Managerial Decision-Making and Leadership the Essential Pocket Strategy - Case Study Example

UNE Life Name: Course: Institution: Date: UNE Life Introduction Since its establishment in 2014, UNE Life has enabled successful collaboration between different services in the University of New England (UNE) and SportUNE. The main aim for the establishment of UNE life is to ensure that the institution provides a streamlined and consistent approach to the provision of services and facilities at the university. The focus is one the stimulation of on- campus activities and the provision of an atmosphere which enables the students and the staff including the surrounding community with an enjoyable and relatively comfortable university life. For the UNE Life to be able to experience ultimate success in its natives it is important to introduce a workable and relevant strategic marketing plan. The main objective of this paper will be to develop a strategic plan for UNE Life. This will be through an assessment of the prevailing conditions within the institution and the best possible approaches that can be used in realizing its goals and objectives. Relevance of the mission statement, SMART objectives and hierarchy of strategies for UNE Life The mission of UNE Life is to provide students, the community and university staff with an environment that stimulates on-campus activities such that the university life of every stakeholder is made much easier and comfortable. This mission has enabled the UNE Life to engage in the proviso of services and products aimed at facilitating the ability of the target customers to operate in a highly educative, entertaining and healthy environment for university education. In terms of the SMART objectives, UNE Life aims at forging lasting and successful collaboration between existing services that are provided by UNE and those of SportUNE. Through such collaborative efforts it becomes easier to pol resources in ways that reduce the cost incurred while promoting the provision of quality products and services for the target customers in the university. In addition, through UNE Life the University has the objective of ensuring that in the period when students are engage d in the institution for learning purposes, they also get to live a healthy and balanced life by accessing additional services that cater for their health, entertainments and academic needs. In terms of hierarchy of strategies, the UNE is a learning institution and this means that prior to the operationalization of all the other non-academic related services, the university ensures that its students are provided with the best learning environment to boost their academic performance and professional development (Alton 2013). In addition, the realization that extracurricular activities such as sports are essential in the growth and development of students informs the existence of SportUNE. This provides the students, staff and community with impressive sports and fitness facilities. The realization that overall development of the students and other stakeholders requires relation time informs the existence of The ‘Stro. This is the popular student bar and night club. Other services such as the Café Life, Life Functions and Catering, The Belgrave Cinema and Graduation Services are considered integral in the success of UNE Life in terms of offering students with services and opportunities that enhance their academic and career life while at the University. UNE Life and Porters five forces UNE Life operates to provide additional services to the staff, students and the community within and around the institution. This means that for the institution to ensure that it is successful in attracting more students there is need to improve on its ability to provide high quality and exceptional services as a competitive. Australia is home to numerous universities that provide high quality academic and co-curricular related services (Brown, 2012). These include the University of Sydney. In addition, the UNE Life also faces competition from surrounding hotels, bars, restaurants, hospitals, cinemas and companies that provide sporting and fitness facilities. The establishment of a competitive advantage is therefore e in ensuring that UNE Life essential. Porter’s five forces is a simple but powerful tool that is used in assessing and underrating the power of a business in any market. The usefulness of this tool arises from its ability to provide an understanding of the strength of the prevailing competitive position and the strength of a position that a business considers moving to (Wang, 2010). One of the forces is supplier power; UNE Life is considered as powerful partners for suppliers in the sports, hospitality, food production, wines and spirits and entertainments industry. This means that the institution commands the market and it makes it relatively difficult for the suppliers to gain control over the cost of their supplies. When assessed in terms of buyer power, the main customers of UNE Life are the students and staff. These buyers are important for the success of the business and therefore the university can incur huge loses when its buyers seek services from its competitors (Whalley, 2010). In terms of competitive rivalry, UNE Life faces competition from surrounding universities, hospitals, hotels, bars, sporting companies and gyms. The ability of the institution to maintain its position as the leading choice for its target customers is highly dependent of the quality and the prices of the services that it offers (Whalley, 2010). Threat of substitution exists in situations where the target customers choose to find an alternative way of accessing the services provided by UNE Life. These include seeking alternative food, engaging in field activities rather than seek the services of SportUNE. It is also possible for students to seek relatively cheap and satisfactory entertainments services. The substitution of some of the services offered by UNE Life makes it relatively weak in terms of market potential. Investing in the service industry is relatively expensive and this makes it easier for the university to operate with minimal threats of a new entry. The success of UNE Life is based on the understanding that it provides numerous services under one roof and management (Wang, 2010). Through the provision of such services it is easier for students to access high quality services at student friendly services. The ability of the UNE Life to subsidize the cost of accessing these services makes it highly competitive and attractive to a large number of target customers and this is the strong and durable barrier that the institution has been able to use in realizing its mission and objectives. Market and Industry attractiveness Macro level analysis In terms of the demographic trends, UNE Life operates in market that is populated by the youth aged 16-35. This population is relatively profitable due to their desire to access readily available services that meet their diverse needs at affordable cost. It is through this understanding that UNE Life provides services at student friendly prices. The socio-cultural environs in which UNE Life operates is defined by the diverse values, attitudes and behavior of the target customers. UNE draws students from different regions of the world. Despite their diversity, their goals in life are often defined by the desire to live comfortable and health lives and this explains the existence of fitness facilities, health care centers and food services at UNE Life. Economically, Australia is a developed country and this requires that the services are made available at costs that are relevant to the prevailing economic conditions. The governments are in charge of providing the policies