London School of Science and Technology (LSST) management Consulting assignment
Question
Task: how to use management consulting assignmentsto assess London School of Science and Technology (LSST) current operations and performance and advice the university on areas for further development in future?
Answer
1. Introduction
This management consulting assignmentwills analysis London School of Science and Technology (LSST) operations and make recommendations for future up gradations. LSST is the biggest college in United Kingdom offering service to 4000 students at different campus like “Elephant and Castle”, “Luton and Aston” and Wembley (LSST, 2022a). Some of the courses that are offered in the campus are Business management, social and healthcare, computing and IT. Under this, the major values, vision and mission of the campus includes offering better system of higher education along with rendering friendly environment for the students. The main objective of this management consulting assignment is to identify the problem faced by the client organization LSST. For this, application of internal and external environment analysis is conducted. Lastly, brief discussion is conducted on the three major issues faced by the organization in the market of UK.
2. management consulting assignment – client analsysis
2.1. LSST Objective 1- Enter the Digital Market Segments with higher profitability and Least Barrier.
The client organization LSST have taken core initiative in the area of bringing changes to their current operation. This management consulting assignmentidentifies, the first and foremost complication faced by LSST is in the area of entering the digital market segment having higher profitability and least barriers (Abad-seguraet al.2020). Under the first strategy, the major focus of LSST is associated with introducing digital technology in the organization for the part of improving the teaching process. It will benefit the organization in the area of gaining increased level of competitive edge in the market. Some f the major initiative is associated with conducting strong system of environmental and competitor Analysis.
Problems Faced
Some of the major complication identified on this management consulting assignmentinclude is associated with the declining market, threat associated with new entrants and no proper technology up-gradation. The main reason is that education market in London has become highly competitive (Anwa et al. 2020). On the other hand, LSST is operating under traditional business thus there is not proper availability of adequate digital technology applications.
2.2. LSST objective 2-Promoting the organization is credible higher education staff employer in accounting and financial management
In this, LSST is planning to become credible employer for accounts and finance staff in higher education. In the organization, the currently followed process of recruitment is considered to be more time consuming and complex (Anwa et al. 2020). It is the core reason the new staff opts to join other university. Considering the same, the main objective of the LSST is to introduce sophisticated mode of recruitment in the sector.
Problem Faced
As per The management consulting assignment research findings, the first and foremost complication of LSST is that the current recruitment process can be more challenging in tackling the threat associated with new entrants. Moreover, bring involved under the higher education industry the organization is not adopting advanced tools and techniques for the part of recruiting the staff’s (Abad-segura et al. 2020). At the same point of time, LSST is currently indulged in to offering same courses to the students thus the university faces higher level of threat from the new market entrants. The other issues are that the existing process of recruitment in LSST is complex and in-efficient.
3. Using research, break the problem down by critically analyzing and presenting areas of importance to the client such as, competitors, target customer market and influencing factors from the external environment
Under this, the core factors that are required to be adopted by LSST are determined with the application of internal and external analysis. Moreover, within the respective segment internal analysis is conducted through SWOT analysis and external analysis is performed with the application of PESTLE Analysis.
3.1. management consulting assignmentExternal Environment Analysis (PESTEL)
External environment analysis helps LSST in determining their current status and position in the market. It is performed through bringing accurate evaluation on the market under which the university is currently operating. PESTEL analysis is beneficial for the organization in identifying the external factors that impacts the company operation (Pan et al. 2019). However, it includes the combination of Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal Factors.
Political Factors
As per management consulting assignmentanalysis done In the market of United Kingdom, the education institutions receive several modes of public funding. It offers to the government in partially subsidizing education cost for end students.The political factor is efficient to know about the decision taken by the government for the betterment of the traders in the market (Supe et al. 2018). In this, the major complication faced by the education sector was during the time of Brexit. Moreover, within the respective segment along with losing their access to financial support and tuition fees in UK the students also faced certain complications due to stricter immigration and Visa problems. At the same point of time as opined by Mehta (2022), due to increased tax rate the students had to face high repayment on their education loans. However, the actual cost includes the total £100 more in a year.After Brexit the government is slowly cutting down the education budget. Otherwise, it can bring major issues to the universities in the upcoming future.
Economic Factors
According to the 2021 data the overall GDP of United Kingdom is “2.2 trillion British Pounds”. Moreover, it is increased when bringing in comparison with the past year performance which is 152.3 billion (Lea, 2021). On the other hand, the actual size associated with the economy of UK is 2.04 trillion pounds. It is identified that many students within the market of UK are forced to take larger debts to make payment for degrees. It is the challenge the main reason is that the students begin their career with severe financial setbacks.Thus, for LSST it is the core area the university needs to give major focus on.
Social Factors
In the current competition, the students of UK accept larger loan amount. In this, the major issues associated with un-payable loan amount can be the core area of complication Thus, during the time of conducting admission new students will highly consider the pertaining issues through which the Universities will lose the students at higher margin. At the same point of time Covid-19has affected the Universities in UK through bringing increased level of changes on their existing policies(Borisov, 2022). Thus, this management consulting assignmentfindings recomentsfor LSST to measure and evaluate the education outputs on consistent basis along bringing new up-gradation in the courses for mitigating the issue.
