Langston University In Oklahoma - Business Plan Example

MARKETING/RECRUITING BUSINESS PLAN: LANGSTON IN OKLAHOMA of Executive Summary The studyis based on the development of a marketing/recruiting plan for Langston University based in Oklahoma, USA. Langston University is one of the most renowned firms of the educational sector of Oklahoma. Mainly known as a college for promoting the knowledge and skills of African-American students, Langston University has established itself firmly in the concerned market place. In order to design the marketing plan for the organisation, a situational analysis was performed for assessing the current conditions of the market and the organisation. It was noted that the primary strengths of Langston University were based on its diverse cultural base and widespread service structure. The extracurricular activities performed within the college were also of great importance to the students in designing their career path. The negative aspect was the internal environment of the University which was considered as violent and aggressive in comparison to its competitors. The primary competitors of Langston University were Oklahoma Christian University and Oklahoma State University. Both these firms are public universities like Langston and posses similar characteristics. Moving to the designing of the marketing objectives and market planning process, the objective for Langston University was to increase the number of student enrolment by 50 students per semester for the next five years. The segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies were designed mainly on the basis of the core strengths of Langston University. The tactical planning process included the marketing mix which reflected the specific requirements for pursuing the marketing planning process of the University. Based on this tactical planning process, the budget for the 1st year has been prepared. The budgeting of the following four years will be designed based on the performance of the marketing plan. Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Situation Analysis: 4 Market Analysis, Strategies and Goals 8 Tactical Plans 11 Financial Plan 12 Conclusion 13 Reference 14 Introduction The business environment is becoming more challenging day by day and the pressure on the business firms to evolve is growing simultaneously. As the market structure and behaviour is changing, Baker (2007) observed that business firms are focusing on the development of their marketing activities in a manner which can help them gather and understand customer needs and expectations. Drummond, Ensor & Ashford (2012) added that marketing processes in the contemporary scenario is focused on building customer relationships and leverage them for enhancing the brand image and brand equity of a company. Business organisations are applying various marketing strategies and models for assessing the brand awareness among their target customers. Wilson & McDonald (2011) noted that changes in the business environment have also induced alternations in the marketing requirements of the business houses. Most of the firms try to design their marketing for building customer relationships, whereas, previously the marketing processes were mostly designed for increasing customer awareness about the service and products of a company. These changes have also amplified the number of variables that are being included in the marketing planning processes of organisations all over the world. However, the primary objective of marketing is to derive a competitive advantage for the business which remains similar for all the firms operating in the existing market conditions. On the other hand, the growth of challenges has also pushed the bar for measuring the performance and productivity level of organisations. Beamish & Ashford (2012) noted that the internal functions of a company are being realigned with the market demands and the nature of the services and products expected by the customers, so that a sustainable business functional process can be developed. Wilson & McDonald (2011) stated that one of the major changes in the internal functions is the inclusion of operational and human resource activities within the strategic framework of a company. Most of the businesses are trying to ensure that their employee base is well trained, engaged and committed towards the organisational objectives. The human resource management functions have experienced drastic changes in context of the aspects included in their functions. For instance, the recruitment process of a firm is now performed with the view of selecting employees not only on the basis of their existing knowledge and skills but other factors such as potential growth and work culture compatibility are also considered in the process. Moreover, the financial implications of every activity are measured in terms of revenue contribution and hence the HR managers have to ensure that their responsibilities are causative towards the organisational objectives. Considering these discussions and statement, the report will be framed for Langston University of Oklahoma for designing a marketing and recruitment plan for the University. The report will include all the necessary factors such as market and industry analysis, financial analysis and the role of the company in order to perform the tasks. Situation Analysis: In the words of Grönroos (2010), situation analysis is the process of evaluating the internal and external abilities of the company in context of understanding their consumers and business environment. A situation analysis is mainly performed by considering 5 key variables that influence the planning and performance of an organisation. These five variables are customer, company, context, collaborators and competitors. The following section of the study will include a complete situational analysis of Langston University of Oklahoma. Customers: The customer base of Langston University is mainly formed of students. The University provides educational services beginning from Graduation to that of Master’s or Post Graduate programs. The student base of the institutions is mostly formed of African-American population, as the institution was established as a black education centre and still is one of the most historically