Internationalization Strategy of the Brand Leeds - Essay Example

?Business Strategy Contents Answer 3 Answer 2 5 Answer 3 7 Answer 4 8 Answer 5 9 Answer 6 11 Answer 7 12 Works cited 14 of the ofthe Professor Course Number Date Business Strategy Answer 1 Leeds University is one of the well known universities in United Kingdom. It is the second largest public university with a dynamic academic community consisting of more than 8000 staffs, 30000 students and more than 300, 000 lakh graduates (“About”). The university has been one of the major players in providing qualitative education in United Kingdom. The reputation of the university is based upon its volume, immense growth and diverse student base as well as academic and research excellence. The present growth strategy of the university was formulated as a result of the changing policies of the UK government. Looking at the emerging growth of educational sector and changing trends in education business; the university has decided to adopt a sustainable strategy. The growth strategy will include internalization of the university and reaching a distinctive position in research and academic excellence within 2015 (“Operations and Activities”). The objective of the organization thrusts in creativity and academics. From the strategy map of Leeds University, it is very clear that internalization of university is the main aim of the strategy map. The university has always maintained a trustworthy image. Banking on the equity of the brand Leeds, three growth strategies have been determined, in order to achieve the goals of the strategy map formalized by the university. 1. Embedding internalization into the core activities of the university. The rationale behind internationalization strategy is to maximize the contribution and alignment of the international activities with the core academic and organizational mission. The strategic ambition of the university is to become one of the top known and respected universities in the world. To fulfil this strategic vision, internalization of the core academic activities should be a priority. In order to achieve this objective, the university will have to establish strategic management groups to look after the governance and well as overall marketing plan of the university (Enders 361-382). These facilities will ensure that proper coordination is achieved between the academic as well as professional and marketing departments and the individual objectives are aligned with the objectives of the organization. The strategic team should keep a track on the changing trends in education and as well as student preferences in terms of choice of academics and courses. This will indicate the changing preference of international students and thus, the university can upgrade its courses according to the latest trends. 2. International recruitment The university has been very successful in recruiting international students and has been boasting a large volume of international students. Thus it is very important that the organization sustains its position in the international education market (“Internationalization Strategy”). This can be achieved by establishing a platform where sustained marketing strategies are prepared to keep attracting international students. Though increasing international recruitment will be an important part of the strategy, the university should also focus into creating the right mix of students in the international segments. This will not only help in achieving a diversified mix of students, but will also avoid any formation of racial or ethnic groups (Croft 1-10). Strategic international recruitment will also help in increasing the overall performance of the university as top students from international locations will be invited to pursue different courses in the university. In order to define the right mix and volume of international students, the university can opt for external benchmarking and previous experience of international recruitment. While external benchmarking will help in expanding the mindset of the management, previous experience from the management as well as professionals will be necessary. The university has also established itself as a research incentive university. The international mix should be in such a way that it increases the overall reputation of the university without affecting the local mix of students. 3. International Partnerships Developing and maintaining high qualities of internal partnerships can be another growth strategy in order to achieve the vision of international growth and expansion. The university has a diverse mix of strategic partnerships, ranging from schools, organizations, colleges and other small and medium enterprises. In order to make the partnerships more effective and aligning with the objectives of the university, a strategy should be implemented. This strategy should evaluate the direct relationship between international partnership and growth of the university in terms of reputation, brand and overall recognition. The strategic partnerships should be aligning with the core mission of the academics of the university (Hofstede 50-100). The university is explicitly known for its research and academic excellence. Thus, partnerships with international research organizations and research universities will provide academic collaboration as well as international recognition. For this, the university can also establish special council in order to evaluate the international organizations available for partnerships. Answer 2 The business of education is an ever-growing sector. In the past few years, many conferences have been held and researches have been conducted to evaluate strategies for internalization and global recognition. In most of the cases, recruitment of international students has been the most favourable and globally accepted strategy (Teichler 10-20). However, the sector is observing few changes also. Many new as well as established universities have started adopting newer strategies. These include tie-ups with various institutions, inclusion of foreign languages, expanding the teaching base, collaborative and sustainable engagement with international alumni and partnership with non-academic international firms. The chosen growth strategy for Leeds University is apparent from the fact that the strategic aim of the