Strategic Marketing Management of Oxford Business College - Assignment Example

Growth Opportunity “Oxford Business College is an independent education and training establishment specialising in a range of higher level business management courses, offering those embarking on their careers an alternative route to a degree, postgraduate or professional qualification.” (Oxford Business College, 2012) OBC is one of the most sought after business schools in the region. The college is situated in the heart of Oxford city and offers career oriented management curriculum for the students. The future marketing potential of OBC can be analysed with the help of Ansoff Matrix. Based on Ansoff Matrix, the following possibilities are analysed for OBC. Market Penetration: Market penetration focuses on selling more of the existing products in the existing markets. The market segment of OBC is undergraduate courses, post graduate courses, executive MBA programs and other career based courses. OBC can penetrate more into this segment by adding the number of seats for each of their courses. Through this, they will be able to increase the headcount of their students. Product Development: Product development is another option for OBC. This consists of introducing new products in the existing markets. OBC currently offers postgraduate courses in Strategic Management, Leadership, Business English Language and General Business Management. Additionally OBC can introduce Post Graduate course in Finance Specialization. Though finance is offered as a specialization option in the general management course, a specialized course like the strategic management and leadership will help OBC to attract new category of students. Market Development: The third option available for OBC is market development. In the market development stage, OBC has the option to sell its existing courses to the new markets. One way to do this is to attract students from overseas either through direct admissions or through overseas study centres. Diversification: Diversification is the next option for the company as per the Ansoff Matrix. This involves venturing entirely into a new product offering. As far as OBC is concerned, the primary offering is management education. Diversification does not seem to be a viable option for OBC as it is specialized only in educational sector. Based on the above analysis it can be said that the possible growth opportunity for OBC are market development and product development. These are the two strategies that can add value to the organization. The best option for market development for OBC is developing countries. Developing countries like India, China, Brazil, etc. are spending more for overseas education in the recent days. This is one opportunity that OBC can utilize. OBC should set up overseas offices in such countries. These offices should operate on the objective of bringing in more students to the university. Alternately, OBC offices can also work with the overseas education consultants in such countries. Market development alone cannot help OBC to withstand competition. It should also improve its product offerings, that is, the courses. The current postgraduate programs offered by OBC are only focused on Strategic Management & Leadership and Business English Language. One area of management that is gaining extreme importance in the current scenario is Finance. OBC should introduce a comprehensive curriculum in Strategic Financial Management to attract more students. Impact of Changing Business Environment Any business is affected by the changes in the external environment in which it operates. “These changes may result in new opportunities for a business. Equally the changes may pose threats to the viability of a business.” (Greene, 2012) An alternative and much narrow analysis of this kind is the PEST Analysis. Refer to Appendix 2 for the STEEPLE Analysis for OBC. The factors that are relevant to OBC are listed in the STEEPLE Analysis table. Social: The social factors such as income levels, lifestyle, living standard and education are the social factors that can have a positive impact on OBC. Recent developments in the economy have shown positive changes in the income levels of the people. This is extremely true in the case of emerging countries. Management education has also become a part of the lifestyle. Therefore, more and more people are looking forward for pursuing a career in management. This throws immense opportunity for OBC. Technological: Technological changes have huge impact on OBC. The major technological changes that impact OBC are IT Changes, Internet Revolution, Research Spending and Inventions. Internet revolution is the major influencing factor. As internet is well flourished, it is easier for the students across the globe to research on the educational institutions of their choice. Moreover, the reviews and rankings of the institutions are also available online. Therefore, it is extremely important for OBC to establish a reputed presence in the web. Also, with the advancement of technology, a business needs more specialized management skills. OBC can utilize this opportunity to introduce specialized courses that can fill the gap in the market. Economical: The economic change mainly consists of Economic Growth, Exchange Rates, Government Policies and Unemployment Rate. It is evident that the World Economy is in a slow movement at present. This will have a negative impact on OBC as the students may settle down for alternative courses. OBC should frame strategies to tackle this by introducing some low cost certification courses. OBC should also market itself in the emerging countries that show better economic growth. Environmental: The environmental factors are least expected to affect OBC’s market. Even if it occurs it will just be a on a temporary basis. Political and Legal: Political factors will have a very high impact on the operation of OBC. The major political factors that can affect OBC are Political Stability and Racial Harmony. Racial Harmony is the most important among them. Recently, some of the educational institutions in UK have shown racial discrimination towards some Asian students. Such events have affected the inflow of Asian Students in UK. OBC can market itself as an educational institution with no discrimination based on ethnicity. Ethical: Ethical factors consist of institution reputation and better practices. The extreme demand for management education has resulted in the budding and establishment of several unrecognized universities and colleges. It has even resulted in a situation where the students find difficult to discriminate between the authentic and non -authentic ones. OBC should thus stay away from false practices in their marketing. Instead, it should focus on providing quality education and placements. Focussing on these two strategies can benefit OBC in the long run. Internal Strength & Weaknesses Strength: The major strength of OBC is that it is located in the well-known city, Oxford. Oxford city is known as University town because it houses the prestigious Oxford University and several other educational institutions. The internal strength of OBC is that all its main programs are awarded by Edexcel. It is also specialized in Strategic Management and Business English Language. Weakness: The major weakness of OBC is that it is not among the premium business schools of the country. Though it attracts students even from foreign countries, it still has to go a long way in terms of building a reputation. The current focus of OBC is just to increase its market presence. This may cast some shadow on the objective of building reputation. Opportunities: The major opportunity for OBC is the increased demand for management courses. MBA degree has become a career choice for people from several backgrounds. Also, people from emerging countries are spending more for pursuing MBA in countries like UK, US and Australia. Therefore, OBC has to take advantage of this opportunity without suppressing quality. Threats: The major threat for OBC is definitely from the competitor institutions. Most such institutions are on aggressive marketing efforts in order to attract the students. In order to withstand this threat, OBC should be focusing on market development and product development. Works cited Oxford Business College, (2012). Introduction. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2012] Greene, J., (2012). What is Steeple Analysis. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2012] QuickMBA, (2012). Ansoff Matrix. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2012] Slideshare, (2012). Steeple Analysis. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2012] Appendix 1. Ansoff Matrix Existing Products New Products Existing Markets Market Penetration Product Development New Markets Market Development Diversification 2. STEEPLE Analysis Social Technological Economical Environmental Political Legal Ethical Income Levels IT Changes Economic Growth Natural Causes Political Stability VISA Regulations Reputation Lifestyle Research Spending Exchange Rates Racial Harmony Better Practices Living Standard Internet Revolution Govt. Policies Education Inventions Unemployment Rate Read More