International marketing for the UK business school-英国商学院的国际市场

International marketing for the UK business school

英国商学院的国际市场营销
 

1. Introduction
1.引言
 

Nowadays, the enrollment of international students for a business school is facing fierce competition, especially in the backgroud of the financial crisis. All the business schools over different countries adopt various strategies to attract outstanding students from around the world. This article will discuss what appropriate marketing strategies the British business schools can take to attract international students, using the marketing techniques and practices which have been discussed by our group. Besides, as an international student from China, I will talk about the application of international marketing concepts and practices of the UK business education based on my own experience.

如今，国际学生对商学院的招生面临着激烈的竞争，尤其是在金融危机的成立背景。所有的商学院在不同的国家采用不同的策略来吸引优秀学生来自世界各地。本文将讨论什么合适的营销策略，英国的商学院可以采取吸引国际学生，利用已经由我们小组讨论的营销技巧和做法。此外，作为一个来自中国的国际学生，我将谈论的根据我自己的经验，英国商业教育的国际营销理念和手法的应用。
 

2. Business education opportunities evaluation
2.商业教育机会的评估
 

Students are the lifeblood of the university, and the quality of the students plays a vital role in the development of the university. When the university education was on the elite education stage, there were no lack of outstanding students in British universities, however, since the elite education change to mass education, together with other factors, British universities are facing more and more competition in the enrollment of excellent students. Many universities choose to provide education to students from abroad, especially business education, which is very popular among international students. Therefore the UK business schools are entering a new era. Firstly, the schools can overcome the fierce competition in the education industry, secondly, the schools will attract students from different culture, which will diverse business education and enhance the competitiveness of the schools. Thirdly, the overseas students are often smart and diligent. It is obvious that the opportunities to provide business education to international students are attractive, but the problem is how a business school can evaluate and catch these opportunities. In fact, providing international education is like supplying products in the global markets, or we can say, the concepts and techniques and practices of international marketing also can be applied to the business education opportunities evaluation.

学生是学校的生命线，而学生的素质起着大学的发展至关重要的作用。当大学教育是在精英教育阶段，有不乏优秀的学生在英国大学，但是，因为精英教育转变为大众教育，再加上其他因素，英国的大学正面临越来越多的竞争中招生优秀的学生。许多大学选择提供教育，从国外的学生，尤其是商务教育，这是国际学生中很受欢迎。因此，英国的商学院正在进入一个新的时代。首先，学校可以克服的激烈竞争在教育行业，其次，学校将吸引来自不同文化背景的学生，这将多元化的业务教育，提高学校的竞争力。第三，海外学生往往聪明和勤奋。很明显，该机会提供商业教育国际学生是有吸引力的，但问题是商学院如何评估和捕捉这些机会。事实上，提供国际教育就像是在全球市场供应的产品，或者我们可以说，概念和国际市场营销的技术和做法也可以被应用到商业教育机会的评估。#p#分页标题#e#
 

2.1 PEST analysis
 

PEST analysis, which is also called macro environmental analysis, is a model to identify the macro environment of an organization, including the Politics, Economic, Society and Technology. Now we will use this model to see what settings the UK business school is in.

Politics: Nearly all the British universities are funded by the government. We can analyze the political factor of the customer market to see how it influences the business education. Take China for example, the Chinese government has been encouraging the development of education and adopts a strategy called “develop the country through science and education”. Chinese government emphasizes that it is necessary to develop talents who are familiar with the international rules, which means it encourages international education and actually many parents send their children to study in the UK. Over the years, the investment of state-funded study abroad is increasing.

Economic: For the national economic, British is hard hit in the financial crisis, which in turn, boosts the development of international education. The exchange rate of British pound has come down and the cost of studying in the UK is relatively lower. As for the single family, with the increasing in revenues, parents will invest more in their children’s education, which is, undoubtedly bring chances to the business education. Furthermore, the parents prefer their children to enter business school because it is often easier to find a good job.

Society: The idea of higher education has enjoyed popular support, and the elite education of the UK is famous all over the world.

Technology: With the development of internet, telecommunication and transportation, the trend of overseas education is intensifying. At least, parents will be more reassured for the safety of their children because it is easy to keep in contact wherever their children are.
 

2.2 Five forces analysis
 

Now we will use “Michael Porters Five Forces Model “ to identify the strengths and competitive forces for an UK business school to provide education for foreign students.

 

Porter's five forces is a framework for the industry analysis and business strategy development. (Wikipedia.2010) The five forces are the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, the threat of the entry of new competitors, the threat of substitute products or services, and the intensity of competitive rivalry.( P. J. Smit.1999) The supplier dimension may not be suitable for the analysis , because the business education, as service, need not material supply. As for customer dimension, which means that the students can pose pressure on the business education ,especially its charges . According to the latest data shown by British Universities and Colleges Admissions Office (UCAS), the number of Chinese students who applied for admission of the UK colleges submitted to UCAS increased by 1 / 5 in 2008, which was a total of 7880, and the figure was only 6423 in 2007. (China-b, 2010) As the customer group is expanding, it is possible that the students may have power on the price of the business education. On the one hand, Business schools may adopt all kinds of measures in order to attract more students , so they should offer a larger sum of scholarship , or collect lower tuition fee. For example, from 2009 on, the ESOL of Cambridge, together with the Overseas Students Foundation, establishes a new scholarship in China. This international scholarship program is specifically for the outstanding Chinese PhD applicants. The scholarship is over 25,000 pounds annually and the University of Cambridge will provide full scholarship for a consecutive three years to help them complete their degree.( Eduglobal,2010 )On the other hand, students who choose to study abroad are generally from rich families, so they can accept expense business education. Therefore, the bargaining power of buyers is not so strong for the UK business schools, if it can offer high-quality education. The threat of the entry of new competitors, from my point of view, is weak. Although nearly all the universities offer business education, but the brand and prestige of a business school , just like intangible assets, is difficult to be copied and imitated. If a new school wants to enter the business education industry, it will have to spend a long time to build its famousness prong. When a student decides to apply for an UK business school , he or she will pay much attention to the college ranking , and those famous schools with a long history will have a competitive advantage  over those new schools. The forth dimension, the threat of substitute products or services, is very important for a business school. As we all know, colleges in other regions, like the USA, the Australia, Japan, Singapore and HongKong , also offer business education for international students. What’s more, the American business education is more famous and popular all over the world. Harvard and Wharton provide the most erstklassig business education. In the background of the ongoing finance crisis, it’s now easier to apply for an USA business school , therefore the threat of substitute service is vital for an British business school. As the above analysis has shown, the intensity of competitive rivalry is strong. If the UK business school wants to catch the opportunities to provide international education, it is necessary to offer characteristic, high-quality education. Britain is the birthplace of modern culture. For many courses, the students can not only get the degree but also certificates of relevant vocational areas. For example, students of accounting major will get ACCA, human resources management major will get CIPT and logistics major will get CIPS. These certificates will enhance their competitiveness when finding a job so it is actually very attractive. China is now lack of talents of finance and corporate management, and this is opportunities for the UK business schools.#p#分页标题#e#