renowned imitations for supporting and contributing towards black people education (Langston.edu, 2015). With variety of courses and programs within their academic structure, Langston has developed a widespread product base which attracts their customers from various regions of the world. Based on the structure of the education industry, it was found that most of the firms had tried to diversify their product base which has worked positively for the customers. The number of options available for pursuing the right career has increased for the student base. However, it was noted that the brand value of the educational institutions is a major factor for selecting the organisations by the students. In this context, Langston University is one of the most renowned colleges of America and have also expanded their existence to Tulsa and OKC (Langston.edu, 2015). Another crucial factor for Langston is their historical image which reflects their target customers to be only black students. Being one of the most successful universities for the African-American students, Langston has gained a steady inflow of black students in their customer base providing stability to the organisation. Thus, it can be noted that customer base is not an issue for the selected firm and despite the tough competition; a focused target customer group has helped Langston to overcome the market competition. However, if the customer diversification strategy is considered where Langston is trying to develop a culturally diverse customer base by inviting students from all cultures and ethnic backgrounds, the performance of the company is yet to be developed. Company: Founded in the year 1897, Langston University is one of the most historically proclaimed and contemporarily established educations intuitions in the United States of America. The school was originally known as Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University (Langston.edu, 2015). According to American School Search (2015), the Langston University was established mainly because of the Morrill Act which reburied every state to provide facilities for the African-American students. The University has been named after John Mercer Langston who also founded the Howard University (Langston.edu, 2015). However, the institution has faced many challenges that include political influences, financial challenges and monetary shortage but have successfully overcome these barriers to position themselves as one of the top educational organisations of America. The company’s present student base is of around 4000, spread across their diverse educational platforms (Langston.edu, 2015). The most renowned education segment of Langston is their agricultural studies which have been maintained with the international standards. The University also promotes extracurricular activities for the students in fields such as sports, entertainment, etc. The sports team of University is nicknamed as Lions and are also part of National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) (Langston.edu, 2015). The football team of the University is also an active participant of Central States Football League (CSFL) (Langston.edu, 2015). Focussing on the administrative structure of the company, there are 16 members in total who manage the strategic and daily operations. This committee includes the internationally proclaimed faculties as well as student heads. Climate/Context: In context of the internal environment of Langston, the University has earned a bad reputation mainly because of their inability to hand violent clashes between students groups. According to the report of American School Search, Langston University has received the lowest spot on a survey of 10 colleges in terms of safety of the students and faculty members. The research also displayed that most of the violent activities are cases of aggravated assaults and burglary. Within the year 2011-2013, there have been 38 cases of aggravated assaults and 16 cases of burglary in Langston University (American School Search, 2015). In context of the educational structure of the University, Langston has been termed as one of the most productive and diverse accumulation of talents. They have continuously directed their students towards self improvement which has helped the students to learn not only for their professional development but also for personal growth of characters. The motto of the University is “Find the Lion in You” which urges the students towards self development and self actualisation while building their knowledge base and skill sets (Langston.edu, 2015). Langston has also reflected a steady growth of the students towards their desired courses and thus has designed a special course segment which includes studies of Physical Therapy, Education and Behaviour, etc (Langston.edu, 2015). It can be observed that although Langston provides a productive educational framework to its students, the internal safety of the stakeholders is an issue to be addressed. Collaborators: The aspect of collaborators includes the business partners which forms the business network of a company. Langston University is primarily a public organisation which makes the State Government of Oklahoma a natural contributor towards the growth and development of the institution. Apart from this, the operational activities of the firm is also monitored by the educational authorities of the state who ensure that the service delivery process of the institution is directed towards the benefits of the students and the educational sector alike. One of the most focused factors associated with the collaboration process of Langston is that they consider the business network development by including educational as well as extracurricular activities of the business process. Langston University is also a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The role of external collaborators in the formation of brand image of the University has been extensive. Langston has been accredited with numerous character reflections in Hollywood (Peterson, 2006). This shows the ability of the organisation to utilise their diverse service structure for enhancing business relationships. The sports segment of the University has contributed most valuably towards the formation of their external