Analysis of Castle Courses Provided by UK Business School and their Comparison with the Courses Provided in the Top Universities

A. Executive Summary

Aim: The main aim of this research is to analyse the castle courses provided by Leicester castle business school in the United Kingdon(UK) and their comparison with the courses provided in the top 5 universities of all the countries including the US, the UK, China, Europe and India. The top universities of India that provide castle courses are Delhi university, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Banaras Hindu University, Rajasthan University and University of Calcutta. The top five universities of USA are Stanford University, Harvard University, University of California, Cornell University and Duke University.  The top five university of UK are Cambridge University, University of Manchester, University College of London, Imperial College London and University of Manchester. The top universities of China are Tsinghua University, Peking University, Fudan University, Nanjing University and Zhejiang University. The top five university of Europe are University of Edinburgh, University of Amsterdam, University of Groningen, University of Copenhagen and University of Zurich. These universities are compared with the castle courses provided by Leicester Castle Business School.

What has been Looked at: The objective of this research is to collect information such as ranking, overall score, research quality and satisfaction of the students of each of the selected university. The research also attempts to find the position of the business schools in the market. It also tries to analyse the decision-making process of students while selecting the castle courses. The research attempts to understand the role of marketing and its impact on the decision-making process of the students in the selection of the business schools. Finally, the research recommends certain measures which help the business schools to reach the audience which can be done through social media and other media channels.

How This was Looked At: To attain the objectives of the research, this work takes the help of both primary and secondary source of information. The primary data has been collected through the survey conducted among the faculty members and the administrative staff of the Leicester Castle business school of the UK. Besides, the secondary source of information has been collected in the forms of books, articles and the case studies.

Findings:  From the study, it has been found that Leicester Business School is providing a number of castle courses which focuses on building the strengths of the students and enhancing their skills. The castle course of Leicester Business School is more effective then that of the business schools in the US, China, the UK and India.

B. Situational Analysis

Outline of the management issues to be investigated

The main aim of this research is to conduct market research for particular Castle courses provided by Leicester Castle Business School in the universities of the UK, Europe, India, China, and the US in terms of examining the effectiveness and career scope and their comparison in terms of pricing of the courses, marketing strategies followed by them and types of universities provided to the students. The analysis of castle courses provided by Leicester Castle Business School in the UK and other universities from UK, Europe, India, China, and the US and their effectiveness to the students, as well as marketing strategies, pricing, positioning, and other benefits provided by the university, is conducted in this study. The research also focuses on determining the universities of all five selected regions, which are the UK, Europe, India, China, and the US (Roberts, Sykes and Granger, 2016). In the context of this research, the aim of this research could be helpful in determining efficient marketing and promotional strategies and methods to compete with the other universities in terms of providing management programmes of castle courses to the students and offer a tough competition to all the other universities operating in different countries such as the United Kingdom, China, the United States, Europe, and India (Bonifati et al., 2008). The primary focus of the market research for this research study is the universities, which are situated in these five main countries and providing similar management courses as provided by Leicester Castle Business School. The current research study also aims at exploring new competitors and their stability in the market in order to implement significant changes in education policies.

The castle courses offered by the universities in the above selected regions help in investigating the competitiveness in market and led to an eventual utilisation of undeveloped market through an effective investigation of expectations of the students. Determination of the requirement of the scope of castle courses in the career development of their career scope (Sturdy, Schwarz and Spicer, 2006). It will assist in determining efficacious marketing and promotional strategies regarding the management courses. There are various competitors such as Nottingham Trent University, Hallam University, University of Derby and Nottingham University that provide direct competition to Leicester Castle Business School.

Background information on the organisation being investigated 200-300

Leicester Castle Business School is a renowned MBA school that was established by De Montfort University (DMU) in order to meet the objectives of providing effective courses to meet the needs of 21^st century businesses (Middlewood and Parker, 2009). These courses are also offered by the universities from other universities of UK, Europe, India, China and US.  Leicester Castle Business School goes beyond business courses by providing a unique and effective learning environment to the students so that they are encouraged to challenge the conventional practices and observe opportunities and tools to develop effective thinking, creative ability, and inspiration.

It is analysed that the castle courses provided by Leicester Castle Business School can be compared with the universities of US, UK, China, India and Europe that are mentioned in the above section.  It can be stated that universities such as Rajasthan University, University of Calcutta, Banaras Hindu University, Harvard University, Cornell University, University of California, University of Manchester Nanjing University of Groningen also provide similar courses due to which they are providing tough competition to the castle courses provided by the Leicester Castle Business School. These universities have significant management courses that are provided to the students worldwide. The management courses provided by these universities can be create competitive scenario for Leicester Castle Business School in terms of pricing, market strategies and types of scholarships provided to the students.

Leicester Castle Business School runs under the leadership of Dana Brown who is a senior professor at the school. This school is situated in the area of Great Hall of Leicester Castle, which is considered as a famous place in the UK. Leicester Castle Business School has recently undergone and conducted refurbishment of £4.2 million programme (Jones, Ram and Theodorakopoulos, 2010).

Students studying at Leicester Castle Business School enjoy a transformational experience, which is benefiting the students through inspirational and attractiveness of the historic Great Hall of Leicester Castle, portfolio made for exciting new undergraduate and postgraduate courses. There are various benefits provided to the students such as scholarship programmes initiated and conducted by the principal. This management school also runs executive company projects in order to develop practical and theoretical skills in the workplace. Excellent contact hours are also provided by the school, which can be utilised in the activities such as networking, mentoring, and matching support from leading academics (Romero, Ventura and García, 2008). In the context of the universities from UK, Europe, India, China and US, the universities such as University of Calcutta, Harvard University, Cornell University, University of California, Banaras Hindu University, University of Manchester Nanjing do not focus on the future aspects of the courses provided by them to the students that makes Leicester Castle Business School better in terms of providing future benefits of the castle courses.

