New Strategic Initiative For RMIT To Resolve Their Management Challenge Report

Executive Summary

The report aims to create a new strategic initiative for RMIT to resolve their management challenge. After identifying the challenges, it is constructed into the following research question:

What forms of technologies should RMIT leverage upon to attract more students in the new age driven by demographic changes, such that it is able to remain profitable and sustainable despite the increasingly competitive industry?

With the use of comprehensive research, analysis and TOWS Matrix combined with both Porter’s Generic Strategy and Blue Ocean Strategy, the Student Engagement Programme (SEP) is proposed. The SEP incorporates different forms of technologies to introduce innovative approaches to the curriculum for students of various ages. It consists of the development of Edu@RMIT, collaboration with SAP for its student activity hub, integration of blended learning and establishment of a career portal.

The proposed management tools in this report will consist of TOWS Matrix, Porter’s Generic Strategy, Blue Ocean Strategy, Force-Field Analysis, SAFe Framework, Probability Impact Matrix and Balanced Scorecard. They are effective in the identification of RMIT’s strategic direction and evaluation of the strategy. The strategy will include a three-year timeline and the required resources. It consists of preparation, integration/implementation, and fine-tuning stages.

The strategy was deemed suitable, acceptable and feasible with the use of the SAFe Framework. Furthermore, the probability impact matrix identified four risks, namely high costs associated with technological adoption and implementation, uncertainty pertaining to technological acceptance and engagement, data breaches and technical errors and miscommunications. Finally, the Balanced Scorecard is utilized to assess its performance. Through the SEP, RMIT can attract various groups of students and remain sustainable and competitive in a competitive industry.

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1. Introduction

This report was constructed by synthesizing five different perspectives from the past two assignments. Research conducted illustrated significant impacts of the external environment on higher education (HE) (Lichy & Enström 2015). These impacts were identified as challenges that RMIT faces. A research question will be framed to support comprehensive analysis based on various management tools to offer effective recommendations.

Therefore, the purpose of this report is to propose a new strategic initiative for RMIT to resolve their management challenge. This will be achieved through using management frameworks to support it, developing a three-year implementation plan to identify specific areas for improvements, justified through SAFe framework and risk assessment and ending with a balanced scorecard to evaluate performance.

2. The Management Challenge and Research Question

2.1 The Management Challenge

Summarising analysation from previous assignments, social-cultural and technological factors were key catalyst in influencing other aspects of the external environment. This was attributed to the significance of technological advancements in changing educational perspectives (Serdyukov 2017). Different analysis performed concluded that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are operating in an ever changing and uncertain environment (Lewis 2014). This explains why RMIT is adapting towards technological integrations to meet socio-cultural changes (Stanley & Trinkle 2011). Findings were concatenated through SWOT analysis, framing management challenges imperative for RMIT to overcome.

Exploiting educational technologies in HEIs shaped innovative forms of learning, illustrating the importance of technological advancements for educational reforms (Bhati et al. 2013; Okita et al. 2013; Gao et al. 2011). This annotates transformation of business environments that culminates in new educational paradigms today (Min & Khoon 2014; Siemens 2005). However, findings from previous assessments indicated immense challenges from technological disruptions, augmented by emergence of newer technologies (Goundar 2014; Schindler et al. 2017). Despite benefits, previous research lacked evidence in adopting technological practices on its effectiveness on pedagogies (Dintoe 2018; Carrier 2017; Kennedy et al. 2008). While HEI possesses array of technologies (Flavin 2012), there is limited use in relation to education (Lai & Hong 2015). Therefore, RMIT faces the challenge in determining technologies that will align and attract potential students.

Socio-cultural factors discussed through past reports extrapolated declining birth-rate, migration trends and aging population (Department of Statistics Singapore 2018; Koh 2012), summarised as demographic changes (DC), are detrimental to HEIs’ sustainability. Chong and Cheah (2010) noted how lesser students in the generation y and beyond raised concerns over lower enrolment rate (Gleason 2018), escalating competitive rivalry. Despite Singapore’s plan to attract international students to mitigate for its declining population (Sim 2017), increasing costs is a deterrent (Davie 2014). Normile (2007) described how Singapore’s demographic consequences implicated foreign HEIs sustainability. Such trends result in demographic challenges, bespeaking imperativeness for RMIT to develop strategies to remain competitive and sustainable in a country with negative demographic outlook.