university if to be among the top 50 universities worldwide by 2015. To achieve this aim, the university will have to focus on its overall impact and reach. There are various grounds on which these strategies have been formulated. First, the university has an already established research profile and it would want to strengthen its image as a university with excellent research facilities (Beri 98-100). The university also plans to establish a world class culture of research faculty which will attract international students and provide them with international learning opportunities. An internal growth strategy will help the students to develop their full potential and experience the extensive resource of the university (Kalla 302-314). Apart from that, the university plans to extend its global strategies from a local level to international level. For this objective, it is essential to establish partnerships with various institutional and non-institutional organizations and expand its base in various other sectors apart from the business of education. Another reason for the establishment of a future strategy is the present status of the university and its recognition around the globe. The in-house programmes of the university are world known and favoured by majority of international as well as local students. It terms of subject and volume, the university has one of the biggest bases of international programmes. The student support programmes of the university are well known and one of the most recognized in the country. This increases the recognition of the university as a public service organization. For making the international recruitment processes more effective, the university has set five overseas offices with the objective of building influences and recruitments. Thus, it can be seen that the university has already established leadership in many areas of its education structure. Since the global competition in education is rising and more and more international universities are coming into existence, it is imperative for Leeds University to follow up with the trends and maintain a sustainable progress in the global rankings of universities. However, there are few areas of concerns where the university has not been successful. It is very important to look into these areas as they may become a hurdle in future growth strategies of the university. The organization has found there are few scattered links of departments and courses where the academic performance is below average. Though the university has established a council to engage the international alumni, the engagement has remained limited by far. This also restricts the opportunity for various academic researches. Even though the university id recognized in an international level, the university needs to improve its activities which take place at smaller scale within the campus. Till now, the international activities of the university have not been specific and independent. Thus, looking at the above issues as well as opportunities the university is facing, a future strategy focusing on internationalization and overall ranking will be appropriate for sustainable growth and development. Answer 3 The execution of strategies is as important as the planning part. Without proper execution of the planned strategies, it is impossible to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. Thus, in the current scenario, the university will have to segregate the role and responsibilities in a skilful manner. The university has decided on its three basic strategies. These will be collaborating with the core activities with international trends and policies, recruitment of international students and establishing international partnerships with universities as well as non- institutional organizations. For the successful completion of the strategies, the daily roles and responsibilities can be segregated into three broad categories; The strategy and processes have sponsorship from top leadership. Initiatives happening at the organizational level will require strategic sponsorships form that will be responsible for the overall development and successful implementation of the project. At this stage, emphasis should be given on accountability and leadership. During the initial stages of the project, the top management will have to build a consensus among themselves as well as the top leaders who are going to participate in the project. Here the management will have to adopt an open style for communication the objectives and the need for change. This communication should be delegated to all departments and sections of the university. This will help in establishing an early foundation so that the commitment around the strategic vision is created. To translate the strategy into operations, time will be needed. Thus, the management needs to make sure that the focus of the leaders in the project is constant, irrespective of the time taken for the completion of the project. Since it is a long term objective, the leaders and the managers need to make sure that the daily activities are performed in a regular manner. International recruitment is one of the major strategic initiatives. The university will have to make sure that the quality of international recruitment is according to the university standards. The university has established five overseas offices. These offices will be able to help the university in finding out the level of education, and overall level of students in those locations (Bonnema 314-327). Thus, the university will be able to identify specific areas to target international recruitments. In order to make sure that the recruitment process is continuous and under control, the university can appoint managers who will specifically evaluate the recruitment process over time. This will help in evaluating the current recruitment process and the percentage of growth over years. Comparisons with top universities worldwide will also reveal many insights about the recruitment processes occurring worldwide. Even though the university is focusing heavily of international recruitment, it should make sure that the quality of local students is not affected. The management should make sure that the aim of recruitment is to have a proper mix, not just increasing volume. For this, the university will have to keep a check on the local