The students studying in Leicester Castle Business School are supported by small and talented tutor groups that guide students for their career growth. Students at Leicester Castle Business School are provided with opportunities to get a good exposure of business and managerial practices. There are various competitors such as Nottingham Trent University, Hallam University, Nottingham University, University of Derby that provide direct competition to Leicester Castle Business School. The students are subjected to face difficult situations in order to create solutions for complex problems. Leicester Castle Business School which is a part of DMU is considered as a vibrant and multicultural hub for management learning activities, innovation, and creativity that never fails to the convention.

The mission and vision statement of Leicester Castle Business School is to be the market leader in the management courses to the students and develop a significant marketplace in the education sector of the UK. In terms of the universities such as Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Rajasthan University, Duke University, Tsinghua University, Peking University, University of California, University of Amsterdam and University of Groningen, it can be analysed that there are variations pricing of the courses, marketing strategies for the courses and scholarships available for the students.

The mission statement of Leicester Castle Business School is to develop efficacious management courses to the students coming from different countries for developing their career as managers in reputed companies and to market its management courses in order to attract a large number of students who want to pursue these management courses (Sitzmann et al., 2006)

Statement of the objectives to be achieved

In the light of this aim, objectives for the research are as follows:

• To find competitors and their strategies from the selected regions (competitive analysis)
• Collect information such as ranking, overall score, research quality, and student satisfaction of each selected university
• To find business schools position in the market (business schools in the UK, Europe, India, China, and the US)
• To find pricing, unique strategies, type of scholarships, and other benefits provided by the university to the students of universities of UK, Europe, India, China, and the US
• To analyse the decision-making process of students for selecting the castle courses
• To identify the key decisive factors that make students to choose the courses along with the channels of marketing of courses
• To evaluate and identify the channels of advertising for different LCBS courses, such as Banking and Finance, Motorsports, and Creative Industries
• To propose recommendations to reach the audiences via social media and other media channels

Method for achieving the objectives

            Various methods are there for achieving the objectives of the research such as, primary and secondary data collection methods. In the context of this research, the objectives of the study can be answered by applying both primary and secondary data collection methods in which primary data is collected by conducting survey questionnaire, whereas secondary data is accumulated from various academic and non-academic sources (Zhang, Briggs, and Nunamaker, 2006). These data collection methods could be helpful in giving a detailed view of the objectives problems at hand. There are various theoretical frameworks in order to analyse the data that could help in achieving the objectives of the research. In addition to this, primary and secondary data collection methods are applied in this research in a most effective way by using a questionnaire and literature sources. Primary data collection method is performed to gather information about the experience of providing management courses to the students and their effectiveness in the career development of the students (Zheng, Yang, and McLean, 2010). In the context of this research, secondary research tools are applied for collecting substantial information relating to different castle courses offered by Leicester Business School and their relevancy in the career development of students studying in the universities of the UK. In order to gain an in-depth insight of the research, literature survey, and evaluation of case studies are also performed for determining the effectiveness of management courses in career growth of the students.

In the context of this research study, it is analysed that, in order to exemplify the importance of castle courses offered by Leicester Castle Business School and their comparison with the universities from the UK, Europe, India, China, and the US. The universities from these countries also provide scholarship programs but they are less favourable as compared to the other universities. In order to analyse the career development opportunities and growth of the students studying in the universities of the UK, both qualitative and quantitative research methods are incorporated. Qualitative and quantitative research methods are appropriate for conducting a detailed study of the castle courses offered by Leicester Business Schools and for enlightening their effectuality in enhancing the knowledge and ability of the management students in the UK (Zheng, Yang, and McLean, 2010). Qualitative and quantitative research methods have helped in accumulation of relevant and comprehensive data that could further be helpful in acquiring in-depth knowledge of this research. These methods have also provided a large number of research options that could be helpful in obtaining relevant, authentic, and valid information about the research topic.

Overview of theoretical concepts / techniques proposed for the analysis

Various theoretical frameworks and techniques are there, that can be used for analysing the effectiveness of castle courses in the career development of the students and analyse the market competition among the universities in offering castle courses to the students. In this context, SOSTAC framework can be applied for analysing the market competition among the universities in terms of pricing, market strategies, and positioning in this sector in offering various business courses to the students for their career development. SOSTAC framework can be used as an effective framework as it is considered as the best method of approach for analysing the market scenario of the universities in providing management courses to the students who are studying in the UK (Kossek, Lautsch, and Eaton, 2006).  The analysis of the competitive market can be performed in terms of universities such as Rajasthan University, Duke University, Tsinghua University, University of California, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, University of Amsterdam and University of Groningen and Peking University. These universities are providing the management courses that vary from that of Leicester Castle Business School. The courses provided by these universities provide scholarships to the students but the scholarship programs offered by these universities are less effective than that of Leicester Castle Business School. There are various other competitors such Hallam University, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham University, and University of Derby that provide direct competition to Leicester Castle Business School.

It is because SOSTAC gives a simple and comprehensible approach related to the areas that are to be investigated in an effective way in terms of market competition.

The SOSTAC framework also includes SWOT and TOWS analysis, which can give greater perception about both external and internal environmental factors. Paul Smith invented SOSTAC framework in order to develop a structured planning model to examine the existing condition of the organisation or a company and future prospects available to them. In the context of Leicester Castle Business School, it can be analysed that, this framework can be useful for this business school in terms of analysing the competitive environment created by the other universities in providing the various management courses (Zhang, Briggs, and Nunamaker, 2006). Therefore, this framework based on SWOT and TOWS analysis, can be helpful for Leicester Castle Business School in determining the position of other universities from the UK, US, India, China, and Europe and the universities situated there such as Cornell University, Duke University, University College of London, Tsinghua University, Nanjing University, University of Groningen, University of Zurich, Banaras Hindu University, Rajasthan University and Harvard University. The universities of these countries are core competitors of Leicester Castle Business School as they provide variety of courses at different prices but their total goes up which is not affordable for most of the students. However, Leicester Castle Business School has sustained its position in the market.  The university has effective marketing strategies for its courses due to which it is considered as the top university in providing castle courses.