Research from antecedent assignments illustrated intense competition as a key challenge that is associated to a saturated market (Ministry of Trade and Industry 2018; Singapore Government 2016). Competition levels within HE industry are further proliferated by reducing number of students driven by DC (Klemencic & Fried 2015), increases in student intake by local universities (Davie 2017) and technological threats. Strong competitive rivalry affects HEIs’ profitability and sustainability (Kaunyangi 2014), suggesting that RMIT faces the challenge of developing strategies to address rising competitions for sustainability (Pucciarellia & Kaplan 2016).

2.2 Research Question

To address the challenges, a research question is constructed to define the significance of research (White 2009) to achieve definite and compelling results (Sreejesh, Mohapatra & Anusree 2014). Taking foregoing discussions into consideration, it constitutes to the following research question:

3. The Proposed Solution (Student Engagement Programme (SEP))

Comprehensive analysis performed in previous reports facilitated greater understanding towards RMIT’s challenges. TOWS matrix is utilised to identify possible alternatives for RMIT to leverage on (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington 2008). Lifelong learning and technological advancements are opportunities that RMIT can incorporate. However, ineffective implementations of such opportunities could transform into threats. Thus, it is paramount that RMIT exploit them to maximise potential.

To complement the TOWS matrix, Porter’s Generic Strategy will be used (Porter 1997), recommending the differentiation strategy to overcome challenges. The organisation can differ itself from the competition to attract a wide range of students in a changing demographic while remaining relevant. With this in mind, RMIT also need to leverage on the Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) to create and exploit new markets instead of competing in the red ocean, which offers undifferentiated courses (Madsen & Slatten 2019; SIM GE 2019).

Thus, the team proposes the Student Engagement Programme (SEP), incorporating different forms of technologies to introduce innovative approaches to the curriculum for students of various ages. This facilitates RMIT in the discovery of conditions for growth encompassed by value innovation (Lindic, Bavdac & Kovacic 2012), differentiating themselves and gain competitive advantages (Au & Tucker 2018). Hof (1998) observed that Amazon.com achieved higher growth by creating new market space, being the first to adopt collaborative-filtering technology to generate value. The strategy leverages on various technologies to support RMIT in accommodating to varying needs of diverse students driven by demographic changes.

3.1 Edu@RMIT

Evaluating technologies in HE through students’ perceptions and performance, Karvounidis et al. (2014) shows the importance of aligning educational technologies to students’ interests to attract and engage them. Gomez-Utribe and Hunt (2015) observed how Netflix’s Recommender System analyses and filter users’ streaming data to provide personalised recommendations to define user experience. RMIT can create a similar system named Edu@RMIT, by prompting potential students to provide inputs pertaining to their educational preferences and working experience through online questionnaires. Upon completion, suggestions on RMIT programmes that can interest and benefit prospective students will be provided based on their strengths and weaknesses.

Multiple universities in the United States have benefitted from a similar system by Noodle (Noodle 2019), boasting its success rate. The effectiveness of adapting this system will be explained with the reconceptualised Ansoff Matrix.

Pleshko and Heien (2008) restructured Ansoff’s Matrix to create specific segments for better strategies. Edu@RMIT can not only entice prospective students who have no idea on their further studies, but also older adults unsatisfied with their current positions by discovering their potential and then provide solutions. Student feedback will be collected to improve accuracy of recommendations. Figure 2 and Porter’s generic strategy showed that RMIT can develop strategies that integrates current and emerging technologies in ways that enamor students of different age group for growth. Therefore, RMIT can leverage on different forms of technologies to sustain in an increasingly competitive environment that is influenced by demographic changes.

A foundational test for all students will also be performed. Students that performed will be offered exemptions for certain courses. This can incentivise and attract more mid-career adults with their prior knowledge and experience on certain courses (Jarvis 2004).

