, employees, governments and overseas partners. Each stakeholder has different interests and different degrees of involvement in UniSA. Measuring Organisation performance I found very little information of UniSA performance to compare with the industry information. I have used the balanced scorecard method (BSM) with the available information. BSM ok Kaplan and Norton is a strategic approach and performance management system that enables organisations to translate a company’s vision and strategy into implementation working from 4 perspectives. 1. Financial Perspective 2. Customer perspective 3. Business process perspective 4. Financial Perspective Financially stable Achieves targets and is profitable Government funding Learning and growth perspective Learning and growth Business Process Perspective Vision And Strategy Maintain quality of programs delivered Make sure that the highest technology is available Perspective Add value by maintaining standards Expand the university capacity. Making sure to be successful In projects Customer Perspective Produce successful Graduates Provide support systems to students and staff The balance scorecard method requires four questions to be answered. They are: 1. How do we look to our stakeholders? From the above stakeholder analysis we can see the relationship between UniSA and its stakeholders and their expectations. 2. How do customers see us? Even though I have not done enough research on what students think of the university, the 56% increase in enrolments in courses and the constant expansion of the university tells us that UniSA has a good reputation built up over the years 3. What must we excel in? University has identified five corporate priorities that they believe that there is till room for improvement * Research education * Transnational education * Productivity and the work load of staff Costing and profitability analysis 4. Can we continue to improve and create value? I believe that UniSA can continue to do this as according to the 2009 annual report UniSA have exceeded the expectations of many with their constant growth and exceptional performance. They have met most of their strategies and made new ones to continue their succ ess Conclusion From the analysis in this report we can see that UniSA is a successful university in Australia with well defines strategies that are practiced and taken action on. There are areas that could be improved such as explanations and plans explaining how they can achieve their plans short term and on the long run. However over all we UniSA is strategically well positioned and is maintaining their standards while keeping its stakeholders happy and delivering to government requirements. Reference List IBISWorld (2011, April 18). University and other Higher Education in Australia (N8431). Retrived from IBISWorld database. Ivy,J. (2008). A new higher education marketing mix. International Journal of Educational Management,22(4)288-299. Doi 10. 1108/09513540810875635 Kaplan,R, amp; Norton,D. (2011). Balanced Scorecard Method. Retrieved April 28, 2011, from http://www. valuebasedmanagement. net/methods_balancedscorecard. html Parsons. A, (2008) How important are Stakeholder Relationships. Retrieved May 1 , 2011, from http://www. albany. edu/~pm157/research/stakeholders. pdf University of South Australia (2002, September) From the Vice Chamcellor :UniSA News Retrieved April 28, 2011, from http://www. unisa. edu. au/unisanews/archive/2002/unisanews_sept02_main. pdf UniSA (2011) Transnational partners Retrieved May 1 , 2011, from http://www. unisa. edu. au/partner/transnational/default. asp UniSA (2011) Marketing Positioning Retrieved May 1 , 2011, from http://www. unisa. edu. au/intagent/marketing/positioning. asp UniSA (2011) Ambitions, Strategic directions, Plans and commitments Retrieved May 1 , 2011, from http://www. unisa. edu. au/about/intro/strategies. asp UniSA (2011) Horizons 2020, Retrieved May 1 , 2011, from http://www. unisa. edu. au/horizon2020/default. asp