Thus, there can be a significant application of SOSTAC framework in terms of analysing the opportunities, threats, strengths, and weaknesses that directly helps in the management of courses, based on the courses provided by the universities of other countries. Another framework that can be applied for determining the effectiveness of castle courses provided by Leicester Castle Business School to the students studying in the UK is framework for the analysis of course design. This framework is based on determining the various aspects of courses such as course design, its influencing factors, technology, and tools resources, cause factors, and instructor factors. Course design includes types of learning related to the course, such as active learning and collaborative learning. It also includes influencing factors such as support availability and policies related to the application of courses (Zhang, Briggs, and Nunamaker, 2006). Cause factors include the level of course and its place in the curriculum and subjects. These subjects included in the curriculum of the courses. Instructor factors are also included in the research such as teaching style, which is required for teaching the castle courses. Thus, these frameworks are useful in determining the effectiveness of castle courses provided by Leicester Castle Business School to the students in the UK.

C. Activities and Analysis

Method of Investigation for Collecting Information about the Effectiveness of the Castle Courses Provided by Leicester Business School for Supporting Career Growth of Students in the UK

Research is a prominent element in every research study regardless of the research field or research area. In this research project, qualitative and quantitative research methods are the available options for searching in depth information regarding the importance of castle courses provided by Leicester Business School for supporting future career prospects of students in the UK. It also includes the comparative analysis of Leicester Business School and courses provided by the other universities from UK, the US, India, China, and Europe.

Qualitative research methods are generally incorporated in research studies wherein detailed information is drawn by reviewing underlying behaviours, perceptions and attitudes in the context of the research field. Evaluation of qualitative data provides assistance in assessing the issues and subjects in detail (Lyon, Msllering and Saunders, 2015). It is basically an exploratory research that helps in investigating different perspective in the context of a particular phenomenon (Bergh and Ketchen, 2009).

On the other side, quantitative research mainly includes statistical and numeric data. The inclusion of statistical data about the research subject helps in quantifying underlying behaviours, opinions, beliefs and attitudes. It helps in approaching towards a generalised result that applies to a larger population (Briggs, Morrison and Coleman, 2012).

In the context of this research study, in order to illustrate the significance of Castle courses provided by Leicester Castle Business School for support career development and growth of the students in the UK, qualitative and quantitative research methods have been used. Qualitative and quantitative research methods are appropriate for conducting an in-depth study of the castle courses provided by Leicester Business Schools and for illuminating their effectiveness for enhancing the efficiency and knowledge of the students in the UK. Qualitative research methods have helped in the collection of comprehensive data that has further helped in acquiring in-depth knowledge about the research field. Additionally, quantitative data has helped in quantifying the importance of castle courses for students’ perspective. It has also provided a wide range of research options that help in obtaining authentic and valid information (Bryman, 2006).

Research Tools used Collecting Information already existing in Public Domain

Research tools or data collection tool make a vital contribution in enhancing the reliability of the research work. Data collection tools are crucial for every research study as they provide a medium for the attainment of pre-determined research objectives (Gray, 2013). The two widely used research tools are primary data collection tools and secondary data collection tool. Primary research methods help in the procurement of first-hand information from the people having experience in the research field, and so they can share considerable information about the particular field. On the contrast, secondary research tools help in reviewing the existing stock of information about the research area (Holloway and Galvin, 2016).

In the context of this research, secondary research tools and primary, secondary tools have been used for collecting substantial information about the various castle courses facilitated by Leicester Business School and their relevance for career prospects of individuals studying in the UK. Primary data has been collected via survey method wherein 100 faculty members and administrative staff members were requested to provide their contribution to the attainment of research objectives. The selection of sample size is on the basis of a random sampling method for avoiding any bias attitude altering research quality. Their experience in the education line helped in getting significant information about the critical support provided by Castle courses in career growth of students in the UK. All these research methods can be useful in understanding pricing, market strategies and scholarships provided by Leicester Business School and the universities from the UK, the US, India, China, and Europe such as London, Tsinghua University, Nanjing University, University of Groningen, University of Zurich, Banaras Hindu University, Rajasthan University and Harvard University.

In order to get an in-depth insight into the research phenomenon, literature survey, in particular, evaluation of case studies has been an organisation in a rational and systematic manner. Academic books, scholarly articles and research papers containing information about the research context have been examined. Secondary data collection tools have helped in comparing and contrasting viewpoints of different authors about the research topic which has ultimately assisted in determining the level of support castle courses provide in improving the excellence and knowledge of the students in the UK. Furthermore, secondary data has provided vital support in obtaining a definite conclusion and enhancing the accuracy of the research results (Creswell, 2013).

Analysis of Findings

In the viewpoint of Roberts, Sykes and Granger (2016), Leicester Business School provides a range of castle courses that focus on building strengths of students and increasing their competency level. Master of Business Administration (MBA), renders special focus on enhancing employability skills of students that will assist students in developing their interpersonal skills and general communication skills. Additionally, this course also helps students in structuring their personal development portfolio that can be used by them in preparing their resume or CV. It is also analysed that courses provided by the universities of UK, the US, India, China, and Europe are less effective than courses of Leicester Business School in terms of pricing and market strategies. The universities such as London, Tsinghua University, Nanjing University, University of Groningen, University of Zurich, Banaras Hindu University, Rajasthan University and Harvard University.  Furthermore, this course also helps students in the better articulation of their abilities, skills and achievements (Roberts, Sykes and Granger, 2016). In this context, it has been analysed that MBA builds interpersonal skills of students which are essential for maintaining their competency in the present scenario where talent is an essential trait fostering career growth. It can be analysed on the basis of the findings that the castle courses provided by Leicester Business school are better than that of other universities from different countries. This university has sustained its position in the market due to which it is considered as a famous university of UK that provide castle courses to the students worldwide.

