Strategy for Expansion in Mexico - Essay Example

?Strategy for Expansion in Mexico Introduction: In the present generation, the education sector has become global. round the world often heads to foreign universities for attaining their degrees. The competition among the colleges has also increased significantly. In order to gain an edge in the competition, the Irish managed college is aiming for an expansion in Mexico. The expansion process is aimed at increasing the number of the international students. The college wants to provide graduate and post graduate degrees to the full time and the part time students of the country. The analysis of the strategies which the college should undertake during the expansion has been considered along with the macro environmental factors. Macro environmental factors of Mexico: In the analysis of the macro environment of Mexico, various factors which have been considered are the political, economic, social, and technological conditions present in the country. The overall analysis of the factors has been carried out to understand the feasibility of the expansion of the University in a different country and to critically analyze the favorable factors and the associated difficulties with the expansion plan (Henry, 2008, p.51). Political factors: Mexico has a federal republic government, and the first republic was established in the year 1824. The overall administration of the country is divided under various subdivisions consisting of 31 states and a federal district. The prominent political parties in action are the Institutional Revolutionary party and the National action Party. Other than these two parties there are various small parties which operate in the country. The judiciary of the country is also divided into federal and the state court systems (Background note: Mexico, 2011). Various educational reforms have also occurred in the country and the most significant of them is the educational reform in the state of Aguascalientes. The new system of education was introduced in the year 1920. Under the new system, the public education system in the country involved a massive change. More decentralization of education system was effected in the state. The role and the supervision of the school inspectors also involved a radical change. The number of days of the classes in the school was increased considerably and the government made an effort to improve the educational system in the country. The educational reform brought by the political party introduced English language and computers in the schools of Mexico for the very first time. The government of the country was determined to increase the quality of education in the country and this appeared to be a significant step. In order to raise the level of education, special training of the teachers was also conducted. Such reforms had a dramatic improvement in the education sector of the country as the number of school completion reflected an increase in rate (Cordoba, n. d) Economic factors: The economy of the country has been affected in the period of recession, however in the recent years; the country has experienced impressive growth in its economy. The low cost of labor in Mexico has been significant enough to gain such profit in the country. The countries link up with the NAFTA agreement has been also crucial in its economic success. Based on the overall economy of the country, Mexico has been positioned as a country with middle level of income. The average growth of the country also has satisfactory figures. The quick rate of recovery of the United States also helped the country to revive the economic condition after the recession period was over. In matters of trade, the United States has been the country in which Mexico exports and imports the maximum and the dependence over the US trade is quite notable. Mexico has a free market economy with the domination of various private sectors in the market (Klepak, 2008). However the income distribution in the country is largely unequal. The service sector and the industrial sectors of the country are the highest revenue earning sector of the Mexican economy (Mexico Economic Condition, 2010). The GDP of Mexico in the year 2010 accounted for $5.416Trillion (Mexico GDP real growth rate, 2011). Social conditions in Mexico: In Mexico the overall socio economic condition of the country is very stable in nature. Most of the Mexicans largely speak Spanish (Stacy, 2002, p.457). Almost 76 % of the population of the country resides in the urban areas. The country accounts to be one of the most populated countries in the western hemisphere and the population of the country is more than 100 millions (Mexico population, 2011). The government of Mexico has provided a major focus in improving the education of the country and in increasing the overall literacy rates. Almost the whole of the Mexican population attains the primary level of education. Compulsory education for the children till the age of 11 has been passed in the legislation. The country has a presence of wide number of ethnic groups and the overall age of the population of the country is also on the higher side. In matters of religion, the country is populated with a high presence of Roman Catholic groups (Religion in Mexico, n. d). Technological factors in Mexico: The government of Mexico has received substantial improvement in the economy of the country; however the country has not experienced much of the technological changes. In matters of technological research and development, the country has invested the lowest among the various OECD nations. As a result the number of technological researchers emerging from the country is always on the lower side. The number of PHD students is also very few in number. The barrier to technological factors in the overall development of the society can be accounted to two main factors. The country has few demands for the latest technological support as the availability of cheap labor is present in considerable numbers in the country. The lack of international cooperation in the advancement of technology has also been crucial. However the government of Mexico has addressed these limitations and has devised policies for the promotion and innovation of various technological advancements. As a result of the policies, the higher education system has