3.2 Collaboration with SAP

Similarly to outsourcing technological aspects to Canvas, RMIT is recommended to collaborate with SAP to capitalise on their student activity hub (SAH). SAH aggregates data from structured and unstructured sources automatically, where educators could reach out and personalise interactions and communications through analytical tools. This derives a greater understanding on students’ needs, providing a holistic educational experience (Jonkers 2017). SAP’s ability to exploit technology to create new business processes is inherent for the dynamic business environment (Hoffman, Weber & Kraft 2012). This illustrates how RMIT, through SAP, can identify HE determinants that attracts prospective students and develop courses which appeals to a wider group of students.

SAP News (2018) also notes the success that University of California, San Diego experienced through its partnership with SAP, placing 41^st in the QS world university rankings (Haidar 2018). Empirical findings (e.g. Accenture 2018; SAP Ariba 2017; Deloitte 2018) illustrated how leveraging on SAP can enhance organisational performance. Therefore, it is clear that SAH is capable of managing student engagement (SAP SE 2017). With a demand for a higher education quality in Singapore’s private education institutions, this collaboration enables RMIT to better reach out to students and proactively assist them to reach success (The Straits Times 2017). All factors considered, the SAH will help RMIT improve its quality of education to make itself sustainable in the competitive environment.

3.3 Blended Learning

Assimilation of technology into collaborative educational approaches engendered an efficient and flexible educational system (Lee 2010). Thus, to accommodate varying needs across different age groups of students, the SEP will include blended learning curriculum, an amalgamation of online and traditional methods of studying (Lalima & Dangwal 2017). In RMIT’s case, online learning materials such as pre-recorded lectures can be made available. Such technologies complement new forms of learning, enhancing experiences that supports the learning process (Stantchev, Colomo-Palacios & Soto-Acosta 2014). Furthermore, figure 2 encourages the use of flipped classes, as it is the best model for adopting technology into education (Hamdan et al. 2013) and enhances the effectiveness of blended learning (Cabi 2018).

Blended learning and flipped classroom are seen to maximise potential of educational technologies (Vanek 2016). For instance, the system allows for flexible restructuring of the learning environment and time (Garrison & Kanuka 2004), adapting to students’ needs such as work commitments. Educators can track students’ learning progress and create make-up sessions. As a challenge for older adults returning to education would be external commitments, the solution is beneficial for such students (Graham 2015). Doing so can again attract mid-career adults as they are not required to choose between school and work.

3.4 Career Portal

Graduating students are observed to lack knowledge and skills required to assume corporate positions (Banerjee & Belson 2015). Therefore, a career portal will be introduced as a new exemplar that HEIs can leverage on to assist graduates’ transition into careers (Dey & Cruzvergara 2014). By collaborating with organisations to provide job opportunities for graduates, their choice courses are dependent on the career decision-making process (Germeijs & Verschueren 2007).

This illustrates how career portal can connect students of various ages to RMIT by bridging their education to work so that their interests are aligned (Neumark & Rothstein 2006). Studies (e.g. Cappelli 2001; Autor 2007) reflected how online job portals shortened recruitment process and reduced costs for both applicants and employers. Organisations can also benefit as they are assured that positions will be filled by highly qualified individuals (Brady 2018). This provides a higher quality and holistic education by providing more options for attracting and engaging graduates.

4. Proposed Management Tools Used

4.1 TOWS Matrix

The TOWS matrix will be applied by understanding and matching RMIT’s strengths and weaknesses to opportunities and threats (Weihrich 1982). Jafari, Jafari and Loyes (2013) explains that it is accomplished by first identifying its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strategies will then be developed and assessed to exploit strengths and opportunities while addressing weaknesses and threats. RMIT can assess the appropriateness of the strategic options by evaluating all available options (Johnson et al 2017).

However, one limitation is a lack of consideration of each factor’s importance Jafari, Jafari and Loyes (2013). This will be addressed by Porter’s generic strategy, BOS and Ansoff’s Matrix.

