Kaplan Education Singapore: Working towards increased sustainabilit

Author: Iloka Benneth Chiemelie

Published: 20th of May 2014

Introduction

Basically, the case is based on the understanding that there is an increase in globalization of higher education, with education currently being viewed as key for sustainable growth because of the fact that it helps to produce competent people that are capable of properly managing the economy of any given state. The case laid high emphasis on the education system of the ASEAN countries as being designed towards enhancing the competitiveness of higher education in this part of the world by advancing their education standards in order to meet and even exceed that of the developed world. Such factor is designed towards attracting foreign students as part of their set goals in which Singapore as an example seeks to house at least 150 thousand by 2015. From the current records, it is clear that this will have a direct influence on economies development as the demand for higher education is expanding in developing nations and increase in income now means that parents can afford to send their children to study abroad.

Kaplan is one of the leading higher education institutions in Singapore through its vast network of partnership with universities in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe that offer vast courses in accounting and finance related field. Considering that Singapore is valued across the globe for its English speaking proficiency which makes education in the country easier. On that account, it is important that Kaplan adopt a number of strategies in the form of “pushing” their services to potential international students to come and study with their in Singapore, and also “pulling” the students in Singapore to enrol with them.

International selling is very important for growth in Kaplan Singapore, and the focus of this paper is centred on understanding how Kaplan can sale its services to international students in international markets. Such an understanding is very important as it would help to reveal how international students can be convinced to study in Singapore.

Sale Process

Analysis of current market situation

In accordance with Geoff (2012), the worldwide students is expected to increase tremendously in the couple of years, and this is because the demand for education is increase because of the link established between education and increase in chances of life success. With Asia maintaining more than 60 per cent of the world, such an increase has been linked to tremendous increase in economic development of nations in the region, and countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Arab and other nations have started redesigning their education structure in order to meet the demands of people and increase their potentials of adopting such process for sustainable economic growth, increase in social awareness as well as exchange of knowledge. The demand for higher education is forecasted to more than double to 262 million by 2025 (Louis Coiffait and James Hil, 2012) and such a forecast means an increase in potential of Kaplan education increasing enrolment in its institution and also sustainable education service.

SWOT of Kaplan Singapore

Strengths

1.      Kaplan is a renowned brand with high value for its delivery in the academic segments.

2.      It has courses with top universities in Europe, America, Canada and Australia and this increase the chances of students choosing them.

Weaknesses

1.      While Kaplan has been noted to be in partnership with a number of international universities, it is important to understand that their course are offered in English and it limits their potential to attract non-English speaking international students.

2.      Most of their course are based on accounting and business related field and this reduces their capability of competing in order academic fields.

Opportunities

1.      With partnership strongly established renowned universities across the globe, it becomes very easy for Kaplan to attract new students to their Singapore segment through exchange programs and global awareness through partnership also increases awareness and potentials for choosing their brand.

2.      Global management competence given them the opportunity of utilizing their intellectual capital and workforce to enhance competitiveness in the Singapore market.

Threat

1.      Competition is very high on both the global, international and national level, and this reduces their chances of attracting more students as they have to compete with other brands for enrolment.

2.      There are high potential of more brands entering the industry, and this reduces their chances of increased competitiveness; with these brands having the potential of adopting price competition in the market.

PEST analysis

Political factor

Robert (2013) presented a detailed PEST analysis for the ASEAN region. The focus on ASEAN region is based on the understanding that most of the countries discussed in this paper come from that particular region except for China. In the analysis, the finding is same as what is contained in the Education Work Group (2012) with reference to the political factors in this region. The finding is that the government of these countries now value economic development through education and as such have developed new policies geared towards attracting foreign students into their country. As an example, it was noted that Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam has started upgrading their education system in order to meet the demands of the present education system and speed up their quest to challenge the advanced nations in attracting students.

Economic factor

Still on the analysis presented by Robert (2013), it was noted that since the end of the Asian crisis, the region has stood up stronger with most of the countries in this region now being described as either emerging or developed nation. Such increase is expected to continue and this ushers in a new era for quality education as the right in GDP per capita means that parents can now afford to train their wards in foreign universities. This is also applicable in Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam as the economic growth has become the surge of advancement in their education system.

