MARKETING FOR MANAGERS (MRKT20052) ASSESSMENT TASK-2 To analyze the "marketing and competitive environment of a university brand. Name of the student: Balva Mahammadraza Student ID: 12056186 Executive Summary The objective of this report is to discuss and analyse the market and competitive environment of Monash university. The analysis is based on various tools like SWOT, PESTEL, value chain etc. The report highlights that must capitalizes on online courses. In recent times, there has been an increase in the use of online courses and it is expected that the focus on online courses would further increase in the country. The report also discusses the external environment of Monash university. The good thing for university is that it has the support of Australian government.   Table of Contents Introduction & Background 4 Organizational background: 4 Market summary and demand assessment 4 Segmentation and target market 5 Marketing mix analysis 5 PESTEL analysis 6 Competitor analysis 7 SWOT analysis 8 Value and brand positioning analysis 9 Conclusion 9 References 10   Introduction & Background The educational institutions and universities are the backbone of any economy and country. There are number of educational institutions in Australia. The objective of this report is to discuss and analyse the market and competitive environment of Monash university. The paper would discuss various internal and external parameters of Monash university. A brief organizational background can be discussed as: Organizational background: Monash university is one of oldest university in the country. It was founded in the year 1958. Monash University is a public university, located in Melbourne. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight, a coalition of Australia's eight leading research Universities, a member of the ASAIHL, and is the only Australian member of the influential M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centres, Universities and National Academies (Bhattacharjee& Berger, 2014). The university has more than 100 research centres. Few noticeable research centres at university includes, Australian stem cell centres, science research centre, etc. Monash University has five campuses (four in Australiana and one in Malaysia). It has the capacity of close to 50,000 undergraduate students and close to 20,000 post graduate students. It has also got some of the best talent from the market. The university has close to 7000 full time academic staff. Market summary and demand assessment The education industry in Australia is a booming industry. Every year, there are number of local and international students. The education market in Australia is expected to grow at a good growth rate of 7%. It means that there would be more and more students, participating in Australian universities. The market is expected to grow and government wants that there should be more and more research work in Australian university. The demand is expected to grow at a stable growth rate of 7% to 8%. With this demand, there is definitely a need of more universities in Australia or the existing universities should increase their capacity. Segmentation and target market The Monash University has a good reputation for research and development work. The university segmentation could be attributed to the choice of courses that it has to offer. The primary target audience for Monash university would be the students who want to do some research (Loveland &Thompson, 2015). Having said that, it is also true that university also offers a huge list of course, around engineering, business profession, management, etc. Marketing mix analysis The marketing mix is a powerful tool to assess the capability of firms. The four elements of marketing mix for Monash University can be discussed as: Product: The Monash university is a reputed university and it has a good reputation of producing world class business professionals. It can be said that university has a powerful product that has helped the university to grow significantly. Price: Monash University is a public university and the fee is very reasonable in the university. Moreover, the university also offers various scholarship for users. Therefore, it can be said that price element of Monash university is rightly placed. Place: Monash University has five campuses (four in Australiana and one in Malaysia). All the campuses of Monash university are located in accessible places. In terms of place, it can be said that Monash university has various advantages. Promotion: The university does not use much of the promotions as it already has the support of thousands of students. The students of Monash university acts as the advocate of university. However, in recent times, the administration of university has started to use the social media methods for promotion (Cross &Belich, 2015). It is expected that the university would continue to use the social media marketing promotions. PESTEL analysis The PESTEL analysis is used to assess the external environment. This is a tool that is applied at the industry level and not at the organization level. The analysis of various parameters under PESTEL analysis for universities in Australia can be discussed as: Political & Legal: The political and legal factors could be termed as favourable or positive for educational institute in Australia. The government of Australia has always encouraged and supported the public universities as students are eventually the backbone and any economy. The legal factors have a strong impact on the operations of universities. All the universities in Australia have to abide by government rules and regulations. The control of government is high in this industry (Rawwas& Isakson, 2015). The government has constructed and deployed a legal framework that guides the operations of universities in Australia. Economical: The economic factors are positive for the public universities. The economic factor does offer some risks for private universities. However, it can be said with certainty that economic factors are positive for public universities. Social factors: The social factors are related to society at large. It includes people from the society. The citizens of Australia have always encouraged the opening and development of educational institutions and universities. In fact, people want that more and more universities should be opened so that there are new generation is ready for the job opportunities in the Australian market (Rawwas& Isakson, 2015). Technological: In recent times, there has been an increase in the use of Information Systems and computer technology. The use of computer software has further strengthened the case of universities and educational institution in the country. Therefore, it would be correct to say that technological factors are positive or favourable for institutions in the education industry. Environmental: The environmental factors do not have much of the difference in the operation of educational institutions in the country (Frennea& Blut, 2015). Though, it is expected that the universities would use green methods of development. Competitor analysis There are number of universities in Australia and all these universities possess some competition to others. One such competitor of Monash university is Central Queensland University (CQU). Some of the point of differences between these two universities can be discussed as: o Both the universities are established universities with good position in the Australian market. As far as legacy is concerned, Monash university is older than CQU. The CQU was Queensland institute of Technology from 1967 to 1992. It was the year 1992, when this institute got the status of university. o Monash university has close to 50,000 employees and Central Queensland University has close to 35,000 employees. In terms of alumni based, it can be said that Monash university has a better alumni base than Central Queensland University. o Monash university is known for its focus on research and development. The Central Queensland University is more known for management and engineering programs. SWOT analysis SWOT analysis include the analysis of internal and external factors. Strengths and Weaknesses are internal for any organization and Opportunities and Threats are external. Opportunities and threats would generally exist at the industry level (Rawwas& Arjoon, 2013). The SWOT analysis for Monash university can be discussed as: STRENGTHS o The strong legacy of the institution o The strong alumni network o The presence of strong professors and researchers (Hattula &Schmitz, 2015) o The huge infrastructure WEAKNESSES o Student-Teacher ratio is relatively high o Only 4 campuses in Australia o Limited investment from outside parties THREATS o The biggest threat is the threat from competition o The external factors like economic and legal also possess some threats OPPORTUNITIES o Strong opportunities to expand in the domestic market o Opportunities to start more online courses Value and brand positioning analysis The brand positioning and the brand value of Monash university is high. The brand equity is high as Monash university is considered as a reputed brand in the industry. It is expected that Monash university would continue to develop on its brand name. The management of the university believes that the value is demonstrated by all the stakeholders of the institute. Therefore, management considers that its brand equity is best demonstrated by the student of the university. Conclusion The above paper discusses the internal and external environment of Monash university. With the above discussion, it can be said that Monash university is well placed in the Australian market. It is expected that the brand equity of Monash university would further increase in future. The paper discussed various opportunities in front of Monash University. It is important that university must capitalizes on online courses. 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