Union College

Strategic Management Case

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction................................................................................................................1
2. Purpose of study.........................................................................................................1
3. Approach....................................................................................................................2
4. Vision statement.........................................................................................................3
5. Mission statement.......................................................................................................3
6. Environmental assessment.........................................................................................4
UC’s internal capabilities and resources....................................................................6
Opportunities and threats............................................................................................6
Analysis of internal capabilities and external conditions...........................................8
7. Strategy formulation.................................................................................................10
8. Strategy implementation..........................................................................................10
9. Evaluation and control.............................................................................................10
10. Conclusion..............................................................................................................10
11. References..............................................................................................................10

List of exhibits
Exhibit 1 Union College strategy implementation schedule

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Union College
Strategic Management Case

1. Introduction

Union College (UC) is an institution of higher learning located in San Fernando, La Union,
Philippines. It offers high school and college courses such as liberal arts, nursing, business
administration and education.

La Union, the service area of the college has large areas of marginal lands in the hillsides and
barely tapped marine resources. Thus, with this challenging situation, UC, aside from its
primary mission of providing quality learning orients its programs and activities to motivate,
and lead education from teacher-centered programs to student-centered ones.

Union College traced its beginnings from a Women’s Training School founded in November
7, 1910 by Ms. M. Weber (UC, 2011).

Although it is surviving over the years, enrollment growth has been low compared to those of
other similar institutions. This has affected the school’s ability to expand its services.

Aware of the increased interest of foreign students going to the Philippines either for further
studies or to improve their ability to read and write in English, the Board of Trustees in 2010
approached the author to help them make a decision to embark on a venture that will solve
their financial predicament.

2. Purpose of study

In view of the above, this study aims to formulate a strategic plan to catapult UC to become a
dynamic learning institution in Northern Luzon in the Philippines. This study aims to achieve
the following:

1. Formulate a viable strategy to enhance the financial stability of the school;

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2. Recommend measures to ensure that the strategies will work.

This study will consider strategy issues raised by experts and use concepts and models
practiced in strategic management.

As a result, students should be able to:

1. Think strategically about a company, its business position, and how it can gain
sustainable competitive advantage.

2. Develop skills in conducting strategic analysis in a variety of industries and competitive

situations.

3. Use their experience in developing business strategy; justify strategic options; use what-if
analysis to evaluate action alternatives, and initiate the changes necessary to keep the
strategy responsive to emerging market conditions.

4. Improve their ability to manage strategy formulation and implementation processes.

5. Enhance abilities to assess business risk, and understand challenges in a global market
environment, develop and update strategies as required.

3. Approach

To achieve what the Board defined to be the outcome of my assistance, it is proposed that a
strategic planning exercise be made to define the college’s objectives, assess both the internal
and external situation, formulate a doable strategy, implement it, evaluate the progress, and
make needed adjustments.

Essentially, the strategic planning exercise will follow the following steps:

 Define the vision and mission of UC

 Scan the business environment

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 Determine the strengths and weakness of UC
 Formulate strategy
 Implement chosen strategy
 Assess effectiveness of strategy

4. Vision statement

A vision statement outlines what the organization wants to be, or how it wants the area in
which it operates in. It focuses on the future and it is a source of inspiration. It provides a
clear decision-making standard (Gabriel and Farmer, 2009), (National School Boards
Association, 2011).

For UC, its vision is stated simply as: “A distinct center of excellence providing affordable,
relevant, and quality education towards a deeper Christian faith and the improvement of
quality life of the Filipino.” (UC, 2011)

5. Mission statement

A mission statement defines the fundamental purpose of an organization. It states the

customer and the critical processes and establishes the desired level of performance
(Campbell and Nash, 1992).

The mission statement can encourage people to achieve objectives for as long as these can be
explained in SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) terms
(Jeffrey Abrahams, The Mission Statement Book).

For UC, its mission is to train the individual to be self reliant.

“To sustain the capability and initiatives for excellence, financial stability and responsive
learning environment; to promote leadership in all areas within the community; to engage in
research, community development; and to develop teachers and learners who are honest and
creative, and technologically proficient.” (http://www.ucc.edu.ph/, accessed on April 12,
2011).

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Values

Knowledge and skills are essential in achieving success.

Goals and objectives

Guided by its vision, the college can define financial and strategic objectives. Financial
objectives involve measures such as student population and financial stability. Strategic
objectives include the school’s market share and reputation.