Socio-cultural factors

The media is changing the ASEAN faces as well as the faces of understanding across the globe as it related to quality education and benefits of studying abroad (Robert 2013), and the implication is that there is a growing trends in the ASEAN region in which it is considered necessary to allow students to come and study in this region in order to exchange cultural value and enhance the sharing of cultural facets within students in this region. This is advantageous to foreign education because it now means that there will be a subsequent rise in the value of foreign education and as such a rise in enrolment by international students. The social-cultural view in these previously restricted nations of Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam is now moving towards a shift in openness and westernized culture that now welcomes people from all over the world into the country for both tourist and business related purposes.

Technological factors

In terms of the technological factor, the focus is centred on education infrastructures in terms of housing, teaching and experimenting infrastructures and equipment. Singapore is one of the fastest growing economies in the region and its education system is advanced with some of the renowned technologies in the world (Toh, 2012). This is a favourable condition as it will increase the demand for Vietnamese and Thailand higher education, which will mean an increase in potential for enrolment into Kaplan Singapore. Other countries contained in this region are also advanced technologically. For instance, Malaysia values its 2020 goal of becoming an advanced nation and as such it has led to increase in technological advancement and industrialization in the country. Thailand also brands itself as the Detroit of Asia, which has also led to technological advancement in the country. Basically, Robert (2013) made known that the level of technological advancement in this region is tremendous and this will mean an increase in the necessary technical devices needed to enhance the quality of education.

From the above analysis, it can be seen that the countries discussed in this paper have enacted the right approaches in order to ensure continued competitiveness, which now means that success in the attraction of international student is something that goes beyond competition between universities to competition between countries as they all seek to advance their economic development through such approach.

Identification of sales objective

The sales objective of Kaplan Education Singapore; as can easily be highlighted from the case is to increase the volume of enrolment in the school and subsequent increase their financial performance as well as contribution towards economic growth of Singapore and home countries of their students by offering highly advanced courses that will increase the students intellectual competence.

Determine market potential

Based on the PESTLE and SWOT analysis above, it can be seen that there are high potential for success in the Singaporean market for Kaplan Education Singapore and this is based on the understanding that reserve income of parents are increasing – which means that parents can now afford to sponsor their wards’ education abroad, the enactment of right policies by the Singaporean government to increase their competition as an education hub in the region, and partnership of Kaplan with renowned universities across the globe. All these factors increase the potential of success in the Singaporean market.

The sales strategy and tactics

Specific – advertisement and education seminars designed to communicate the value of studying with Kaplan Singapore to international students.

Measurable – should be directed only to international students and be country or content specific in order to measure response from such process.

Attainable – the program will focus mainly on persuading students to enrol with Kaplan based on identified strengths and advantages the school has over other institutions.

Realistic – the program will be realistic in the sense that it will focus only on educational related features because this is basically what the school is designed to offer.

Time frame – the program will be run mainly before the start of a new academic session in order to ensure that the students are capable of enrolling before the session starts and as such ensure that the program becomes a success as the company can also get to meet and counsel potential new students while they make choice for their new courses.

References

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Geoff Maslen 2012 Worldwide student numbers forecast to double by 2025 Issue No:209, Available from: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120216105739999&query=singapore (Accessed 15/04/13).

Hye-Rim Kim 2009 Higher education sees rapid change Available from: http://www.unescobkk.org/education/news/article/higher-education-sees-rapid-change/ (Accessed 15/04/13).

Leow Si Wan and Amelia Tan 2010 Major private schools on growth path Available from: http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20100512-215857.html (Accessed 15/04/13)

Louis Coiffait and James Hill (eds.) 2012 New thinking about the future of higher education in the Asia Pacific region Available from: http://pearsonblueskies.com/2012/context-higher-education-in-asia-pacific/ (Accessed 15/04/13).

Rober, S. (2013), “ASEAN PEST Analysis.” Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/rtwiddy/asean-pestle-jan-2013. [Accessed on: 12/07/2013].

Rosa Becker and Renze Kolster 2012 International student recruitment: policies and developments in selected countries Available from: http://www.nuffic.nl/en/files/documents/news/blogs/internationalstudentrecruitment.pdf/view?searchterm=internationalstudentrecruitment (Accessed 15/04/13).

The Education Workgroup 2012 Developing Singapore’s Education Industry Available from: http://www.mti.gov.sg/ResearchRoom/Documents/app.mti.gov.sg/data/pages/507/doc/9%20ERC_Services_Education.pdf (Accessed 15/04/13).

Toh, M.H. 2012 Internationalization of tertiary education services in Singapore ADBI Working Paper 388. Tokyo: Asia Development Bank Institute. Available from: http://www.adbi.org/working-paper/2012/10/12/5263.internationalization.tertiary.educ.singapore/ (Accessed15/04/13).