undergone reforms and the government has increased the allocation for the investment in the technological sector. Even loans have been sanctioned from the World Bank so that the country takes a leap in the advancement of technology. The government has also identified various sectors in the country which they aim to improve technologically and have implemented the necessary steps for bringing them into practice. In the present global scenario, almost all the developing countries have rapidly improved their technology and all the sectors are technologically driven. The adherence to technology has been beneficial for most of the nations as a massive reduction in cost on every front has been encountered. In such an environment the government of Mexico has correctly identified the importance of such issues and has done their best to improve the technological condition of the country (Science and technology in Mexico, n. d). Education sector in Mexico: The education system of Mexico is primarily segregated in four levels (Higher education in Mexico, 2010). The government of the country provides the compulsory education between grades 1 -9. Apart from this the government is also involved in the other levels of the education and does the necessary funding of the higher education across all states of the country. The education in the country is basically served by the help of the public schools and the number of the public schools in the country is almost 87 percent of the total schools. The governance of the education system in the country is centralized and the national council of education has the responsibility of setting the curriculum in the schools and they are provided with the responsibility of hiring the personnel’s for the schools and deciding the salary package of the employees working in the schools and colleges of Mexico. In the year 1992, the Mexican government decentralized the education system of the country but this strategy did not hamper the decision making capability of the centralized system (Grindle, 2001). The decentralization process was only aimed to reduce the administrative pressure of the central committee. The government spends 5.9 percent of the gross domestic product on the education sector and the amount accounts for almost a quarter of the total budgeted amount of the country. The state in Mexico does the massive amount of funding on the up liftment of education, with the help and support of the federal government. In the Mexican education system a considerable amount of help is also provided by the Inter –American development bank and the World Bank and they constantly provide financial support to the Mexican government so that the overall standard of the education system in Mexico undergoes a massive improvement. The major worry in the education system in Mexico is the increase in the dropout rates of the students after completing the primary level of education. In the rural areas of the country there is an absence of sufficient number of secondary schools and it acts as a constraint in graduating more number of Mexican students. The lack of adequate training sessions for the teachers at the national and state level also acts as a hindrance in the improvement of the quality of education in Mexico. Proper research regarding the quality of education and their evaluation is also not conducted on a regular basis, and as a result the key areas requiring improvement are not identified. However the government of Mexico has implemented various policies and program to address some of the critical issues in the education system. In order to encourage the students from the lower income families to attain education, the government provides cash grants to the families. The government also allocates funds to the schools, so that infrastructural development can be made in the schools. Incentives are also being provided to the teachers and the students so that the rate of absenteeism can be reduced in the schools. The enrollments in the schools and colleges in Mexico vary accordingly to the levels of education (Santibanez, et al, 2005). Evaluation of the challenges and issues: The Irish college in its venture of expansion to Mexico can face serious challenges in certain areas. The difference in culture among the two countries can emerge out to be a significant one. The predominant difference can be the difference of the language between the two countries. In Ireland the most of the population speaks English, whereas in Mexico, Spanish is the mostly spoken language. The communication may be largely hampered as a result of this difference. In setting up the college in Mexico, the Irish people need to communicate with the Mexicans and the difference in the language can arise from both the sides. Unless a good communication is being established between the two parties, the expansion process will not be effective. Other than the language several other difficulties may be encountered based on the food, and the style of living. The promotion and the marketing activity of the colleges in Ireland are undertaken by the help of the internet service. In Ireland, the college does much of its promotion by the help of the web service and a majority of the students generate knowledge about the institution from the website and other web related service provided by the college. However in Mexico, the college may face problem in gaining the attention of the local students as the country is not technologically advanced. The college has to change its business policies in this respect. The study of the social condition in Mexico also reflects the fact that the college may have to implement certain strategies so that more number of students opts for the post graduate course which the college aims to offer. The colleges in Mexico provide facilities for the students to provide on job training and arrange opportunities of job to them. In Mexico, a considerable number of populations undergo higher education for the sake of job and it becomes the responsibility of the college to provide job (Philip, 1988, p.302). However the situation is different in Ireland. The management of the college’s aims at providing the students with the best education but does not considers providing job to the students, though they arrange for the on job trainings. As a result of these, the college looking