Technological Factors
In the market of UK, there is high level of advancement introduced in education system. Moreover, online education has become a new advanced trend in the market. However, education through online is free which will enhance strong opportunity for the students to collect their materials through online platforms. LSST must introduce digital technology on instant basis for surviving the innovation initiative adopted by their competitor market.
Environmental Factors
The factors chosen on this management consulting assignment to analyze to know the operating activities of an organization in the external market of the organization (Tur-Porcar et al. 2018).It is highly depended on the goals associated with the course that the university offers. Thus, within the respective segment, it will be important for LST to consider the activities to be included in the course along with the techniques to be adopted for teaching the course effectively (LSST, 2022b). Moreover, the complete factors associated with the same will highly depend on teachers, their teaching methods along with the learning situation provided in the university.
Legal Factors
For the universities, it will be vital to operate considering the terms and conditions in the university policy. In this, the University LSST systematically follows Equity and Diversity policy within their internal environment (LSST, 2022c). It will help in preventing and controlling any mode of complications caused in the current and future perspectives.
3.2.management consulting assignment -Internal Analysis
Internal analysis of LSST is conducted with the application of SWOT analysis. It will offer strong opportunity to the University in identifying their strategies and adopt suitable techniques for sustaining the market competition.
Strength
According to the adopted strategy by the organization LSST, through enhancing continuous innovation the organization will be able to reach their target audience on instant basis. Both strategies associated with digital technology transformation and improving their recruitment process can be competitive (LSST, 2022d). It will offer increased opportunity for LSST in reaching their target market college students from differentiated backgrounds, foreign students and Individuals having the qualification of CIMA or ACCA.
Weakness
In this, for LSST the major challenging factors in the market is associated with increased level of competition from their competitor market like “Imperial College London”, “University College London and “Kings College London. Moreover, due to facing increased level of complication in the market due to new entrants and not having proper course up-gradation can impact the functioning of university in UK.
Opportunity
Under this, for the organization LSST introducing influencing factors like digital technology and advancement in the recruitment process can help in gaining increased level of competitive edge. In this, it is the core initiative of the organization to bring better understanding regarding external and competitor environment analysis for better sustainability (Kalolo, 2019). Along with the management consulting assignmentfindings, it is vital for the University to introduce unique courses that demonstrates a differentiated approach compared to their competitors.
Threat
According to the above-mentioned information, implementing the same can make LSST sustainable at increased level. Along with competition, any mode of changes in government policies and regulations may impact LSST education and can also lead to closure in case proper initiatives are not made within the right point of time.
4. management consulting assignment - top three issues facing the client
According to the above conducted analysis, the three major issues faced by LSST are demonstrated below:
Increased level of competition
Under this, the major highlighting issue is associated with the new entrant’s threat in the market. It will negatively impact LSST in the area of gaining competitive edge and sustainability. Moreover, introducing instant innovation can be challenging for LSST a they are operating under traditional business.
No Up-grade in LSST
During the pandemic the students faced increased level of challenges in LSST. The main reason is due to the absence of digital technology (Raja and nagasubramani, 2018). Moreover, it highly impacted the admission process of LSST where they lose many foreign students during their admission process. On the other hand, the university has not introduced any modification and advancement on their course which make them weaker compared to their competitors.
Lack of proper HR management and Recruitment Strategies
Based on the above conducted analysis due to lack of proper innovation the existing recruitment system of LSST is more complex and in-efficient (LSST, 2022e). Thus, according to the planned initiative of LSST in up-grading their recruitment process can be challenging to be implemented without proper innovation initiatives.
5. Conclusion
It has been concluded that, under the higher education industry the organization is not adopting advanced tools and techniques for the part of recruiting the staff. Moreover, during the time of conducting admission new students will highly consider the pertaining issues through which the Universities will lose the students at higher margin. However, for LSST it is important for them to measure and evaluate the education outputs on consistent basis along bringing new up-gradation in the courses for mitigating the issue. Through, management consulting assignmentevaluating the issues and introducing advancement will help LSST in the successful implementation of their planned initiatives along gaining better system of competitive edge and sustainability for the future.
Reference
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Lea, R., 2021. GDP falls nearly 10% in 2020 but, after first quarter weakness, should recover well in 2021. Arbuthnot Banking Group, 15.
LSST, (2022b). Campuses. [online] London School of Science & Technology. Available at:
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LSST, (2022d). Equality and Diversity Policy |Version 3.10. [online] Lsst.ac. Available at:
LSST, (2022e). LSST launches writing competition with CNN and Tony Blair’s Institute for Global Change – and the winner receives £500 - London School of Science & Technology. [online] London School of Science & Technology. Available at:
LSST, 2022a. LSST students sell sumptuous homemade cakes to raise money for The British Red Cross - London School of Science & Technology. [online] London School of Science & Technology. Available at:
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