Trump University Analysis - Research Paper Example

? TEAM MNC Analysis Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Section Executive Summary 3 Section 2 3 Section 3: PEST Environment 5 Section 5: Mission/Vision 8 Section 6: Code of Business Conduct 8 Section 7: Management Style 9 Works Cited 11 Name of the Student: Name of the Professor: Course Number: Date: Section 1: Executive Summary Key concern for the research paper is to shed light on contingent situation being faced by Trump Entrepreneurial Initiative and The Trump Organization due to occurrence of recent wrong events such as being sued by New York's attorney general for customer complaints regarding phony activities of "Trump University". Due to occurrence of such negative events, the reputation and image of Trump Entrepreneurial Initiative has been maligned up to significant extent (Smythe, “Trump Institute Accused of Fraud by N.Y. Attorney General”). In such context, objective of this paper is to analyze strategic choices being available for Donald Trump to make sure that Trump Entrepreneurial Initiative continues as a sustainable, profitable business and improve current tarnished reputation. Throughout the paper, the researcher has analyzed both internal and external environment for the company in order to address the problem in comprehensive manner. Section 2 A. Background about TEI and History of the Firm Trump University is part of Trump Entrepreneurial Initiative which is basically an entrepreneurial venture of The Trump Organization. The Trump Organization is a real estate giant which develops residential towers, resorts, office structures, hotels, golf courses and of high-end real estate across the globe. The company is headquartered at Trump Tower, New York City and the real estate giant was established by Donald Trump in 1980. The company is being managed by Trump family while Donald Trump acts as its CEO. Product and business matrix of The Trump Organization includes real estate development, sales and marketing of real estate, property management, developing high street luxury hotels, residential, commercial places, golf courses etc. At present the company is working on 70 real estate projects across the globe (The Trump Organization, “Written evidence - The Trump Organisation - Scottish Parliament”). Till now, The Trump Organization has mainly focused on developing business in context USA cities like New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Manhattan etc. However, recently the company has started investing in developing real estate projects across globe like Turkey, Panama, Mexico, Scotland and some middle-east countries (The Trump Organization, “Written evidence - The Trump Organisation - Scottish Parliament”). B. Current problem for TEI Trump University or better known as Trump Entrepreneur Initiative was one of the latest entrepreneurial venture of Donald Trump and his organization (Smythe, “Trump Institute Accused of Fraud by N.Y. Attorney General”). Trump Entrepreneur Initiative is unlicensed online educational institute which claims to offer courses and seminars to students for real estate management, investing expertise in real estate business. Students need to pay almost US $35,000 to avail the courses from Trump University but recently students have accused the Trump University for fraudulent activities like designing useless seminars for students, lack of expertise of teachers, false promises for apprenticeships for students (Smythe, “Trump Institute Accused of Fraud by N.Y. Attorney General”). As a result, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued Trump Entrepreneur Initiative sued Donald Trump for $40 million for running fraudulent educational institutes. (Source: Author’s Creation) Section 3: PEST Environment As part of globalization, The Trump Organization has expanded its business in Turkey while its Trump Entrepreneurial Initiative (TEI) is facing legal hurdles in New York, USA. In such context, brief PEST analysis can be done in order to understand the business context of TEI. Political In New York, stable political environment would help TEI to develop future business plans in less uncertain manner while government’s strong focus on curbing down unemployment rate, increase educational standards, intervention of New York Attorney Generals in educational matters, strict adherence to local laws might increase problem for TEI if they run the university in unlicensed and fraudulent manner (The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, “Forms and instructions”). In case of Turkey, hostile political environment would create problem for The Trump Organization to expand business in sustainable manner. Economic Although, almost 1% growth has been observed in job creation in private sector of New York but the city is still grappling with high unemployment rate, low GDP output and rising inflation rate (Rampell, “United States’ 2nd-Quarter Growth Is Revised Up to 2.5%, From 1.7%”). In such situation, TEI should try to use rising unemployment rate as business opportunity to attract youth by giving them fake apprenticeship promises rather they should help government NY government to address the unemployment challenges. The Trump Organization only focuses on real estate business in Turkey and the company is also facing economic challenges to set the right price for offerings. Social New York is one of the business hub and many young people come to the city from outside and live with friends and partners in small apartments. Young people are also looking for short term online business courses which can make them eligible for private sector jobs. In such context, TEI has the business opportunity to attract young people and unemployed population to join the course by integrating authentic and credible course contents. In case of Turkey, The Trump Organization has successfully adopted the Muslim culture and conservative life style of people in designed real estate properties. Technological Almost 90% of New Yorkers use internets while government spends billions of dollars in order to