For Tutor Gabriel

Competitive landscape of the educational market: A managerial perspective

Magdalena Krzyzanowska Kozminski University, Poland

Jolanta Tkaczyk Kozminski University, Poland

Abstract

Brand positioning, which is an attempt to create a unique competitive position that gives buyers a reason to choose a particular offer, is regarded as a cornerstone of successful marketing strategy of any company or non-profit organisation. Despite the importance of the positioning concept, however, limited attention has been paid to the question whether players in the educational market are prepared to implement such strategies and, if not, what are the main obstacles to developing such concepts.

The authors investigate these research questions by identifying the perception of competition held by managers of non-public educational institutions in Poland. This perspective is chosen because positioning, by its nature, depends on how the competitive situation is perceived and interpreted by the players. This article reports the results of a qualitative study of how managers in educational institutions perceive their competition. Results of the study indicate that managers of non-public schools are neither clear nor explicit about who their competitors are; however, paradoxically, they try to differentiate from them. These insights can be of value to institutions seeking to improve their positioning strategy.

Keywords: competitive analysis, managerial perception, positioning, educational market

Introduction and objectives

Non-public educational institutions – providing services within the framework of compulsory school education in Poland – operate in an atmosphere of systematically worsening abilities to attract pupils, which results from the decrease in the size of population subject to compulsory education. These conditions determine that the concept of service positioning become of key importance in the functioning of non-public schools, allowing for their efficient market differentiation.

So far, the issue of educational services positioning in case of non-public schools has been presented first of all in a normative way, under which it has been assumed that recognition of the competitive situation is an indispensable element of the development of the position concept, but the problem of the actual involvement of people managing non- public schools in this process has been disregarded. This is why the aim of the present paper is to identify ways for managers of non-public schools to perceive competition. Achievement of this objective was based on findings of the qualitative study conducted among managers of non-public schools established by the Civic Educational Association (Społeczne Towarzystwo Oświatowe - STO).

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The paper consists of four sections. Firstly, the literature output is reviewed. Then the study’s methodology is described and the characteristics of storytelling are explained as a research method. The third section contains the results and conclusions, followed by an explanation of the study’s limitations and a suggestion of topics for further research that stem from the analysis.

Literature review

STO schools in the Polish market of educational services

The educational system in Poland operates according to the Education System Act dated 7th September 1991 (Dz. U., 2004). Among schools contributing to the compulsory part of the educational system (on which this research is focused) since the 1999/2000 school year, there have been two types of establishments: six-year primary schools and three- year lower secondary schools (the latter replaced eight-year primary schools). Both types of school can be either public or non-public with the status of a public school (meaning they implement the minimum programme and apply the principles of promoting pupils). (Chart 1)

Chart 1 Levels of the educational system in Poland

Compulsory  educa/on

Source: own

A non-public school is an educational institution run by legal or private persons on the basis of a record in the register of establishments and non-public schools made in the department of education of a proper authority. Compulsory education starts at the beginning of the school year in the calendar year in which a child becomes 7 years old (unless the application of compulsory education is postponed for the child due to individual reasons), and continues until graduation from a lower secondary school (usually at the age of 16), but no longer than when a person becomes 18 years old.

Since 1995, the number of students at all levels of education has been gradually shrinking due to the demographic decrease of school age population in Poland.

In the years 2000–2009 the number of primary school pupils (children aged 7–12) decreased by 29.3 percent, while the number of children subject to lower secondary education (aged 13–15) shrank by 28.8 percent. (Chart 2)

The decreasing population of students is not irrelevant to the closure of more and more primary schools. Their number declines systematically; in the school year 2009/2010, it dropped by 2,800 (i.e., 16.7 percent) as compared to 2000/2001. It is an interesting

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occurrence, however, that despite the shrinking population of children aged 13–15 in the school year 2009/2010, the number of lower secondary schools grew by 949 (i.e., 15.1 percent) as compared to 2000/2001. (Chart 3)

Chart 2 The number of pupils in primary and lower secondary schools in years 2000–2011 in Poland

Source: (CSU, Social Surveys Division 2010)

Chart 3 The number of primary and lower secondary schools in years 2000–2011 in Poland

Source: (CSU, Social Surveys Division 2010)

Independent not-for-profit schools as well as private schools, both currently called non- public schools, have been established as an alternative to undercapitalised and poorly organised state-owned institutions. As a nongovernment organisation, the Civic Educational Association (STO) started to set up educational establishments as early as 1989. Local authorities responsible for education gave their consent for the foundation of 32 schools in this year, while in the school year 1990/1991 their number reached 179. After two years of the association’s existence, 211 independent not-for-profit schools provided educational services to 10,000 pupils. At that time, 194 STO local branches were operating.