to expand its operation in Mexico needs to consider the issue on a serious note and address the problem. The overall management of the college and its operation may be intervened by the Mexican government and this will disallow the college to operate freely as it has been doing in Ireland. The college may be restricted to charge fees based on their plans and in that case, the negotiation with the government or the authority in charge needs to be done. Strategy for expansion: In order to successfully undertake the process of expansion in Mexico, the college needs to critically identify the problems and incorporate suggestive actions. As the college is based in Ireland and it plans to expand in Mexico, the management of the college can take the help of local expertise and take suggestion from them so that the college may be successful in its operation in Mexico. The help from local expertise will enable the management of the college to identify favorable areas which they can exploit and will also help them to deal with the difficulties in a better way. As Mexico has encountered a problem with drop out of the students after completing their basic level of education, so the college needs to provide more stress on their marketing and provide attractive schemes for the students so that they peruse higher education. The Mexican government is also making a dedicated effort to raise the standard of the education in the country and the college should present their plans of expansion to the government. This would in turn help both the objective of the government and the college. The help from the government in matters of expansion will eliminate lot of the challenges which the college may face in the earlier days. In establishing a business of any nature in a different country, the organizations looks for the help and advice of the local organizations by entering through the joint venture modes (Michael, 2010, p.42), but in the establishment of the colleges such modes are not possible and the help form the government will appear to be an added advantage. During the initial days the college should not start its operation in a large scale and should monitor the performance of the college in matters of the admission of the students closely, before deciding for the future plans. The interest among the student community regarding the college also needs to be evaluated in the initial days of the operation. In matters of marketing, the promotion of the college under the government banner can create a high level of interest among the local people and will also be helpful in generating the faith of the people over the institution. In order to seek the attention of the Mexican government, the college should propose various technical courses which it will offer to the students and this will also serve the purpose of government in strengthening of the technical education in the country. The college should implement a strategy of providing incentives to the students based on the academic performance and also should look to recruit the local unemployed youth in the college for the purpose of teaching and managing other administrative tasks. The application of the strategy will also act as an effective marketing tool for the organization. The college may also approach the various organizations based in Mexico to provide training to the students, so that they may become industry ready. The cultural difference is also a significant factor which the college should consider. The college needs to promote an environment of harmony among the different culture of students and should promote the college as a center of learning where respect to different cultures are provided and the students gets the opportunity to study various cultures from the same place. Conclusion and recommendation: The paper analyzes the strategies which the government managed college of Ireland should incorporate while looking to expand in Mexico. In order to expand in Mexico, a study of the macro environmental factors has been undertaken so that a transparent idea regarding the socio-political environment is attained. The macro environmental factors also helped to analyze whether it would be profitable for the institution to set up the college in Mexico. Based on the macro environmental analysis, the challenges were also identified. The prime challenges which became evident in the study are the difference in the style of management and the culture which the college had to tackle in the expansion. In order to establish the college in Mexico, the strategy for taking the help of the local government is suggested. The government aid will help to overcome the barriers in the initial days of operation and also would be helpful in the effective marketing of the college in Mexico. However in the process of expansion, the college should not promise its overall goal of providing better education for the sake of the monetary gains. The college should be set up in area where the maximum number of students can avail the service of the college and which in turn will also promote the cause of the college. The college needs to be careful in deciding the course fees of the subjects they offer to the students and should be in parity to the standard of fees charged in Mexico. The college should also look to improve the ways of improving the standard of the Mexican higher education and should dedicate their best so that quality students emerge from the college and they do contribute towards the Mexican society. The overall success of the college will depend on the nature of the operation and the quality of education it delivers to the students of Mexico. References Background note: Mexico. (2011).state.gov, available at: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35749.htm(accessed on January 1, 2012) Cordoba, L, A. (n. d). organizational learning in the developing world, eolss, available at:http://www.eolss.net/Sample-Chapters/C15/E1-29-04-02.pdf(accessed on January 1, 2012) Grindle, M, S. (2001). Mexico in Transition, drclas. harvard, , available at:http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/revista/articles/view/74(accessed on January 1, 2012) Henry, A. (2008). Understanding Strategic Management, Oxford: Oxford University Press Higher education in Mexico. (2010). 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