Exam paper Tall 2 networks are important to NH which undertakes a lot of effort to build ties to corporate via research projects. Corporate relations are in some settings facilitated by the institution in others by faculty individuals. Principle Jan l. Holland stated that "the Focus-program (note: currently ongoing) is meant to contribute to our development as an institution and will make us more relevant" (Paralyze, 2012). This statement confirms both the importance of top notch human capital, and also the understanding of NH having to cooperate with enterprises to become more attractive and relevant.Whether the researchers are generally aligned with this focal point might be questionable.
However, surveys indicate that the associations among researchers is that the school is regarded both traditional and masculine (Supplely, 2005) which might imply a lack of support for relationship building towards corporate due to concerns that might refer to corporate threatening to influence the academic freedom. Strengths of the NH brand are certainly rooted in the reputation of its research standards, the academic networks SQUISH, SEEMS and PIMP as well as the active student unions.Weaknesses are found in the outward immunization of the schools' relevance. Brand facts - Products, Company, People, Origin and Traditions NH is the #1 ranked business school in Norway which is exclusively accredited by SQUISH, SEEMS and PIMP.
Moreover it is ranked among the 50 best business schools in Europe by FT which implies being among the top 4 Scandinavian schools (Financial Times, 2012). Both the high level of teaching and especially researching are well known around the world. In Finn Jutland NH alumni contain a Noble Price winner in economics.Currently 3367 students are enrolled at NH of which 467 are international degree seeking students.
NH offers one bachelor degree and eight Master profiles, three of them are taught in English. More than 90% of Nosh's Bachelor students continue their Master degree at the school. The institution recorded a positive trend in terms of the number of applicants for Bachelor and Master programs as well as higher scores required for admission, which increases the selectivity (Balderdash's, 2012). One of the reasons for increased number of applicants to the Master program is according to Bovine Derange (personal interview, 17.
0. 2012), the increased number of Norwegian institutions offering economical education. In conclusion NH avails of their reputation of historically being the number 1 in Norway as well as the non- existence of tuition fees. Nosh's strategic positioning The findings presented above are combined in the strategic positioning of the organization.
However this is not an aggregation, it involves careful selection of features that are common 8 candidates: 7, 18, 26, 50, 52 denominators across stakeholder groups.This positioning, which builds around the identified PODS and pops, needs to fit the skills, competencies, capabilities that the company possesses. Both stakeholder groups have similar primary associations. The school is perceived as a prestigious institution that provides quality education, is selective in admission and focuses on research. Quality education, the prestige and the selective admission are positive associations that need to be strengthened through communication.
Nevertheless, the network contains "two- faced" associations.The link to research implies skilled professors on the upside. However, it is also linked to lacking business relevance in some minds. Differentiating factors for our strategic positioning are to be found in the secondary layer of associations. Corporate mainly associate the school as a link to theoretical knowledge and a source of skilled future employees. The students on the other side associate NH as a potential part of their life, which tries to sum up strong associations on student/city life and future opportunities.
In conclusion future strategic positioning towards both stakeholder groups has one main objective: strengthening the business relevance of NH. Moreover the communication aimed at students should focus on both the education and the opportunities related to NH. See appendix 3 and 4 for our visual presentation of the strategic positioning. Tactical Positioning Target group knowledge NH examines their target group through surveys fairly often. In this way a lot of valuable information on recruited and rejected students is gathered. Both in 2008 and 2012, NH conducted recruitment studies.
We will focus on the 2012 survey and present shortly the Bachelor and Master students' preferences and factors for study choice. A fairly large share of the Nosh's potential Bachelor students apply directly after or one year after graduating from high school. The geographic distribution between the East and West coast is quite balanced among the applicants for Bachelor and Master: 37% from the west and 35% from Oslo/Shaker's applying for the Bachelor; 35% and 21% for Master (NH, coca). Study preferences 52% of the Bachelor applicants listed other programs in economics as second choice. 7% also applied for private schools in Norway and programs abroad; 29 % of those applied at Bal. 55% of the Bachelor applicants decided to apply to NH more than a year before the deadline.
15,2% applied at international institutions. 8,5% applied for similar programs at Bal. On average 50% of the Master student apply at international institutions. 90% of these had 9 NH as their first choice. The numbers for Bachelor students indicate that the competition in this segment is multifaceted: business versus law school, medicine and engineering studies.It might be reasoned that many prospects choose NH because of its reputation, and not necessarily due to economic interest (NH, coca).