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Unfortunately, threats that initially weren’t recognised by founders soon surfaced. Schools began to struggle with financial difficulties, lack of premises, vagueness of both educational concept and graduate model, and vagueness of the school subjectivity and its equity. Consequently, some of the schools ended their existence and many changed their character.

At the beginning of 2011, there were 86 local branch offices operating within the association and they managed 156 educational institutions. At present, there are 2,662 non-public educational establishments in the market. From the very beginning, the specific character of independent not-for-profit schools was determined mainly by the great engagement of their founders – in 10 out of 11 schools established in 1989, parents of potential pupils were both founders and teachers. As for the pupils, a high level of identification with the school was observed.

The actual situation of independent non-profit schools often is provisional. They lose popularity and their appearance is repellent, as it makes the impression of temporariness. The attitude of local governments also is hardly attracting, as they prefer investments in public schools. Despite the unquestionable advantages and merits of non-public education, it has faced some necessary changes, including the precise definition of its function in the school system and strengthening its position in the market of educational services. The non-public nature of STO school operation puts these institutions in the situation of being forced to compete not only with public schools but also with one another, if located in the same neighbourhood (particularly big cities). Due to the approaching occurrence of demographic decline, schools will have more and more problems with pupils enrolment and – even if they don’t notice or suffer it at present – they will be forced to seek an efficient way to persuade parents to choose the given institution as the place of education for their children. From a marketing perspective, the use of positioning concept is the natural solution in such a situation.

The nature and criteria of positioning

The concept of positioning is commonly presented in the literature as the key element of marketing strategy (Garbarski, 2011; Kotler, 2005), but its interpretations are not homogeneous. In general, they can be classified into narrow and wide ones. Narrow interpretations are originated from the repeatedly quotable publication by Ries and Trout (1981), according to which positioning distinguishes a product in consumers’ minds and refers to the formation of the marketing mix structure, with special regard for the marketing communication. The extended interpretation is connected with the assumption that positioning constitutes the basis of the marketing strategy, because it combines the choice of the target market with the type of competitive edge the company strives for. According to this approach, the strategic meaning of positioning is meant to include the fact that positioning determines paths for raising resources required to achieve the chosen strategy (Attia and Hooley, 2007).

Considering the more comprehensive character of the wide approach, which notes not only the tactical meaning of positioning but also its strategic importance, including competitive conditions, such approach was adopted in this paper. We acknowledge that positioning serves the organisation’s offer in taking the unique position – as compared to competitors’ offers – in the buyers’ minds, thanks to which they make a decision to purchase it.

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In practice, positioning is accomplished through the utilisation of certain features of an offer that are defined as the positioning criteria. Just like the apprehension of the positioning concept, the matter of its criteria has been the subject of controversy (Blankson and Kalafatis, 2004). In the present paper, the authors lay on the empirically verified typology of positioning criteria, presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Typology of positioning criteria.

Positioning criterion Characteristics of the offer Top of the range Upper class, Top of the range, Status, Prestigious, Posh Service Impressive service, Personal attention, Consider people as

important, Friendly Value for money Durability, Warranty, Safety, Reliability Attractiveness Good aesthetics, Attractive, Cool, Elegant Country of origin Patriotism, Country of origin Brand name The name of the offering, Leaders in the market, Extra

features, Choice, Wide range Selectivity Discriminatory, Non-selective, High principles

Source: (Blankson and Kalafatis, 2004)

Authors also acknowledge that the use of the positioning concept in the operation of a non-commercial organisation, such as non-public school, depends on how the competitive conditions are perceived.

Perception of competition

Perception of competition is here understood as the impression on the character of the competition, recognised in the organisation, incurred by its members and affecting the decision-making process in the organisation. It may proceed on three levels: referring to the competitors’ present actions, their future actions and future reactions (Montgomery et al, 2005). In practice the perception of competition depends on mental constructions, developed by managers with reference to the complex conditions of competitive environment. In general they make certain simplifications in the process of diagnosing the situation of their organisation, because they are unable to process all pieces of information or they don’t have access to this information (Krzyżanowska, 2011). Their perception can be therefore exposed to two types of distortion, resulting from underestimating or overestimating competition as the factor influencing the given organisation (Deshpandé and Gatignon1994).