increase technological infrastructure and facilities for customers. Even local universities and colleges spend huge amount of capital in order to improve technological facilities for students to search jobs or easily access course materials (Clarke, “New York Plans $45 Billion Fab Campus”). In such context, TEI has the business opportunity to use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, web advertisements to promote their online course to internet users. In case of Turkey, level of technology adaptation in the field of real estate property development is also high which helps The Trump Organization to decrease cost of operation. Section 4: Competitive Environment Trump Entrepreneurial Initiative (TEI) is unlicensed online educational institute which claims to offer courses and seminars to students for real estate management, investing expertise in real estate business; therefore, major competitor for the course is New York Real Estate Institute, American Real Estate Institute and Kaplan Real Estate Education which offer licensed real estate courses. Apart from these three competitors, there are more than 10 institutes which offer online real estate course and degree program to students. Competitors are located ion variety of locations in New York such as Lexington Avenue, Flushing, and Brooklyn etc (Department of State, “Real Estate Appraiser Qualifying Schools / Courses”). Most of the competitors offer same types of services and courses regarding mortgage, fraud analysis, investment management, real estate appraiser certification, real estate broker certification etc while target customer base for these players would be around 0.5 to 0.15 million (considering the unemployment rate in New York City). Yes, these competitors viable alternatives for customers because they provide licensed real estate certification as against unlicensed course offering of TEI. Section 5: Mission/Vision Mission and vision statement of The Trump Organization is to become global real estate brand which offers unparalleled and premium class real estate portfolio to customers (The Trump Organization, “Written evidence - The Trump Organisation - Scottish Parliament”). It is evident from the statement that objective of the company is to achieve global competitive advantage by providing premium class real estate products to customers. Section 6: Code of Business Conduct Code of Business Conducts for The Trump Organization include doing operational task with honesty and integrity, avoiding conflict of interest, not accepting bribery, not harassing customers and not prioritizing personal interest over company interest etc (Trump Entertainment Resorts, “Code of Ethics for Principal Officers and Directors Trump Entertainment Resorts, inc. And Subsidiaries”). Section 7: Management Style Family centered management style is being used by Trump family to manage TEI which is basically subsidiary of The Trump Organization. However, TEI is not being directly managed by Donald Trump rather his children such as Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump manage the operational activities of TEI. Although, TEI claims that Donald Trump personally selected the course content and instructors which is just eyewash to attract students (Smythe, “Trump Institute Accused of Fraud by N.Y. Attorney General”). Section 8: Management Plan In such tumultuous situation, Mr. Trump should go for organizational change dynamics by restricting the organizational structure, implementation of commonly accepted ethical codes, deploying creative course content, and decreasing price of the course in order to make sure Trump Entrepreneurial Initiative continues as a sustainable, profitable business including managing its current tarnished reputation. First of all, Mr. Trump should develop code ethics for TEI which would cease the scope for making fake promises to students. Then, Donald Trump should personally design a creative real estate courses which can help students to get jobs and recruit qualified professors to teach students. In such context, Mr. Trump should adopt transformational leadership style to communicate the urgency to all internal stakeholders of TEI and train the human resources by experienced real estate individuals and motivate TEI associates by empowering and financial incentives. As part of social responsibility and ethics, Donald Trump should express public apology for malpractices and fraudulent activities of Trump Entrepreneurial Initiative (TEI). It is evident from PEST analysis, that TEI has the scope to expand business in New York by using social media marketing hence in future context, TEI can bank on web 2.0 technology to garner its business growth. Consideration of PEST analysis of New York reveals the fact government has started taking strict legal action to prevent educational frauds hence by above mentioned ethical recommendations; TEI can avoid further legal penalties. Works Cited Clarke, Peter. “New York Plans $45 Billion Fab Campus.” EE Times. UBM Tech, Sep 9, 2013. Web.18 December 2013. Department of State. “Real Estate Appraiser Qualifying Schools / Courses.” Department of State. Department of State, Division of Licensing Services, 2013. Web.18 December 2013. Rampell, Catherine. “United States’ 2nd-Quarter Growth Is Revised Up to 2.5%, From 1.7%.” NY Times. The New York Times Company, Aug 29, 2013. Web.18 December 2013. Smythe , Christie . “Trump Institute Accused of Fraud by N.Y. Attorney General.” Bloomberg. Bloomberg L.P, Aug 25, 2013. Web.18 December 2013. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. “Forms and instructions.” Tax. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, 2013. Web.18 December 2013. The Trump Organization. “Written evidence - The Trump Organisation - Scottish Parliament.” Scottish.Parliament. Scottish.Parliament, April 17, 2012. PDF file. Web.18 December 2013. Trump Entertainment Resorts. “Code of Ethics for Principal Officers and Directors Trump Entertainment Resorts, inc. And Subsidiaries.” Corporate-IR. Trump Entertainment Resorts, 2007. Web.18 December 2013. Read More