Introduction:
Competitive strategy is the long term plan devised to assist the organization to gain competitive advantage over their rivals (Peteraf, Gamble and Thompson 2014). The report highlights the strategic management practices in the Higher Education Industry of Australia over the past three decades. The strategic planning is done through innovation and changes in the style and manner of teaching and management for a better future. In the current scenario, the overall strategy of the higher education sector in Australia should be modified due to increase in competition to meet the educational objectives for long-term success.
Theory 1:
Strategies are the set of complex activities and tactics that lead to victory of an organization. In recent year, a strategy has become the buzzword. According to Henry Mintzberg, strategy is more about what the people actually do rather than they intend to do (Youtube 2017). Staging or timing is very crucial for an organization to be successful. If the organization has a great plan but they fails to execute at the right time then it would lead to the downfall of the organization. After analyzing the market environment of higher education system, the four major factors are needed to be focused for creating a great and clear strategy which is as follows:
- Where does the organization compete?
- What capabilities and resources does the organization utilize?
- What unique value does the higher education organization bring to the society?
- How does the organization sustain their value?
In other words, the competitive arenas that are active in higher education industry can be overcome through proper planning and strategy. The higher education institutes must have a high level vision to achieve its goal in future. The unique value of the institutes can be its cost or differentiation that includes the quality of education, reliability and image to appeal the potential students. Moreover, the educational institutes must have exceptional human capital in the form of professors and guide, superior and advanced technology, adequate network connections and unique reputation. University of Sydney is one of the leading higher educational institute of Australia and successful in achieving its goal by its unique strategy of providing quality education and satisfying the students through its latest and updated techniques (Norton and Cakitaki 2016). Whereas, Torrens University Australia is unsuccessful in achieving the desired vision due to the execution of its strategy at wrong timing. Thus, a proper strategy or plan and its execution are vital to enhance the higher education industry in the modern competitive environment.
Theory 2:
The once successful higher education institutes can fail although having top employees, abundant resources and profound knowledge if they don’t have an innovative business model to survive in the competitive environment (Casadesus?Masanell and Zhu 2013). Today’s success of the institutes can be the enemy of tomorrow’s success, if proper competitive strategy is not practiced at times. In the Higher Education industry the innovation cycle speeds faster than other business industries. Innovation either can increase the value of the education provided or can lower their cost, therefore creating competitive advantage (Youtube 2017). The business model of the organization is responsible for its success not just the technology used by the institutes. A business model provides answers to four questions required to succeed, which are as, firstly, who are the target customers, such as students, professors and lecturers. Secondly, what does the institute offers to the customers, such as quality education, reputation and efficiency skills. Thirdly, how the value proposition is created in the education institutes and lastly how the revenues are generated in the organization.
For example, the Bond University has revolutionized and redefined its business model innovation. It has followed the four steps, which includes, Initiation that is attracting the potentials students and individuals. The next step is Ideation, where the institutes create new ideas by developing new models and learning from other organizations. Then through Integration the consistency of the business model is reviewed and checked. The last step is Implementation of the adequate and innovative business model. Bond University implemented only one business model at a time and clearly communicated about the new business model. Flipped classrooms, virtual learning environment and blended learning are part of the education over past few years (Stromquist and Monkman 2014). Whereas, Charles Sturt University could not stay innovative by reinventing its business model, thus failed to achieve long-term growth. Moreover, top management commitment was negligible and without their support the business model is doomed to fail.
Theory 3:
CAGE framework is based on the international approach of two countries trading with each other along different dimensions. This includes the dimensions like Cultural, Administrative/Political, Geographic and Economic approaches. The higher Education industry trade interaction can be dampened by the differences in this dimension or can be enhanced by similarities along the directions (Youtube 2017). The effects are huge as the higher education is impacted due to globalization. In Australia, the higher education Industry trade with countries that are economically meaningful. The utility of this CAGE framework is to figure out the bilateral trading partners, like Australia’s partners with New Zealand due to the common dimensions.
For example The University of Notre Dame Australia has encouraged exchange of higher education participation of students in between other states. Several proposals have been developed to increase the opportunities and aspirations for students pursuing higher education (Madsen and Walker 2015). The University courses provided are online, free and open to all the students across the globe. They exercise the Government influence on developing the raising collaboration in research and education between overseas counterpart and universities in Western Australia. Whereas, other universities like Flinders University has failed in this approach as proper funding is not given in international marketing to assist the higher education institutions. The Commonwealth funding should be increased through collaborative to pursue higher education priorities (Norton and Cakitaki 2016).
Conclusion:
Thus, it can be concluded that higher education industry of Australia has been revolutionized and improved since the last few decades. More integrated system should be developed in education with advanced technology and training facilities. The higher education institutions should develop a strategy to gain competitive advantage over other institutions to thrive in the market. Moreover, the universities should diversify and strengthen the education industry by supporting international collaborations and moving forward towards globalization. Higher education Industry has been developed in the past few years by the strategic development and building regional identity by improving the quality of higher education using international collaborations.
References:
Casadesus?Masanell, R. and Zhu, F., 2013. Business model innovation and competitive imitation: The case of sponsor?based business models. Strategic management journal, 34(4), pp.464-482.
Madsen, T.L. and Walker, G., 2015. Modern competitive strategy. McGraw Hill.
Norton, A. and Cakitaki, B., 2016. Mapping Australian higher education 2016. Grattan Institute, 7.
Peteraf, M., Gamble, J. and Thompson Jr, A., 2014. Essentials of strategic management: The quest for competitive advantage. McGraw-Hill Education.
Stromquist, N.P. and Monkman, K. eds., 2014. Globalization and education: Integration and contestation across cultures. R&L Education.
YouTube. 2017. Business Model Innovation. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4ZSGQW0UMI [Accessed 9 Dec. 2017].
YouTube. 2017. Pankaj Ghemawat: CAGE Framework for International Trade - Global Matters. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FpUJaG7uMk [Accessed 9 Dec. 2017].
YouTube. 2017. What is Strategy?. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD7WSLeQtVw [Accessed 9 Dec. 2017].
