Marketing Case Study-Monash University

Analyze the "Marketing and Competitive Environment" of a University brand in Australia.

 

 

Introduction

Educational institutes are very critical in defining the progress of any nation. For instance, educational institutes are responsible for producing the engineers, managers, doctors, teachers, researchers, scientists of today. Well being of any nation depends upon how the good the education is and thus there is government intervention also in designing the courses. Monash University is also supported by Australian government and thus enjoys that status that many other institutes did not. This report will discuss the market and competitive environment of Monash University and what are the unique propositions of this university. It also provides what are the target markets for the university and how does it create value for its members both student and staff.

Background

Monash University was established in the year 1958 in Melbourne, Australia and is named after its founder Sir John Monash. University has clearly defined its approach to education, people, research ambitions, communities initiatives and global initiatives. In just little more than 50 years, this university has earned an enviable status both at national level and globally and known for its teaching and research excellence. This school boasts of its excellent pedagogy which nurtures students based on the industry requirements so that they will be fit for working in industry. It enjoys very good ratings by different agencies worldwide and it is also rated as no. 1 in Australia and 32 worldwide for employability (Kaiser, Maassen, Meek, Vught, Weert, & Goedegebuure, 2014). Monash is also a member of Australia’s group of eight which is an alliance of Australian leading universities, M8 alliance which is the alliance of academic health centers as well member of ASAIHL. Thus, this university enjoys very impressive credentials. It is also truly global university that embraces difference and not uniformity. It provides equal opportunity to students and staff from all backgrounds and encourages participations. It has collaboration with industry sector, NGOs, government sector, communities. It has presence in 4 continents and more than 100 research centers. It had collaborated with many universities in UK, Italy, China and thus able to maintain its Global standards. It currently has 70,000 total students worldwide, out of which 20, 000 are post graduate students while rest are under graduate.

Marketing Summary and demand assessment

Australian government has collaborated with Deloitte Consulting to forecast and explore the opportunity in the international education sector in Australia. This report suggested that there will be increase in enrollments at compounding annual growth rate of 3.8 percent by 2025 which is very decent number ( https://www.austrade.gov.au/).

If local students are also included, Australia education sector is expected to grow at a rate of 7.1% which simply shows the huge potential for the Australian Universities.  Also, Top market for the universities will be Asian nations particularly, India, China, Nepal, Vietnam, Thailand and Korea. Also, among all these nations, Chinese students will contribute most in terms of enrollments for various courses and thus most important market for the Australian universities. Thus, there is definitely a requirement of existing universities in Australia to increase their capacity and absorb the demand. During such times, Universities like Monash has edge as compared to its fellow competitors due to its credibility, impressive credentials and popularity globally (Harmon, 2015).

Segmentation & target market

There is a huge portfolio of courses that Monad University offers to students. There are close to 100 undergraduate majors and minors and 65 undergrad specializations ( https://www.study.monash/). Besides, it also offers research, doctorate courses, and post graduation courses across a variety of products. Thus, it caters to almost all the students who are seeking higher education irrespective of their interests as there are mostly all the courses available.

It targets local as well as global students. However, In recent year due to higher influx of Global students, it also has changes its strategy. It is now recognized for its global culture. It also collaborated with Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai and University of Warwick, UK. It targets global students particularly from the Asian countries. It also participates in various conferences to educate students about higher education option in Australia.

PEST Analysis

PEST analysis is used to assess the organization on the external parameters. This tool is basically applies to whole spectrum of industry rather than a paticular organization and thus generic in nature.

1. Political & Legal: Political factors are quite favorable for the Monash as most of the research it conducts is aligned with Australian Government’s National research initiatives and priorities. Not only this, this university has full support of government. Monash is also developing state of the Art facility in collaboration with the government to boost its research in green chemistry areas. This facility is estimated at around whopping 78 million US dollars( https://www.study.monash/).

The Legal factors can have an impact on university and their style of operations. The University must ensure that they need to follow the rules and regulations of the government. The technological factors include the positive or negative impact while introducing any product or service in the market.   