relationships. With participations in events such as NAIA and RRAC, CSFL, etc. the sports segment of the college has formed formidable brand awareness for the University in the external market (Peterson, 2006). Competitors: Competition in American education sector is rapidly increasing because of the inflow of large number of students from various geographical regions of the world. In respect to the position of Langston, the University has established its brand image largely on basis of their support for African-American students. With high ranks and regular performance in the national standards competition, Langston is one of the most developed educational institutions in its sector. However, the major competition for the organisation comes from the private colleges and institutions. As Langston is a public based organisation, the funding of the University is dependent on state government and other scholarship institutes which reduce ability of Langston to compete in the market by reflecting their market compatibility. On the other hand, Langston has managed to hold onto its talented employee base with the help of attractive compensation packages. Figure 1: Ranking of Top Oklahoma Colleges in terms of Compensation (Source: American School Search, 2015) From the above given figure, the position of Langston in the domestic market place can be gathered with striking compensation and employee benefit packages, the University is trying to reflect its financial sustainability. However, in terms of marketing activities such as promotion and brand building, Langston has to rely on their sponsors and other fund providing institutions for their business development process. Focusing on the nature of the industry competition, Langston’s brand value is mostly restricted to the domestic market and the national and international educational segments are yet to be explored. This can be a potential setback for the institutions in the future based on the rapid increase in the number of international customers and service providers. Market Analysis, Strategies and Goals The nature of education sector is changing along with the changes in process and the interfaces used for education. Most of the countries have tried to implement an overall virtual structure for enhancing the reach of their educational sectors in the business growth and development of the international market place. As a result, the concentration on the marketing activities of the firms has boosted in the existing scenario. In this segment, the marketing process for Langston University will be developed for recruiting non-traditional adult students in the University at a static rate of 50 per semester. Figure 1: Graph showing increase in the number of Non-Traditional Students in Langston University (Source: Created by Author) The above given graph has been formed considering the gradual increase in the number of non-traditional adult students at the rate of 50 students per semester. In order to develop the marketing plan for Langston University, first step to be taken is to develop and understand the objectives and designate the appropriate strategies for the process. As suggested above, the tactical level goal established for the marketing plan is to increase the number of non-traditional adult students by 50 in each semester for the next five years. The marketing strategy to be developed in respect of the objective will be framed in two stages, namely corporate level strategy and business level strategy (Peterson, 2006). The corporate level strategy of the company will try to utilise this goal and the actual performance of Langston University for sustainable growth of the institution, whereas, the business level strategy will directly focus on fulfilment of the above mentioned objective. Segmentation In the words of Mullins & Walker (2012), understanding the customer base available for the products and services of a company is essential in order to further develop the scope of operations in the market. Drummond & Kimmel (2008) noted that the business houses in the contemporary scenario engage in their decision making processes based on the data collected from the market, which needs the guarantee for the legitimacy and soundness of the information. Segmentation of the customer base allows a company to identify the group of customers appropriate for the concerned service and product base. In case of Langston, the segmentation of the customer base will be performed with the help of the courses offered and the vacancy in each level of educational stage. In order to segment the customer base for Langston, the existing service base and their core products will be considered. Langston is mostly renowned for their major courses among which the top rated subjects are agriculture, biology, business and communication and journalism (American School Search, 2015). Thus, the primary segmentation of the student base will be on the basis of these subjects. The next aspects will be available vacancy and the capacity of individual departments to provide service to more students. It can be noted that, the FT Freshman segments of Langston had the lowest number of student admissions in the spring semester of 2014. Another criterion for segmentation of the customer base will be the age group. Most of the non-traditional students with a desire to continue their educational process are within the age group of 25-30. However, other aspects such as the present financial conditions of the students and their ability to attend classes are also major factors in considering their full time recruitment in Langston University. Targeting According to Bates (2009), targeting strategy of a company reflects the customer or customer groups to whom the company wishes to cater their products and service base. The targeting process is utilised for gaining a definite direction in the marketing as well as the service build-up process of a firm (Drummond & Kimmel, 2008). The process of targeting of the customers will be mostly performed with the help of the personalised network of the institution. The targeting strategy will be formed in relation to the segmentation of the customer base. The initial target consumers for Langston University will be the African- American non-traditional adult students in the