In the similar context, Thomas (2007), assessed that Leicester Business school has started focussing on its new program MBA in sustainable business that is focussed on building social, technical and organisation competencies of existing and prospective business leaders. This course has helped students in developing leadership skills that enable them to act as changing agents in transforming into a low-carbon economy and in effectively managing corporate responsibility (Thomas, 2007).

In continuation of the same prospect, Schaper (2016), evaluated that another castle course is MSc in Business Management with specialisation in creative industries. This management program provides students with a platform for enhancing their career prospects within the creative sector with a combination of practical and theoretical learning. It has particularly helped students coming from media, design, arts, film and other creative fields. It helps students in the UK to develop and improve their theoretical and appealing knowledge in different areas including creativity, innovation, strategy, entrepreneurship, finance and related areas (Schaper, 2016). Therefore, it has been examined that this course has assisted students in developing their prospects by putting sincere efforts in developing a specialisation in the area of their interest.

It also helps in employing different approaches to promotion and marketing that mainly centred on social media and other media tools that are used in today’s competitive environment. In addition to this, this research study also provides detailed competitors analysis in terms of courses provided by Leicester Castle Business School and other universities in the UK, Europe, India, China and US. The detailed analysis of the competitors has significance in analysing the stability, ranking, score, and satisfaction level of students who are studying in the UK, Europe, India, China, and the US in the universities such as Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Duke University, Tsinghua University, University of California, Peking University, University of Amsterdam, Rajasthan University and University of Groningen.  This research study also provides a detailed analysis of the opportunities available for Castle courses provided by the Leicester Castle Business School in different regions.

There are various management courses provided by Leicester Castle Business School such as full-time MBA, online MBA courses, part-time MBA, correspondence course, executive MBA, and distance MBA Courses. These courses are provided by this management school in order to provide career opportunities to the students so that they can develop management skills in order to get significant job opportunities in the multinational companies. The MBA courses that are provided by Leicester Castle Business School include all the streams of management such as accounting, strategy/frameworks, organisational behaviour, leadership, economics, corporate finance marketing, human resource management, and information technology (Ensley, Hmieleski and Pearce, 2006).  The management courses related to these streams are offered by Leicester Castle Business School that help students in getting relevant knowledge about the scope of management tactics in improving their skills.

Management courses are developed to assist the students in managing complex business conditions and relationships within the organisations where they apply management skills. Some of the skills that can be achieved by studying management courses such as an increase in presentation skills that help in eliminating the fear of public speaking and improve management abilities in order to handle typical situations. It is analysed that by accomplishing courses in the management field, effective learning methods can be learned that motivate in working with the teams and provide opportunities to show skills for problem-solving. The castle courses provided by Leicester Castle Business School can be helpful for the students in terms of learning business tactics and etiquette so that they can develop themselves as business leaders. Problem-solving skills are also learned by students by pursuing different management courses (Srivastava, Bartol and Locke, 2006). The students can learn to face and solve challenging situations by implementing management strategies that allow them to handle performance problems and improve their skills. Same courses observed in other universities such as Sheffield Hallam University, Coventry University, Nottingham University, University of Derby, Nottingham Trent University, Loughborough University, Birmingham City University, Birmingham University and Leicester University.

The students can learn team building abilities and help them in applying techniques that help in developing a group into a successful and strong team to accomplish the work in an effective manner and achieve organisational goals. Management courses provided by Leicester Castle Business School helps students by providing them effective and useful management tools become a talented workforce for the organisations. By application of management courses and their tools, students likely to gain significant skills that help them in building their career as a successful manager (Daft and Marcic, 2006). Thus, there are benefits of pursuing management courses provided by Leicester Castle Business School for the students who are studying in the UK. It is also analysed that Leicester Castle Business School is also facing tough competition from the universities of different countries such as UK, Europe, India, China, and the US as they are also providing similar courses to the students due to which students from the UK are switching to other universities. The universities from other countries are University of Calcutta, Delhi university, Cambridge University, Peking University, University of Groningen, University of Edinburgh, University of Zurich, University of Manchester. Overall, it is analysed that management courses are important for the development of skills and knowledge in order to get career opportunities for overall development.

In the perception of Castle and McGuire (2010), it can be stated that, the decision-making ability of the students regarding the selection of castle courses can be analysed by the effectiveness of the courses in their personal and professional development. The students get the ability to understand the significance of castle courses provided to them by Leicester Castle Business School and by other universities. It can be observed the castle courses of management have significant place in career development opportunities for the students. It is stated that, the selection of castle courses of management go through a process of several steps including the consideration of interests, skills, values, personality, research for the colleges, and universities, and self-assessment prior to the selection of courses. This process can help in the decision-making ability of the students regarding the selection of courses for their future growth (Castle and McGuire, 2010).

According to Castle, Fox and Fuhrman (2009), it can be analysed that these processes can be helpful for the students and make them choose the right courses for themselves. The interests and skills are properly analysed by the students before choosing the courses because without the interests in particular courses, students cannot develop their management skills and ultimately their effort goes to waste. Values and personality are also considered as important criteria for the students to choose the right management courses for themselves. One of the key factors for the selection of courses in Leicester Castle Business School is that, this business school provides cheap management courses to the students so that students can be attracted from the other countries (Castle, Fox and Fuhrman, 2009). Leicester Business School provides better courses as compared to the universities such as Delhi university, Cambridge University, University of Calcutta, University of Groningen, Peking University, University of Edinburgh and University of Zurich. The decision making process of the students is also related to the self-assessment practices that are accomplished by the students, in order to determine the suitability of management courses in their personal and professional development. Self-assessment criteria are essential for the development of thinking about the selection of the courses. Self-assessment needs to be done properly so that students can select right management courses from finance, accounting, marketing, and human resource. Various things are considered as the base of decision-making process such as mental ability, critical thinking, analytical thing, and desire to pursue selected course (Brinckmann, Grichnik and Kapsa, 2010).