6. Environmental assessment

As presented by John Middleton, the environmental scan (John Middleton, The Ultimate
Strategy Library) includes:

 An assessment of external environment covering the Political-Economic-Social-

Technological (PEST) aspects of the environment
 Analysis of the education industry (task environment), and
 An internal analysis of the college,

The industry analysis can be done using a framework introduced by Michael Porter known as
Porter's five forces. This framework covers entry barriers, suppliers, customers, substitute
products, and industry rivalry, Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries
and Competitors (Porter, 1980).

It can also be done using Kaplan and Norton’s Balance Scorecard (Kaplan, Robert S., Norton,
David P., 1992, The BSC: Translating Strategy in Action).

Political Factors
The political factors that directly affect learning institutions are favorable.

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Being organized as a foundation, UC enjoys tax-free privileges, provided any earnings are
plowed back to the school. The risk of this privilege being removed is nonexistent because
this is a national policy.

Local regulations are also favorable. The local government encourages the creation of
learning institutions because it wants to project that San Fernando as the center for learning in
the region. While this may be favorable, it can pose a threat to UC because competition is
free to proliferate.

Economic Factors

Economic factors affect the cost of living and the firm's ability to survive. Economic growth
in the region has been steadily growing. The entry of tourists is increasing, primarily because
of La Union’s beaches and excellent surfing areas. Eco-tourism also abound.

Social Factors

Social factors include the values and culture of the people as a whole. These factors affect
customer needs and the size of potential markets.

People in the region view education as an important attribute to a person’s success. This can
be attributed to the high literacy rate of 90%. Preparatory schools, elementary, high school
and university levels are all present in La Union.

This attitude is a positive factor for the establishment of learning institutions.

Technological Factors

Three large communications have established their respective networks in the area,
connecting La Union to the rest of the Philippines and to the world. Internet connections are
readily available in all areas.

Computerization of learning media, as well as the ability to communicate with the rest of the
world is positive aspects that can be used to enhance the ability of UC to expand its reach.

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UC’s internal capabilities and resources

As discussed by Bradford, et. al. in their “Simplified Strategic Planning: A No-Nonsense

Guide for Busy People Who Want Results Fast”, (Bradford, Duncan, Tarcy, 2000), UC’s
strengths using the SWOT analysis matrix developed by Albert S Humphrey (Humphrey,
1960 and 1970) who led a convention at Stanford University in the 1960s and 1970s), include
the following:

 long history of excellence

 loyal cadre of English-speaking teachers
 history of successful alumni

Weaknesses
Its weakness, on the other hand, can be stated as follows:

 Dwindling funding support

 Lackluster profitability

Opportunities and threats

Opportunities have cropped up recently. These are:

 Increase in demand for competency in the English language. The Philippines is one of the
choices of Southeast Asian countries for higher learning. Lately, other foreign students,
particularly Korea and China, have chosen the Philippines to learn the English language.
The motivation of these foreign students in going to the Philippines is its English-
speaking population and its affordable cost of living.

Foreign students can be classified as those attending traditional schools, and those coming
to the Philippines to gain proficiency in the English language.

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 Those that are attending traditional schools stay n the Philippines for four or more years.
Those that are interested in gaining English proficiency stay for at least a year. They also
arrive continuously over the year.

Thus, there is a continuous pool of potential students that UC can tap.

 Availability of new teaching technologies. Teaching is no longer confined to lectures and

class discussions. With the advent of computerization and the internet, education has
expanded to include distance learning, conferencing, and the ability to conduct research
with the help of the internet. It has also enhanced presentation capabilities, like the ability
to produce learning media on compact discs, and use of affordable computer-based
projectors.

Threats

The opportunities likewise pose threats to UC. These threats include:

 Increase in competition. Small tutorial academies have cropped up. These academies rely
mostly on teachers from nearby schools and teachers that conduct tutorials for a living.
These academies use usually do not have their own curriculum but rather depend on the
curriculums that are brought in by their teachers. These academies rely on face-to-face
teaching techniques.

While there may be an increase in competition, UC has advantage because of its

reputation for being stable and an excellent learning institution. In addition, a change in
the way teaching is done and administered would address the needs of students in the
locality, as well as foreign students coming to the Philippines in search of a good learning
institution.

 Emergence of alternative learning media. International companies focused on teaching

English have also cropped up. They use the internet and teleconferencing as their means
for teaching. Again, UC can be different in the sense that its teaching strategy includes

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 the use of the latest innovation in technology, including a curriculum that address the
learning styles of different types of students.

Analysis of internal capabilities and external conditions

The influx of foreign students seeking to improve their fluency in the English language has
created an opportunity for traditional learning institutions such as UC, including startups, and
small tutorial academies.

Analysis of Resources

As an educational institution, all resources are plowed back to the school. Revenues mainly
come from tuition fees of enrollees, endowments, donations, and contributions. These
revenues fluctuate and require constant attention.

