Service Industry Marketing: A Case Study of Higher Education

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SERVICE INDUSTRY MARKETING
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Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
FACTORS AFFECTING QUALITY AND DELIVERY OF HIGHER EDUCATION................5
MARKETING PROMOTIONAL PLAN........................................................................................7
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Higher education is pursued after secondary education and is also known as post-graduation.
Different courses are offered in higher education. The demand for higher education has rapidly
increased after the increase in the education system. Thus there are many problems also that are
increasing with the increase in demand for higher education. There is a regular decrease in the
quality of higher education has been observed after the rapid increase in its demand. Many
organizations were still successful in maintaining their standard for higher education but most of
the organizations were not able to provide a standard of education for higher educations. Many
organizations are trying different methods of providing better higher education and are using
various marketing and promotional mix for that purpose. In many cases, it has been also
observed that the government is also playing a role in increasing the quality of higher education
by contacting various universities and colleges.
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INTRODUCTION
Service industry management is the sector which is involved in the regular growth of any
organization or a particular sector. In the following case study education sector is selected and
higher education quality is the main topic on which study focuses. Higher education is pursued
after secondary education. It is generally the final stage of education. It is given in colleges and
universities. But as the demand for Higher education is increasing thus in many universities it
has been observed that the quality of higher education is decreasing. It is a serious issue because
the student learns a final level of education in higher studies and if good quality is not delivered
to students then it creates a decrease in the level of education in the society. The following report
will help in understanding the steps should be taken to solve the given problem and increase the
quality of education. The report also focuses on factors due to which the quality of higher
education has been decreased.
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FACTORS AFFECTING QUALITY AND DELIVERY OF HIGHER EDUCATION
The rapid increase has been observed in the educational sector from the past few years. Due to
this reason, it is very important to increase the quality of the education sector to make a positive
impact on society. But it has been observed that due to increase in demand for higher education
in the educational sector the quality of the education sector has been decreased rapidly. It has
become a serious issue for the educational sector because Higher Education is generally the final
stage of learning in most of the cases and makes experts in a particular topic. Different topics are
there in higher studies and knowledge of these particular topics is very important for working in
a particular field. Higher Education is also important because it helps in making a carrier in a
particular field (Shultz, 2017). Various factors on which quality and delivery of higher studies
depends are-
1. Institutional Factor – Institution plays a major role in the delivery and quality of education.
In many organizations, it has been observed that institutes play a major role in the quality of the
educational sector. For example, in some institute, it has been observed that institute focus on
one or two courses only. Thus the institute can completely focus on this course and students can
gain proper and sufficient knowledge. The way in which an institution operates is also an
important factor because it determines the time and quality required for completing any
particular course.
2. Technology – The technology used in different universities or organizations also plays a
major role in quality gained by the students (Anonymous, 2018). In modern time, most of the
students preferring smart classes and different online ways of learning. Thus institutions should
take a step for this and provide the latest technology to the students. Use of computers should be
increased and other technologies should be used. The main benefit of technology is it takes less
amount of time and gives a greater amount of knowledge. The faculties should also have
knowledge of the latest technology so that they can teach easily and effectively.
3. Faculty – It is one of the most important factors that influence the quality of higher education.
In different institution, there are different kind of faculties regarding knowledge and experience.
Faculties are the factors that directly deliver the knowledge and skills to the students (Arnett, et.
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al., 2014). Thus the faculty should have adequate knowledge and must have skills so that they can
teach students properly. Faculty should also have capabilities and skills to teach a different kind
of students and have the skill that student should understand the topics taught by the faculties.
The faculty selected for higher studies should be experienced because topics related to higher
studies are complex thus proper knowledge and skills are required to teach these skills (Pike, et.
al., 2014).
4. Socio-Economic Factors – This factor is common in almost every organization. Thus it is
involved in educational organizations also. There are lots of colleges that provide higher
educational degrees. But to remain in the top of the list different organizations adopts different
ways to achieve this goal. Thus they try to increase its efficiency by having experienced faculties
and providing modern technologies to their students. In order to achieve these goals, they
provide better services which directly affect the knowledge gained by students. As the services
are increased and improved thus students can learn easily and can gain sufficient knowledge with
the help of development in institutions.
