Background of the Organisation

Marketing and competitive environment is the study of analysing the competition in market environment and the development of marketing strategy. In order to develop a strong marketing strategy it is important to have proper information about the business environment of an organisation and this is where the study of marketing and competitive environment comes into the picture. The study of marketing and competitive environment involves discussion of number of key tools like demand assessment of the market, Segmentation, positioning and targeting, SWOT analysis, marketing mix and PEST analysis and value and brand positioning analyses. The Education market in Australia has become significantly competitive and to complete the present study the education market of Australia has been chosen. The present study will be done with the reference to the case study of University of Sydney.

The University of Sydney is one of the leading educational institutes providing the best quality higher studies to the students in the country. The University of Sydney is a public research university founded way back in 1850. Sydney University is one of the bigger educational organisations in the country with 16 faculties and schools which helps the organisation to offer bachelors, master and Doctoral programs.  The organisation has a total of 52, 789 students and 5,350 administrative staffs. The organisation has a rich history and was developed by William Wentworth and Charles Nicholson who expanded the Sydney College to a bigger University for the betterment of the society (Forsyth, 2014 p, 12). The mission of the organisation is providing the light of education and reach to maximum students all across the world.  As per the statistics provided by the British Daily Telegraph and the Huffington Post the institute has one of the most beautiful universities in the world. The campus is located in the beautiful city of Sydney and is also considered as one of the premier educational institute in the country where number of students from foreign countries joins regular courses. The Sydney University is responsible for number of charitable works and awareness campaigns on environment, women empowerment and societal issues which has also attracted many students from all across the world (Campbell & Proctor, 2014 p, 34).

The Australian higher education market is growing rapidly and is expected to reach a benchmark by 2020. The market is likely to grow significantly and is expected to reach the benchmark figure of USD 115 billion by 2020. The change in the market is not certain and the market has shown signs of change with rising competition among the students and eagerness to learn in the best schools and colleges.  The education industry has become one of the key sectors in India with number of new qualified and efficient educational institutes coming up.  The superior quality of education and medium of English as communication has made this industry one of the most lucrative industries for the Australian investors those who have increased their investment in the educational sector (McDONALD & Brown, 2016 p, 89). The market is now highly competitive with number of key players in the market. Apart from The University of Sydney institutes like University of Melbourne, Monash University, University of NSW, University of Queensland, RMIT, La Trobe University, CQ University, University of Canberra all have significant market share in the country which has made the market highly competitive (Malysheva et al., 2016 p, 23).

Market Summary

Over the last few years there has been dramatic increase in the footfalls of foreign students coming to Australia. In the recent past the accommodation organisations in Australia have experienced sudden boost in their bookings where most of the people are in the country for educational purposes which clearly indicate the interest of the students to choose Australian Universities in comparison to other universities.  As per the ratings the University of Sydney and Melbourne have been rated as the best universities in the country and obviously for a valid reason which is quality education. It is important to mention that University of Sydney has carried on the legacy of providing quality education effectively which has helped the organisation to compete in the market (Verger et al., 2016 p, 45). But it is important to note that in the last few years there has been significant increase in the students’ footfalls which definitely holds opportunities for improvement for every educational organisation operating in the market. The graph shows that after the 2009 and 2010 there was a trifle decline in the footfall of students but from 2013 it has again climbed effectively and is likely to hold its position in the education market as stated in future forecasts and hence it could be said that demand will be significantly high for students willing to receive education in Australia (Wirtz & Lovelock, 2016 p, 76).

 

The University of Sydney is a premier Educational Institute focusing on getting students who interested in getting higher studies in the best possible environment. The organisation has fixed its eyes on the educated and rich market especially for students coming from abroad. The organisation has all the best possible facilities for the students and hence targets the rich market that can spend money on quality education. The organisation has highly influenced the youths between the age group of 18 to 25 who have become highly interested to study in the best college for their bachelors, master and doctoral programs. Hence it could be said that the organisation targets the rich class with eagerness to spend on quality education and follows the young and rich and enthusiastic students to study in the institution (Buckley et al., 2016 p, 89).

Marketing mix is a great tool to understand the marketing focus of an organisation and hence it is important to understand the marketing mix of the organisation Sydney University. The marketing mix comprises of Product, price, place/distribution and promotion.

Products/Services: The University of Sydney is the ultimate destination for education lovers. It offers all the possible graduate, undergraduate, post graduate and Doctoral courses. MBA, Law, Doctorate in Science, Agriculture, Engineering et cetera. The Organisation has gamut of options in terms of educational offering which provides upper hand to the organisation (Pride & Ferrell, 2016 p, 34).