Taking the nature of educational services and the characteristics of STO institutions into account authors formulate a hypothesis on distortions in perceiving competition by persons managing STO establishments. These distortions consist in underestimating competition and are demonstrated by the occurrence of the following: (1) ‘winner blindness’ syndrome – manifested when decision makers recognise their rivals’ behaviour insufficiently due to their previous market successes, (2) escalating attachment to previous decisions – manifested by the belief that decisions that were appropriate in the past would also suit the future, (3) excessive confidence in foresight – resulting from the belief in one’s ability to anticipate the rivals’ behaviour, (4) limited perspective – being the 242

effect of the fixed way of analysing problems that doesn’t allow to identify new phenomenon (Krzyżanowska, 2011).

Research approach and methodology In order to identify the way competition is perceived by non-public educational institutions, the storytelling method was utilised. Storytelling is the research method based on the analysis of stories produced by members of a given community (Hopkinson and Hogg, 2006, p.156).

The story in the storytelling method is defined by three aspects: time, meaning and social aspect (Hinchman and Hinchman, 1997). The time aspect means firstly that the story is placed in a certain time, and secondly, that the fixed chronology of events is observed. The meaning aspect regards determination of the story’s purpose, while the social aspect refers to the construction of the story by somebody, for somebody.

Storytelling is used widely in social sciences and also beside them. Descriptions of this methods and its utilisation can be found in psychology (e.g. Bruner, 1986; Sarbin, 1986; Polkinghorne, 1988, 1991,1996; Gergen and Gergen, 1988, McAdams 1996), sociology (e.g. Ezzy, 1996; Somers, 1994), anthropology (e.g. Ochs and Capps, 1996), linguistics (e.g. Labov and Waletsky, 1997/1967), as well as in the fields of law, medicine, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, social work and education (Riessman, 1993).

The potential of storytelling also has been appreciated in marketing – at first mainly in service marketing, where clients’ experiences were expected to serve better development of service (Stern, 1998), as well as in consumer behaviour, where the clients’ stories allowed learning more about the process of purchase decision making and their relationships with brands (Brown, 1997; Brown and Reid 1997; Grayson 1997; Hirschman, 1988, 2000; Stern, 1995; Thompson, 1997), and later also in strategic marketing, among others as the dominant logic of the organisation (Deighton, 2004, pp. 19–20).

Adopting the criterion of the story narrator, we have either first order or second order narratives (Carr, 1997). The first order narrative means the firsthand story, the collection of a lifetime history, the experience of one particular person, who presents his or her own viewpoint to the researcher. The analysis of the first order narrative can take the form of analysing the autobiographic story, where the researcher is both the author and the hero of the narrative. The second order narrative refers to stories heard or imagined; it may present myths or events not necessarily experienced by the narrator, who, however, has a certain opinion about them. The analysis of the second order narrative can apply to people, objects and organisations in both individual and social aspects (e.g., a group of clients, group of competitors, etc.) (Elliott, 2005).

In the research process, stories can be used in many ways, according to the adopted research perspectives – positivist and interpretivist. The positivist approach is identified with objectivism. It sees one objective truth that can be discovered by science. Positivism encourages emphasis on functions of objects and perceiving the world as a rational, well- organised place with the past, present and future clearly defined. The interpretivist approach emphasises the meaning of the symbolic subjective experience. According to this approach, every individual creates his or her own meanings, and this is why there are neither good or bad answers, while the world we live in is made of pastiche or collage of pictures (Solomon, 2006, p. 55).

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The research plan was developed on the basis of the interpretivist perspective. The main objective of this approach is to understand processes, occurrences and behaviour in a certain framework of context and time. The narrative analysis is characterised by the following features: (1) it is aimed at exploring occurrences, (2) it is flexible, (3) it is held in the respondents’ natural environment.

The research has been conducted with the use of the concept by Czarniawska (2004) referring to the narrative analysis as the process with a number of stages to be passed through by the researcher who analyses practice approaching certain theories on this basis.

Table 2. Stages of narrative analysis

Course of action Process characteristics 1. Decide the type of story to be

collected Positivist or interpretivism perspecitve; first order or second order narratives, purpose of research, real event or myth

1. Identify the source of stories Definition of informants, respondents, participants

1. C h o o s e c o n t e x t f o r storytelling

Method of data collection: interview, questionnaires; time and location

1. Provoke storytelling Settlement of different stimuli and prompts 1. Collect the stories Determination of the data collecting means –

written, oral, taped, diaries … 1. Analyse/interpret stories Analysis of relationships in time, analysis of

structure and content – who says what and how?

1. Write up stories Development of cases, coded categories 1. Put together your own story Theory building/generation 1. Set it against/together with

other stories Definition of limitations and contribution of research in theory creation and development

Source: (Czarniawska 2004)

The actions undertaken within the process of narrative analysis in the study are presented in Table 3.