4.2 Porter’s Generic Strategy

Porter’s Generic Strategy will be utilised to supplement the TOWS Matrix (Porter 1997). According to Porter (1997), this is done by determining the type of strategy that will be used to surpass their competitors through level of competitive advantage and scope. This supplements the TOWS Matrix, providing directions on how the SEP should go for RMIT to differentiate themselves.

4.3 Blue Ocean Strategy

The BOS is applied to justify the importance of the strategies proposed by the TOWS matrix. It aims to identify new and unique market segments for organisational development (Kim & Mauborgne 2014). It first identifies what RMIT’s competitors are offering in the “Red Ocean” before targeting external market segments (Au & Tucker 2018). This complements the TOWS matrix as it offers a deeper understanding of how much RMIT can benefit from going through with strategies in the TOWS matrix. However, with limited data on operating in the “Blue Ocean”, it may be considered too risky (Kim & Mauborgne 2014). This risk is addressed in the probability impact matrix.

4.4 Force Field Analysis

A management tool developed by Lewin (1951) to predict human behaviour in changes, it aids in the identification of forces that can drive or impede changes (Toves, Graf & Gould 2016). This is done by determining driving and restraining forces, giving each force a score of 1 to 5 and totaling the scores for both forces. RMIT can determine the necessary steps to address the restraining forces (Heinert & Galindo-Gonzalez 2015). However, without full participation to address them, it will have minimal benefits (Burnes & Cooke 2013).

4.5 SAFe Framework

Johnson et al. (2017) states that the SAFe Framework evaluates the probability of success for the proposed solution. This is done by appraising its suitability in addressing the opportunities and threats faced by RMIT, the level of acceptability to various stakeholders and feasibility based on resources and capabilities.

4.6 Probability Impact Matrix

According to Cummings and Angwin (2015), the probability impact matrix is a risk management tool that evaluates and discuss the level of risk from the strategy or the presence of avoidable risks. Organisations will first make a list of the risks involved in the strategy, gauge their impact on the organisation and group them into lower, medium and critical risks. By doing so, risks can be identified and managed.

This addresses the limitations of the BOS and as it provides more data and a clearer understanding of what RMIT needs to be aware of before venturing into a new market segment.

4.7 Balanced Scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard will be employed to set performance targets through both qualitative and quantitative measures (Johnson et al 2017). This is done through four perspectives, learning and development, processes, customer and financial (Kaplan & Norton 1995). It is of importance as it offers RMIT a balanced overview of the effectiveness of current operations and the driving forces of future operations (Kaplan & Norton 1996).

5. Proposed Implementation Plan

5.1 Timeline and Resources Required

5.1.1 Year 1

A focus group is useful for an understanding of the perspective of their target audience (Gill et al. 2008). Firstly, RMIT will engage external organisations like Black Box Research to gather data from the changing demographics age group through a focus group. The data will be used to generate questionnaires for prospective students, determine types of questions to ask for the foundation test and create videos and learning materials for blended learning.

Secondly, a partnership with SAP and various companies for job openings is crucial for the SEP. By partnering with SAP, RMIT would be able to integrate SAP’s SAH into its own system and allow for personalised interactions with students. The collaboration with organisations for recruitment will be performed over a span of 2 years. Through this, it will increase the number of available jobs on the portal, opening more possibilities for students. Finally, an information technology company will be sourced for the development of technology systems such as the questionnaire and job portal.

5.1.2 Year 2

Year 2 will be broken down into two phases. The first half of the year would be the integration of the add-on system, testing for bugs and errors and the creation of the user interface. The questionnaire for the recommendation of courses will also be integrated into RMIT’s website. The exemption of modules for students who performed in the tests would have to be considered and approved by the teaching management. Finally, lecturers would upload the online content of the modules for the preparation of blended learning.

In the second half, the questionnaire, exemption programme and SAH will be launched. An open house will be organised for students to gain a better understanding about RMIT’s new system. This would also be the period where RMIT would be having its first intake of students in the programme.

5.1.3 Year 3

For the third year, feedbacks from students in the programme will be gathered and will be fine-tuned for improvement. The job portal would also be launched with more jobs available.