Place/Distribution: University of Sydney is recognised for its effective distribution of education through number of channels. Its main campus is considered one of the beautiful campuses alongside Oxford and Cambridge University. It is a huge campus and the distribution of education almost the entire week. It has number of satellite campuses who teach number of different subjects allowing the organisation to cover up number of domains and streams. Its E-learning facility is outstanding and many students are studying through its e-learning facility hosted with its website. Its library consist 11 libraries situated in different campuses and it also operates Center for Continuing Education which is an adult education service (Baines e al., 2016 p, 32).

Demand Assessment

Price: The organisation is premier educational institute and hence keeps its price in the premium genre. The Sydney University provides world class facilities and hence it also charges significant amount of money for its educational services. As it targets the rich class interested in spending money on education it succeeds in getting students with its premium pricing strategy (Armstrong et al., 2014 p, 56).

The PEST Analysis helps in understanding the external environment of the organisation. It consists of Political, economic, social and Technological factors. The PEST analysis of Sydney University is given below:

Political: The Australian government has stretched out its hands with cooperation to these kinds of educational organisation for the provision of best quality education. The Australian Government helps the tertiary education sector through rules, policies, funding and assistance. The Higher Education Standard Panel helps the different educational organisations to standardise their services effectively. The Australian Government also supports and promotes enhancement of learning especially for teachers (Ahmed, 2014 p, 76).

Economic: Australia’s economic system is stable and hence most of the students especially from abroad are willing to pay for quality education which helps the organisation to provide effective services. The Educational institutes also contribute to the overall economic welfare by paying tax which also helps them to think about the country and for the society allowing them to be economically prudent (Hair & Lukas, 2014 p, 77).  

Social: There is an increased awareness for education in the Australian society which helps University of Sydney to operate effectively and organise campaigns to attract students through campusing and other ways. The common mass is aware of the importance of education and hence they are able to inspire people to get education (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012 p, 23).

Technological: The University of Sydney uses the best and up to date state of the art technology, Wi-Fi operated campus, great E-learning facilities, effective online presence and great social media connectivity. The university also has cloud based classrooms where students from different regions are able to take classes providing it upper hand in the market (Kotler & Armstrong, 2013 p, 12).

The University of Sydney is one of the top rated educational institutes in the country but it has to face significant competition from organisations like University of Melbourne, University of NSW, CQ University, and Monash University. These are all premier institutions and almost operate in the same market. These organisations have almost similar curriculum packages and pricings and hence it is important for the Organisation University of Sydney to strategise its marketing plans.

The SWOT analysis involves analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the organisation.

Strengths

• Positive reputation in the outer communities.
• Great campus and enhanced educational facilities.
• Great past performances.
• Proactive student support and access to effective service.
• Efficient and dedicated faculty.
• Healthy internal system and great infrastructure (Jobber & Ellis-Chadwick, 2012 p, 88)

Weaknesses

• Political and Bureaucratic issues.
• Retaining of effective faculty.
• Increased investment in infrastructure development weakens financial position.
• Adjusting to pressure situation.

Opportunities

• Imminent partnerships with government and government bodies.
• Foreign expansion plans.
• Societal trends of developed education
• Increasing demands of education.
• Technological advances and need of prepared graduates (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012 p, 55).

Threats

• Budget crisis.
• Increasing competition in the market.
• Risk of losing efficient staffs.
• Lack of preparation to face competition (Ahmed, 2014 p, 82).

Brand positioning could be defined as the process of creating brand offer in such a way that it assumes a distinctive position in the mind of the consumers. For the contemporary students education holds great value and hence University of Sydney has a great value for its students. The organisation has placed itself in a particular position in the hearts of the student. Its rich and quality education and premium pricing has developed a huge interest among its targeted market of rich youths who are willing to pay money for quality education. The brand creates value through effective which is provided through the right mix of intellectual acumen from the efficient faculty and technology that creates huge brand value for the students studying in the college and students preparing to enroll in this University (Wirtz & Lovelock, 2016 p, 112). Hence it could be said that the Sydney University has been able to satisfactorily position itself in the minds of its targeted market of rich and enthusiastic students through effective creation of value.  

Conclusion

The present study has discussed the key aspects of marketing and competitive environment with the help of the case study organisation Sydney University which has helped to complete the study successfully.

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