recruitment process too. To find out the compatibility of the international students with themselves as well as local students, the university can opt for a feedback strategy. Answer 4 The university is planning for a long term growth strategy. The university plans to establish itself as one of the top 50 international universities worldwide. To achieve this objective, the organization will require resources and efficient capabilities for the proper utilization. These resources can be categories into three subdivisions; tangible resources, intangible resources and human resources. Tangible resources of an organization refer to those assets which can be seen, touched and are visible to the eye. In case of Leeds University, the tangible resources will be the infrastructure and the capital Infrastructure The infrastructure of an educational institute plays an extremely important role is overall establishment of the brand. Leeds University is an internationally recognized institution with world class facilities. The infrastructure of the university is spread into more than 2500 acres of land. Most of the buildings of the university are listed as grade 1. The university has been involved in numerous development plans since 2008. The university has successfully established many new structural components such as world class swimming pool, children care, international library, law building and international hall. The new objective of the university will bring some changes in the development of infrastructure. Since the university is focusing on internationalization, the structural development should be compatible with the policies and regulations of the globally recognized universities. Leeds university will have to make sure that the new establishments comply will the international standards. Financial support Since it is a deemed institution, the government of United Kingdom as well as European Government have been providing financial support to the university. Apart from that, the large volume of national as well as international students also makes sure that the university earns sufficient amount of profit in order to make further investments. For the current objective, the university will have to take support from the government as well as private investors. Since it is an international project, the investments will be huge and the university will require sufficient amount for the proper execution of the project. The university can opt for sponsorships and private investments from non-educational institutions. Human resources Human Resources are one of the most important resources for the proper functioning of organization as well as achievement of objectives. For the success of the growth strategy of the university, proper focus will be given to increase the quality of human resource. Extensive training facilities will be given to the teaching faculties as well as staffs on their respective departments. The objective will be to develop world class faculties and staff service. Answer 5 The vision of the university is to achieve a distinctive position in world class research, education and scholarship. For the proper implementation of the growth strategy, the actions have been divided into timescale and definite targets have been set in order to achieve those targets within the given timescale. The targets will be divided quarter wise. The timescale and targets are as follows; July- September 2013 During the first quarter of the strategy implementation, focus will be given on the present position of the university. A complete analysis will be done on the present strengths and weaknesses as well as the opportunities in terms of internationalization. The target for this quarter should be to find out all loop holes present within the campus as well as the present marketing structure. Extensive primary and secondary market research will be conducted in this quarter. October- December 2013 During this quarter, focus will be on the internal management. This will include increasing the standards of internal activities, including sports, culture and other festivals. Most of the times, the participation of local students in these activities is less. Focus will be given in increasing the brand loyalty and brand recognition among local students so that they become the local brand ambassadors for the university (Hakala and Vincze 439-451). Apart from this, focus will also be given on increasing the quality and breadth of faculties and teaching staffs within the university. At the end of this quarter, the university targets a minimum rise in 5 ranks from its current position. January- March 2014 During this period most of the recruitment process starts. The university has focused on many developing and emerging nations for international recruitment. These regions will be divided into tier one and tier two and accordingly strategies will be implemented to influence the international students. April- June 2014 The countries targeted as tier one will be china, Malaysia, India, Japan and Canada. The university will opt for extensive research and brand awareness of their university through different promotional programmes (Kaynak, Kucukemiroglu and Kanso 110-130). The university can also opt for counselling sessions for the students. International recruitment should be complete by this quarter. At the end of this quarter, the university aims to increase its base of international students by 25 percent. Apart from this, the university also targets university ranking between 75 and 85. July- September 2014 During this quarter, focus will be on strategic partnerships. The university will focus on extensive research to find out the relevant and most compatible institutions. The university will target two groups, institutional as well as non-educational institutions. The university will also look for partnerships with corporate and MNCs with the objective of financial support as well as industry exposure to students. October-December 2014 By the end of last quarters, a final list will be prepared indicating all the institutions to be targeted for strategic partnerships. At the end of this quarter, the university expects to finalize all deals with these institutions and reach overall ranking between 60 and 70. January- March 2015 The focus on this quarter will be to increase the quality of human