The programme will be a 3 years implementation plan with year 1 being the preparation phase, year 2 with the first phase being the integration stage and the second phase being the implementation stage and year 3 as the fine-tuning stage. The estimated total of the programme would be $15.01 Million. The cost breakdown can be found in Appendix 1.

6. Change Management (Force Field Analysis)

Toves, Graf & Gould (2016) defines force field analysis as a framework designed to identify forces that influence, drive, or impedes change. It predicts undesirable outcomes by recognising specific areas that are accommodative or unsupportive towards the change.

Figure 4 shows that the numbers represent the magnitude of each force where it can be seen that the driving forces (11) overwhelms the restraining forces (7). This exhibits the SEP’s change capacity and provide reasons to believe that it can fulfil organisational objectives. RMIT can better understand and address these weaknesses even before the implementation (Lewin 1951).

6.1 Driving Forces of Technologies

The SEP encompasses the conformity of collaborative activities. It accepts disperse integrated communication, allowing stakeholders access to virtual interactions without physical proximity (Weiss et al. 2017). It empowers educators with autonomy to control the speed of lessons and encourage student participation.

The SEP can also be an economical measure for RMIT to reduce its cost in educational delivery. Digital integrations create further opportunities to broaden teaching scopes and focus whilst reducing human capital (Smith 2018). Hence, potentially achieving long term cost effectiveness.

Adoption of technology is unlikely if the solution is too foreign. The personalisation of technological tool brings value between students and the employees. The acceptance of SEP encourages utilization to achieve educational objectives (Weiss et al. 2017). Additionally, personalization enables educators to custom-build learning experiences.

6.2 Restraining Forces of Technology

Complex technologies can be both cumbersome and expensive (Weiss et al. 2017). Technology deployment relies heavily on maintenance and support, which can only be supported by external organisations (Weiss et al. 2017). Furthermore, RMIT must also bear the risk of system failures and breakdowns. Cheap and user-friendly platforms may debatably be a more strategic option (Toves, Graf & Gould 2016). Industry experts also believed implementations through technology may contribute to unreliable student’s attendance rates and create unnecessary intellectual property scandals (Smith 2018). Therefore, these limitations can impede the SEP.

The SEP must be structured with emphasis on communication, especially if students are unfamiliar with it. Therefore, the force field analysis will assist RMIT to understand the best way to implement the SEP and provide guidelines on change management (Long & Spurlock 2008). Comprehending this will be key for SEP’s success.

7. Assessment of Proposed Solution (SAFe Framework)

To ensure the success of the SEP, evaluation through the Suitability, Acceptability and Feasibility (SAFe) framework will be conducted (Johnson et al 2017).

7.1 Suitability

Suitability assesses if the overall strategy takes advantage of opportunities and minimises threats in the environment (Johnson et al 2017).

Key opportunities include lifelong learning, higher demand for higher education and technological advancements. As the concept of lifelong learning has seen success, the SEP will give more reason for them to be enrolled for a degree (Hui 2017). Moreover, by bringing a new concept, RMIT can differ themselves to offer more options to meet increasing demands by capitalising on technologies.

In contrast, key threats include alternate forms of education through technologies, rivalry amongst competitors and ageing population. The SEP combats alternate forms of technologies by incorporating them, providing a level playing field. Students of various ages will benefit more by selecting RMIT with its uniqueness. Hence, RMIT can tap into the market of older adults, solving the challenges created by the ageing population (DiSilvestro 2013).

RMIT can capitalise on its strong understanding of Singapore’s market and reputation to improve services. It can also mitigate the over reliance on SIMGE and lack of extensive marketing strategies through the SEP’s uniqueness and having more operational control in Singapore. Therefore, it is suitable as it can exploit on their strengths and opportunities while addressing threats and weaknesses.

7.2 Acceptability

Acceptability assesses the outcome of the strategy, determining if it meets the expectations of stakeholders involved (Johnson et al 2017). RMIT key stakeholders are employees, government and students of various ages.

