Marketing and Competitive Environment Monash University

Question: Discuss about the Marketing and Competitive Environment for Monash University. Answer: Introduction In this age of Globalization, organizations prefer those students who have international experience and Monash University works on the philosophy that every student should be an international student. It exposes its student to global perspective from the beginning. It has student exchange program in 25 countries with more than 100 institutes (Cross Belich, 2015). Thus, Monash understand the requirement of Industry in a todays world and prepare its student accordingly to become the leaders in the industry no matter in which part of the world they are working. This report will discuss about the Monash University and its unique positions and how the future will be look like for its students and staff. Monash University is 2nd oldest university in Victoria State founded in 1958 in Melbourne by John Monash. In just a little span of time, this university has acquired an enviable status by enjoying very good rating by several agencies. Some of the highlights of the rankings this university enjoys are as follows: Ranked #1 in the world for personal development by Economist intelligent unit Recognized and funded by govt. of Australia for excellence at its Nursing and Health Medicine School (Morgan Katsikeas, 2012) Ranked #1 in Australia for employability Ranked #25 in life sciences and biomedicine in world by Times Education Monash is also a member of Australia's Group of Eight leading universities, only Australian member of M8 alliance of academic health centers, member of ASAIHL. It also scores well on internationalism parameter and comes in top 10% universities in international outlook. It has around 50,000 undergraduate students and 20,000 post graduate students and also staff of around 7000 members https://www.study.monash/ . It also receives very good support from the government and much of its research is focused on the government initiatives. Monash has 5 campuses in Australia and 1 in Malaysia. (Siemens, Dawson, Lynch, 2013). Marketing Summary and demand assessment According to research conducted by Australian government, compounded annual growth rate of 3.5-4% is expected by 2025 in terms of enrollments of international students in Australian universities (https://www.austrade.gov.au/ )and most of this international enrollment will be driven by the countries like Vietnam, China, Thailand, India, Nepal and Korea. Among all these nations, China will remain the biggest market. Therefore, it is very important for the Australian universities also to cater to this increased requirement in a perfect manner. At such times, universities which project themselves as a truly Globalized university in terms of staff, students and culture will have an edge and Monash is one of them. Although local market for education is increasing with more and more organizations expending in Australia and creating jobs, Still Monash University is targeting international students looking to get an education at an attractive price due to limited market of the Australia. Its offers most courses with its huge portfolio of courses, specializations and thus across students across the world (Barton, Baguley, MacDonald, 2013). Not only this, it also has impressive credentials in research and attract people interested in research and doctorates. Monash has also collaborated with University of Warwick, UK, Suzhou School in China and Indian Institute of technology, India to increase its global footprints and attracts students across the world. The prime target market for Monash university are the student who want to do research. The university is known to get the best talent and scholars from the market. SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS Global footprints and collaboration with more than 100 colleges for students exchange program in 25 countries (Gale, Parker, 2013) Focus on providing Global atmosphere to people Attractive infrastructure Rated very high by different agencies Collaboration with Support of the government for funding WEAKNESSES Not much physical presence outside Australia. Only 1 campus is situated outside Australia which is in Malaysia Engineering courses are not very famous here The teaching staff is good; however there is a scope to improve the student teacher ratio THREATS Collaboration with multiple universities across the world may lead to dilution of standards OPPORTUNITIES Can target people who are looking for online programs by designing web courses (Morgan, 2012) Design free courses for people who wants to learn like MIT University. This helps in building the visibility. PEST Analysis PEST analysis is used to judge the prospects of the industry on the parameters which are not in the direct control of the industry i.e. which are external in nature. Political Legal Perspective: With the constant support of the government in improving the education sector, Political conditions are quite positive in the nation. Recently, Victorian government have collaborated with Monash and Melbourne universities to support research in biomedical and also to roll more successful startups (https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/10158 ). Economical Perspective: Australia economic growth prospects are quite favorable with more and more organizations setting up their operations in Australia. This trigger the more employment which further boosts the education sector. Social Perspective: More and more local people are showing their interests for education particularly research and doctorates courses which means society is recognizing the importance of education sector. However, this perspective will be more beneficial for the Universities that caters more to local people rather than global (Theodosiou Kehagias, 2012). Technological Perspective: Technology advancements and development of ERPs products for colleges has made the education sector run more like a corporate sector. The technological factors can be termed as positive for the educational universities in Australia/. Competitor Analysis Central Queensland University (CQU) is another competitor in Queensland State. It is quite new and established in 1992. CQUs offers less starting salaries to its students but its way cheaper than Melbourne and Monash University. Also, CQU is leader in providing distant learning education and online courses and this is where Monash has to learn from CQU to get more students. Although CQU is relatively new university but it is growing at a very rapid pace. Monash has an edge in having the funding from the government to support research initiatives (https://www.australianuniversities.com.au ). Marketing Mix elements Analysis Product Monash offers professionals courses as well as options of research and doctorates to local as well as international students. It is also rated very high for employability (Harmon, 2015) Price Though it is expensive than its competitors like Melbourne university and CQU, still it is reasonable as compared to other International universities of its stature Place It offers its courses on the web, on its 5 campuses and also in collaboration with numerous colleges worldwide. Promotion University has collaborated with NGOs, Private companies, government and other universities worldwide and promote itself very well on all the fronts from quality of education to employability. It also some important events where it is expecting to get good leads. Value and Brand Positioning Analysis Monash University has always focus on attracting the overseas students as compared to local students and thus its culture is much more globalized where individuality of all the country is respected and students are exposed to international flavor from the day one and also by student exchange program. Thus, its value and Brand positioning is very much clear (Hodgson, 2016). Monash wants to be a leader in attracting foreign students and thus it positioned itself as a Globalized university. Its focus is always on representing itself in various countries through fairs and conferences Conclusion Monash University has always been one of the top choice for the student who are exploring education options in Australia particularly foreign students from Asian countries as Monash offers the world class courses at a very reasonable price as compared to other colleges in Europe and US and also offers good remuneration packages to its students. 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