Maastricht University School of Business and Economics Strategic Marketing Plan Update 2014

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1 Maastricht University School of Business and Economics Strategic Marketing Plan Update 2014 Meredith Bradt Strategic Marketing Advisor Marketing & Communications Office 1

2 Introduction In 2012, the SBE Board approved the first SBE Strategic Marketing Plan. Two years later, it is an opportune moment to review the status of the strategies and initiatives stated in the plan and to update them. There are many new initiatives within not only SBE and Maastricht University, but also with various partners and stakeholders, close to home and far away. In 2014, SBE will update its overall strategic programme. This document provides information on the status of current plans and areas for future attention including key advice for the SBE Board to assist in their task of translating their vision for the School into words and ultimately action. Value proposition and positioning defining relevance and differentiation Perform analysis of past strategic priorities. Perform new SWOT and formulate new value proposition and positioning based on a strategic vision for SBE. How can we create and provide benefit to our stakeholders that others cannot? In the SBE Strategic Plan, SBE identified its future strategic positioning as The research based international network school of business and economics. Currently we translate this into tangible, marketable aspects of the School in the following areas: Commitment to international diversity in the classroom throughout the whole School (students, staff, curriculum): Required study abroad Double degree and Triangle programmes 50% of graduates working abroad, 77% feel prepared to work in an international setting THE International Universities ranking #15 worldwide (highest in NL) Use of Problem-based Learning (PBL) Small, international classroom and interactive group learning mimics (many) work situations Use of current, relative cases provides practical link to academic theory Analytical and practical skills taught are desired by future employers Being a comprehensive research-based School, combining business and economics, bachelor to postgraduate Business and economics in one faculty Interdisciplinary research programmes An (inter)national network of partners research and education alumni and corporate contacts While developing our future positioning, we must ask ourselves: does our current value proposition and subsequent positioning (still) differentiate SBE from its competitors? Do we have a clear vision of where/who we want to be in the future and WHY? 2

3 Marketing & Communications at SBE The overall, on-going goals of Marketing & Communication (M&C) at SBE are to: Provide advice to SBE executive management as to which programmes and services will assist in meeting the School s goals Support SBE s core objectives through integrated marketing and communications Manage SBE s profile and reputation Establish and maintain networks (including alumni, external and internal relations) Several major strategies have been formulated to achieve these goals, grouped according to the SBE strategic plan priorities: Internationalisation Education Research Business Development & Knowledge Transfer HRM Increase international diversity student population Increase quality of students Showcase research strengths Communicate value of SBE to society Create and foster SBE community Showcase internationalisation Increase enrolment in certain programmes Increase enrolment in research master's Support BDKT through external relationships Facilitate communication (of SBE values) within the community Optimise admissions Essential to the success of all our marketing and communication efforts is understanding where we stand now in relation to our strategic plans and priorities and where we want to be in the future, short-term and long-term. Marketing & Communications cluster The M&C cluster is committed to continued improvement in our operational efficiency and efficacy. We strive to be a flexible team, so as to easily shift our resources among priorities as needed. We also have been working hard to enhance our communication and cooperation with different members of the UM and SBE community, e.g. the UM Press Office and SBE Admissions. In order to implement our strategies, the M&C department has defined specific initiatives. We focus on identifying stakeholder insights and developing integrated marketing communication plans with the right (online and offline combination) channels to reach the plans goals. We are constantly searching for new and different marketing communication tools and investigating how they can be employed to communicate the creative concept/message for a particular programme or service to the defined target groups. 3

