World-class University
Strategy development and formulation
The life-long learning department was about to have its government funding reduced, as were its peer group, due to a change in government rules that disallowed funding for those with an equivalent or lesser qualification. We were asked to help identify a strategy to make up for this funding gap.
Our remit was to help the client to determine what could be done to continue to prosper in a changing and competitive market.
We worked with the leadership group to create a Vision for the future as a first step in the strategy cycle. We also diagnosed the organisational culture to determine what changes were needed to align with the Vision. Then we undertook a series of focus groups with current and potential students, as well as workshops with staff, in order to understand more clearly what different market segments wanted and how sensitive they were respectively to various pricing levels. Finally, we ran an online quantitative survey with existing students and an online panel survey with potential students.
The research clearly identified opportunities in the market and what the organisation would be able to do to retain existing students and to expand into new markets with new audiences.