Situational Analysis for La Trobe University - Case Study Example

La Trope’s Online Master of Management Student Name: Student Number: Course Code: Instructor: 2nd September, 2016 Executive Summary The higher education situation in various countries is shifting from the traditional physical class to various models that can accommodate the changing lifestyles among different people who would like to increase their competence in various areas, thus become upwardly mobile in their careers. It is no longer feasible to accommodate the bulging numbers in a central point like a campus. Even with satellite campuses, there is still a bigger market that may be tapped from other points like online portals. This works pretty well with populations that would like to access information, hence knowledge, remotely from websites while carrying out their work duties. This means that full courses can be delivered well online. La Trobe University is among the many universities that offer this opportunity to those who are interested in gaining knowledge in various fields. However, it has competitors from various countries globally, and may need to up its game in accordance with the competition in the market. Market research among many other strategies are needed to ensure that the current La Trobe online Master of Management succeeds in attracting the right people. 1.0 Introduction The La Trobe University started the online programs, just like many other universities, to maximize on its reach across different markets. Here, the main target is the working class, upwardly mobile professionals who are looking to increase their competence in various fields. However, there are various other universities within Australia which had already begun offering this service to the prospective market that La Trobe University is also angling to get a slice of. Melbourne Business School, Chifley Business School and University of Queensland are just but a few of the universities that already offer a similar if not the same program to the market. In regard to this, it is only befitting that La Trobe University carries out a thorough scrutiny of the market while ensuring that all the respective segments are looked into. To carry out an effective market research, this paper will focus on carrying out a situational analysis that looks into the market. It will also investigate on which market strategies are better when looking to gain from the flaws in strategies of its competitors. While it is important to cast a general projection of financial benefits that may accrue from the venture, this paper may not focus on that, but will give tentative figures where possible. Finally, a number of recommendations will be made towards improving the strategies that are important for La Trobe to achieve its goals as stated in its vision and mission statement. 2.0 Situational Analysis According to Online Study Australia (2016), there are over 10000 foreign students who access Australian Universities online. This number does not touch on the natives of Australia who opt for online courses since these numbers differ according to university intakes. However, a university like Deakin University marks the number of students taking online courses at 12000. This alone may mean that there is a sizeable chunk of the market that is yet to be explored. Be that as it may, there are several approaches that should be embraced in order to make an impact that will draw a great number within a short time and allow La Trobe to break even in good time. Besides Deakin University, University of New England, Edith Cowan University and University of South Queensland are identified as among the top universities that offer online courses. Generally speaking, technological advancements, coupled with a more aware society is responsible for the growth of online courses. In addition, Vioreanu (2016) contends that growing social classes in the upper echelons of financial standing dictate that more people will seek education to ensure they are knowledgeable in different fields. 3.0 SWOT Analysis for La Trobe University The internal environment of a business is very important when angling to carry out a strategy that will see it concurring charted and uncharted territory alike. Be that as it may, La Trobe is looking to venture into a territory that is already charted. Online degrees have been around for some time now, so it is only realistic that La Trobe gets a strategy that works for it. The university has a mission to garner more than just the fair share of available market. With this market, it can offer high quality and unrivaled education to those who are willing to choose it as an option. As a mantra, La Trobe takes its customers, who are mainly students, as the link to their success and only market segment that makes the university successful. La Trobe office of the Vice-Chancellor (2013), clearly states, as its core goal in achieving a higher number of students, increase of student numbers in online learning further from the traditional face-to-face learning. Just like many current technologically advanced institutions, La Trobe University intends to use technological advancements to farther its goal of acquiring a sizeable chunk of the market. While it is now becoming common for every university worth its salt to introduce online course like La Trobe is doing, there needs to be a differentiation strategy that may see La Trobe through the challenges that are common with such endeavors. With such in mind, it is incumbent upon the management team at the university to ensure that the quality of education provided by the university exceeds that of its competitors so that students are highly likely to be placed in prime positions wherever they would like to further their careers at. According to La Trobe University website (2016), it has slightly over three thousand employees, with more than half of these being teaching staff. The remaining are professionals who help in service delivery in the various departments that keep the school running without a hitch. With an asset base standing at over $1b, La Trobe University sure has a sound financial plan that is buttressed by the fact that its liabilities cannot in any way hinder its growth plans. The development of the Judith Lumley Centre is testimony enough that expansion plans are well underway (Governance Office, p. 37, 2015). This is proof enough that an online program for postgraduate students in the manner of Masters in Management is a smaller challenge when it comes to financial capacity to run an online program. It is with such conviction that La Trobe can continue to run its research program to help in advancements in various areas that keep the entity running as a profitable business. While the University owns various campuses across various locations in Australia, its online presence can be felt through http//:www.atrobe.edu.au. with a mission to broaden the participation of diverse people, La Trobe is likely to meet its mission faster than thought through the inclusion of online classes in Master of Management. 