Attracting Generation Z Students to Higher Education Institutions

U.S. Higher Education institutions (HEIs) have faced declining enrollment since 2011. At the same time, the generational cohort of first-time freshman changed from Millennials to Gen Z students, bringing with them a change in wants, needs, and values. A qualitative multiple case study was conducted to understand how to attract Gen Z students to Higher Education Institutions. The two research questions were: 1) What marketing strategies are successful HEIs using to attract Generation Z students? and 2) What are they doing differently to attract Gen Z compared to Gen X or Y? This study was based on marketing theory, generational theory, and the concept of higher education. Marketing theory suggests that product, price, place, and promotion along with a target market are necessary for success. Generational theory suggests that what worked in the past will not necessary be effective today due to the changing values and desires of a generation. To identify learnings, marketing staff were interviewed from five institutions which have successfully increased their enrollment of Gen Z students since 2013. The findings from the research indicate that the Four P’s of marketing remain critical components in attracting this audience. Additionally, a focus on utilizing data to develop marketing strategies was found to be effective, along with a collaborative culture. Institutions can apply learnings by implementing data sharing across campus, cultivating a collaborative culture, using data to develop specific target markets, creating a clear brand, and investing in digital marketing strategies such as website and social media. In conclusion, the results of the study describe how successful HEIs are attracting Gen Z students. The learnings can be implemented at other institutions to help them fulfill their purpose of educating and training students

Digital Strategy Formulation: An Investigation with Design Sprints and Deep Learning

Since the invention of transistors, digital technologies have continued to have a profound impact on the global economy. Relentless performance improvements combined with convergence of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, internet of things, and cloud computing has led to a surge in scale and importance as a source for competitive advantage. However, in 2019, only around 16% of companies managed to realize a significant improvement in business performance from digital transformation (DT). The challenges that organizations face in succeeding at DT can be traced back to strategy formulation and execution. Therefore, the aim of this research is to develop insights and tools to enhance the understanding and practice of digital strategy formulation. A comprehensive review of the literature demonstrated that DT, as an emerging body of knowledge, is lacking an in-depth and applied investigation of digital strategy formulation. The main knowledge gaps are: (1) a lack of guidance on digital strategy formulation process activities and outcomes; (2) limited consideration of the iterative nature of digital strategy formulation and validation; and (3) limited empirical investigation of digital strategy archetypes to guide the formulation process. Addressing this research gap was accomplished over three stages. First, an in-depth exploratory case study was conducted by investigating digital strategy formulation process with active participation research over six months. This investigation identified key process activities and highlighted the role of roadmapping in integrating the outcomes. Second, the findings were supplemented with literature review to design a conceptual framework for agile roadmapping to facilitate the digital strategy formulation process. This framework was then tested and calibrated over three pilot studies with companies across Europe attempting to start their DT journey. Finally, deep learning and natural language processing techniques were employed to empirically investigate the digital strategy of Fortune 500 companies from earnings call transcripts. This empirical investigation identified four digital strategy archetypes that are being employed by companies across various sectors. The findings from this research contribute to a better understanding of digital strategy formulation. It was identified that digital strategy formulation is an ongoing search process for an adequate strategic response to the DT of the economy. Specifically, incorporating agility into the formulation process is an effective way of managing the associated uncertainty of DT. Moreover, the findings demonstrated that proactively iterating between strategy formulation and validation can accelerate the realization of the emergent digital strategy. The proposed framework and the digital strategy archetypes provide a baseline for DT professionals toward a more robust digital strategy formulation.Ministry of Education - United Arab Emirate

Kick-starting innovation: a fast-track version of innovation scoring for start-ups