domestic markets of the USA. One crucial factor regarding the target audience is that most of the African-American adults above the age of 23 are engaged in fulltime working processes which make it difficult to attract them towards education. Thus, the recruitment process of non-traditional adult students of Langston University should develop some additional benefits for the students such as flexible timings for attending classes, etc. The targeting process will be performed in a multi-segmented manner which will allow Langston to cover larger market place and also include abroad students within the capacity of their marketing plan. Brodie, Coviello & Winklhofer (2008) mentioned that targeting processes of a firm is the primary factor segmenting the markets and the responses of the customers towards the marketing activities of the firm in various markets. Positioning: King, Reid & Macias (2009) noted that positioning strategy is often confused with product positioning, however, positioning actually focuses on the brand and the customer perception. The process of developing the customer perception towards a brand is based on the experiences of the customers in regards to the usage of the service structure of the business. Mullins & Walker (2012) added that brand perception can be built effectively by communicating with the customer groups and reflecting the benefits of the products and services of a company. In context of Langston, the existing brand position of the institution is based on their traditional image of being a college for the black people. This will help them in gaining the acceptance of the African-American students looking for educational opportunities in the domestic as well as the international market. The positioning strategy for Langston will also be used in order to differentiate them from other competitors existing in the market. Competitors such as Oklahoma Christian University and Oklahoma State University have established their brand position in respect to their widespread product base (Peterson, 2006). Thus, Langston can utilise their extracurricular actuates which increases the scope of success for students in the competitive job environment and develop a favourable brand perception for the customers. Tactical Plans The tactical plans for Langston University will mainly relate to their marketing process and the individual goals for each marketing function which needs to be aligned with the business objective. In context of corporate level strategy, the primary aim of the marketing strategy will be to establish a sustainable brand position in the customer perception and also generate high brand equity for the concerned organisation. On the other hand, the business level strategy will focus on the more specific aspects of the objective such as the pricing, the placement, promotion and the product base of Langston University. The tactical plans will be set up with the help of a marketing mix analysis: Product: The first aspect for attracting students to the Langston University will be their existing and potential service structure and the courses being offered to the students for their career development. It has been noted earlier that majors are the most renowned education courses of Langston with ratings as high as 4.5 stars from American Search School (Bates, 2009). The product base of the company will thus reflect the majors which are in demand in the job segment and offer high growth opportunities for the students. This will help the company to create a halo effect on the students and mould their decision in their favour. Apart from the academic courses, Langston University is also popular for their extracurricular activities in entertainment as well as sports segment. These will also act in favour of the University for designing their service structure. In order to generate a positive buzz in the market, Langston University will have to reflect the full width of their service structure to their potential student base. Place: Langston University is situated in three major hubs of Oklahoma namely, Langston OKC, Langston Tulsa and Langston. All these subsidiaries of Langston University are situated in central locations of the state and have developed market places which allow the students to get a real-life understanding of the work process and can be considered as an added advantage for the business. Also, three different locations provide the students with the option of selecting their preferred centre of education. The place aspect of the marketing mix also portrays the ability of a firm to spread its services across various geographical locations. Apart from this, the attraction provided by the state of Oklahoma will also be beneficial for Langston in gathering more students. Oklahoma reflects a diverse landscape which includes mountains, plains and forests and has immense natural beauty. Langston needs to utilise these factors within their marketing process for increasing the probability of fulfilling their objective. Price: The price of the courses will be the foremost factor in the customer decision making. The pricing of the courses and modules of Langston is mostly decided by the state which can be a barrier for the company in terms of handling their revenue structures and providing monetary benefits to the students. As noted above, the compensation structure of Langston University is on the higher side which also urges the institution to design their courses with a premium pricing strategy. Lowering the price for attracting new customers is also not a favourable option as the price reflects the quality of services being provided by Langston University. In relation to the target customers of Langston University, majority of the African-American population residing in the state of Oklahoma are categorised within the middle level income group (Peterson, 2006). Thus, Langston can opt for introducing discounting policy for managing the price competition in the market place. The discounting policy of Langston University will be provided in various segments to keep the students attracted towards enrolment in the incaution. Promotion: The promotional processes of Langston University are mostly designed with the help of their website and the traditional promotional techniques such as television