A Background


“Online continuing education is creating a new and distinct educational realm, and it is the future of education. There is a market here potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars”
Peter Drucker.

B2C is yesterday's story. Education-to-business and education-to-consumers is tomorrow's story.

The MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree is probably the world’s best-known and most widely recognized postgraduate degree. It is a professional degree - in that it is intended for those who work in business and management i.e., the intention of a program leading to an MBA is to prepare or further prepare individuals for responsible positions in business - usually managerial positions. MBA programs are run throughout the world, as they are seen to be relevant for the preparation of people for work in management irrespective of the industry, business sector, the nature of the economy, etc.


The University

Value Proposition:
To move quality education and training from the confines of the original Campus to distributed learning centers including client sites.

Market:
The target market has been divided into two segments on the basis of MBA institute student composition (esp. in The United States of America)  –
1. Corporate (induction and re-education of employees) and;
2. Retail (students seeking education culminating in certificates and degrees).

Background:
The pace of the Knowledge Economy has created a need for education and re-training on a scale that present delivery systems just can't handle, and for which the Internet and IT themselves will provide the answer. The market for continuing education is already much larger than most people realize. It is estimated that it already accounts for 6% of US GNP, and is growing.

We believe that India will follow a similar curve with respect to the economics of education.

First, the global economy is evolving into a knowledge-based economy, and lifelong learning is now an imperative.

Secondly, a paradigm shift is taking place in the way education is viewed and delivered.

Thirdly, there are huge knowledge gaps in the education system, which need to be addressed through a whole new way.


Revenue Streams


1. The Corporate Market:

Today’s organization looks at training and employee development as amongst the most important contributing factors to survival and business excellence in the market place.  This Corporate Learning Market is, however, highly fragmented and diffused.  There is recognition for a shift from stand-alone training content towards comprehensive education solutions.

Large companies recruit 3000 to 5000 people annually and just do not have the capacity to train them. For example, the TCS College at Trivandrum has a capacity to train 600 employees only at a time. We suggest that the university aim to address this through a set of Comprehensive Education Modules delivered to corporations by combining the Internet and local faculty.

There is thus a target market for:
1. Induction training
2. Subsequent retraining and knowledge up-gradation.
 

2.The Retail Market:

We suggest addressing the need for retail education by simulating the on-campus experience of the existing university campuses. The problem with retail education today is primarily that of demand and supply. The current model suffers from inherent rigidities, which prevent supply from increasing. Apart from infrastructure constraints on brick and mortar campuses a critical limitation is non-availability of quality faculty. The University’s model should take care of both problems by

(a) Distributing the campus to where the demand exists and
(b) Utilising the lectures of the best faculty by introducing portability and scalability through technology.

India, which will be the location of the first successful pilot, has a concentration of English speakers about as large as the whole of the US.
 


 Competitor Analysis


Apart from the Indian Institutions offering Post-graduate diploma courses (such as S. P. Jain, NMIMS, JBIMS etc.), there are a few Universities, which are working on the same model and are fairly active in this market.  However, they have had to adjust to the price sensitivity of the Indian consumer.  A comparative chart is placed below. They are mainly operating in a price range of Rs.220,000 (USD 4725) to Rs.360,000 (USD 7790).

(Nt - Chart enclosed in hard copy document and presentation)


Research Objectives and Information Areas


Decision making Process

- To understand the decision making process in the choice of the college or institute.
- To ascertain who are the initiators that are involved, who are the influencers that affect   the decision, who is the actual decider, who is the person that makes the final choice and who is the person that avails the facility and enrolls in the course?
- What are the factors that are involved in making these decisions?
- At what stage in life are these decisions generally taken?
- What are the emotional factors that go into making such decisions?
- The most ideal and sought institution to attain the degree presently.
 

Perception of the Current Institutes

- What is the current perception of the current institutes that exist in Mumbai?
- What is the perception of the various courses, the faculty, the degree of placements that are assured, the quality of the course?
- What are the various advantages and drawbacks of these courses?
- What is liked and disliked about each of them, image of the particular institutions that exist?
- What is the rational behind a localized degree as compared to a foreign one?

Perception of a U.S. Based Degree

- What is the perception about gaining a U.S based degree?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages that go with the same?
- What are the perceived differences or similarities vis-à-vis Indian Institutes?
- What is the importance or preference level of a U.S. based degree for job placements?