The UC name has been established as a learning institution strong in liberal arts and nursing.
This can be viewed as an excellent resource which UC can capitalize in going to other
ventures.

The capital outlay for new ventures usually poses a major drain in UC’s financial resources.
However, a strengthened fund raising campaign can negate the drain.

The roster of faculty members have excellent teaching capabilities and can be retooled to
undertake new teaching approaches.

With the resources available to UC, it is capable of taking advantage opportunities. UC can
therefore do the following:

 Develop a curriculum plan using a modular system for learning. This system should focus
on teaching capitalizing on the learning style of a student. Being modular, it can be used
at any time, allowing students to enroll at their convenience.

Using this system, a student can finish a learning module only when he is tested to be
competent. A student cannot move to the next learning module unless he is proficient in

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 previous modules. Exposure to the community will reinforce what the student has learned
in class.

 Explore alternative means for housing foreign students. At present, UC depends on the
availability of housing situated in the community. With the influx of foreign students, this
may no longer be sufficient. Thus, UC should consider investing in a modest dormitory.
In time, the community may be encouraged to likewise invest in housing facilities for
foreign students. UC however, should strive to ensure that these housing facilities outside
the school strictly adhere to standards and conditions imposed by the school.

 Strengthen contacts with immigration authorities. This is an important feature to enable

UC to attract foreign students. It should establish liaison with immigration authorities so
that those interest in coming to the Philippines can do so through UC’s effort.

This has been done before and UC view this as something doable. A memorandum of
agreement with Immigration authorities should strengthen this link and ensure that getting
the necessary permits would be easy.

 Strengthen the ability of the faculty to teach English using technological resources.
Although faculty members are already proficient in teaching, they should be re-oriented
towards the use of technologies and new teaching methods. Seminars should be
conducted to strengthen their appreciation of using student learning styles in adapting
their teaching styles.

 Explore sources of funding support. All of these initiatives require funding support. UC
may consider the help of alumni, and the help of local businessmen to support this
initiative. The probability of getting this support is high.

Competence and Culture

Competence is achieved through a persistent effort at excellence. Continuous training and

upgrading as well as constant exposure to new technologies imbue faculty members the
competence needed to effective teach.

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Culture likewise is nurtured throughout the life of an organization. UC has been guided by its
mission and everyone practices and adheres to that vision and mission. Because of this
unwavering persistence, culture is established.

7. Strategy formulation

The results of the analyses using PEST and SWOT indicate the need for a strategy to address
the following:

 A curriculum plan addressed to the needs of target students, using a modular system for
learning. This system should focus on teaching capitalizing on the learning style of a
student. Being modular, it can be used at any convenient time, allowing students to enroll
at their convenience.

Using this system, a student can finish a learning module only when he is tested to be
competent. A student cannot move to the next learning module unless he is proficient in
previous modules. Exposure to the community will reinforce what the student has learned
in class.

 Adequate housing for foreign students. At present, UC depends on the availability of

housing situated in the community. With the influx of foreign students, this may not be
enough. Thus, UC should consider investing in a modest dormitory. In time, the
community may be encouraged to also invest in housing facilities for foreign students.

 Permits and visas for foreign students. Establish contacts with immigration authorities.
This is an important feature to enable UC to attract foreign students. It should establish
liaison with immigration authorities so that those interest in coming to the Philippines can
do so through UC’s effort.

This has been done before and we do not see it as a major issue.

 English teaching proficiency. Strengthen the ability of the faculty to teach English using
technological resources. Although faculty members are already proficient in teaching,

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 they should be re-oriented towards the use of technologies and new teaching methods.
Seminars should be conducted to strengthen their appreciation of using student learning
styles in adapting their teaching styles.

 Funding support. All of these initiatives require funding support. UC may consider the
help of alumni, and the help of local businessmen to support this initiative. The
probability of getting this support is high.

 Competition. To reduce the impact of competition on UC and to establish learning

institutions, efforts should be made to regulate their operation by requiring these small
competitors to ally themselves with established institutions such as UC. As a result,
instead of having many unregulated academies, they will be integrated with establish
institutions, allowing them to upgrade their skills and resources.

Porter’s Generic Strategies

In developing its strategy, UC can consider the generic strategy options forwarded by
Professor Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School (Porter, 1980, 1985).

According to Porter’s generic strategy ideas. UC can achieve competitive advantage by (1)
differentiating their courses from those of competitors, (2) through low costs, and (3) through
focus.

In terms of focus, UC can position its courses to target either a broad market or on a narrow
target (Lynch, 2003), as shown in Figure 1.