An analysis conducted in 2009 focused on students who were admitted to NH, but declined. 80% of the students who declined the offer stated that this decision was already made prior to being granted admission. 446% of the students did not start NH because of another institution. The analysis questions where these students end up studying.One might expect that Bal as a fierce competitor to attract a lot of Nosh's potential students, but this analysis refutes this hypothesis to some extent as only 3 applicants chose Bal over NH (NH, 2009). Planning and goal setting For planning effective communication campaigns and for identifying the targets, Cornelius (2011) highlighted a framework consisting of seven steps.
Step 1 is strategic intent, which formulates a change or consolidation of the organization's reputation. In Step 2 communication objectives are defined in terms of seeking to influence stakeholders awareness or behavior.Step 3 is identifying and proportioning target audiences. Once important stakeholder groups have been identified, one needs to segment them into more specific target audiences that are prioritize for a particular campaign. Step 4 implies identifying themed message(s). The core message towards a particular target audience often evolves directly from the organization's intended image.
Step 5 is developing message styles, which involves creating a detailed concept using catchy slogans and visual stimuli like videos, images and logos (ibid).Bal for instance has a catchy slogan in their TV-commercials: В«Don 't remain a JuniorВ». Step 6 focuses on developing a media strategy. In this process one identifies the channel that is most suitable for carrying and executing the message. Step 7 is preparing the budget. Effectiveness of the campaign can be evaluated on the basis of process and communication effects: Process effects concern the quality and cost- effectiveness, communication effects include the range of cognitive and behavioral effects on exposed stakeholders' experiences (Cornelius, 2011).
In the last years NH focused on achieving the following main goals. Firstly in terms of student recruitment: raise the percentage of female enrolment and attract a wider range of applicants: As the student body is supposed to represent society regarding geography, sex and ethnicity. Second NH strives at being visible in the media more frequently. Thirdly NH formulated an agenda: NH 2021, which implies 10 Exam paper fall 2012 amongst toner adjectives Decoding a leaning Dustless cocoons In Europe Ana a driving force for development in business and society.
Results concerning the first objective girls' enrollment seem to be satisfactory. Starting at 34 % in 2005, NH got 48 % female students in 2012. Efforts such as the Girl's Day and adapted brochures have been implemented successfully (NH, coca). Diversity has been more challenging to achieve. The number of students with a migration background has not been raised significantly. Analyzes have shown that business studies have not the same standing as e.
G. Medicine within their societies. Websites informing in the parent's' mother tongue have been launched.The effect of these activities has been art to measure (Derange, 2012). NH is present in the media. However, a more vital role in the public debate is wanted by several internal and external stakeholders.
This might require faculty to focus on themes that are of public interest and interact with media in time that is currently dedicated to research. Incentives to encourage faculty to be more active in the media is still to be set. Results concerning NH 2021 are to be mapped in future as 2012 is year one of a 10 year plan. When analyzing Nosh's strategy documents from 2010-2013 we found that a main objective was thatNosh's teaching should be based upon research, be of high academic and pedagogic standards as well as facilitate learning (NH, 2012).
One might question whether research focused teaching might be causal to NH being associated as not relevant to business. While detecting potential improvements in NH current situation as analyzed above one might face a network of conflicts and uncertainties. The 7-steps model suggests a plan rather than a model for effective communication and goal setting. It is a sequential path on how to develop a strategy which aims at solving problems.Implementing processes according to these 7 steps might strengthen the reach of communication and increase the information flow. Relationship-building activities Relationship building activities are the different arenas NH uses to present itself to the prospects.
All these activities influence the reputation. A key factor when trying to communicate a message outward is that internal identity is aligned with its external image. If there is a misalignment of these elements, NH may confuse the stakeholder groups (Brown et. Al, 2006).
See appendix 5.If Nosh's projected image in immunization, behavior and symbolism is aligned with the image and reputation among the potential students, NH will 11 be understood and respected in the way it strives to be. NH uses different communication channels for relationship building and communicating their image towards the stakeholder group (Cornelius, 2011). One important relationship- building activity is Girl's Day which is arranged once a year. About 100 girls from different places in Norway are invited to spend this day at NH.
Since applications excess capacity, the girls will be admitted based on their high school GAP which
