University of Phoenix - Strategic Background Overview - Essay Example

Running Head: of Phoenix- Strategic Background Overview of Phoenix- Strategic Background Overview [Institute’s Name] University of Phoenix- Strategic Plan Executive Summary The University of Phoenix’s mission is to provide access to excellence for the working students, followed by their development on the individual, organizational and societal levels. The mission then emanates the purposes of facilitating and promoting the ABC – affective, behavioral, and cognitive - of learning in workplace environment, harvesting intellect through enhancement of communication skills and building of bridges between theory and practice. The external and internal environmental analysis of the University reveals a great set of both the opportunities, threats and the strengths, weaknesses that possibly can have a profound effect on the system. (Rudy, 2006) The external opportunities include the support that extends itself to the educated voter, development of workforce in particular and human in general. In addition, financial projections have an intense influence on the future of the organization meaning which the accuracy of such financial projections is integral to every organization. That is why it is very important to pay attention while making these assumptions and be able to challenge the distributions that are applied to variables. Therefore, utmost significance has been given to the development of financial projections in the strategic plan. Background and Statements Dr. John Sperling founded the largest private university of the world, a for-profit organization, an educational institution that claims over 280,000 students, University of Phoenix, Arizona. An innovative educational platform that now spreads over 38 states, including Arizona, Michigan, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Florida, California, New Mexico etc providing 204 campuses and learning centers all over. Dr. Sperling created it in response to the increasing need of institutions that could well serve the working adult population, focusing their individual learning distinctiveness and life circumstances. The very response eventually took the shape of what we know now as the University of Phoenix. (Rudy, 2006) The university’s mission is to provide access to excellence for the working students, followed by their development on the individual, organizational and societal levels. The mission then emanates the purposes of facilitating and promoting the ABC – affective, behavioral, and cognitive - of learning in workplace environment, harvesting intellect through enhancement of communication skills and building of bridges between theory and practice. (UOP, 2008) Also to aid the process with the best of technological expertise and lastly to stay organized as a for-profit organization focusing the provision of academic excellence, quality and service to the students along with being capable of generate enough financial resources to keep the innovative wheel moving. One of the remarkable efforts in this regard is the establishment of highly planned and excelling distant learning programs, which not only works for the accessibility but as well as the convenience via innovative possibilities. (Rudy, 2006) The many areas of the university thus are highly reflective of the innovative Phoenix philosophy of a continuous and meritorious endeavor. It provides solutions to the educational challenges faced by the working students. The solution includes provision of higher opportunities of education and easier access via flexible scheduling and no requirement of appearing in entrance tests or submitting essays. Instead, the only condition is that the students have to ensure of a working environment where they practice the theories they learn at the university. Not only this, there is an expert practitioner faculty that provides students with the current insight of the happenings in the working environment, enabling them to better build bridges between theory and practice. (UOP, 2008) Moreover, a centralized curriculum is designed which is followed by all the faculty members and deans via a four step process, i.e. identifying objectives, requirements and qualifications, Use of research input from various renowned and leading sources, formulation of course activities, assignments, and lastly verification with the university standards as mentioned in the mission and learning goals. In this regard, such objectives and mission statements are significant parts of the strategic plan proposed by the University of Phoenix. Furthermore, as earlier discussed in the paper, provision of an intimate learning environment and rich intellectual education is one of the major missions of the institution. Moreover, local, regional, as well as, international communities are facilitated by the faculty and management of the University of Phoenix according to the strategic plan. Environmental Analysis The external and internal environmental analysis of the University of Phoenix reveals a great set of both the opportunities, threats and the strengths, weaknesses that possibly can have a profound effect on the system. The external opportunities include the support that extends itself to the educated voter, development of workforce in particular and human in general. On the institutional level, there lie opportunities of hiding faculty and staff to meet their demands online and improving the cooperation within institution, teaching and learning technologies and their experiences , increasing employment and enhancing its intangible assets like reputation and goodwill. Moreover, it ultimately results into an increase number of non-traditional students in particular and that of graduates in general. In addition, that it does meet the workforce needs and overcome obstacles of coming to campuses. On the other hand, they are prone to experience the threats of competition from for-profit organizations, faculty related issues such as their acceptance of online education, unclear benefits, lack of departmental incentives and funding, and a reduced capital funding in particular and overall funding in general. The strengths of such a profound system begin with a cohesive communication system, not only between students and the faculty members but within themselves as well. However, it does have some limitations. There is a possibility that the faculty may not be available as immediate as required or may be there is a lack of student’s equipment and service area. Moreover, despite uniform procedures there is always a different campus implementation. In this regard, the strategic plan has included the environmental analysis, which will allow the management of the university to ensure comfortable educational environment to accomplish the already discussed mission statements of the organization. (Rudy, 2006) Long-term Objectives University of phoenix works with a focused approach not only for the matters in hand i.e. short term but also for the fulfillment of long-term objectives. This includes enriching of individual lives, intensification of campus culture, groundbreaking infrastructure through advanced means of technology, stipulation and maintenance of academic fineness in students, as well as, the faculty members. (UOP, 2008) The online set up of programs and campus of the university is certainly one of the major accomplishments by the strategic planning committee of the institution. One of the major goals of the strategic plan is the provision and maintenance of academic excellence in students, as well as, the faculty members. In this regard, online programs and online campus of the university is one of the major achievements of strategic planning committee of the institution. Some of the other goals in the strategic planning of the University of Phoenix are enrichment of individual lives, strengthening of campus culture, innovative infrastructure through advanced means of technology, etc. (UOP, 2008) Strategic Analysis & Choice Strategy of an organization is the plan of action that is comprehensive and is a step towards the achievement of organizational long-term goals and objectives. A strategic analysis necessitates the study of the existing business environment and accordingly developing a suitable business strategy. Moreover, it assumes much more significance in case of multi-business corporations having diversified businesses. In this regard, University of Phoenix is a diversified educational organization, and therefore, the strategic plan will be evaluating the long-term goals and objectives on a continuous basis. It includes a never-ending flow of innovative ideas in alignment with the changing needs of the students, the business world and society as a whole, a continuous control and evaluation of the technical expertise, in use, for enhancing the overall the educational experience. Finally, working out any possible area of improvement, and providing solutions to make it better in line with the initially set objectives. Financial Projections & Analysis The underlying idea of financial projections is to demonstrate what the business is capable of realizing in revenues and profits, given the assumptions about its potential costs, market size, prices, etc. (Helfert, 2002). People also use the financial projections to develop a series of ratios that help them make economic and financial judgments about the potentials of the business – growth patterns, return on investment, return on equity, required investment, financing methods, etc. Presuppositions are the major aspects of financial projections. They rely on assumptions about activities in the functional segments of the business. For example, the number of students that are going to take admission, their expected individual expenses, the input expenses that the company will face and the number of students that will way pay for the education. It then assumes the answers with respect to a particular market conditions that allow making certain statements about expenses, quality and volumes, which will influence the financial projections the committee will make. (Helfert, 2002) The decisions that are made using the projections have an intense influence on the future of the organization meaning which the accuracy of such financial projections is integral to every organization. That is why it is very important to pay attention while making these assumptions and be able to challenge the distributions that are applied to variables. In this regard, the committee has given utmost importance to the assumptions during the financial analysis, which will be a key to the success of the University of Phoenix. (Rudy, 2006) Critical Factors and Evaluation A number of factors play an important and significant role in the success of any kind of organization, which cannot be ignored by the administration. Therefore, the strategic planning committee of the University of Phoenix will be giving highest importance to the critical factors, such as implementation of disciplinary regulations, educational code and conduct, financial commitments, non-exploitation of environment, etc. All such factors play an important role in the accomplishment of abovementioned goals and objectives of the University of Phoenix that have been considered by the strategic planning committee. Moreover, the committee will continue to evaluate the results after the implementation and adoption of strategic plan by the University of Phoenix. It is hoped that the Board of Directors and management of the University of Phoenix will be able to understand the different aspects of the strategic plan in an effective manner. References Julia Rudy. (2006). Campus Profile: University of Phoenix. CAUSE/EFFECT Journal, Volume No. 28, No. 5, Fall 2006, pp. 23-25. UOP. (2008). University of Phoenix - About Us. Retrieved June 03, 2008 from the University of Phoenix Website: http://www.phoenix.edu/about_us/about_university_of_phoenix.aspx UOP. (2008). University of Phoenix - Mission and Purposes. Retrieved June 03, 2008 from the University of Phoenix Website: http://www.phoenix.edu/about_us/mission_and_purpose.aspx Erich A. Helfert. (2002). Techniques of Financial Analysis. McGraw-Hill Professional. Read More