JEL Classification: M13; O32This study seeks to build a diagnostic tool for start-up innovation. It does that by adapting the framework of the Innovation Scoring, which is an instrument developed by COTEC Portugal – the country’s leading business association for the promotion of innovation. To the author’s knowledge there are no academic works to be found that have followed this approach. The relevance of this work is further enhanced by the present context of change in the business panorama, as well as the growing importance of knowledge economy. A basic question that prompts this investigation is as follows: how can an innovation assessment tool be made useful to the specific characteristics of start-up companies? This project proposes the initial steps and clues for further investigation on how to extend the approach of Innovation Scoring to start-ups. A new instrument – a Fast-track Approach for Start-ups (IS FASt) – is advanced with the purpose of diagnosing innovation capabilities in an objective and measurable manner in order to support start-ups’ innovative performance.Este estudo procura construir uma ferramenta de diagnóstico de inovação para start-ups. Isto é feito a partir da adaptação enquadramento do Innovation Scoring, que é um instrumento desenvolvido pela COTEC Portugal – Associação Empresarial líder na promoção da inovação no país. Não existindo, no que diz respeito ao conhecimento dos autores, ainda trabalhos académicos que tenham realizado esta abordagem. A pertinência da presente dissertação é reforçada pelo presente contexto de mudança no panorama do tecido empresarial, bem como da crescente importância da economia do conhecimento. Uma pergunta-base que anima a presente investigação é a seguinte: de que forma é que um instrumento de avaliação da inovação pode ser tornado útil às características específicas das empresas start-ups? Este projeto propõe os primeiros passos e pistas para investigação futura sobre como estender a abordagem do Innovation Scoring às start-ups. Um novo instrumento – a Fast-track Approach for Start-ups (IS FASt), é avançado com a finalidade de diagnosticar as capacidades de inovação de forma objetiva e mensurável, afim de apoiar o desempenho inovador das start-ups

A legacy handbook for business support

Legacy Handbook reviewing emda's experience of business support activity. Identifies key achievements and draws out lessons learned that may be relevant to successor bodies active in this area

Private Enterprise for Public Health: Opportunities for Business to Improve Women's and Children's Health

This guide, developed by FSG and published by the Innovation Working Group in support of the global Every Woman, Every Child effort, explores how companies can create shared value in women's and children's health. The document sets out opportunities for multiple different industries to develop new product and services, improve delivery systems and strengthen health systems that can support global efforts to save 16 million women's and children's lives between now and 2015. It particularly notes that companies need not wait for health services to "catch up" with their economic model, but rather they can work proactively to help accelerate change, by partnering with other industries, civil society and the public sector to create collective impact in a specific location. The aim of the guide is to catalyze these transformative partnerships

Transformation of a small-to-medium-sized enterprise to a multi-organisation product-service solution provider

This paper aims to: (1) précis the extant literature on servitization and enterprization transformations, focusing on the role of information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) and their inter-relationships; (2) illustrate these interrelationships by showing how a small-to-medium-sized enterprise (SME) can move from being a predominantly independent SME, delivering only products, to become part of a multi-organisation enterprise able to deliver product-service solutions; and (3) provide generic learning by proposing a new integrated business transformation model. The methodology used is abductive action research. A literature review is conducted to provide academically grounded themes to inform and interpret practical actions. An empirical case study is conducted with a UK SME from the construction industry that provides empirical data to illustrate a business transformation. Inductive reasoning is used to propose a new integrated transformation model. Findings show that enterprization and servitization transformation themes are highly interdependent and co-implementable when an IT/IS focus is taken. Furthermore, these transformations can be used as part of a successful strategy for growth by an SME. A new operating structure, labelled a product-service enterprise (PSE), is proposed as part of a business transformation model to assist future deliveries of product-service solutions (PSSns). Actions and findings are based on a single empirical case abducted with academic themes. Whilst it is probable that the themes and actions have contributed towards the organization's successful growth, no absolute deterministic causality is claimed

Educational Mobility in Transition: what can China and the UK learn from each other?

The purpose of this study is to explore the differences in international student mobility in two contrasting countries: UK and China at national, institutional and individual levels. They are countries in transition in a greater global context. The objective is to identify what these countries can learn from eachother about the issues and policies surrounding the management of educational mobility. An inductive approach was employed to understand real-life experience via case studies. Participant observation and semi-structured interview methods with a variety of stakeholders were used to collect data which were then subjected to a thematic analysis to identify in which areas countries had developed good practice. Over-arching themes were developed through comparing national findings. These reveal that national policy and family support are most influential in China, while British universities largely drive student mobility at an institutional level. Concluding that no one country has a comprehensive and complete approach, this study proposes the areas in which both could develop and details good practice. The value therefore emerges from the comparison and contrast and the practical focus of the research