These criteria are considered as the key decisive factors that affect the students in choosing castle courses for their future growth. Colleges are also one of the important and key decisive factors that can help the students in choosing the right college for pursuing castle courses of management for their future growth. The decisive factors selected, help in determining the needs and desires for the selection of particular courses of management (Brinckmann, Grichnik and Kapsa, 2010). It can be analysed that, there can be improvements in the decision-making process with the help of key decisive factors. Thus, key decisive factors such as, interests, skills, values, opportunities, selection of colleges and self-assessment practices are considered as the base for the students. This helps them in determining the major consequences of their choice regarding the management courses of Leicester Castle Business School.

The staff of the school work effectively and collaboratively in order to provide better management courses to all the students in order to refine learning opportunities and career pathways that are beneficial for the students (Strand, 2011). Leicester Castle Business School provides opportunities to increase management learning to the students that make them able to learn, prepare, and practice for career growth opportunities in a global and vibrant business environment. In the context of the universities such as Sheffield Hallam University, Nottingham Trent University, University of Derby, Loughborough University, Nottingham University Birmingham City University, Birmingham University, Coventry University, and Leicester University and the universities from UK, Europe, India, China and US. The castle courses provided by the universities are cheap in terms of pricing but their marketing strategies are less effective than that of Leicester Castle Business School.

According to Bolden et al. (2009), there are various methods and channels of marketing that are applied by the Leicester Castle Business School such as social media marketing, print media marketing, and digital media marketing. In the social media marketing approaches, Leicester Castle Business School uses Facebook as its core marketing strategy in order to reach students of different countries due to which it has able to gain a significant market portion in providing castle courses of management to the students. It can be analysed that the students also switch to the different universities such as Hallam University, Nottingham Trent University, University of Derby, and Nottingham University that have direct competition with the Leicester Castle Business School. It can be analysed that, these universities also provide significant courses to the students that reduce the student’s base for the universities (Agresti and Kateri, 2011).

The social media marketing approaches applied by Leicester Castle Business School also include the marketing channels such as Instagram posts, LinkedIn, and Facebook pages. These channels have been considered useful for the Leicester Castle Business School, as they have helped the university in increasing its student base due to which popularity of this business school is also increased. The print media strategies have also been used by Leicester Castle Business School through newspaper ads, brochures, and other methods have helped the business school in reaching large student base across the UK and universities of other countries such as US, Uk, India, China and Europe. These channels of marketing have been considered useful because they contained the achievements of university, placements details of the students, facilities provided to the students, and courses provided by this business school. Another channel of marketing included the digital marketing strategies such as advertisements on TV’s, videos of campus on YouTube etc. These methods have also supported the business school in reaching large number of customers around the world. The universities that provide competition to leicester business school are Delhi university, University of California, Imperial College London, Peking University, University of Copenhagen, Nanjing University, University of Manchester. Thus, the channels of marketing used by Leicester Castle Business School have played a significant role in the development of university (Bolden et al., 2009).

Analysis of Questionnaire and Data

Data Analysis is the essential as well as imperative part of any research work as it is helpful in the examination of the results or outcome of data gathered with the use of the variety of methods of data collection. In addition to this, the data analysis supports in drawing an effective as well as appropriate conclusion for a research work. In this research work, the analysis of the data is potentially executed with the use of the quantitative method of data analysis. In this research work, quantitative method of data analysis is adopted that is based on the statistics method as this method is used for the data collected with the help of survey as per done in this research work. Thus, in order to represent the outcomes of the data collected from the survey, the graphical method or approach is used in this research work.

Designation

The respondents that have been chosen for being the part of survey, are the faculties and administrative staff members. Among the faculty members 60% people were associate professor, 20% were assistant professor and 20% were professor. Besides this, among the administrative members, 50% were belonged to the management, 20% were belonged to the department of accounts and 30% were belonged to human resource department panel of the Leicester Castle Business School of UK. The data, in this part presented the active participation of the employees chosen from the different departments in overall process of the survey.

Years of Experience

In the survey process, the all the members employed in Leicester Castle Business School of UK who were selected in the sample, were categorised on the basis of their experience years of working in this business school. As per the collected data, 30% of the staff members had experience of 2-4 years, 35% of the members has experience of 3-5 years, other 25% of the staff members had experience of years 7-8 as well as other 10% of the staff members of the university had the experience of 1-2 years. This analysis of data shows that the experienced members of the staff including faculties and administration were chosen for being involved in the survey process so that relevant information or data could be gathered as well as such information shows that the experienced people working in the Leicester Castle Business School, helped in the collection of rich data for analysing the effectiveness of the castle course of this school and comparison of the marketing strategies including the pricing as well as scholarship provision schemes of this school in the provision of Castle course, with other business schools in different countries.

Position of Leicester Castle Business School in the global market

Another question involved in the survey questionnaire was about the position of the Leicester Castle Business School in the global market. It was asked to the respondents whether the Leicester Castle Business School hold the leading position in the global market or not. This question was asked to understand the position as well as the reputation of this business school in the global market place. In response to this particular question, 85% of the staff members answered that the Leicester Castle Business School holds leading position in the global market. Other 10 % of the respondents were answered that the position of this business school in the worldwide market is leading to some extent. Rest of the 5% of the respondents answered that no the position of this business school is presently not leading in the global market. As per this collected data, it is analysed that the majority of respondents were agreed on the leading position of the Leicester Castle Business School in the global marketplace.