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Table 3. Adopted stages of narrative analysis

Course of action Adopted research process/proceedings 1. Decide the type of story to be

collected Interpretivist approach, purpose – perception of business environment (consumers’ and competitors’ behaviour)

1. Identify the source of stories Managerial staff in STO schools 1. C h o o s e c o n t e x t f o r

storytelling In-depth interview with medium level of structuralisation

1. Provoke storytelling Questions sent to respondents with the request for detailed answers in written, books offered as a reward

1. Collect the stories Collection of written stories 1. Analyse/interpret stories The content analysis – both qualitative and

quantitative 1. Write up stories Development of categories and research

description 1. Put together your own story Formulation of conclusions 1. Set it against/together with

other stories Definition of limitations

Source: Self-study based on: (Czarniawska, 2004)

During the research, the second order narration was used. A school or school group (primary school and lower secondary school) being the STO member was chosen as the subject of the research, with a school manager or deputy manager as the collection unit. The request for participation in the research was sent to the entire general population of 75 institutions meeting the research criteria, i.e., excluding kindergartens, music schools and adult schools. The number of received answers was 35, out of which 12 qualified for the next stage of research due to their compliance with the assumed conditions of the research method. Among respondents there were representatives of both small establishments (60 pupils) and big institutions (more than 200 pupils), from large urban complexes and small towns, located all over the country (Białystok, Bielawa, Gdańsk, Jelenia Góra, Częstochowa, Ostrołęka, Warszawa, Tychy, Zielona Góra). Respondents also were diverse in terms of their managerial experience (from 2 months to 21 years in the school manager’s chair).

Findings and conclusions

In the course of the research, 12 extensive written elaborations referring to the questions put by authors of the study were collected. The questions touched two topical issues: buyers’ behaviour connected with the choice of school, and imaginative notions on the current competitive position, as well as the competition impact on the school’s operation. The managers of STO institutions declared they were well familiar with the process of choosing the school by parents and pupils. The part of respondents supported their opinion about this issue by quoting the results of questionnaire surveys, conducted among pupils’ parents, for example:

‘according to questionnaire surveys carried out among parents of our pupils small-sized classes, safety and high level of teaching are main reasons of choice’.

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In order to identify in the narration the most often repeated criteria of choice the quantitative text analysis was performed, combining similar or congenial statements. The findings of the analysis are presented in Table 4.

Table 4. Main criteria of the school choice from parental perspective according to school managers

Criterion Occurrence numer

Criterion Occurrence number

Educational offer 28

P u p i l s ’ p e r f o r m a n c e 21

Safety 13

Individual approach 8

Care 8

Cosiness/Privacy 6

R e l a t i o n s h i p s 5

T e a c h i n g s t a f f 4

Location 4

A c q u a i n t a n c e s ’ o p i n i o n 3

Source: own

The following features were indicated as the most important criteria of choice: educational offer, variety of extracurricular activities, high level of teaching (pupils’ performance and examination results), as well as safety. Individual opinions emphasised the importance of prestige, a specific trend towards choosing a non-public school, mainly in case of smaller towns.

According to the school managers acquaintances’ opinions are the main source of information both for parents choosing the school for their children, and for pupils themselves:

‘they find their way to us being attracted mainly by the friend’s recommendation’; ‘word of mouth is the best one’; ‘opinion of other parents and pupils is the most important’; ‘gossip news’.

Web pages, and sometimes profiles in social media, serve as the additional sources of information.

In the opinion of school managers parents and pupils intending to choose an independent non-profit school consider most often 2–3 institutions; hardly ever is only one school taken into account. Such shortlist includes an independent non-profit school, a local public school, and sometimes also another non-public institution, but this depends on the availability of the latter in the neighbourhood of decision-makers’ residences:

‘in my opinion, two: public and non-public one’; ‘not more than two schools and mainly non-profit ones’; ‘at least three’.

A significant number of managers perceive the school’s distinguishing features being identical with the major criteria used by parents and pupils when choosing a non-public school. In the forefront there are as follows: teaching level, results achieved by students

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during exams, safety provided by the school (among others through its privacy/cosiness), as well as the wide offer of extracurricular activities to be chosen according to individual preferences. Few institutions use outward communication to inform about their distinguishers – if so, such information appears on the school webpage, and sometimes in local media.

