Business School in the UK - Essay Example

Global Strategy Executive Summary The business plan includes the detailed plan for setting up a business school in UK. The plan has elaborately discussed on the innovativeness of their curriculum that will be offered by the business school. The curriculum is expected to be practically useful for the students and will provide them an edge over their competitors in the UK education market. The aim, purpose and objective of setting up the business school have been discussed in the plan. The purpose of setting up the business has been discussed and the entire business has been described in terms of how the business school wishes to establish itself as a reputed institute in UK. The legal status and necessary accreditations of the institute has been mentioned in the business plan. The plan elaborates on the management processes and the setting up of various departments in the institute. The market situation in terms of prospect for the business school has been analysed. A suitable marketing strategy has been formulated keeping in mind the market situation. The marketing plan involving the implementation of the marketing strategies has been discussed. The marketing plan elaborates on how the business school hopes to reach out to their target customer and handle the competition. The sales target and forecast has been discussed. The prerequisites for setting up the institute in terms of operational requirements, licensing, establishing supplier relationship and insurance needs have been discussed. The present and the future financial scenario of the business school have been analysed in the plan. The plan has explored the scope in the education market through an internal and external environment analysis. The plan includes a SWOT and PEST analysis. The business risks associated with setting up the business school has been discussed. The business school in the long run is expected to yield significant profits to shareholders. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Business Plan 4 Aims Objectives and Mission 4 Business Description and Purpose 5 Legal Status and Licenses 6 Management Processes 6 Market Situation 7 Target Market 8 Competition 9 Marketing Strategy 10 Marketing Plan 11 Sales Target and Objectives 13 Sales Forecast 13 Operational Requirements 13 PEST Analysis 13 SWOT Analysis 14 Suppliers 15 Compliance and Licensing 15 Insurance 15 Current Financial Requirement and Financial Forecast 16 Training Needs 16 Business Risks 16 References 17 Bibliography 19 Business Plan Aims Objectives and Mission The primary aim of the new business is to initially establish itself as a reputed Business School in UK. The business school has a global approach and will allow admission to students from other countries as well. They plan to later open subsidiaries in other countries. The initial focus is on attracting students from Australia and United States of America. The number of students opting for higher education has increased in UK. Consequently there is a need for Business schools which can provide quality education (Fry, 2009). The Director of the business school has an experience of twenty years in the UK educational system and his expertise will ensure success for the business school. There is scope of improvement in the UK educational system. The business school will ensure quality education by recruiting competent faculties. The business school is not being started with the intention of selling it off in the short run. It is believed that the business school will not only provide quality education but will also yield profit to investors. It is also believed that in the course of five years the business school will establish itself as one of the most reputed business schools in UK. The name and expertise developed in the UK market will help them to open subsidiaries in international market. Business Description and Purpose The business aspires to provide good quality education to the students and help the students to develop their skills which will help them to tackle the competitive environment and perform well in their chosen field. They will be prepared to meet the challenges of the dynamic business environment (Henderson State University, 2005). Initially the fees structure will be kept low to attract a large number of promising students. The business school will be benchmarked with a few of the most reputed business schools in UK. This will help to identify the challenges that exist in this sector. However, choosing an identical school for benchmarking should not restrict the school from developing its competitive advantage (Fairbank & Labianca, 2003). The business school will conduct surveys, focus group interviews to understand the attractiveness of the business programme offered by them. Presentations can be made to prospective students to inform them of the benefits of the course (BizEd, 2010). The business school hopes to differentiate itself from its competitors through its innovative programmes. It is expected that they will get competitive advantage from their curriculum which is supposed to prepare its students to face the challenges of the competitive job environment (Hawawini, 2005). Legal Status and Licenses The business school will not be a sole ownership business. The business school is being opened with the intention that potential investors will invest in the business school after realising the prospects of the institute. The institute will have to be approved by various bodies. The University Grants committee of UK determines the funds distribution to the UK institutes. The education quality in UK is looked into by the UK government in case of business schools funded by the government. However, in the case of private institutions the British Accreditation Council accredits the institutes. Degrees offered by any institute needs authorisation by the Royal Charter or by a parliamentary act or by an order from the Department of Education and Skills. The institutes have to abide by certain quality standards in the education they impart according to the guidelines of the Quality Assurance Agency (Valmiki Group, 2010). Management Processes The management process entails the entire management of the business school. This involves the setting up of the business school and identifying the responsibilities involved in starting the institute. This covers all the aspects in the management of the institute. Once all the departments of the business school are established then their smooth functioning has to be ensured. The business school is in the start up phase and hence the finance department should ensure that the funds are being utilised judiciously and are being put to the right use. Marketing and sales in the context of a business school requires attracting students through various forms of advertisements in educational magazines, educational websites and career counseling programmes. The HR department has a crucial role to play while setting up a new management institute. Competent faculty with requisite professional expertise should be recruited. The administration department has a lot of responsibilities in terms of managing the admission procedures of the students. General management aspects have to be provided due consideration. Performance targets can be set in terms of how many admissions take place in a year. The business performance will be monitored at regular intervals to ensure that the objectives are being met. Market Situation