SWOT Analysis of Distance Learning Education Program at De Montfort University

This article provides a SWOT analysis of the distance learning education program at De Montfort University, including its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It also offers recommendations for improvement and key performance indicators.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Management
Name of the student
Name of the university’
Author note

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Table of Contents
Part 1..........................................................................................................................................3
Summary................................................................................................................................8
Part 2..........................................................................................................................................9
Critical success factor..........................................................................................................10
Key performance indicators.................................................................................................11
Part 3........................................................................................................................................12
Reference list............................................................................................................................13

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Distance learning programme by DMU
Part 1
A SWOT analysis is a study which is undertaken by any organization for identifying
its internal strength and weakness and external opportunities and threat.
Distance learning a way of learning remotely without being in regular face to face
contact with the teacher in the classroom. The distance learning is presently considered as
one of the viable means for broadening educational access along with improving the quality
of education.
De Montfort University is a public university situated in the city of Leicester of
England. DMU is organized into four facilities which comprises of Business and law;
computing, media and engineering, life sciences and health and design, humanities and art.
De Montfort University is known to provide various courses in full time, part time and
through distance learning. Some of the courses which are provided by DMU through distance
learning are MSc in Accounting and Finance, MSc in advanced clinical practice, MSc in
Business Intelligence Systems and Data Mining, MSc in Clinical Pharmacy, MSc in Data
analytics, PG Diploma in energy and sustainable development , Forensic Road collision
investigation, PG Dip in human resource management and many more ("Postgraduate
Courses At De Montfort University". 2019).
In order to help the students, DMU also provides e-library and learning services. The
university also provides LLS tutorials and workshops. The online resource of DMU consist of
library catalogues, e books, e journals, previous papers of exams and subject guides which
can the help the students which are into distance learning.

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A SWOT analysis of distance learning education program will help in analysing the
various components of distance learning which can affect students positively and negatively.
It will also help with the improvement process and will also develop new distance learning
programs and opportunities.
Strength
 One of the biggest strength of distance learning education is that the students can access
from anytime and anywhere which has internet facility.
 DMU also provides huge number of courses through distance learning compared to many
other universities which makes it popular among students.
 It also allows working professional to work and attend classes at the same time.
 Students who stays far away also saves a lot of time by attending the distance learning
program.
 De Montfort University till now have received 18 National Teaching Fellow awards in
recognizing innovative and transformational teaching. It has also been awarded Gold in
2017 Teaching Excellence Framework which is the highest possible ranking offered by
TEF (

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 Postgraduate Courses At De Montfort University". 2019).
 DMU also provides more than 20 Distance learning masters degrees.
 The campus life is also quite good as the students have huge number of opportunities for
trying new things (Conaway, Wendy and Barbara Zorn-Arnold 2016). There are also
presence of student clubs and spots facilities for the he students.
 This established legacy of DMU since 1992 is known as the biggest strength of this
university.
Weakness
 Sometimes students might not have proper access to many materials provided by the
professors while availing the course in the online method.
 Most of the industrial sector also do not accept the degrees done through distance
learning.
 DMU also has limited courses which focuses on innovation, entrepreneurs that is related
to the real life business problems.
 The students also do not get proper exposure to the high tech machines which are used in
many projects (Shrestha and Prithvi N 2017). In case of distance learning the students
also have less time for getting hands on experience on the machines.
 The students also gets limited access to the professors and other students which will not
provide them enough resources for studying.
Opportunities
 New technologies will be allowing them for enhanced learning environment for the
students which will also allow to reach wider student base who are presently not attending
the college physically.