Managers of 10 institutions mentioned their school’s mission, while in two others the work on it was currently in progress, respondents reported. What can be mentioned as the common denominator of these missions is that a great emphasis is placed on the formation of values among pupils:

‘Yes, we have our mission and values play a huge role in it’; ‘We educate pupils in the spirit of universal moral values, tolerance, humanistic values, patriotism, solidarity, democracy, freedom and social justice’; ‘We exist in order to accompany our pupils in their way to self-recognition and self-fulfilment, in the ambience of love, wisdom and respect for freedom’; ‘our school is a school based on values’.

Opinions about the competition impact on the operations of surveyed institutions were divided among their managers. In general, three following approaches to competitors and to the assessment of their influence on schools can be found: (1) competitors are ignored (4 opinions), (2) competitors are noticed, but their impact is regarded as minor (4 opinions), (3) competitors are noticed and their impact is regarded as considerable (4 opinions). Ignoring rivals is associated with self-perception as the different category:

‘we don’t experience competition, because we are the school supplementing the educational offer of other schools in the region’; ‘we don’t rather notice it, for three years we have had no problem with enrolment’; ’each school has its profile or determinants, I don’t like competing’.

The small impact of competitors, including both public and non-public institutions is connected with apprehension of changes in the environment by respondents, however also with their underestimation, at least for the time being:

‘new institutions that focus on didactic base have been established, they are not a competition yet, we have a greater experience, but over time they may become a serious competitor’.

The considerable impact of competition is experienced by weakly equipped establishments, operating without their own base. Their managers pay attention at more attractive conditions of studying in public schools and lack of tuition fee, which in certain locations is the significant factor lowering the tendency to choose a non-public school:

‘parents think it makes no sense to pay for their child’s education, if they can have it for free in a public school’.

The perception of competition by managers of STO institutions is quite narrow. Only one respondent indicated the possibility of change in the competitive situation of the managed school in the near future, while others focused on the current landscape. Furthermore, only institutions located in the direct neighbourhood of the surveyed schools were taken into account by their managers. The analysis of narratives submitted by STO schools’ managers allowed authors of this study to accept in part the previously 247

formulated hypothesis about the occurrence of distortions in perception of competition by persons managing institutions associated in STO. Underestimating or even ignoring competition appears in respondents’ declarations; however, such behaviour doesn’t prevail. Referring to the previously defined reasons underlying distortions in perception of competition, mainly two of them can be found in the managers’ answers: escalating attachment to former decisions and limited perspective. It is particularly evident in the stories of respondents with more than 10-year experience in school management.

Managers paying attention at competitors, but indicating their small influence on the institution’s activity were usually highly aware of the school’s distinguishers in the market of educational services. In the analyzed elaborations nearly all distinguishing features being the basic criteria of positioning appeared, with the special regard to quality, reliability, brand, individual solutions. Although aware of the distinguishers’ importance in the process of school choice, managers of STO institutions communicate outward such features rather seldom, assuming to some extent that a good product, such as they have, sells itself. Even if they communicate the above, it is mainly supported by word of mouth. The schools’ aspirations, manifested in their missions, are focused first of all on the intrinsic development of their pupils. None of the analysed missions included elements mentioned by managers as distinguishers of their institutions. As a matter of fact, all the missions were quite similar.

While identifying obstacles to effective implementation of the positioning concept by the non-public STO institutions the attention should be paid at the following: lacking need (hitherto schools haven’t had problems with enrolment), resource barriers (lack of their own base, necessity to focus on survival), mental barriers (attachment to past actions). Of course, the study findings can be neither generalised nor extended to the entire population of non-public schools; however, the research conducted by authors of this paper allow for exploration of problems and occurrences concerning the issue of schools’ functioning in the environment of increasing competitiveness. The basic recommendations for managers of STO institutions can be set as follows:

- Managers should make the perspective for assessment of competitive position of the school longer (a longer-term planning is therefore necessary) - Managerial staff ought to pay more attention at observation of competitors’ behaviour - Managers should select 1–3 basic features distinguishing their school from competitors - Distinguishers of the school are required to be communicated outward in straightforward way and perhaps reflected in the school’s mission.

Limitations and further research

The size of surveyed group is the basic limitation of the conducted research. Despite incentives in the form of a book prize, a significant number of school managers weren’t encouraged to participate in the research. Reaching a larger group of respondents would permit examining defined issues from a wider perspective. Nevertheless, even with the participation of only 12 representatives of STO institutions, the authors managed to achieve both cognitive goals that had been initially set and practical research.

Further research should be conducted in order to verify previously formulated hypotheses with the use of quantitative methods and to confront the managers’ notions with buyers’ opinions. The competition among educational institutions in the Polish market is expected

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