that regulate the operations of all businesses in Australia (Wang, 2010). The operations of UNE Life are defined by government police top protect students from exploitation and the provision of inferior services and products. Micro-level analysis The realization that students need more than just academic services during their stay in the university forms the main purpose of UNE Life. The institution is guaranteed of successful on the basis of its ability to provide services that are of need to the students and that are affordable. One way by which success of UNE Life can be achieved and improved is by embracing technology. This provides a virtual platform of accessing instant services while at the same time reducing the bureaucracies that may define its operations (Wang, 2010). The students being the target customers for the business play the role of marketing ambassadors on different online platforms. This is especially when they are involved in the organization of student sensitive events (Whalley, 2010). Such involvement helps in promoting the business because the students will consider themselves part of the plans making UNE Life a customer focussed organization. Marketing research and strategic decision making Market research is an essential approach that can be used in the identification of customer needs in the target market (Lamb et al, 2012). Through market research the management in any organization has the ability of familiarizing with different operations that define the market, the relationship between the said operations and the relationship with the objectives of the company (Lussier, 2012). Market research makes it easier for the management to make informed decisions. For UNE Life informed market research helps in understanding the needs of the target customers and their economic capacities. This determines the types of products and services that the organization offers. The realization that majority of the target customers are mainly students from UNE, makes it easier to develop student friendly products and services. The dynamic nature of the needs of the students makes it possible for the organization to develop pricing policies that are flexible to meet the capabilities of the students. The internet which is the major marketing platform provides students with alternatives. This means that for UNE life to experience any form of success it is important the prices it sets for its products and services are in accordance with the prevailing prices of similar products and services in the market. Furthermore, the realization that students often seek relatively new and unique products and services makes it important for UNE life to seek the services of talented individuals who understand the needs of the students and have the ability of manipulating the waiting resources to ensure that the needs of the students are met. The provision of fitness services and graduation services for instance are some of the creative ways through which UNE Life has been able to ensure that services are brought nearer to the students. Furthermore Belgrave cinemas, other than acting as an internments platform, can also be used in marketing other services provided by the organization to the target customers. Significance of segmentation, targeting, differentiation and position strategies Market segmentation is essential in the identification of a specific market that is relatively homogenous in terms of their needs (Hoskisson et al, 2013). The success of UNE Life is dependent on its ability to identify and differentiate its target market in terms of their needs, their location and response to different products and services that are provided. This helps in the determination of the types of products and services that can be informed to ensure that the needs of the target customers are met (Roberts & Zahay, 2012) Targeting is an essential part in the development of a workable marketing plan. The target customers who are majorly students from the university are relatively young and the desire to maintain an energetic and athletic body from the essence of the SportUNE (Gay et al, 2006). The mission of UNE Life is to ensure that students live a comfortable and refreshing life while on campus. Provision of fitness programs and sports facilities provides the university with the most appropriate ways of satisfying needs of all the targeted students, staff and members of the community (Hitt et al 2007). Differentiation strategies are essential in the development of tactical marketing approaches. For SportUNE, differentiation is applicable in the sense that it helps the university in assessing the best possible facilities and programs that can be introduced to ensure that the targeted customers acquire value for money while at the same time ensuring that the institution gains in terms of profitability (Gharajedaghi, 2011). One of the values for money approaches that SportUNE can use in the development of its marketing strategy is to provide better services, better range of products and greater convenience (Ferrell, 2012). Positioning analysis is a marketing approach that can be essential in ensuring that products and services are readily available to the target customers (Valenzuela, 2013). This requires proper understanding of the existing products in the market, the most desired products and services and the ability of the target customers to acquire these products when necessary (Crane et al, 2014). SportUNE would use physical positioning as the best approach to marketing. This would require the identification of competitive products and an understanding on customer perception in relation to those products (Porter and Kramer 2011). This would enable SportUNE to develop an effective approach towards marketing. References Alton, L. 2013. The basics of online marketing strategy in 2013. Search Engine Journal. Brown, Jimmy, 2012. Systems thinking strategy: the new way to understand your business and drive performance. [S.l.]: Iuniverse Com. Crane, A., Palazzo, G., Spence, L.J. and Matten, D. 2014, ‘Contesting the value of creating shared value’, California Management Review, vol.56, no.2, pp.130-153. Ferrell, O. (2012). Marketing Strategy. Cengage Learning, pp. 213-216. Gharajedaghi, Jamshid. (2011). Systems Thinking Managing Chaos and Complexity: A Platform for Designing Business Architecture. Burlington: Elsevier Science. http://www.123library.org/book_details/?id=46434. Gay, R., Charlesworth, A., & Esen, R. (2006). Online marketing: A customer-led approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hitt, Michael A., R. Duane Ireland, and Robert E. Hoskisson. (2007). Strategic management: competitiveness and globalization : concepts. Mason, OH [etc.]: South-Western. Hoskisson, Robert E., and Robert E. Hoskisson. (2013). Competing for advantage. Mason, OH: South-Western/Cengage Learning. Lamb, Charles W., Joseph F. Hair, and Carl D. McDaniel. (2012). Essentials of marketing. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning. Lussier, Robert N. (2012). Management fundamentals: concepts, applications, skill development. Mason, Ohio: South-Western. Roberts, M. L., & Zahay, D. L. (2012). Internet marketing: Integrating online and offline strategies. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Porter, M. and Kramer M. (2011), ‘The big idea: Creating Shared Value’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 89, no, 1-2, pp. 62-77. UNE Life. http://unelife.com.au/ Valenzuela, F. (2013). Marketing: A Snapshot. Pearson Higher Education AU Wang, C. (2010). Managerial decision making and leadership the essential pocket strategy book. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10462154. Whalley, A. (2010). Strategic marketing. Ventus Publishing ApS, pp.21-33 Read More