It provides solutions to the educational challenges faced by the working students. The solution includes provision of higher opportunities of education and easier access via flexible scheduling and no requirement of appearing in entrance tests or submitting essays. Instead, the only condition is that the students have to ensure of a working environment where they practice the theories they learn at the university. Not only this, there is an expert practitioner faculty that provides students with the current insight of the happenings in the working environment, enabling them to better build bridges between theory and practice.

(UOP, 2008) Moreover, a centralized curriculum is designed which is followed by all the faculty members and deans via a four step process, i.e. identifying objectives, requirements and qualifications, Use of research input from various renowned and leading sources, formulation of course activities, assignments, and lastly verification with the university standards as mentioned in the mission and learning goals. In this regard, such objectives and mission statements are significant parts of the strategic plan proposed by the University of Phoenix.

Furthermore, as earlier discussed in the paper, provision of an intimate learning environment and rich intellectual education is one of the major missions of the institution. Moreover, local, regional, as well as, international communities are facilitated by the faculty and management of the University of Phoenix according to the strategic plan. Environmental Analysis The external and internal environmental analysis of the University of Phoenix reveals a great set of both the opportunities, threats and the strengths, weaknesses that possibly can have a profound effect on the system.

The external opportunities include the support that extends itself to the educated voter, development of workforce in particular and human in general. On the institutional level, there lie opportunities of hiding faculty and staff to meet their demands online and improving the cooperation within institution, teaching and learning technologies and their experiences , increasing employment and enhancing its intangible assets like reputation and goodwill. Moreover, it ultimately results into an increase number of non-traditional students in particular and that of graduates in general.

In addition, that it does meet the workforce needs and overcome obstacles of coming to campuses. On the other hand, they are prone to experience the threats of competition from for-profit organizations, faculty related issues such as their acceptance of online education, unclear benefits, lack of departmental incentives and funding, and a reduced capital funding in particular and overall funding in general. The strengths of such a profound system begin with a cohesive communication system, not only between students and the faculty members but within themselves as well.

However, it does have some limitations. There is a possibility that the faculty may not be available as immediate as required or may be there is a lack of student’s equipment and service area. Moreover, despite uniform procedures there is always a different campus implementation. In this regard, the strategic plan has included the environmental analysis, which will allow the management of the university to ensure comfortable educational environment to accomplish the already discussed mission statements of the organization.

(Rudy, 2006) Long-term Objectives University of phoenix works with a focused approach not only for the matters in hand i.e. short term but also for the fulfillment of long-term objectives. This includes enriching of individual lives, intensification of campus culture, groundbreaking infrastructure through advanced means of technology, stipulation and maintenance of academic fineness in students, as well as, the faculty members. (UOP, 2008) The online set up of programs and campus of the university is certainly one of the major accomplishments by the strategic planning committee of the institution.

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