Effectiveness of Marketing Strategies of Leicester Castle Business School regarding Castle Course

The staff members of the Leicester Castle Business School including faculty members and administrative members, were asked about the effectiveness of marketing strategy of the business school regarding the Castle courses in terms of pricing, uniqueness, scholarship provision as well as benefits in comparison with the other countries such as Europe, UK, China, US and India and their universities such as Delhi university, University of California, Imperial College London, Peking University, University of Copenhagen, Nanjing University, University of Manchester. This question was asked for knowing how effective as well as efficient is the marketing strategy of the Leicester Castle Business School as compared to other nations. In response to this question, 70% of the staff members answered that their business school’s strategy is more effective than other nations. On the different side, 20% of the staff members answered that the effectiveness of the marketing strategy of their business school is higher than other nations’ business school to some extent. Other 10% of the members were not in the favour of the aspect that their marketing strategies regarding Castle courses are more effective than other nations’ business schools. In this way, the overall data presents the majority of respondents were in the favour of the aspect that the marketing strategies of Leicester Castle Business School are more efficient as compared to its competitors, thus, this aspect will be taken into consideration in the final conclusion.

Preferences of Students to pursue the Castle Course from Leicester Castle Business School

The staff members were asked about the preferences of the students of their country or other countries to pursue the castle course from the Leicester Castle Business School. This question was asked to the respondents to analysing the students’ perception regarding the castle course of this business school. In response to this question, 75% of the staff members answered that the castle course is highly preferred by the students to be pursued from their business school. On the different side, 15% of the respondents answered that the students prefer to pursue this course from their business school to some extent. Other 10% respondents have given their views that the preference level of students regarding choosing their business school for pursuing the castle course, is low. Thus, it is analysed that majority of respondents were in favour of the aspect that there is the high preference of the castle course pursuing from the Leicester Business School among students.

Effectiveness of the channels of marketing used by Leicester Castle Business School for promotion of Castle Courses

Another question asked by the staff members was whether the channels used by the Leicester Castle Business School are effective or not in promoting the castle courses provided by this business school. This question was asked to analyse the role of channels such as social media, news and advertisements for the promotion of castle courses and to attract the students for pursuing the course from this business school. In response to this particular question, 65% respondents were showed their strong agreement that to promote the castle courses, the channels that used are effective, 5% of the respondents were neutral on this question, 20% of the other respondents were agree on the effectiveness of channels for promoting castle courses of Leicester Business School. Other 10% of the respondents showed their disagreement in response to this question and rest of the 5 % of the respondents were strongly disagree over this question. Thus, as per the analysis of this data, it is obtained that the majority of the respondents were agreed that the channels used in the marketing promotional activity of the castle course of the Leicester Business School are highly effective.

It is summarised from the above analysis of the data collected with the help of survey that the Leicester Castle Business School holds leading position in the market place. It is also analysed that the marketing strategies of the Leicester Castle Business School in terms of pricing as well as the provision of scholarship are highly efficient as well as effective as compared to the business schools of other countries. In addition to this, it is also analysed from the findings of data that the students highly prefer the Leicester Castle Business School to pursue the castle course. Along with this, it is also analysed that the channels that are used by the Leicester Castle Business School such as social media, news, advertisements on television, in the promotion of their castle course as well as for the purpose of attracting the students are highly effective. Thus, it is analysed that the findings and analysis of the primary data are highly significant for the addressing the objectives of the research work as well as solving the problems associated with the research by providing reliable as well as valid information regarding the topic of the research.

 Conclusion

It is summarised from the overall research work that Leicester Business School helps in providing the wide range of castle courses which are focused on the strength building of students as well as enhancing the level of competency. It can also be concluded from the above discussion that the castle courses of Leicester Business School are more effective as well as efficient as compared to the courses provided by the different universities or business schools of US, UK China, Europe as well as India. Along with this, it is concluded that the castle courses provided by the Leicester Castle Business School help the students to effectively articulate their abilities, achievements as well as skills. Thus, the universities such as University of California, Imperial College London, Peking University, University of Copenhagen, Nanjing University, University of Manchester are providing direct competition to Leicester Castle Business School in terms of pricing, market strategies, scholarships etc. however, in terms of castle courses,  Leicester Castle Business School is  considered as major university.

In order to gain competitive benefits in the market place, the Leicester Business School also started emphasising on their new program of MBA in the sustainable business which is potentially focused on organisational competencies of prospective and existing business leaders. Along with this, it is concluded that the marketing strategies including pricing, provision of scholarships for students as well as effective course work provision of the Leicester Castle Business School are highly effective as compared to its competitors such as the business schools of the different country including US, China, UK, India and Europe.

It has also been concluded that there are various courses offered by Leicester Castle Business School, for example, online MBA courses, correspondence course, distance MBA course as well as executive MBA. The provision of all such course in the Leicester Business School is more effective as compared to the competitors. Apart of this, from the secondary data, it can be concluded that the variety of channels used by the Leicester Castle Business School are highly efficient in promoting their castle courses as well as attracting the students for pursuing castle courses from their business school. The social media marketing activities of the business school such as publishing posts on Facebook, advertising on Instagram as well as promoting their courses on their official website, play a vital role in attracting the students as their effective pricing, scholarship provisions and other benefits of the course work are mentioned by them in the advertisements to reach the students.

In addition to this, it is concluded that the major factors that make the students select the castle courses of this business school are their provision of cost effective management courses for the students in order to attract them. It is further summarised that the process of decision making of the students is related to the practices of self-assessment which are potentially accomplished through the students for determining the management courses’ suitability in their professional and personal development.

Furthermore, it is summarised that there are several things which are assumed as the basic criteria of decision making procedure such as critical thinking, mental ability, the desire of pursuing selected courses as well as analytical thinking. Thus, such criteria are assumed as the major decisive factors which influence the students for selecting castle courses for the future development of their career. In the same essence, the key factors such as skills, interests, opportunities, values, self assessment practices as well as selection of the colleges are assumed as the potential base for the respective students which help them to determine the consequence of the choice of them regarding the courses of management of Leicester Castle Business School.