The business scope of institutes in the higher education market of UK has increased remarkably over the past few years. The Further and Higher Education Act of 1992 brought about changes in the UK education system. Earlier only 10% of secondary school graduates had access to university education which has now increased to 30% (Bentley, 2009). The higher education industry of UK is lucrative for entrepreneurs at present. However this industry is extremely competitive with several business schools providing quality education in UK. There is severe competition from business schools in other countries as well because many students of UK opt for higher education in abroad. On the other hand there is much scope of attracting students who come to UK for higher education. Getting a significant market share will be difficult initially for the business school. The business school aims to attract students from Australia and USA by providing them with a curriculum that is better than what is offered in the institutes in their country. Initially the revenue earned by the business school will be low due to lesser number of admissions but gradually the revenue will increase and yield higher gains for the investors. The financial aspect in terms of the low fees structure will also be an incentive for students in choosing the business school. The business school is adopting a cost leadership strategy. It is for this reason that the fees structure is kept low in the beginning. The higher education market size in UK is large. It is expected that the business school will achieve a significant proportion of the market share by providing quality education to the students. The recent trends in the UK education market reveal that the size of the target group is increasing with more and more people opting for higher education. Target Market The target market for the business school would comprise of young promising students who are of middle class background and also experienced professionals who want to get a management degree to rise up in the corporate ladder. The target market will be expanded over a course of time and it will include people of higher income background as well. The business school hopes to successfully address the needs of the target group. They will provide them with an innovative curriculum in conjunction with their differentiation strategy that will provide them an edge over their competitors in the job market. The profile of the target market has been decided on the basis of age, gender and location. The age of the students range from the youth to the middle aged. The business school plans to maintain more or less equal representation of male and female candidates. Location of the target market includes UK, Australia and US. Competition The main competitors of the business school are the five top most business schools in UK. These are namely the London Business School, University of Pennsylvania: Wharton, Harvard Business School, Stanford University GSB and Insead (FT.com, 2011). A few of the competitors from US include Yale, Dartmouth, Columbia and Chicago (Forbes, 2003). The prime competitors from Australia would include Melbourne University, Queensland University and Australian National University. There might be certain indirect competition from educational institutes which might provide a few alternative courses. The business school will implement a curriculum that will encompass all major aspects of a management degree and will prepare the students to face the real life challenges in dynamic business environment. The competitors of the business school provide certain special benefits which differentiates them from the other business schools. Wharton has more than 250 experienced faculty members and they offer a wide range of courses and programmes. They have 24 hours research centres (Wharton, 2009). London Business School’s executive and full time MBA programme both have been ranked best in the world by Business Week, business education surveys and the Financial Times. They offer certain unique courses and the Higher Education Funding council of England has provided them the highest rating in research. They provide special career services to students (London Business School, 2010). These business schools are reputed institutions and do not need too much of marketing strategies to source brilliant students. The reputation they have built over a course of time helps them to attract candidates. Since the business school is relatively new therefore extensive publicity will be required. Marketing Strategy The above analysis of the market situation provides a clear picture about the marketing strategy that should be adopted by the business school. The business school is adopting a cost leadership strategy by offering a reasonable fees structure. A differentiation strategy will be adopted whereby a unique course structure will be provided that is not provided by any of its competitors. In addition to these two strategies the business school will also adopt a growth strategy and will regularly update the teaching methodologies and practices which will enable them to become market leaders. The target market is young students and working professional who wish to earn a degree through the executive programme of the business school. The business school is offering a practically useful innovative curriculum to the students. The tie up of the business school with prominent banks in London will make available educational loans to the students at lower rates of interest. The USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of the business school is its unique curriculum, its teaching methodologies and its distinguished faculty. The UK educational market is large and the business school hopes to capture at least one fourth of the educational market share. It hopes to achieve this target within two to three years. The business school has selected UK, US and Australian educational market. These three markets have brilliant prospects and the reason for choosing them has already been discussed in details in the group work. In the long run the business school aims to expand operations in the Asian markets. The business school will target students from India, China, Hong Kong and Singapore. The demand for quality education is increasing in developing countries. The affordability of people in the developing countries is increasing. Hence many students opt for higher education from abroad. Marketing Plan The marketing plan is formulated once the marketing strategies are decided on. The marketing plan is a detailed plan regarding the implementation of the various marketing strategies. It is a plan regarding the marketing methods that will be employed to reach out to the target segments. Initially a market research will be conducted to understand the UK educational market. This research will be done from both primary and secondary sources. This will be done within two to three months. The target segment for the business school comprises of young students and professionals. The business school initially has to develop awareness about its existence. This can be done through online advertising. An interactive and engrossing website has to be designed and visibility has to be ensured through search engine optimisation. The business school will distribute pamphlets in the vicinity of undergraduate schools and colleges and also advertise in the leading newspapers, educational and business magazines. The institute will