Final strategy paper

Department of entomology University of Maryland

Introduction

The University of Maryland is a public institution that was founded in 1859. The campus is situated in a 1,213- acre land, in College Park ten miles from downtown Washington, D.C. It is one of the most distinguished public universities especially in research, and attracts students across the globe. University of Maryland leads other world class universities in the teaching of undergraduate courses such as medicine (Dudovskiy, 2014). Generally, there are more than 200 innovative and challenging academic programs that students can take. Several of these programs are popularly known across the globe because they are offered by qualified lecturers. Its suburban location enables scholars to carry out their research and internships effectively. Additionally, there is strong leadership among faculties and leads to common uniform success of the whole university programs. Needless to say, distinctive programs offered at University of Maryland makes the institution a place to choose for an exceptional education.

In 1859, the initial courses’ catalogue offered at University of Maryland listed entomology as one of the main subjects (Dudovskiy, 2014). Therefore, it is evident that entomology at the institution had an early beginning. Not only does University of Maryland boost with an early establishment of entomology department, but early entomologists were first recognized here. For example, Townend Glover is one of the great professors in entomology. He was the first entomologist who set a pace for other entomologists who would later come to be well known for generations, among them Charles Valentine Riley and Willis Johnson.

Other departments in the university include school of dentistry, school of law, school of nursing, school of social work and school of pharmacy. Nevertheless, entomologists at the university continue offering research, teaching and extension on applied aspects of entomology (Sara, 2016). This faculty has remained the most fundamental compared to others at the University of Maryland.

This report seeks to analyze both internal and external environments affecting operations at University of Maryland, among them financial issues. In this regard, the report will feature the PESTEL framework, Five- Forces Model and the SWOT analysis in evaluating the status of University of Maryland. Most importantly, this analysis will assist the institution to work on its weaknesses, as it improves its strengths so as to continue being the best university globally.

PESTEL Analysis

The PESTEL analysis discusses the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors of the education sector; these factors may be either affect university education either positively or negatively (Sara, 2016). PESTEL analysis will be effective to the University of Maryland because it will highlight strategies which it can capitalize on in order to stand as the University of Choice.

Political Factors

Political factors highlights the extent to which the government intervenes in the economy, and ultimately to the education sector. Ideally, political factors include tax policies, labor laws and regulations, environmental guidelines, trade restrictions and political stability. University of Maryland is an institution that provides education services. In this case, it follows rules and regulations set by the government’s education ministry. Since the University serves students from all over the world, then it must ensure that it respects people’s diversified cultures. In most cases, the University of Maryland finds it difficult to adhere to constant changing education policies due to political interests. Nevertheless, it must adapt to such politically initiated changes because it desires to continue being relevant in the education sector.

Economic Factors

Economic factors include economic growth, interest rates, inflation rate and exchange rates. These factors have a significant effect on how universities operate and make decisions, since they deal with finances at each stage of their operations. For example, interest rates affect the university’s cost of capital and therefore to what extent the university grows and expands its infrastructure. Also, exchange rates affect the cost of studies by foreign students, which means that their admission may either be positively or negatively affected depending on decrease or increase in currency exchange rates (Sara, 2016). Needless to say, University of Maryland may face economic setbacks in the global expansion due to the current economic slowdown brought by inflation. However, it has several opportunities to expand its faculties because it is situated in a country that is economically stable (USA).

Social Factors

Social factors include the cultural factors such as health consciousness, students’ growth rate, distribution of age, attitudes among students on career and safety issues. Basically, trends for social factors affect the University of Maryland’s demand for its programs, and ultimately how the university operates. For example, an ageing workforce especially among lecturers may imply less- working workforce thus increasing chances of students opting for universities with energetic lecturers. However, the university may change its management strategy by change the social trends, such as by recruiting young lecturers.

Generally, social factors refer to changes that the University must make so as to remain relevant in the university education sector. Due to emergence of more universities, students have raised concerns on their safety and quality of education they receive at University of Maryland. In short, they have become knowledgeable that there are other universities which can give better education services. This implies that the University of Maryland must change tactics of handling the social factors so as to remain relevant.

Technological Factors

There are several aspects of technology which have been introduced in the market; which have given awareness to people about the University of Maryland. Currently, the University has altered its service delivery especially by the application of modern ways of teaching. Basically, technology incentives and technological changes have a significant influence on decisions (Dudovskiy, 2014). Application of special software in teaching and use of social media in advertising the University are some of the technological factors which have improved innovation. Therefore, the fact that the University of Maryland has inculcated technology in its operations implies that it has optimal chances for remaining the best university globally.

Legal Factors

Legal factors entail laws and regulations in the region that the University of Maryland operates. It is crucial to consider legal factors so as to avoid unnecessary legal costs. Several legal factors can affect a University that does not operate responsibly. Therefore, in order to avoid legal pitfalls, it is vital for the University to remain within the confines of set regulations. The main legal factors to consider include:

· Employment policies

· Health and students’ safety regulations

· Competitive regulations, among others

It is very important to conduct a PESTEL analysis before serious decisions are made. The University of Maryland leadership should conduct it before engaging in any issue, such as introduction of new faculties. In essence, understanding the influencing factors especially to the department of Entomology is the initial step to understanding how to deal with them.