4 Enrolment management - investing in the future, encouraging excellence 1. Determine target numbers for the current BSc and MSc programmes, total and specific nationality targets for the coming five years to reflect our strategic goals in: international classroom development maintaining our unique balance of business and economics operational feasibility (e.g., accommodation, administration processes) participation in Kennis-As projects 2. In order to maintain our reputation as delivering the top ranked programmes in business and economics in the Netherlands and the Euregio, we need to examine our current portfolio to ensure we continue to: differentiate SBE from competitors allow for selective admissions 3. Continue and expand the cooperation between M&C, SBE Admissions and the academic staff to optimise the enrolment of all programmes. 4. Determine a long-term strategy for the cooperation with MSM. What is the vision for their programme development and enrolment goals? Student recruitment and admissions There are many standard activities that M&C conducts with regard to student recruitment (BSc & MSc), and the cluster constantly evaluates these activities for improvements. Cooperation with PGE has developed well over the last years and is an important area where proactive sharing of ideas and resources must continue. The relationship to AIM with regard to their executive programmes is still minimal and could be improved. The future cooperation with MSM needs to be looked at from a enrolment management perspective. How can both Schools current and future programme offerings complement each other? How can the total spectrum of programmes be communicated to potential students optimally? What are the differences in positioning? Likewise, the development and support for the new MSc programmes proposed in the Kennis- As/Smart service Hub plans need to be integrated into our current plans and activities. International classroom The M&C cluster has paid particular attention and resources to increasing the diversity of our student population (see the SBE Student Recruitment Plan for more details). The efforts have been successful with record numbers of non-eu students and growing diversity within the non-dutch EU population. 4

5 The following projects received extra resources because we feel these students are particularly important to the international classroom: The Netherlands France United Kingdom International Schools In 2014 and beyond, we will continue with the above listed target groups. We will also continue to support the UM-wide initiatives in China, and investigate the benefits to SBE with regard to Brazil, Russia, India, the United States and Africa, areas which will be a focus of UM Internationalisation efforts in the future. Programme-specific recruitment, selection and enrolment We are satisfied with the current student distribution across the bachelor s programmes, however special attention must be paid to the newly introduced matching system in Fiscal Economics and Econometrics & Operations Research and changed selection criteria in the decentralised selection programmes. What effects will these have on the quality and composition of the BSc student population? In the master s, we continue to focus extra recruitment attention on new programmes and/or specialisations as well as those with disappointing recruitment numbers, e.g. MSc IB Sustainable Finance, MSc Economics. Also in the master s, the effects of changes to the selection criteria need to be closely monitored. Updated enrolment goals are essential to guide recruitment and admissions. Research master s recruitment SBE s research master s programmes have been a cause of concern for several years. While the Economic & Financial Research programme is attracting just enough students, the Business Research Master does not. GSBE and the BR programme directors are working on a new proposal for the content and structure of a research programme for business students. However, without a strong research profile, a key element to the success of SBE s research master s will continue to be missing Scholarships SBE has two main sources for scholarships, namely the Geert Hofstede Honorary Fund and the UM (High Potential) Scholarships along with several smaller sources. In order to compete on an international stage for top students, particularly non-eu nationals, SBE must develop a more strategic long-term scholarship funding plan. This plan should involve alternate sources of funding closely linked with our external relations strategies. 5

6 Research promotion enhancing our profile by expressing our value Determine a clear vision for research at SBE. What does GSBE want its research profile to be? In what areas do we want to develop our profile as a research leader? What are our true expertise areas? Who are our key opinion leaders? How do these areas link to the Kennis-As, UM and EU grand challenges? How can we translate these expertise to societal needs? What is the role of research at MSM in our vision? Since 2012, great improvements have been made in the communication and cooperation between the director and support staff of GSBE and the M&C cluster. This has resulted in various on-going intitiatives to promote specific research projects to our external relations, e.g. via Talkin Business. However, that is the only positive development in the area of research promotion. Currently our research profile as a graduate school is too diffuse to communicate clearly to external (and internal) stakeholders. Until a clear vision for the future is determined, our marketing and promotion can only remain somewhat ad hoc. This is particularly urgent considering the developments in larger projects such as the Kennis-As. An integrated and comprehensive research marketing and communication strategy for SBE must include the current and future projects from the Kennis-As. Otherwise we risk yet more dilution of our research profile. It is essential that these projects and their societal value and contributions are associated with SBE and not only the individual researchers, project titles or consortiums. Defining the role of the research from MSM is also an important element to formulating our profile and vision. As the two organisations move closer, the need for both differentiation and cooperation must be formulated strategically and longterm. Once these goals and themes are determined, a strategic marketing plan can be developed to focus on the ways to promote SBE s research and researchers as the experts in these areas. Targeted actions to promote these projects and people can then be devised and executed. In order to make these plans a long-term success, additional resources need to be dedicated to the marketing and communication efforts. 6