4.0 Target Market Segments Traditionally, universities are wont to attract mainly students who have graduated from high school and would like to proceed to a tertiary institution that may set them on their way to creating careers. Students or even working class citizens who would like to further their careers through postgraduate programs may also receive education through programs meant to enhance their competencies from graduate school into their doctorates. There are also other market segments that can be reached, but the two aforementioned are the most common market segments for universities like La Trobe University. Programs like special training workshops modelled for people who work in specific organizations also serve a particular market segment. La Trobe News (2012) reported that La Trobe University offers training programs for students from China’s Sichuan University that is located in Chengdu, effectively making the program accessible to prospective markets in China and the wider Asian region. These particular market segments have been identified by their need to further their skills in order to be better equipped to tackle the challenges in their career and consequent progress in the same. It is prudent to observe that these particular segments observe different cultures since they have different lifestyles. You would not expect that an undergraduate student holds a full time job. Though possible, this is highly unlikely. Similarly, a full time employee who has an undergraduate degree and is pursuing a postgraduate program is likely to register under the part-time or weekend classes so that they can effectively meet the demands of their full-time jobs with those of their class schedules easily. In addition to these factors, it is also important to note that the undergraduate classes naturally have more students since there are more people angling to gain their primary skills in whichever professions they are aiming to start than those who are enhancing their competencies through postgraduate or even other professional courses other than undergraduate programs. As at 2014, student numbers stood at over 36000, with enrollments reaching a high of about 14000 (La Trobe, p. 1, 2016). While these figures are for the general population, it is estimated that the online student fraternity may well be over 3000 at the moment. These are all spread over the courses that are available online at the university. Macro-environments that would work to help the growth of this particular market segment for online courses such as Masters in Management include the growing number of professionals who work under tight schedules and would not find time to frequently visit physical locations such as campuses with the need to fit regular classes into their busy schedules. Their modus operandi dictates that online classes may work better for them than the conventional face-to-face classes or contact with lecturers who serve to impart knowledge on students. Just like La Trobe has been collaborating with universities like Sichuan University, it is prudent to note that such collaborations form the main channels through which Sichuan can garner or even score a bigger market segment with more students. While it is among the best Universities in Victoria and Australia at large, not to mention that it is among the top 500 universities worldwide, it is convenient that the online Master in Management program is available for market segments in far-flung areas that can rely on the portal as a means through which the students gain knowledge. As at August of this year, the Australian Online courses stood to benefit from a market with an annual revenue of $5b. this, as is suggested by IBISWorld (2016), shows that there is no outright favored player in the industry who has a stranglehold on the market. This makes the field open for each and every player who would like a slice of this market. 5.0 Competitiveness While accepting that La Trobe University may be relatively new in this field since it is now launching a program that is offered by other universities, it is critical to note that at La Trobe University, the online Master of Management focuses on a broader aspect of management as opposed to what its competitors, say, University of South Queensland, is offering. The University of South Queensland offers Master of Project Management, which is particularly narrowed down on particular aspects of management. On the other hand, La Trobe University offers a wider scope of management that can cover all the aspects of management as aforementioned (University of South Queensland, p. 1, 2016). The Deakin University and Melbourne Business School are more developed just as much as the University of South Queensland. However, the mere fact that they already have programs that have reached a plateau phase in their life cycle means that La Trobe University may actually have a softer landing if it so chooses to approach the market with a more differentiated program. This means that the program will have to carter to a more diverse population in order to beat the competitors. Initially, this paper indicated that Australia alone earns revenues of about 5 billion Australian dollars. However, McCue (2014) already projected that by the end of the year 2015, the market itself would have global revenues of about 107 billion dollars. 6.0 Marketing Objectives It is accepted that the Australian market is still under a massive growth, meaning that there are endless possibilities as concerns online programs for students. Out of the $5billion in revenues, La Trobe University should aim to garner at least an eighth of the total revenues since when looked at as a competitive entity, it ranks in the top tier of universities in Australian, not to mention worldwide. Furthermore, the market share is still available for all the players to expand as they deem fit. This means that a well calculated expansion may see the university getting a good share of the hundreds of thousands in student numbers within the Australian market. It gets even better on the global scene since students are in the millions in numbers. The current rate of unemployment has many people trying to get trained to earn better skills, hence we can count on online Masters in Management to earn the university more students in between periods. 