Expectations of the U.S. Based Degree

- Expectations of the consumers, influencers, decision maker’s etc. vis-à-vis the degree.
- What are the expectations as regards to the quality of the course, the faculty, the price, the location, etc?
- The things lacking and thus things that need to be added and incorporated in the course.
 


TARGET SEGMENTS


The target group is divided into 2 major categories:

1. Student clientele –

The student segment includes males and females who are -

1. Either aspiring to do an MBA, or
2. Who have taken the required exams for the purpose of MBA, or
3. Who are already doing an MBA degree, or
4. Who have minimum 2 years work experience, or
5. Who are graduates.
 

2. Corporate clientele –

The Corporate segment includes the following -

1. The officers/junior executives with a graduate or a general post graduate degree. (SEC A2)
2. The officers/junior executives with a graduate or a professional post graduate degree. (SEC A2)
3. Supervisory level with a graduate or a professional post graduate degree. (SEC A2)
4. Officers/middle level/senior level executives with a graduate or a general post graduate degree. (SEC A1)
5. Officers/middle level/senior level executives with a graduate or a professional post graduate degree. (SEC A1)
 

The above 2 segments are then sub-divided into the 5 factor cycle of product purchase generators:

Þ Initiator
Þ Influencer
Þ Decider
Þ Buyer
Þ User
 

Students


The student segment includes males and females who are -

1. Either aspiring to do an MBA, or
2. Who have taken the required exams for the purpose of MBA, or
3. Who are already doing an MBA degree, or
4. Who have minimum 2 years work experience, or
5. Who are graduates.

Initiator:

¨ Parents: They will initiate the student into thinking about the doing an MBA. We assume that they have the capacity to initiate the choice of the student into doing an MBA from your institute.
¨ Seniors: The seniors of the student can help the student to think about doing an MBA from your college. This is basically because the juniors aspire to do what seniors do - following in their footsteps.
¨ Society at Large/Peer Pressure: The student will be under great pressure from the society to do something in life. Thus the choice of the institute can be influenced by which institute is favored by the society (on the basis of perceived ratings).
 

Influencer:

¨ Parents: They are assumed to have the capacity to influence the student regarding the career they should choose and the college they should attend.
¨ Teachers: Teachers play a vital role in shaping the careers of their students. Thus they also play a vital role in influencing the student with respect to attending a particular institution.
¨ Coaching Institutes: The students are also influenced to a certain extent by the teachers as well as the fellow students of their coaching classes and thus tend to make their decision depending upon what the teachers tell them to do, or what their colleagues are doing.
 

Deciders:

¨ Parents: The parents play a major role in deciding the institute the students go to because -
1. They are the ones who are going to be paying the fees and thus choose the institute that they can afford.
2. They always played the role of the decider in the child’s life.
¨ Students: Nowadays the students are their own decision makers. They have strong say about what they wish to do in life. They thus are capable of making their own decision regarding the college they wish to attend.

Buyer:

¨ Parents: The parents will pay for the education of their children.
¨ Students: The students are assumed to be working for a minimum of 2 years and hence are capable of paying their own tuition fees.
¨ Students through financial institutions (student loans): The financial institutions will pay the fees on behalf of students who take education loans from them.
 

Users:

The students themselves who are -
¨ Either aspiring to do an MBA, or
¨ Who have taken the required exams for the purpose of MBA, or
¨ Who are already doing an MBA degree and wish to change to another institute (e.g. go on an exchange program, or
¨ Who have minimum 2 years work experience, or
¨ Who are graduates.
 

Corporates


The Corporate segment includes the following -

1. The officers/junior executives with a graduate or a general post graduate degree. (SEC A2)
2. The officers/junior executives with a graduate or a professional post graduate degree. (SEC A2)
3. Supervisory level with a graduate or a professional post graduate degree. (SEC A2)
4. Officers/middle level/senior level executives with a graduate or a general post graduate degree. (SEC A1)
5. Officers/middle level/senior level executives with a graduate or a professional post graduate degree. (SEC A1)
 

Other factors:

1. The Corporate requires training in better management skills for its employees.
2. They have a latent need for reputed institutions that are offering a custom made educational package to train their managers.
 

Initiator:

¨ The need of the corporate to train their employees.
¨ The HR department of the company who suggests that training is required as also the institution that can provide it.
¨ The pitch made by various institutions to provide the training.
¨ The experience and the recommendations of other corporates.
 

Influencer:

¨ Other Corporates: They are the ones who have either already used such a training and can influence the decision of the corporate, or have not and thus may positively or adversely influence them.
¨ HRD Department: This department is responsible for all decisions regarding training of employees and hence will play a role in influencing the decision regarding the institute whose services can be obtained.
¨ Pitch from various institutes: The reputations and the offers of various institutes who have pitched for the job will also influence the decision of the corporate.
 