7 External relations encouraging engagement through mutually beneficial relationships 1. Develop comprehensive plans to engage external relations (e.g. government/ngos, alumni, corporate contacts, press) to: a. Further develop and promote our research vision and profile as first defined by the Board and GSBE. b. Provide external/practical expertise to education development: e.g., consulting on curriculum, guest lectures, internships c. Enhance career planning and development services to students (BSc, MSc, PhD and executive): mentoring, recruitment to reach goals set by the Board d. Generate funds: scholarships, sponsorship of activities and research 2. Define the roles and responsibilities of different SBE entities and dedicate sufficient resources to the development and execution of long-term plans based on the goals. The development of more structured and proactive communication and cooperation within the UM and SBE community with regard to external relations has been a great success in the past two years. Examples are the creation of the External Liaison Community and intensified contact with the UM Press Office. The M&C cluster has also continued to develop tools and expertise to facilitate our activities with and for our external relations. However, there is still much work to be done. What SBE can offer to external contacts is manifold and reaches every corner of the School. Our external relations, whether alumni, corporate contacts or the press are not strategies unto themselves, they are merely the means to reach an end. Without clear goals, for example increased press coverage of research expertise X, the M&C cluster can only work to create and maintain relationships with our external contacts and create platforms to facilitate communication. We must be a reliable, trustworthy and valuable partner to our external relations, and this requires dedicated and proactive strategic relationship planning and management. The role of M&C must be clearly defined together with BDKT and GSBE, as well as with those responsible for education development and student employability services. As mentioned earlier seeking new sources for scholarship funding is also an area for further development and involves cooperation with the University Fund. Once the responsibilities of M&C are defined in the larger picture, the resources and competencies needed to fulfil the tasks can be further defined. 7

8 Human resource management we re all in this together SBE executive management must continue to show its dedication to engaging the SBE community by sharing information and being active participants in initiatives as needed. In the last two years, the M&C cluster has worked on several projects aimed at creating and fostering a sense of community at SBE. The Sharing Success receptions are now a standard recurring event to share and honour accomplishments. The newly launched SBE Staff Introduction sessions have been received positively, however continued dedication from the executive management is required. Unfortunately, efforts to revive the Administration Office Lunch Meetings have not yet been successful. The transition from SBE Weekly to MyTalkin Business has gone well, but it is a project that requires constant evaluation and improvement if we want it to be more than just a list of announcements. With regard to specific education-related communication and information to current students, this is an area in which M&C has never played a leading role. As has been concluded by multiple parties, there must be serious improvements to the current multitude of systems such as EleUM, MyUM, MySBE, etc. There is a central project looking into a new student portal. SBE M&C, and other key stakeholders such as EEO must be a part of these developments. A point for attention is that new projects, no matter how positive and necessary, require time and often monetary investments. The necessary additional resources need to be fully understood, so that regular tasks do not suffer due to new initiatives. Conclusion Looking back over the last two years, Marketing and Communications at SBE has developed strategically and improved professionally. Certain areas have been very successful, namely, student recruitment and enrolment management and human resource management. We have also worked hard and succeeded in laying the ground work for the next steps in the areas of research promotion and external relations, namely in communication and cooperation within SBE and UM. Now is the time to start building on the foundations. As the SBE Board develops their vision for the future of SBE, the marketing and communications strategies, goals and initiatives will follow, dedicated to making the vision a reality. 8