E-Business/E-Commerce Report: DMU's Plan for International Students

This report analyzes De Montfort University's (DMU) plan to expand its international student base through e-business and e-commerce strategies. It begins with an introduction outlining the project's aim to determine effective methods for international student recruitment, particularly from countries like India, China, and Malaysia. Part 1 presents a SWOT analysis, identifying DMU's strengths (flexible timings, quality faculty) and opportunities (new technical courses) while acknowledging weaknesses (lack of high-level computer learning) and threats (competition from other universities). Part 2 applies Porter's Five Forces model to assess the competitive landscape, considering the threat of substitution, new entrants, supplier and buyer power, and competitive rivalry within the higher education sector. Part 3 addresses cultural issues, such as language barriers and financial constraints, offering recommendations like language support and scholarship programs. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of resource allocation and strategic planning for the successful implementation of DMU's online education initiatives to attract international students.

Running head: E-BUSINESS/ E-COMMERCE
E-business/ e-commerce
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Part 1................................................................................................................................................3
SWOT Analysis...............................................................................................................................3
Summary..........................................................................................................................................4
Recommendations............................................................................................................................5
Part 2................................................................................................................................................6
Porter’s Five Forces Model.............................................................................................................6
Part 3................................................................................................................................................8
Addressing different issues..............................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The following research is based on the plans of De Montfort University’s plan to
expand its student base and increase the number of international students who have chosen to
come to UK and study at DMU. The main aim of the project is to determine the potential ways
by which the University will complete the total procedure. At present the university offers Under
graduate and Post graduate degrees on a number of different subjects and generally inducts
student from some Asian countries like India, China and Malaysia. The study has highlighted the
macro environment of the university which will be effective in the process of the expansion of
the industry.
Part 1
SWOT Analysis
STRENGTH OPPURTUNITIES
 Flexible timings offered by the
university helps the students to easily
adopt to the distance learning process
 Presence of the best faculty of UK
 The mentioned university provides
students with the option of selecting the
course requirements and topics that are
covered from any locations
 A large number of students can be
attracted to the course because of the
flexible timings of the university
 The university can develop new courses
on technical education to attract more
and more students
 Introduction of video conference
system can be one of the best methods
which will help the international

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 The university has opted for a
computerized faculty, student and
administrators.
students to clear all the doubts
regarding their course
WEAKNESS THREATS
 Absence of a high level computer
learning is a serious weakness for the
university as because
 Absence of proper course materials is a
serious issue that can seriously hamper
the distance learning courses
 The absence of a proper training
program will lead to utter confusion
among the enrolled students
 Presence of a large number of
specialized online courses is one of the
main threats of the organization
 The university has hurried to introduce
the course for international students
without assembling the necessary
resources to carry on with such a
course.
 Other universities of UK have
developed a sustainable model to attract
the students by offering them
scholarships. This particular strategy
provides huge threat to the
organization.
Summary
The macro analysis of the University’s online educational plans has shown that the
university has to go another few steps before implementing the ambitious programme (Altbach
2015). The management of the university must make sure to assemble all the resources and

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funding on time to avoid any monetary problems that may spell doom for the course. The pursuit
of the university to start the online educational courses will surely add new dimensions to the
existing structure. The enrollment of international students in the course will help the University
to prosper.
Recommendations
The following changes can help to avoid the threats and weaknesses which provide a
barrier to De Montfort University to increase the number of international students;
1. A proper training program along with proper computer training must be organized by the
university to make sure that the supervisors of the course are well acquainted with the
course materials.
2. The university must create a high value for its course to make sure that the course
outclasses all the other types of courses in the market in terms of its quality.
3. The management of the university must sit together and formulate a proper strategy to
make sure that their university attains the topmost position.