5. Raising the quality of course – The demand for higher studies is increasing rapidly thus it is
very important to increase the quality of the course. There should be some changes related to
course like some books and syllabus. It has been also observed that many students are taking
admissions in higher studies which do not have even knowledge and eligibility to take admission
in such a course (Gazley, et. al., 2016). For this purpose, there should be an entrance test of good
quality and the test should be regarding the topics selected for higher studies in a given institute.
It makes the selection procedure fare and also leads to an increase in the standard of any course
of higher studies.
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MARKETING PROMOTIONAL PLAN
Marketing Promotional Plan is the plan which is made in order to promote the present services in
order to achieve outcomes for the organization. For this particular purpose, it is very important
that the promotional plan prepared should contain different details and information related to the
purpose or goal. Marketing promotional plan consists of various points like factors where
improvement is required and the present condition of different departments of the organization
(Firdaus, et. al., 2014).
Marketing Communication – Marketing communication is the practice of promoting or
advertizing the given product in order to achieve marketing plan. The main purpose of the
marketing plan is to communicate or express their ideas with customers. There are mainly three
objectives of marketing communication
a) To Communicate
b) To Compete
c) To Convince
Thus marketing communication focuses on these three components and plans according to these
basic components (Constantin, 2017).
As in the case of the education sector for higher studies, it has been observed that
communication is a very important factor. With the help of communication, only different
institutions can express their different techniques and skills of educating students. With the help
of communication, only people can understand and select a suitable institution where they can
get quality knowledge of higher studies. With the help of effective communication, only students
can select a suitable institution for their studies. Effective communication also leads to a better
understanding of the given course in higher studies and its benefits. It helps in understanding the
various details of an institution like faculty and facilities provided by the institution.
Another factor is to compete. As the demand for higher studies is increasing as explained above
thus the number of institutions are also increasing for providing higher education to the students.
For this particular purpose, institutions should focus on how to make the institution more
effective and successful. The institution should be able to compete with other organization. It is
beneficial for two purposes. As the institution focus on increasing their quality and services thus,
it will ultimately increase the output of the institution because it increases the number of students
in particular organization. On another scale as an institution is increasing its quality to teach and
introducing modern technologies thus students can also gain quality knowledge and leads to
standard knowledge of higher studies (V.L., & I.O., 2013).
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Another objective of Marketing Management is to convince. It is a very important objective of
marketing because if the organization is not able to convince its customers then there is no profit
of the whole plan and outcomes cannot be achieved. For higher studies as explained above it is
very important that institutions can convince the students about the facilities, technologies, and
faculties that institution is providing to students (FitzPatrick, et. al., 2013). The institution should
be able to convince the students to take admission in a particular organization. It will help the
students to choose a suitable institution for their higher studies.
Promotional Mix Elements – As the competition is increasing in every organization of different
sector thus different ways are adopted in order to compete in such a vast competition.
Proportional Mix Elements are one of those different ways required to achieve the target market.
With the help of promotional mix, it becomes easy to compete and the chance of getting
successful output is also increased.
Promotional Mix consists of various elements and each element has its own meaning and role in
achieving any particular target.
 Advertising – Advertising of a given product is very important as it gives knowledge to
the customer about any given product. In modern marketing advertising method is an
essential tool because it makes the promotion of a given product easy and less time-
consuming. It requires money to advertise a given product but if advertising is done
properly then the outcome can be achieved.
 Personal Selling – Personal Selling is a practice in which a salesperson sells its product
directly to the customer. Face to face interaction is done in this practice and is a
beneficial tool for both, organization and product. It is because sales person can elaborate
on the product more briefly and the customer can also be satisfied with this tool of the
promotional mix.
 Sales Promotion – Sales promotion is generally a link between advertising and
marketing. It is related to advertising as this practice also elaborates about properties of
the product and the methods in which sale should be done.
 Public Relations – Public relations are the relations that organization makes with its
customers. These relations depend upon the service and quality of the product an
organization is offering. Hence for maintaining public relations, it is very important that
organization should provide quality products and best service to their customers.