1. Economical: Economical factors are also quite positive for the University. With the advent of increased Globalization, opportunities are increasing in Australia which requires students with good education. Thus, Economical factor also sounds positive for the whole industry.
2. Social: Social factors are also quite positive for the education industry of Australia. People want that more and better institutes should open so as to meet the demand of new globalized organizations that have setup their operation in Australia (Bound, & Molloy, 2013). Society is also showing their interest towards higher education with more people enrolling for post graduation courses in recent years.
3. Technological: Technological factors too are quite positive for the education sector in Australia. It is because due to technology, Universities are breaking barriers and can market themselves Worldwide and also improve their processes. Today, massive organizations are run like Corporations and also they use ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems to manage their operations globally (Mahat, 2016).

Marketing mix analysis

Marketing Mix elements	Analysis
Product	Their products are courses and business professionals. Its students are recognized worldwide. Global CEOs rate this university as No. 1 in Australia for employability.
Price	Monash university has an attractive pricing structure and also offers subsidies and scholarships to attract the prospective students.
Place	Monash has physical presence at 5 places i.e. 4 colleges in Australia and 1 in Malaysia. It also has collaborated with various universities like University of Warwick, Indian Institute of Technology, India and thus has global presence
Promotion	The university also uses campaigns, conferences and participates in Education fairs worldwide to educate people about itself and the massive opportunities it offers to them.  It also uses social media platforms and sponsoring events to get the visibility and traction.

 SWOT Analysis

STRENGTHS Collaboration with Industry, Government Huge Alumni network that helps in the placement of students Huge infrastructures and marketing capabilities	WEAKNESSES There are only 4 campuses in Australia and 1 in Malaysia Huge portfolio of courses makes it difficult for university to project itself leader in a particular course i.e. less focus
THREATS Competition poses a threat Attrition rate of Faculty	OPPORTUNITIES Opportunities to expand with  huge forecasts of people enrolling for education in Australia Opportunity to start more distant learning courses

Competitor Analysis

There are numerous universities in Australia and they all compete with each other. Central Queensland University (CQU) is their closes competitor. It was established after Monash and got the status of university only 2 decades back however its courses are also gaining popularity as CQU is also marketing aggressively itself worldwide (Rawwas, Arjoon, & amp, 2013). However, Monash has an edge over its competitors due to the support from the government and research and developments capabilities it offers to its students. In terms of Engineering programs, CQU fairs better and thus Monash has to improve the outreach of its Engineering programs.

Value and Brand Positioning Analysis

Monash has become a brand in a global world due to the outreach of its student working globally and management initiatives to project it a brand by collaborating with universities outside Australia and collaborating with private players. It enjoys the credibility among the people and its perceived value is also quite good (Baker, 2014).

Conclusion

The Monash University has established itself very well in education sector of the Australia and attracts local as well as global students. Based on various marketing tools which are used in this paper to assess the position of Monash University, Monash scored very well and has very great future.  The report highlights that today, massive organizations in educational sector are run like Corporations. The universities have started to use the power of Information Systems like ERP systems and CRM systems (Bergen & Peteraf, 2002).  It is expected that   the use of computer software and Information Systems would further increase for educational institutes.

References

Baker, M. J. (2014). Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.

Bergen, M. and Peteraf, M.A., 2002. Competitor identification and competitor analysis: a broad?based managerial approach. Managerial and decision economics, 23(4?5), pp.157-169.

Rawwas, M. Y., Arjoon, S., & Sidani, Y. (2013). An introduction of epistemology to business ethics: A study of marketing middle-managers. Journal of Business Ethics, 117(3), 525-539.

MAHAT, M. (2016). Strategic positioning in Australian higher education: reshaping perspectives (Doctoral dissertation).

Boud, D., & Molloy, E. (2013). Feedback in higher and professional education: understanding it and doing it well. Routledge.

Harmon, G. (2015). Australia as an higher education exporter. International Higher Education, (42).

Kaiser, F., Maassen, P., Meek, L., van Vught, F., de Weert, E., & Goedegebuure, L. (Eds.). (2014). Higher education policy: An international comparative perspective. Elsevier.