Deciders:

¨ Top Management: The top management is the main decision maker in the corporate organization.
¨ HR Department: The HR department of the company are the decision makers regarding the institute chosen for such educative training.
 

 Buyer:

¨ The Top Management (perhaps including the Board of Directors) will be the buyer of the services provided by the institute, as they are the ones who authorize the requisite funding.
 

Users:

¨ The Employees of the corporate who needs to be trained, i.e. –

1. The officers/junior executives
2. Supervisory level officers.
3. Officers/middle level/senior level executives
 


RESEARCH METHODOLOGY


BUDGET: 2,00,000 Rs.

Cost of a FGD: 25000 Rs.
Cost of a DI/ TRIANGLE interview: 10,000 Rs.


Distribution – FGDs, DIs and Triangular Interviews

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS


1: The first FGD will consist of MBA aspirants who are working.

The recruitment forms for this FGD will ensure that the participants are:

o Working in a company/firm for at least 2 years.
o Looking to do an MBA in near future.
o Have (at least) considered an MBA abroad.

Recommended issues to be discussed:

· Why do you want to do an MBA?
· What do you think is the importance of doing an MBA abroad? (US degree will be discussed indirectly.)
· What are your views on institutes that offer a US based degree?
· How much would you be willing to spend?
 

2: The second FGD will consist of MBA aspirants who are not working.

The recruitment forms will ensure that the participants are:

o Either fresh graduates, in their final year, recent graduates or doing professional courses.
o Looking to do an MBA.
o Considering an MBA abroad.

Recommended questions to be discussed:

· Why an MBA?
· Advantages/disadvantages of an MBA abroad.
· What advantages do you think the working applicants hold over you?
· What if an MBA institute was offering a US degree in Bombay? (Subtlety should be maintained.
· How much would you be willing to spend?
 
 

3: The third FGD will consist of students who have do not wish to do an MBA abroad.

The recruitment forms will ensure that the participants are:

o Either fresh graduates, in their final year, recent graduates or doing professional courses.
o Considering an MBA.
o Not keen on going abroad.

Recommended questions to be discussed:

· Names of the top MBA colleges in India? In Bombay?
· Where these colleges stand in the world ranking & why?
· If the Indian institutes are ranked low than why are you not considering an international degree?
· What if a University from US were to give a degree in Bombay?
· How much would you be willing to spend?
 

4: The fourth FGD will consist of either recent graduates of MBA institutes or currently doing their MBA, preferably from competitive institutes.

The recruitment forms will ensure that the participants are:

o Either recent MBA school graduates, or are currently doing their MBA
o Belong to competitive institutes

Recommended questions to be discussed:

· Current scenario of the market.
· How do you think your MBA has helped/ will help you?
· Discuss in detail, what they think is lacking in their institutes or what changes would they have brought to their institutes
 

DEPTH INTERVIEWS

In DI’s the main focus of the research is on interviewing personnel from the area of observation i.e. HRD managers of top Indian firms and MNCs, MDs of leading MBA institutes, MDs of coaching classes in Bombay etc.

We will conduct 4 DIs with the HR managers of the mentioned top companies. This will be done mainly to understand their recruiting patterns and to elicit from them the requirements of their corporations with regard to management training in order to be able to sell them customised courses which will be taken by either their prospective or current employees. These courses will be tailor-made to suit the corporation’s needs at the work place.

Recommended companies: TATA, HLL, ONGC, SBI, RELAINCE, etc.

1. 1 DI will be conducted with the Dean or Director of one of the competitor institutes.
2. 1 DI will be conducted with the Dean or Director of ISB (International School of Business), Hyderabad.
3. 1 DI will be conducted with the MD of one of the leading coaching classes in mumbai.
E.g.: Mr. Rama from Career Launcher or Mr. Kamlesh Sajnani from IMS.
4. 1 DI will be conducted with the editor of one of the leading magazines, which conduct a periodical analysis of MBA institutes. E.g.: Business Today.
 

TRIANGULAR INTERVIEW

One triangular interview will be conducted with 3 parents. The composition will be as follows -

1. One of them must be of the opinion that a foreign degree is a must for their child.
2. One of them must be of the opinion that there is nothing special about these degrees and so will not send his/her child to such institutes.
3. The third parent will be a confused parent who is not sure what to do.