 Direct Marketing – This promotional mix is a tool adopted by organizations in order to
promote its product and giving information to their customers without any middleman or
salesperson. This tool is beneficial as an organization can briefly explain its services and
quality of the product directly to their customers.
These mix elements are used as a tool to achieve goals and objectives for the organization (Balta,
2018). Previously there are 4Ps but after sometimes 7Ps are introduced by the organization.
These Ps are components used to achieve targets.
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1. Product – Product is the first thing the organization should check because the output of the
organization depends mainly on the quality of the project.
2. Price – For an organization, it is very important to examine the price of the project timely.
After examining the product it should be decided whether the price has to be raised or low. The
price of the product should be such that it is suitable for the organization as well as for
customers.
3. Promotion – The organization should promote its product in such a way that customers
become aware of all the properties and details of the product. The organization should promote
in such a way that product is promoted according to its benefits.
4. Place – It is the element which determines the place where the product has to be sold. It is very
important for the organization to examine the place where the demand for the product is highest.
5. Packaging – This is an element which focuses on the appearance of the given product. It is the
responsibility of the organization to present its product in such a way that it looks attractive to
the customers.
6. Positioning – Positioning is the element which focuses on the image of the organization for
customers. It is very important for an organization to be aware of the reactions of customers.
7. People – It is the final element of the 7Ps. It is very important that an organization should be
aware of the people working in their organization (Shultz, 2017). Any policy or strategy when
implemented in an organization then it becomes important that each and every person in an
organization should give their best. Hence it is very important for the organization to identify the
people or employees working in their organization to achieve a suitable outcome.
Criteria To Be Employed – The Higher studies will be said to be improved only if a maximum
number of students will pass the exam and the institutions adopt various methods of improving
the quality of education for the students. Various criteria should be selected for achieving the
given target (Firdaus, et. al., 2014). If all of these targets are fulfilled then only it has to be said
that the given target is achieved. Various criteria to be selected are –
 The organizations present should be government authorized and must have given students
all the facilities and modern technologies required for achieving a particular task. The
government should be involved in this practice and must take actions on the institutions
which are not government authorized. It is because as the demand for organizations is
increasing rapidly thus many institutions are there which are not giving even a basic
knowledge of higher studies and earning money which is illegal. Thus the government
should be involved in these cases and must take actions on organizations which are
giving proper education and sufficient facilities. This criterion is very important to
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accomplish in order to achieve the target of delivering quality education of Higher
Studies to students (Constantin, 2017).
 Another major criterion is students should be able to learn the things taught in
institutions. If the institution is giving its best and then also the students are not able to
learn anything then there is no benefit of any steps taken by the institution. Thus it is very
important to determine whether students have learned anything or not. For this purpose,
tests should be taken of the students timely to check their knowledge related to topics in
higher studies. Proper examining of this situation should be done. Hence, the criteria
should be fulfilled as it directly relates to the knowledge gained by the organizations
(Gazley, et. al., 2016).
Budget and Timeline –
Promotional Mix Elements Time Required Budget Required
1. Advertising 1 Month 30,000
2. Personal Selling 2 Months 25,000
3. Sales Promotion 3 Months 27,000
4. Public Relations 2 Months 33,000
5. Direct Marketing 4 Months 22,000
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CONCLUSION
From the above case study, it has been thoroughly analyzed that demand for higher study is
increasing thus many institutions are decreasing the quality of Higher Studies. For this purpose,
many steps were taken to solve this issue. Modern technologies were introduced, operations of
institutions are improved and the quality of teaching is also improved. Various marketing
methods were also introduced in order to increase the quality of higher studies. Management
Communication has been used and proportional elements were also introduced. Various criteria
were also selected for achieving the target. Criteria selected are knowledge of students and
working of institutions. The main motive of the study is to increase the quality of higher studies
in institutions with the help of marketing plans and strategies.
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REFERENCES
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knowledge exchange between sales and marketing. Journal of Business Research : JBR, 67(3),
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tourism management: Applying marketing's service-dominant logic in the hotel industry.
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