ads, leaflets and newspaper ads. The use of traditional promotional techniques allows the company to enhance the reach of the promotional processes and also create brand awareness at a larger scale. However, in order to promote their organisation for a specific target customer, social media marketing can be suggested. The social media marketing processes also helps in developing a direct communication channel with their target customers and is an open platform for organisation-customer relationship build-up. Social media marketing processes will also allow Langston University to spread their brand across geographical boundaries and into the international education segment. Apart from this, the public relations process of Langston is strong and will be utilised for further extension of the promotional activities of the firm. The inclusion of kiosks and banners is also another traditional method that can be implemented by the concerned firm in order to boost up their promotional strategies. Financial Plan Activities Duration     1st year Personnel 1st month 2nd month 3rd month 4th month 5th month 6th month 7th month 8th month 9th month 10th month 11th month 12th month Total Expense ($) Salary and Wages 14000 14000 14000 14000 16000 16000 16000 16000 18000 18000 18000 18000 192000 Benefits 600 600 600 600 800 800 800 800 1000 1000 1000 1000 9600 Bonuses and Incentives 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 250 250 250 250 1400 Recruitment 1200 1200 1200 1200 1500 1500 1500 1500 1800 1800 1800 1800 18000 Travel 1500 1500 1500 1500 1750 1750 1750 1750 2000 2000 2000 2000 21000 Group Total 17300 17300 17300 17300 20150 20150 20150 20150 23050 23050 23050 23050 242000 Offline Marketing     Public Relations 3000 3000 3000 3000 3750 3750 3750 3750 4000 4000 4000 4000 43000 Print Advertising 800 800 800 800 1000 1000 1000 1000 1200 1200 1200 1200 12000 Events 2500 2500 2500 2500 3000 3000 3000 3000 3500 3500 3500 3500 36000 Telemarketing 450 450 450 450 550 550 550 550 650 650 650 650 6600 Group Total 6750 6750 6750 6750 8300 8300 8300 8300 9350 9350 9350 9350 97600 Online Marketing     Website Development 300 300 300 300 350 350 350 350 400 400 400 400 4200 SEO and SMO 500 500 500 500 600 600 600 600 800 800 800 800 7600 Pay Per Click 400 400 400 400 500 500 500 500 600 600 600 600 6000 E-Mail Marketing 150 150 150 150 175 175 175 175 200 200 200 200 2100 Web Advertisements 400 400 400 400 600 600 600 600 800 800 800 800 7200 Group Total 1750 1750 1750 1750 2225 2225 2225 2225 2800 2800 2800 2800 27100 Total 25800 25800 25800 25800 30675 30675 30675 30675 35200 35200 35200 35200 366700 The above given budget has been framed for the first year of the marketing process of Langston University, in respect to their set objective of increasing the number of students each semester. It can be seen that the budget has been divided into three segments namely, personnel expenses, online and offline marketing expenses. The expense for each of the activities included in the planning process has been set out in a monthly basis. The total budget required for the marketing planning in the first year has been estimated to be $366700. The budgets for the next four years of the plan will be constructed on the basis of the 1st year performance of the company. Conclusion The development of marketing plan includes thorough analysis of the marketing condition as well as the organisational systems in order to design the objectives in relation to the capability of the company. The study of Langston University reflected a steady flow of activities designed in accordance with the objective set i.e. to increase the number of students enrolled by 50 for each semester for the next 5 years. The situational analysis of the University revealed the existing position of the firm in relation to their market conditions, competitors, customers, collaborators and the organisational status. This helped in forming the market analysis process and the segmentation, targeting and positioning activities were performed for the company. The tactical planning process focused on the business level strategy and identified the specific requirements for realisation of the objective. The budget of the marketing plan has included all the possible aspects which can be required during the 1st year of the marketing plan. Following the given marketing plan for recruitment, Langston University can achieve their set organisational objective. Reference American School Search (2015) Langston University. Retrieved from: http://www.american-school-search.com/majors/langston-university Baker, M. (2007) Marketing strategy and management. 6th ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Bates, T. (2009) Analysis of Survival Rates among Franchise and Independent Small Business Startups’, Journal of Small Business Management 33(2), 26–36. Beamish, K. & Ashford, R. (2012) CIM Course book 07/08 Marketing Planning. 3rd ed. New York: Free Press. Brodie, R. J., Coviello, N. E. & Winklhofer, H. (2008) Contemporary Marketing Practices research program: a review of the first decade. The Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 23(2), 84-94. Drummond, G. & Kimmel, A. (2008) Marketing communication: new approaches, technologies, and styles. 4th Edition. CIMA: Derby. Drummond, G., Ensor, J. & Ashford, R. (2012) Strategic Marketing: Planning and Control, 4th ed. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Grönroos, C. (2010) The relationship marketing process: communication, interaction, dialogue, value. The Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 19(2), 99-113. King, K. W., Reid, L. N. & Macias, W. (2009) Selecting Media for National Advertising Revisited: Criteria of Importance to Large-Company Advertising Managers. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 26(1), 59-67. Langston.edu (2015) Resources. Retrieved from: http://www.langston.edu/about-us/resources Mullins, J. & Walker, O. (2012) Marketing Management: A Strategic Decision-Making Approach, 8th ed. London: McGraw-Hill Companies Peterson, P.E. (2006) Choice and Competition in American Education. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Wilson, H. & McDonald, M. (2011) Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them. 5th ed. London: Chapman and Hall. Read More