Employees have a high interest as their careers are at stake. They have high power due to their importance in ensuring smooth operations. Therefore, strategies should always keep them into consideration. The SEP’s personalised nature creates a deeper connection between employees and students. Therefore, employees can find their jobs to be purposeful and be more committed.

The government has high interest due to a high demand in the HE industry, seen by an increase in university graduates (Department of Statistics 2017). Furthermore, they have power as organisations must abide by regulations enforced by the Committee for Private Education (CPE 2017). They are highly likely to accept the strategy as it aligns with their agenda of lifelong learning and goal to strengthen the Training and Adult Education sector (SkillsFuture 2018; Sung & Freebody 2017).

Students have high interest as they entrust HEIs to provide quality education. They have high power as they are a key success factor. With the highly saturated market and alternatives such as Massive Open Online Courses, students have many choices on the schools that they can enroll (Krishnan 2014; Ministry of Trade and Industry 2018; Singapore Government 2016). Hence, students are the most important stakeholder and strategies must first have them in mind to remain competitive. The SEP would provide more value to students of all ages. Younger students will benefit from a different but higher quality of education while older students are assured that all concerns are addressed. This gives students more reasons to enroll in RMIT.

7.3 Feasibility

Feasibility focuses on whether if the organisation possess the resources and competencies required to pull off the strategy (Johnson et al 2017). It determines if RMIT possess the financial status and employee skills to execute it.

RMIT has little issue in terms of financial capabilities. This is evident with their strong revenues of $1,306.5 million, further supported by multiple avenues of finances, from campuses in Vietnam to RMIT Training and a $100 million loan from private investors (RMIT 2018).

In terms of skills, RMIT employees, especially lecturers, must understand the plan and undergo training to effectively execute it. This is not an issue for RMIT with its strong partnership with SIM GE, where it is responsible for training these lecturers (Tan n.d). Lecturers would be up to speed with the new system. In addition, their strong finances allow for efficient training to meet the SEP’s demands.

Hence, it is evident that the SEP is suitable, acceptable to all stakeholders and feasible, supporting its success.

8. Risk Assessment (Probability Impact Matrix)

Assessing risk is difficult to evaluate due to critical aspects of uncertainty. This consists of probability of such occurrences happening and the potential consequences driven by probabilistic situations (Fu, Li & Chen 2012). According to Lanfranchi et al. (2015), probability impact matrix assists organisations in establishing the level of risk and focuses on risk mitigation. Therefore, RMIT can leverage on the probability impact matrix to measure whether the proposed solution is exposing them to unwarranted or excessive risk (Cummings & Angwin 2015).

As discussed above, Singapore’s DC compromises student’s availability for RMIT, which is why SEP targets both current and newer markets, such as different age-groups and working adults. Results from a survey demonstrated how technological integration is crucial to attract and engage students (Ritz 2011). However, different generations of students may perceive technology differently and may not accept new technologies (Savitz 2012).

As emerging technologies replace current technologies, the older technologies may become obsolete (Papiewski 2019). There may be risk of an increase in costs without maximising the potential of older technologies. Furthermore, technological implementations in HE has consistently been a key cost driver, and SEP will only further intensify the costs required to maintain such a programme.

Proliferation in the use of educational technologies increases possibility of security and technical issues. RMIT can become vulnerable to cyber-attacks and data security breaches, resulting in potential loss of critical data assets and confidential information. Furthermore, the use of third-party suppliers to handle data and information tends to increase the severity of breaches. (Lord 2017; Sheridan 2018). This leads to the identification of two risks, data breaches and incremental risks in errors and miscommunications.

Therefore, a total of 4 risks is discerned, high costs associated with technological adoption and implementation, uncertainty pertaining to technological acceptance and engagement, data breaches and technical errors and miscommunications.

