The Apollo Group Case Study Analysis - Essay Example

Running head: The Apollo Group Case Study AnalysisThe Apollo Group Case Study AnalysisSWOT Analysis StrengthsAbility to offer a wide range of courses Low fees on online educationAbility to adopt different marketing and education strategiesHigh profitabilitybrand name fit for e-learning marketingRich stock price earningsWeaknessesUnable to cope with technological advancesThe university maintains a sophisticated virtual college platformThe university has not expanded its traditional classroom education to cope with growing demandOpportunitiesGrowth potential due to huge untapped adult education marketUntapped e-learning market in developing countriesAbility to introduce the brand to the market before competitors ThreatsPotential high student dropoutStudent retention problem due to competitionProhibitive federal lawsGovernment interference through barring federal students’ loansIntroduction The Apollo group University of Phoenix Company has been considered in the Wall Street as one of the top performing companies in the education sector, evident through their rich stock price earnings.

The Phoenix group company focused its business on online education, which is viewed to have huge growth potential, both in the local and international market. The virtual University of Phoenix can be basically referred as the largest virtual university that seeks to make profits and is capable of providing quality education for working adults. It offers a wide range of courses from undergraduate degree to MBA and management doctorate. Synopsis of the SituationThe University of Phoenix Company has grown over time as a for-profit university.

The university has the adult working population being its main target other than the high school leavers who enroll in the traditional classroom educations. In addition, the University seeks to give affordable and quality online education to the adult population who are reachable through intensive marketing strategies of recruiters. However, their marketing strategies are against the federal laws and therefore, the university has to adopt different marketing and education strategies to maintain profitability.

Key Issue The key issues that face the University of Phoenix include technological advancement and traditional college expansion weakness. The University of Phoenix needs to upgrade its technology for quality and effective e-learning among its students. Technology would mean that the company must incur extra costs that are potentially huge, and thus may affect its profitability. The sophisticated virtual college platform has a negative potential on the profitability of the company, since its total cost will increase while revenue remains constant.

Moreover, the need for expansion of the traditional classroom education will also imply that the university will have to incur extra classroom setup costs.Problem DefinitionOnline learning faces the challenge of massive student dropouts and lack of quality in the online education sector. The company has therefore undertaken to provide quality instructor contact with a small number of students per instructor. The company also faces the problem of retaining students and changing its marketing strategies to be consistent with the federal law.

Primarily, federal law prohibits the marketing strategy of the University of Phoenix, where high pressure recruitment strategies were against the federal regulations. Moreover, the university faces threats of government interference through barring federal students’ loans, which may be a major blow to student’s enrolment financial capability.Alternative Solutions In a bid to increase its profitability, the company capitalized on its huge market opportunities by lowering tuition fee charges on online education.

This has significantly attracted student population as compared to other online institutions. Therefore, e-learning has a huge growth potential, since there are many working adults who have not acquired a degree in the local and international market. Untapped e-learning market lies in the developing countries where college-age student population is growing fast. Markets such as the military personnel are best fit for the e-learning due to the frequent transfers from one base to another. Nevertheless, the Phoenix has a brand name fit for e-learning marketing, unlike its competitors such as the Amazon who face the challenge of rebranding their names to fit into the e-learning paradigms shift (Robinson, p4).

Selected solutionIn its endeavor to be the most attractive university, while still maintaining profitability, the University of Phoenix will mainly implement its strategy of low tuition fees. This will be the solution to the defined problem of retaining students. Indeed, provision of quality education at an affordable cost will be more attractive to both current and potential students.ImplementationThe Apollo group University of Phoenix has undertaken the implementation of the marketing and student retention strategies.

However, the implementation of administrative strategies takes longer periods to establish.Recommendations The recommendation based on the University of Phoenix expansion of the traditional classroom education is not advisable for high school students. High school students and undergraduate students aged between nineteen and twenty-four years, who enroll on online learning, may miss out on the benefits of the traditional school experience.ConclusionThe company faces low cost advantage alongside the strength of higher learning students who are more confident with U.

S based online education other than institutions based in other countries, which are less trusted. The use of pedagogical innovation with the use of FlexNet enables students to choose between three options of receiving instructions and interacting with their instructors. Their emphasis on employers input to class issues and designing of curriculum relevant employment operations has made the company more successful.ReferencesRobinson Richard B. The Apollo Group, Inc. University of Phoenix. N.d.

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