resource. Extensive training facilities will be provided to the faculties as well as staffs on their respective departments. The target will be to develop world class faculties and staff service. By the end of March 2015, the university will target ratings in top 50 universities worldwide. Answer 6 Forming, storming, norming, performing and doming are the various stage of group development. This theory of group development was given by Bruce Tuckman (Ito and Brotheridge 215-230).According to this theory, in order for a team to grow and deliver results; they must pass through the above stages and successfully complete them. This section will categories activities into stages and explains them. a) Two of the group arguing as to whose idea is best The above activity belongs to storming stage of group development. In this stage, all the group members come together and discuss about a common topic. Since the team members have just entered into a close group, anxiety, frustrations and collisions of ideas will happen. The team members will argue over ideas and suggestions and adjustment anxiety will be there. b) Progress becomes static Once the task of the team is completed and the goal is achieved, performance anxiety and stress reduces. The team members are relaxed and sometimes negativity and dissatisfaction arises because of absence of task or activity. This results into a static progress and the stage of group development is referred as Adjourning stage. In this stage, the team is dissolved and separated. c) Desired outputs being achieved. In a group performance, desired outputs are achieved when the team achieves cohesion and shares common goal. Once the norming stage is completed, the team enters performing stage where the team works together; accepting ideas and suggestion from other team members. Thus, during the performing stage, the team achieves desired outputs (Akan 52-60). d) Shy member of group not participating During the first stage of group development, team members come together at a common platform. There is excitement, anxiety and anticipation. Generally, during this initial stage of group building, shy members are unable to give their ideas. e) Activities being allocated. During the norming stage of group development, activities are being allocated. The team members have already known each other as well as their strengths and weaknesses during the forming and storming stage. During this stage, the team members are able to discuss on the activities with acceptance, cohesiveness and teamwork, so that desired results are achieved in the next stage. Answer 7 Management by objective or management by results can be described as setting objectives within a firm so that the employees and management accept the objectives and are aware of their roles and responsibilities in order to achieve the objectives of the organization (Dahlsten, Styhre and Williander 530-540). In these methods, the performances of the employees are compared with the standard performance. The goal of MBO is that if the employees set goals and objectives by themselves, it will be much easier for the organization to achieve the target. In the current situation, the managing director of the Griswold cutlery Company wants to intro MBO as their strategy. Previous owner of the company was autocratic in nature and always exerted power and rule. The employees were expected to follow the rules and regulation without any disagreement and strict monitoring was followed so that no rules are changed. In such a situation, introducing MBO will be a difficult task, as the employees are conditioned to follow the supervisor‘s rule and have been refrained from taking any decisions of their own. However, the managing director can change this perception by generating confidence among the employees. With the help of frequent communication and coordination practices such as reviews and feedbacks, the company can engage employees into decision making processes. By ensuring that the objectives of the employees are linked to the objectives of the organization, the managing director can successfully introduce MBO in the organization. Works cited “About.” Leeds. University of Leeds, 2013. Web. 26 July 2013. Akan, Obasi Haki. “The role of concrescent conversation in the performing stage of work groups”, Team Performance Management 11.1 (2005): 51 – 62. Print. Beri, G.C. Marketing research. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2000. Print. Bonnema, Joanne. “Information and source preferences of a student market in higher education.” International Journal of Educational Management 22.4 (2008): 314-327. Print. Croft, M. J. Market Segmentation: A Step-By-Step Guide to Profitable New Business. London: Routledge, 2000. Print. Dahlsten, Fredrik, Alexander Styhre and Mats Williander. “The unintended consequences of management by objectives: the volume growth target at Volvo Cars”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal 26.7 (2005): 529 – 541. Print. Enders, Jurgen. “Higher education, internationalisation, and the nation-state: Recent developments and challenges to governance theory.” Higher Education 47.3 (2004): 361-82. Print. Hakala, Ulla, and Zsuzsanna Vincze. “Consumer-based brand equity and top-of-mind awareness: a cross-country analysis.” Journal of Product & Brand Management 21.6 (2012): 439 – 451. Print. Hofstede, Geert. Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations across Nations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2001. Print. “Internationalisation Strategy.” Leeds. University of Leeds, 2013. Web. 26 July 2013. Ito, Jack K and Celeste M. Brotheridge. “Do teams grow up one stage at a time: Exploring the complexity of group development models”, Team Performance Management 14.5 (2008): 214 – 232. Print. Kalla, Hanna. “Integrated internal communications: a multidisciplinary perspective.” Corporate Communications: An International Journal 10.4 (2005): 302 – 314. Print. Kaynak, Erdener, Orsay Kucukemiroglu and Ali Kanso. “Creating Effective Advertising Strategies in Developing Markets”, International Journal of Commerce and Management 6.3 (1996): 105 – 132. Print. “Operations and Activities.” Leeds. University of Leeds, 2013. Web. 26 July 2013. Teichler, Ulrich. “The changing debate on internationalisation of higher education.” Higher Education 48.1 (2004): 5-26. Print. Read More