In addition to this, it is concluded that the there are several streams of management including leadership, strategy/framework, accounting, economics, corporate marketing, information technology as well as human resource management provided by the Leicester Castle Business School. Such courses are provided by the business school for providing career opportunities to a variety of students in the regard of developing as well as enhancing their management skills for having the significant job-related opportunities in multinational organisations. With the effective course programs along with the provision of job opportunities, the Leicester Castle Business School has created a leading position in the market place as compared to University of Calcutta, Delhi university, Cambridge University, Peking University, University of Groningen, University of Edinburgh, University of Zurich, University of Manchester. This statement is supported by the analysis of the primary data findings as the respondents were also in favour of the aspect this business school holds a leading position in the market place.

In addition to this, it is concluded that although the Leicester Castle Business School is facing tough competition due to the various other business schools and universities of different countries such as UK, US, India, China and Europe, however, as the Leicester Business School is highly effective in the provision of castle courses with the provision of scholarships and job opportunities, they become capable of making good position in the market in comparison to University of California, Imperial College London, Peking University, University of Copenhagen, Nanjing University, University of Manchester. It is also concluded that the castle courses which are offered by Leicester Castle Business School are highly beneficial for the students as a means of learning the business tactics in-depth as well as business etiquette in order to make the developed as the business leaders.

As a whole, it is summarised that the Leicester Castle Business School is highly effective in providing efficient castle courses with significant facilities. This business school attracts students with the help of several channels such as social media and television advertisements. The variety of beneficial courses of different types of streams helps in influencing the students to join the course of this business school by generating a feeling among them regarding their personal as well as professional development. Along with that, the highly efficient marketing strategies of Leicester Business School in terms of pricing as well as provision of scholarships helps them in gaining leading position among various of its competitors of different countries. Thus, it is concluded that the Leicester Business School is more efficient in the provision of castle courses as compared to the business school of other nations such as India, China, US, UK as well as Europe.

It is also concluded from the above research work that the both the method including primary as well as secondary methods are used in the research for collecting the above discussed data. These methods proved to be highly efficient in obtaining relevant knowledge and data that helped in meeting the research objectives as well as achieving the research aim. Moreover, it is concluded that quantitative data in this research work is analysed with the help of statistics based graphical method that helped in providing accurate results of data findings and contributed towards achieving the logical results of the research work.

Recommendations

• Leicester Castle Business School should focus on determining the needs and desires of the students studying there.  The performance of the students should be tracked properly regarding the courses that they pursue in the university. The management staff of the university should track all the activities of students (Ozawa-Meida et al., 2013). There should be proper management of the different marketing strategies that are required for accomplishing the purpose of marketing of courses.  There should be implementation of other tools also so that marketing purpose can be fulfilled.
• The university should manage all of its activities regarding the management of all the courses and focus on making them more effective by adding extra learning activities into the curriculum. The university should also track all the marketing activities performed by the other universities of UK, US, China, Europe and India so that it can make necessary modifications in its marketing policies in order to compete with them (Smith, 2007).
• The University should also provide more effective scholarship schemes to the students in comparison to the universities of UK, US, China, Europe and India so that students can be attracted towards the castle courses of Leicester Castle Business School (Bolden et al., 2009).

D. Critical Reflection of Techniques

The research has taken the help of both primary and secondary data. The primary data has been collected through the survey based on a questionnaire which consists an extensive set of questions related to the research theme. The benefit of the use of primary data is that the researcher collects the information which is directly related to the main aim and objective of the research theme. In other words, the questions framed in the questionnaire address the purpose of the research. It prevents the researcher to collect irrelevant information rather it focuses on the goal of the research (Polkinghorne, 2005). In this research, the primary data has been collected with the help of conducting a survey. The selected population has been contacted and the information has been collected regarding the experience of providing management courses to the students and their benefits and effectiveness in the career developments of the students.

This study also collects the secondary information in the forms of books, journal articles, scholarly papers and case studies written by different scholars. The secondary source of information helps the researcher to view the research issue from different angles. Such kind of approach helps the researcher to give the research a complete shape. The secondary data refers to such kinds of materials which have been collected by someone else and which is available for the researcher. The researcher only studies those data and interprets it from different viewpoints. Since the secondary source of information is already available, the researcher can have access to it quickly. The secondary source of information also provides the researcher different kinds of contextual material for the primary research to the researcher. Since the secondary source of information is written by well-known scholars, the information provided by them are reliable and authentic (Gobbin, 2005).

However, there are different kinds of drawbacks of the secondary source of information. The secondary source is rigid and the researchers can not mould them according to their choice. Besides, the interpretation of the scholars depends upon their rationale. Thus, the researcher needs to depend on the interpretation of the writer rather developing their logic for the topic. Besides, the researcher needs to see the world from the viewpoint of the writer and it may not be able to fulfil the full requirement of the research topic of the researcher (Wimmer and Dominick,  2013). In spite of that, the secondary source of information has a significant advantage which is useful for a research. The secondary source of information provides the context for the primary data so that a meaningful and concrete conclusion can be drawn. Besides, the secondary source of information helps the researchers to strengthen their skills of interpretation and argument. Such kind of development of skills helps to take the research to a logical and concrete direction (Bryman and Bell, 2015).

Both kinds of qualitative and quantitative research approach have been adopted in this research work. The adoption of the mixed methodology of qualitative and quantitative indicates that a research has to be incorporated with both kinds of primary and secondary sources. The qualitative research is exploratory in nature. It can be used to develop an understanding of different logics, motivations and opinions of the audience. The qualitative research helps the researcher to develop different kinds of ideas about the research problem. This approach ultimately helps in the development of  hypothesis for the qualitative research. The qualitative research also helps to understand different thoughts and opinions of the scholars and go in-depth of the research topic (Taylor,  Bogdan and DeVault, 2015).