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 As most of the industries presently prefer workers who have post graduation degree, more
number of employed workers will be availing the distance learning program for
enhancing their skills.
 There is also absence of any geographical limit in the distance learning program of DMU.
 It can also introduce need based programmes for the working professionals who are
attempting various courses online.
Threats
 There are large number of international and domestic universities in England
which provides a tough competition to DMU.
 There is also increased cost for creating as well as maintaining complicated
databases and online libraries for distant students.
 The number of enrolled students is decreasing recent years despite the increased
offering of degrees.
 There is also presence of many threats from the government laws, regulations
which can also act as a threat to the university. The fees structure is also quite
expensive for which any students does not enrol the courses through online mode.
 Most of the firms do not prefer degrees attained though online mode. Therefore,
may students avoid distance education.

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Beneficial Harmful
Internal
Strength
 Accessible from anywhere and anytime.
 Huge number of courses provided
through distance mode.
 Work professionals can take classes.
 Saves a lot of time for students who
stay far.
 Received 18 National Teaching Fellow
awards and awarded Gold in Teaching
Excellence.
 Provides 20 distance learning PG
programmes.
 Established legacy since 1992.
Weakness
 Sometimes absence of proper access to many materials
provided by the teachers.
 Many industrial sectors do not accept distance learning
course.
 DMU provides only limited courses that are based on
entrepreneurship and innovation.
 Absence of proper exposure of high tech machines used in
practical courses.

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External
Opportunities
 New technologies can provide enhanced
learning environment.
 Graduate working professionals can
further pursue their studies through
online courses.
 It can introduce need based
programmes for working professionals
 Absence of any boundaries or
geographical limit.
Threat
 Already existing large number of u universities proving
tough competition to DMU.
 Increased cost for creating as well as maintaining
complicated databases and online libraries for distant
students.
 Number of enrolled students is decreasing recent years
 Most of the firms do not prefer degrees attained though
online mode.
Summary
The above SWOT analysis suggests that De Montfort University is known to be great
place for getting education. It can provide a great opportunity for the international students
since there has been an increase in the number of the international students in the United
Kingdom. Every year it has been found out that various students from all over the world and
from both developed and developing countries come to United Kingdom in order to achieve
quality education. Therefore, DMU should be using the opportunity of the distance learning
program in order to target various students. The above SWOT analysis provides the strength
weakness, threat and opportunities of the distance learning programme of DMU.
The key set of recommendations are:

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 It is highly recommended that the university should be coming up with various
new courses in different other fields like entrepreneurship. Coming up with new
courses would help the university to set itself apart from the other universities in
the country.
 It is also recommended that De Montfort University should also be having good
relationship with the government. Since the university will have to deal with
various laws and regulations while admitting the international students. Therefore,
it is important that the university should be, maintaining good relationship with
the government(Shrestha and Prithvi N 2017).. The good relationship with the
government will be helping the university.
 It is also recommended that the university can offer discounts or scholarships for
the underprivileged meritorious students. By doing so, it will attract more students
and will also help the underprivileged ones with the further studies.
Part 2
The external situational analysis can be analysed with the help of porter’s five forces.
Bargaining power of the consumers
Since, the distance learning are offered through many colleges, customers therefore have
several options to choose from. There is also presence of online software’s which helps
them with the learning. Therefore, the bargaining power of the consumers are therefore
high.
Bargaining power of the suppliers

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The suppliers of the distance learning provided by DMU consists of teachers,
technologies and suppliers. The bargaining power of the suppliers are low since, the
courses which are provided by the teachers will be available in other sites also.
Threat of substitute products
The substitutes of the distance learning of DMU will be home schools or free tutorials
provided by various websites. The online education provided by DMU have less
flexibility with lowering the prices of the products. On the other hand, the companies
who provide software and programs can demand higher price. Therefore, it can be said
that the threat of substitute products are high.
Competitive rivalry
The distance learning program offered by De Montford University is known to be highly
competitive in nature with so many competitors around. When the rivalry among the
existing players of the industry will be intense in nature, it will be driving the price down
and will decrease the overall profit of the industry. Therefore, De Mont Fort University
can collaborate with the competitors
Threat of new entrant
Since the e learning industry is already an established one, there is already a barrier for
the new entrants. However, if any university comes up with innovative ideas for
attracting its students, it might act as threat. It might put pressure on De Montfort’s
distance learning course where it might have to reduce its cost, lowest the pricing strategy
and also provide new value propositions for the consumers.
Critical success factor
The critical success factors are the critical activities which are required in order to
make the business successful.