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 Figure 1. Generic strategy options
Source: Porter (1985)

It can also follow Pearson’s theory that competitive strategies to be adopted have to be those
that bring in the most advantageous results (Pearson, 1999).

Considering the market and the internal resources and capabilities of UC, it would be best to
focus on targeting foreign students and adopt a pricing scheme that is deemed affordable. It
should also differentiate itself by adopting the modular learning scheme so that foreign
students can enroll at any time convenient with them.

8. Strategy implementation
To implement the proposed strategy, it should be done in phases, as follows:

Phase 1. Organize training team

Phase 2. Develop curriculum, construct additional classrooms, and purchase computer

software and hardware. Develop training methodology, produce trainers’ guides and
participants’ guides

Phase 3. Organize and train trainers. Recruit internally or from external sources, then train
them on the new training approach.

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Phase 4. Create awareness. Launch an advertising campaign on the web. Liaise with
immigration and education authorities for the granting of student visas and permits.

Phase 5. Accept enrollees, and start of operations.

A strategy implementation schedule is shown in Exhibit 1.

9. Evaluation and control

The implementation of the plan must be scrutinized and improvements made as needed.
Evaluation and control consists of the following steps:

1. Establish parameters to be measured. These success parameters would include percent

increase in enrollment, percent increase in revenues, positive feedback from alumni,
turnaround time in securing permits and visas, percent increase in English proficiency
scores of students.

Critical Success Factors

 To deem the modular English teaching offering, it should result in the following:

 Increased revenue from foreign students. They pay a relatively high tuition for a
relatively short period.

 High student turnover. Because of the relatively short period that students stay, more
students can be accommodated, resulting in higher revenues.

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  Successful visa and study permit applications. A 100% success rate is deemed
successful.

 Enhanced identity as an excellent and adaptive learning institution. While this may
take time, it should become apparent through feedback.

2. Define target values for those parameters. All the parameters should have a minimum
score to deem them successful.

3. Perform measurements. Systems and procedures should be established to gather, analyze

and report results of measurement. Results should be discussed frequently so that timely
adjustments can be made.

4. Compare measured results to the pre-defined standard. Reports on the results of

performance measures must be compared with set success standards so that appropriate
adjustments can be made.

5. Make necessary changes. This is the most important result of the review of the results of
the strategy. Negative results should highlight what failed and what needs to be done to
improve. Positive results should be used as a basis for further improvements.

10. Conclusion

In going through this strategic planning exercise using Union College, students became aware
of the processes that industries go through when making decisions on what to do to overcome
difficulties.

They learned how to:

1. Think critically about a company, its status, and how it is profitable.

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2. Develop skills in conducting strategic analysis in a variety of industries and competitive
situations.

3. Use their hands-on experience in crafting business strategy; reason carefully about
strategic options; use what-if analysis to evaluate action alternatives, and initiate the
changes necessary to keep the strategy responsive to newly emerging market conditions.

4. Improve their ability to manage the processes related to strategies.

5. Develop their powers of judgment, that is, how to assess business risks, and understand
the challenges in a global environment.

6. Demonstrate the skill to design and continuously improve strategies in changing

situations.
11. References

 Abrahams, Jeffrey, 1999. The Mission Statement Book: 301 Corporate Mission
Statements from America's Top Companies, 2nd ed. Berkeley CA: Ten Speed Press

 Bradford, Robert W., Duncan, Peter J., Tarcy, Brian, 2000. Simplified Strategic
Planning: A No-Nonsense Guide for Busy People Who Want Results Fast! , Chandler
House Press

 Campbell Andrew and Nash, Laura L., 1992, A Sense of Mission – Defining direction
for the Large Corporation, Addison Wesley Publishing Company

 Gabriel, John G. and Farmer, Paul C., 2009. How to Help Your School Thrive Without
Breaking the Bank, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
Alexandria

 Humphrey, Albert 1960 and 1970, SWOT Analysis, Stanford University

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 Kaplan, Robert S., Norton, David P., 1992, The BSC: Translating Strategy in Action,
Harvard Business Press; 1 ed.

 Lynch, R., 2003, Corporate Strategy, Prentice Hall Financial Times, 3rd ed.

 Middleton, John, 2003. The Ultimate Strategy Library : The 50 Most Influential
Strategic Ideas of All Time, annotated edition, Capstone

 National School Boards Association, http://www.nsba.org/sbot/toolkit/cav.html,

accessed April 12, 2011

 Pearson, G., 1999, Strategy in Action, Prentice Hall Financial Times

 Porter, Michael E., 1980, Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries
and Competitors, New York, NY: The Free Press

 Union College, http://www.ucc.edu.ph, accessed April 12, 2011

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Exhibit 1

Union College strategy implementation schedule

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