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Part 2
Porter’s Five Forces Model
Figure No 1- Porter’s Five Forces Model
Source- (Simpson 2013)
The Five Forces Model of Porter has been used by the researcher to analyze the level of
competition within the different universities and how the mentioned industry can develop its
strategy for the future (Beetham and Sharpe 2013).
1. Threat of Substitution- The demand for higher education has been increasing gradually
and days are gone when a graduate was termed as a learned person. The demand for
higher education has opened up new opportunities for the education system (Lockwood
2013). Most of the universities in UK have started distance training program some few

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years back. The advancement in the technology has led to the beginning of the online
distance education. The presence of many substitutes poses a stiff challenge to the
mentioned university to make their program a success.
2. Threat of New Entry- The rise in the technology pose a challenge to the distance
education providers like the mentioned university of UK as many small private
institutions have emerged into the market who have been providing degrees at a much
lower cost (Padro 2015).
3. Bargaining Power of Suppliers- Then power of faculty as a supplier of education is in a
state of dilemma. The appointment of expert faculties adds competitive advantage for the
universities as they are able to provide the best education to the students (Harry et al.
2013). While on the other hand the emergence of part time professors is quite a cheap
proposition for the university and there has been a rise in the trend of appointing experts
for part time.
4. Bargaining power of Customers- As in most of the other case the buyers are the ones
with the maximum amount of power with them (Hew and Cheung 2014). A buyer power
can be determined by the presence of lots of options in the market. The mentioned
university has to depend upon the buyer power to deliver the exact online education to
the students (Stromquist and Monkman 2014).
5. Competitive Rivalry- Globalization has led to a huge rise in the rivalry between the
universities. According to (Yuan et al. 2013) more and more universities and low cost
education providers are coming up with new subjects to expand their bases. Distance
learning has become more common due to the presence of a large number of low cost
education providers.

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Part 3
Addressing different issues
A number of different cultural issues have to be addressed by the mentioned university
to make sure that the students does not face any difficulty while taking part in the different
online higher educational courses. Some of the main issues are;
a. Language and communication is one of the major barriers for the international students as
most of the students enrolling in the courses fails to understand English.
b. Financial issues have a deep impact on the students as students often fails to meet the
huge course related fees and thus abstains themselves from these courses.
c. Absence of a media campaign is another serious issue that hampers the growth of the
university in foreign shores.
d. The cases regarding racial discrimination must be addressed so that more and more
students can apply for the courses from the underdeveloped countries of Asia and Africa.
De Montfort University has its own set of rules and regulations by which it addresses all
the issues related to culture (Halverson et al. 2014). The IT experts of the university have also
designed the website in such a way that it is easily understandable by all the students from
different countries.
1. The website of the mentioned University in UK have kept open a number of language
options so that the students from different parts of the globe can easily access the website
and can carry on their studies easily.
2. The development of a high profile media campaigning has had an impact on the students
as study showed that more number of people enrolled for the course after such a change.

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3. Ensuring the presence of scholarship programs for students enrolling from
underdeveloped countries.

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References
Altbach, P., 2015. Perspectives on internationalizing higher education. International Higher
Education, (27).
Bates, T., 2014. The Role of Technology in Distance Education (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.
Beetham, H. and Sharpe, R. eds., 2013. Rethinking pedagogy for a digital age: Designing for
21st century learning. routledge.
Halverson, L.R., Graham, C.R., Spring, K.J., Drysdale, J.S. and Henrie, C.R., 2014. A thematic
analysis of the most highly cited scholarship in the first decade of blended learning research. The
Internet and Higher Education, 20, pp.20-34.
Harry, K., John, M. and Keegan, D. eds., 2013. Distance education: new perspectives.
Routledge.
Hazelkorn, E., 2015. Rankings and the reshaping of higher education: The battle for world-class
excellence. Springer.
Hew, K.F. and Cheung, W.S., 2014. Students’ and instructors’ use of massive open online
courses (MOOCs): Motivations and challenges. Educational research review, 12, pp.45-58.
Lockwood, F. ed., 2013. Open and distance learning today. Routledge.
Padro, F.F., 2015. Quality in higher education.
Simpson, O., 2013. Supporting students in online open and distance learning. Routledge.'
Stromquist, N.P. and Monkman, K. eds., 2014. Globalization and education: Integration and
contestation across cultures. R&L Education.

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Yuan, L., Powell, S. and CETIS, J., 2013. MOOCs and open education: Implications for higher
education.