set up a 24 hour helpline whereby they will answer to all queries of prospective students regarding the admission procedures and eligibility criteria. The business school can sponsor programmes and cultural activities in undergraduate schools. This will increase awareness about their existence amongst the students. Career camps and counseling programmes for young students can be organised and the benefit and usefulness of their curriculum will be advertised in these camps. The institute may ask prospective students to fill up feedback forms. These forms will help them to understand whether the students perceive their curriculum to be useful. The business school can offer corporate training and development programmes to various companies. During these training programmes seminars will be organised and the benefits of the executive programme will be conveyed. These initial activities directed towards increasing the awareness about the business school will take about six months. However extensive advertising will have to be carried out during the first two to three years, after establishing the institute. The initial marketing and advertising activities will involve significant costs. The costs can be recovered later when admissions start taking place. The progress will be monitored by tracking the number of admissions that are taking place in a year. The business school can track its progress from the number of admissions in the spring session and the winter session. The response to the business school’s marketing efforts can be judged from the feedback from students. The feedback forms should incorporate questions to judge the feasibility of the course. These questions may be framed keeping in mind the 4Ps. This would involve question related to the opinion students have regarding the curriculum that is being offered, the fees structure and the location of the business school. The business school should be placed in a prime location with proper connectivity. The feedback will help the business school to judge the chances of success of their business institute. It should be ensured that marketing and advertising is done within the limits of the budget. The marketing plan will be supplemented with data related to the marketing research done, financial data, important papers related to insurance and licenses. Sales Target and Objectives The business school will be able to understand the success of its marketing strategies depending on the number of admissions that take place. Clear target regarding the number of admission in a year have to be set. If the admissions are less then alternative strategies will be adopted. Sales Forecast These are prediction regarding the probable number of admission that will take place in a year in the spring and winter session. Separate sales forecast will be set for executive and regular programmes. Operational Requirements The operational requirements of the business school have to be decided. The premises of the business school, infrastructural requirements, library facilities, IT infrastructure, institute cafeteria and staff required to manage all these facilities have to be decided on. PEST Analysis PEST analysis has already been done in the group work. From the discussion it can be deduced that at present the UK higher education environment is changing and facing certain instability. Though, there is a certain level of demand for higher education and business schools. It is observed that students from UK have been moving outside of their country to study higher degree. Therefore, there is a demand for new business school in UK. SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses The Cost leadership strategy followed by the planned business school Large higher education market in the UK Lower fees structure in the inception Differential offering of courses High initial cost to set up the school and requirement to maintain high class facilities to attract the consumers i.e. students Possibility of low market share Opportunities Threats Prospect of higher growth in the global market scenario Rising demand for business schools Growth opportunity by following updated teaching methods Competition from other business schools Faculty shortage and requirement of maintaining balance in financial aspects Threats from globalisation and privatisation Suppliers The suppliers to the business school include the people who will supply the furniture, stationary, computers, books and other essential items that will be needed to set up the business school. The suppliers who will make available the goods at affordable rates will be selected and a long term contract will be entered into with the suppliers. Compliance and Licensing The business school will be started only when compliance with all safety issues has been made. The institute has accreditation from the British Accreditation council. Insurance The insurance of the institute’s building and other valuable assets of the institute are obtained. Current Financial Requirement and Financial Forecast The financial requirements are assessed in the business plan and forecasts for the future financial needs of the business school have been made. It will provide a clear picture about the start up capital required. The start up capital will be provided by the founder of the institute. The source of finance would be bank loans. It is expected that investors will be willing to invest in the business school after realising the prospects of the business school. Forecasts will be made about the time needed for the institute to break-even. Cash flow forecast, balance sheet forecast and profit and loss forecast will be made. Training Needs The staff of the institute will be provided training if required. Business Risks There is various business risks involved since it is a new venture and the management does not have much experience of running an institute. Intense competition exists in this industry and the institute has limited resources. References Bentley, 2009. Guide for Visiting Education Abroad Students. UK Higher Education System. [Online] Available at: http://www.bentley.edu/international-ed/documents/UK_Higher_Education_System_and_the_Visiting_Student_-_revise.pdf [Accessed December 31, 2010]. BizEd, 2009. Targeting the Market. AACSB International. [Online] Available at: http://www.aacsb.edu/publications/Archives/MayJun10/50-57%20F-Targeting%20Market.pdf [Accessed December 31, 2010]. Fairbank, J. F. & Labianca, G. 2003. An Innovative Approach. Picking the Perfect Peers. [Online] Available at: http://www.aacsb.edu/publications/archives/nov-dec03/p36-41.pdf [Accessed December 31, 2010]. Forbes, 2003. The Top Ten US Business Schools. The Best Business Schools. [Online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/2003/09/24/bschooland.html [Accessed December 31, 2010]. FT.com, 2011. Global MBA Rankings 2010. Business School Rankings. [Online] Available at: http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-rankings [Accessed December 31, 2010]. Fry, H., 2009. A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Enhancing Academic Practice. Taylor & Francis. Hawawini, G., 2005. The Internationalization of Business Education. The Future of Business Schools. [Online] Available at: http://www.gfme.org/issues/pdfs/Future%20of%20Business%20Schools.pdf [Accessed December 31, 2010]. Henderson State University, 2005. Our Mission. Mission Statement- School of Business- HSU. 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