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In case of higher education, it has been found several standards emerged to be the key
success factors. One of the critical success factors is that DMU provides similar
opportunities for cross racial interactions. It is also known to engage in conversation
about challenging and other social issues as a campus community. It is also known to
create and implement summer programmes which will also introduce unprivileged school
students to the college life. One of the main drivers of the distance learning course is that
it is profit potential (Aithal et al. 2016). It is also known to support the academic needs
for the unprivileged students. The biggest success factor of DMU is that it offers a wide
range of postgraduate programmes to the distance learning program. It also connects
campus with various ethnic communities. It establishes successful communication
contacts and networks within the minority communities and also increases collaboration
with the community-based organizations.
Key performance indicators
The key performance indicators of the distance learning education pf De Montfort
University are:
 Large number of subscribers.
 Number of courses sold.
 Percentage of profit
 Satisfaction level of the students
 Passing percentage of students
 Graduate employment
 Graduate rate.

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Part 3
The university can link the work of the student works in the websites with the
academic affairs in their websites. It can host various programmes which will be connecting
campus with ethnic communities by sharing the broad knowledge of the university’s pool of
experts with the community. DMU can also establish successful communication contacts
through various social medias and build a network within the minority communities. It can
also establish various mentor programmes and also create and make support groups for the u
underprivileged students. DMU can build trust through blogs and website contents where the
former and the current students can participate. It should not claim any false capabilities on
the website which cannot be provided. Good marketing communications should be
addressing the pain points of the customers. The website can show a lot of things about the
products or services that are best available. DMU should also be careful with the ad content
which is displayed on the website. It can also display reviews and testimonials. By
connecting with the alumni, the university can help them in writing testimonials and blogs
about the university and publish them in the website.

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Reference list
"Postgraduate Courses At De Montfort University". 2019. Dmu.Ac.Uk.
https://www.dmu.ac.uk/study/courses/postgraduate-courses/postgraduate-courses.aspx.
Aithal, P. Sreeramana, V. Shailashree, and P. M. Kumar. "ABCD analysis of Stage Model in
Higher Education." International Journal of Management, IT and Engineering 6, no. 1
(2016): 11-24.
Conaway, Wendy, and Barbara Zorn-Arnold. "The keys to online learning for adults."
Distance Learning Issue 13 (2016): 1.
Mathooko, Francis M., and Martin Ogutu. "Porter’s five competitive forces framework and
other factors that influence the choice of response strategies adopted by public universities in
Kenya." International Journal of Educational Management 29, no. 3 (2015): 334-354.
Ricoy, M.C. and Feliz, T., 2016. Twitter as a learning community in higher education.
Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 19(1), pp.237-248.
Romero-Gutierrez, Miguel, M. Rut Jimenez-Liso, and Maria Martinez-Chico. "SWOT
analysis to evaluate the programme of a joint online/onsite master's degree in environmental
education through the students’ perceptions." Evaluation and program planning 54 (2016):
41-49.
Schuwer, Robert, Ines Gil Jaurena, Cengiz Hakan Aydin, Eamon Costello, Christian
Dalsgaard, Mark Brown, Darco Jansen, and Antonio Teixeira. "Opportunities and threats of
the MOOC movement for higher education: The European perspective." The International
Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning 16, no. 6 (2015).

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Shrestha, Prithvi N. "Investigating the learning transfer of genre features and conceptual
knowledge from an academic literacy course to business studies: Exploring the potential of
dynamic assessment." Journal of English for Academic Purposes 25 (2017): 1-17.