The 4 risk factors can be grouped into different risk categorisation as illustrated in Figure 5. High costs in technological implementation is categorised as a critical risk due to paradoxes on costs of educational technologies (Johnstone & Poulin 2002). Bennett and Maton (2010) criticised that labelling millennials as digital natives lacked empirical evidences as there are other factors apart from technologies that influences their behaviours and practices (Salaway, Caruso & Nelson 2008). Complemented by how differently older adults perceive educational technologies, there continues to be uncertainty on return on investments from technological acceptance and engagement. It is categorised as critical because of its interrelationship, where RMIT is incurring costs without benefits if there are no returns from SEP.

Data breaches is classified as medium risk. Despite a low frequency in its occurrence, RMIT’s brand image and reputation can be tarnished with a loss of confidential information. Risks of technical errors and miscommunication is grouped as lower risk. However, with the increase and reliance on technological implementations, there will gradually be an increase in the impact of such consequences, illustrating a potential of increased risk.

9. Performance Evaluation Plan (Balanced Scorecard)

To assess the performance of the SEP, the four perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard, financial, customers, process and learning and development will be utilised (Kaplan & Norton 1995).

9.1 Learning and Development

The learning and development in RMIT are of utmost importance as it can help to enhance its internal, customer and financial process performance (Kaplan & Norton 1995). As RMIT seeks to attract more students to remain profitable and sustainable with technologies, the organisation must learn how to operate new technologies introduced by the SEP. This will be done through various workshops, conducted by experts. Employees will also have to go through tests to examine their skill in these technologies. A target of a 90% passing rate ensures the smooth execution of the strategy.

9.2 Process

With employees familiar to SEP, they should be able to provide effective and efficient services. In the case of the faculty administrators, they should be able to answer queries about the new systems created by the SEP within half a day. The SEP encourages engagement between the lecturers and the students through a better overview and understanding of their needs. This means that RMIT should see a 75% improvement in students grade and graduation numbers. Apart from grades, the experiential learning process fortifies graduates’ employability by embracing them with competent industry technologies. This improvement demonstrates the significance of quality education.

9.3 Customers

An improvement in services will have a positive impact in student’s satisfaction. This consists of four categories, namely time, quality, performance, service and cost (Kaplan & Norton 1992). With the personalised aspect of the SEP, existing students/graduates will be willing to recommend RMIT programmes to friends and relatives of all ages. There will not be a reduction in tuition fees as the SEP seeks to improve RMIT’s ranking by attracting prospective undergraduates through an experiential personalised learning curriculum. Additionally, constant feedbacks from students will help in building close relations with increased interactions. This improves customers loyalty, resulting in increased customer satisfaction. A target of 90% customer satisfaction will be evidence that students enjoyed the courses.

9.4 Financial

From RMIT’s past financial performance, to understand if the SEP is performing to expectations, the team expects a 4% increase in revenue as there was a 5% growth from 2015 to 2016, and a 6% growth from 2016 to 2017 (RMIT 2017; RMIT 2018). Undoubtedly, the increased cost will sway RMIT’s optimism towards profit growth in the short run. However, the SEP is designed for a longer-term approach. The technological model is projected to stretch enrollment numbers and revenues alongside long-term cost reductions to remain profitable and sustainable.

10. Conclusion

Through an understanding of preceding reports, the team has identified RMIT’s challenges of technologies, changing demographics and intense competition. From this, the following research question is defined as:

Utilising the TOWS analysis, Porter’s Generic Strategy and BOS, backed up by in-depth research and analysis, the SEP is recommended to solve the research question. The timeline and resources required for successful implementation are then highlighted. Through Force Field analysis, RMIT can understand the restraining forces for change and address it.

With the SAFe framework, the SEP is suitable, acceptable to all stakeholders and feasible. It not only allows for RMIT to exploit opportunities and avoid threats, but also capitalise on its understanding of Singapore’s market and reputation. Furthermore, the stakeholders are likely to accept the solution and RMIT has sufficient resources for success.

Potential risks to be aware of are also identified. This includes data breaches, risks of technical errors and miscommunications, uncertainty of technological acceptance and high costs. Finally, using the balanced scorecard, key performance targets are identified. This report will benefit RMIT by providing a comprehensive solution through a deeper understanding of its challenges, a proposed strategy to overcome the challenge and details that RMIT must take note of for successful implementation.

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