The quantitative research helps the researcher to create numerical data based on the survey conducted among the targeted group. Such kind of approach is helpful in showing the research in statistical format. It helps to present the opinion, attitude and behaviour of the sample taken from a population. The use of quantitative research can be understood from the fact that it utilises the measurable data to establish facts and understand the pattern of the research. The organisation of quantitative data is more structured than the method of qualitative approach. The quantitative approach takes the help of surveys and displays the data in the form of diagrams, charts and graphical manner (Bryman, 2006). Since this research adopts both kinds of qualitative and quantitative research approach, it helps the researcher to give the research a complete shape.

To analyse the market competition among the universities regarding the pricing, marketing strategies and establish their position in providing management courses. SOSTAC framework has been adopted. SOSTAC stands for Situation, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics, Actions, Control. The Situation part makes an assessment of the scenario where the business is operating. The Objectives segment puts forth the aim of the business. Strategy deals with the ways to attain the goals of the business. Tactics can be defined as a comprehensive approach that can be helpful in achieving the business goals.  Actions are related to the determination of different acts done by different entities and Control is concerned with the process of regulation and monitoring of the whole exercise (FIDM,  2014).

In other words, it can be said that the SOSTAC framework can be employed in the case of commercial and financial situations. The SOSTAC model focuses on different stages of implementation of the marketing communication and the process. However, SOSTAC is being used in electronic, digital and direct marketing field as well (Chaffey, 2016).  In this research work, SOSTAC framework has been used because it provides the best model to analyse the market scenario of the universities which provide the management courses to the students.  With the help of this model, the effectiveness of the castle courses can be evaluated in terms of the career advancement of the students in the context of the analysis of the market factors.

It can be said that the SOSTAC model can be beneficial for understanding the competitive environment created by different universities to provide different kinds of management courses. SOSTAC is also believed as the extension of SWOT analysis which stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat. In this context, the universities can evaluate their strength and weaknesses regarding the facilities they provide to the students. Besides, they can assess their opportunities and threats in the market regarding their management courses. The SOSTAC model can help the universities to explore different aspects of their course curriculum and revise them and make them relevant according to the demands of the market scenario. It helps them to design their courses related to the requirement of the corporate sector and the interest of the students (Salimi, 2008).

The SOSTAC analysis helps the organisations to figure out their position in the market.  On the one hand, Situation factor analyses their present condition. This factor helps the organisations to understand the way they are performing and their different kinds of competitive advantages over their competitors. The Situation factor also helps them to understand the effectiveness of their marketing mix and whether they are able to target the correct portion of the customers. This factor also helps the organisations to understand whether their communication and distribution channel is working properly. Finally, Situation factor also helps to understand different kinds of unavoidable situations or events which can affect their business. On the other hand, the Objective analysis helps the organisations to set their vision of future. This analysis helps the organisations to set the business mission and objectives along with the marketing and marketing communication objectives (Krishnan, 2017).

The Strategy analysis helps the organisations to formulate such kind of blueprint which can help the organisations to reach their goals and attain their vision. This factor helps them to understand the ways they want to divide the market and target the potential customers as well. It helps to focus the segment of the population which can be convinced by them. Finally, the Strategy also helps the organisations to understand the ways they can position themselves in the market so that the segment of the audience can be targeted and convinced. The Tactics is related to such kind of plan which can be employed to implement the strategy. For this purpose, this plan tells the organisations about different communications tools that can be used by them. The tactics part also tells the organisations about the different ways they can use the communication tools. It also helps to understand them the message they want to communicate through their strategy. The tactics part also tells the organisations to understand whether they have been consistent in using different tools and messages. Finally, the tactics also help the organisations to understand whether they have necessary budget and other resources for this purpose (Smith, 2009).

The Action part of this model tells which person would perform what kind of task and the time limit for each segment of the work. This part also considers whether proper resources have been allocated for this purpose and different key performance measurements. Finally, the Action part also makes an assessment of the ways the performance level will be recorded. The Control segment of the model attempts to keep track of the progress and regulates the whole process. It tries to understand whether the action performance measurement is related to the objectives and who is responsible for the measurement. Besides, it also takes care of the frequency of the measurement and the resources required for the measurement. The Control part also reviews the measurement and discusses the actions if there is variance in the incidents (Smith, 2009).

Thus, it is clear that SOSTAC takes care of a variety of the elements for the organisations. In this context, for this research, SOSTAC has been very much helpful and useful. This model helps the university to understand its position in the market and helps it to make the vision for the future and set the objectives and long and short-term goals. This model also helps the university to formulate such kind of strategy which will be instrumental in achieving the objectives and the goals. The tactics part helps the university to formulate such kind of blueprint which can be helpful in achieving those strategies. The Action part reminds the university to allocate and delegate the work to different people so that the goal can be attained. Finally, the Control part helps the university to regulate the progress and keep track of it (Krishnan, 2017).

E. Personal Reflection

Learning as an Individual

While carrying out this research, I learnt a variety of things regarding a research. I learnt different tools and techniques which are used in a research. I came to know about the primary and secondary source of information and the difference between them. This kind of understanding enriched my knowledge about the research methodology. I also came to know that the mixed methodology of qualitative and quantitative approach needs to be employed in a research as no research can be carried out either through qualitative or quantitative approach. During the research I came to know about the SOSTAC model and its wider range of application on the marketing method of an organisation. At the time of collecting data through the survey, I came across different kinds of people and their valuable opinion sharpened my knowledge and enriched my information. At the time of data analysis and discussion, I came to understand how to demonstrate the numerical data in the forms of diagrams, chart and graphical format. While doing data discussion I came to learn the analytical way of interpreting things. Thus, overall, I came to know a variety of things during this research.

How this learning process was different from rest of the courses

My experience of carrying out this research has been completely different from the other courses because this was a pure research-based experience in which I came in contact with people and came to know about their opinion, about their expectations and requirements of the management study. This kind of experience was quite different for me because I conducted surveys with people and came to know their views on a variety of issues related to their studies. I came to know about different research approaches and models which I could not learn from other courses. The research methodology part helped me to understand different research approaches which is adopted during a research.