The University of Maryland Operating Environment

The Five- Forces Model

The Porter’s Five Forces model is a significant tool for understanding the environment in which the university operates (Michael, 2013). The model highlights the strengths of the university at its current position, as well as strategies of putting it to the lead in future. With a clear and concise understanding of where power lies, one is able to take a fair merit of a strong situation, improve weak ones and avoid the wrong steps. Most importantly, the Five- Forces Model is applied in determining if new courses or increased students’ enrolment have the profitability potential.

The main forces under the Five- Forces Model include:

i) Supplier Power

Here, the university should access the ability of human resource to push up prices. This is determined by their control over the company especially due to uniqueness of their services, for example lecturers. Generally, the fact that the university cannot operate without labor providers means that it cannot avoid their control over the general management of the university.

ii) Buyers Power

Here, the university should access the student’s ability to drive price for courses down. Again, this aspect is determined by the number of students since few students would imply the Entomology course is costly so fee must be reduced. On the other hand, courses with many students may mean that they are cheap thus their prices must be increased. In this regard, buyers in this case who are students, have the ability to determine how the university charges its courses.

iii) Competitive Rivalry

Here we determine the number of competitors and their ability to control market due to the University of Maryland’s unique courses. In most cases, students are likely to consider other competing universities in case there are improved courses compared to the University of Maryland. Therefore, the strength of the university is determined by how well its programs are improved, especially due to introduction of technology.

iv) The Substitution Threat

This is affected by the ability of competing universities to devise unique ways of offering their courses differently from the University of Maryland. For example, if the university applies software in controlling admission and learning processes, other universities may substitute that by even applying better software. Arguably, substitution weakens the power of the university in remaining unique.

i) New Entry Threat

The University of Maryland’s power of offering unique courses such as entomology is impaired if other universities gains the ability to offer a similar course (s). Generally, universities have the ability to offer similar courses such as those offered at the University of Maryland if it costs them less time and money (Michael, 2013). This aspect can only be controlled by the government through introduction of resilient entry barriers. The five forces are well- articulated by the diagram shown below:

Source: Michael (2013). A graphical representation of the Porter’s Five Forces

SWOT Analysis

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The analysis is the most useful to assist the University of Maryland in the planning steps of various faculties. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the university’s working team, and include resources, location and experience. Strengths and weaknesses change over time, thus they may require actions to stay or improve. Opportunities and threats are primarily external factors such as competition, economic trends and cost of education. They are factors which are not under the confines of the University’s control.

Generally, SWOT analysis plays a significant role in shaping the University’s goals. This report highlights only a few SWOT factors which make the University of Maryland to remain a university of choice.

Strengths

Location- No other public university is situated in a better geographical location than the University of Maryland. The campus is just a few minutes from the nation’s main city, Washington, D.C. This aspect provides students with an opportunity to interact with people of great influence, and makes the university serve as a gateway to the rest of the world.

Weaknesses

An outdated education program- The University’s general education has served students well for almost 30 years. However, great universities recommend reviewing the Entomology department programs and other courses so as to remain relevant to the 21st century education needs.

Opportunities

Research, scholarships and the arts- University of Maryland’s rise in academic stature and quality of its programs, its fine location and the innovation culture gives it a superb opportunity for leadership in research, scholarship and the arts.

Threats

Unstable and unpredictable state funding- This is the main threat experienced by the University of Maryland. Basically, establishing a unique university requires stable and predictable source of revenue. There are several operational interferences experienced due to ups and downs in state funds. The University should pursue strategies of reducing the volatility of state and agencies’ funding, and come up with appropriate funding processes (Meyer, 2015).

Financial Analysis

The University of Maryland is the largest in Washington Metropolitan region. Its enrollment stands at 38, 000 students per year. Most importantly, University of Maryland is a member of American Universities association, which implies that it receives much of its funding from the government. Also, the faculty members receive funding for their research from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, Department of Homeland Security and the American Institute of Standards and Technology (Meyer, 2015). The university’s operating budget during the 2010 financial year was projected to be close to $1.632 billion. For the same financial year, the institution received $519 million for the support of research work from various agencies. This funding was much more compared to the previous year when it had received $450 million. As of May 2014, the university’s expectations of increased funding had exceeded to $970 million. In short, University of Maryland receives adequate funding from the government and private agencies, much of which is used in paring workers, developing infrastructure and funding research.

References

Dudovskiy, M. (2014). Configurations of governance structure, generic strategy, and firm

size. Global Strategy Journal, 4(4), 292-309

Meyer, N. (2015). Intensive growth strategies: A closer examination. Journal of Business

Research, 10(4), 503-522

Michael E. Porter. (2013). The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy: Harvard Business

Review, Free Press, New York

Sara, G. (2016). Generic strategies as determinants of strategic group membership and

organizational performance. Academy of Management Journal, 27(3), 467-488