7.0 Marketing Strategies 7.1 The Product The product, Online Master of Management, is a new one at the university. With it, there is bound to be a shift in student numbers that will only be traceable once revenues start streaming in. this is so since there will be no face-to-face instruction time for classes. The appeal given to this product is that fact that it covers a wide array of areas in management as opposed to those covered in Masters of Management in other universities. The unveiling of this product is to be done through use of mass media. However, social media has proved to be popular among the younger generation, hence this will also serve as an option of marketing the product to reach this particular market segment. Mass media has a better reach across age sets, hence will be financed better than the rest, though traditionally, online channels of advertisement will also be given serious focus. 7.2 The Brand As a brand, La Trobe University prides in being a university that has produced brilliant students over the course of its existence in the last forty to fifty decades. It goes without saying that within this period of time, it has established a name for itself given the fact that it holds one of the highest student numbers within its campuses among its peers. Therefore, the brand name that is La Trobe may well be used as a brand equity that guarantees the extension of the name to this new product in the soon to-be-launched online Master of Management. The university states its vision as one that encourages students to “Be the Difference”. This means that along the way, and as the students learn within the school, they are taught to embody the virtues that are taught within, and that help them to stand out, hence make a difference in the world. With such a mantra, it is obviously more befitting that students should gain a better perspective of life. The programs within just help them to even perform better in activities they engage in throughout their lives after college. 7.3 Price The university aims at pricing the course fairly since it is still in its initial stages. In addition, there will be many incentives for those who opt for such online courses. This is aimed at attracting and retaining customers or students, for that matter, and ensuring that they get value for their money. Competitors like Melbourne Business School and Chifley Business School already have some of their online management programs up and running for some time now. This means that they have already learnt the dos and don’ts in the market. Equally, they already have a pricing strategy, which is obviously expensive judging by the numbers, and by the manner in which there is no definite entity with a controlling share of the market. Therefore, a lower pricing is the best strategy to garner more students ahead of the rest. 7.4 Communication The initially chosen channels for communication include mass media (radio and television), plus the use of social media. In addition to this, the university website will act as a great channel through which the finer details of the course will be communicated since advertisements never capture the whole information as intended, but only deliver the key points. While mass media is very useful as a means of communication, the mere fact that it does not carry all the necessary information means that other channels will be useful. For instance, word of mouth is a great idea since it gives some of the best impressions to prospective customers, especially if it comes from a satisfied customer. 8.0 Recommendations The use of word of mouth, as aforementioned, is a very good way of garnering more customers. However, this method cannot be relied on to bring in customers in numbers, hence a better strategy should be crafted at the onset. This may include approaching other businesses and introducing agreements which would see employees gaining skills through use of online course like the product that is being rolled out. Social responsibility is part of La Trobe culture. This means that the university also has to use social responsibility with the intention to maximize on all the chances it offers as a means to further its agenda of acquiring a better market segment while improving the lives of the community around it. 9.0 Bibliography Governance Office, 2015. Annual Reports – 2015. La Trobe University. IBISWorld, 2016. Online Education in Australia. Available at http://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry/default.aspx?indid=1907 [Accessed on 8th September, 2016]. La Trobe News, 2012. La Trobe Signs Major Health-Training Agreements with China. La Trobe University Bulletin. Available at https://latrobeuniversitybulletin.com/2012/09/20/la-trobe-signs-major-health-training-agreements-with-china/ [Accessed on 6th September, 2016]. La Trobe University, 2016. Facts and Figures. Available at http://www.latrobe.edu.au/about/at-a-glance/facts-figures [Accessed on 8th September, 2016]. La Trobe University, 2016. Pocket Statistics 2015. La Trobe. McCue, TJ, 2014. Online Learning Industry Poised for $107 Billion in 2015. Forbes. Available at http://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2014/08/27/online-learning-industry-poised-for-107-billion-in-2015/#23871e0d66bc [Accessed on 9th September, 2016]. Office of the Vice-Chancellor, 2015. Future Ready: Strategic Plan 2013 – 2017. La Trobe University. Online Study Australia, 2016. Online Study for International Students. Available at https://onlinestudyaustralia.com/international-students/ [Accessed on 5th September, 2016]. University of South Queensland, 2016. Programs and Courses. Available at http://www.usq.edu.au/handbook/2014/allprog.html [Accessed on 8th September, 2016]. Vioreanu, D, 2016. Distance Learning Course Options Get More Popular Every Year. Available at http://www.distancelearningportal.com/articles/393/distance-learning-course-options-get-more-popular-every-year.html [Accessed on 5th September, 2016] Read More