Murdoch University Executive Education Centre - Case Study
Dr Greg Lopez, Research Fellow
From the Asialink Business Malaysia Country Starter Pack
With as many as four universities offering competing courses, the Perth market seemed quite saturated. The crowded higher education sector in its home city gave Murdoch University’s Executive Education Centre (EEC) an impetus to look abroad for growth opportunities. EEC looked to Malaysia as a market offering significant potential growth.
“As a semi-autonomous body of Murdoch [University], we are small and nimble, able to operate in ways that allows the Centre to respond to market needs in a timely manner,” says Dr Greg Lopez, Research Fellow at EEC. Dr Lopez also shares responsibility for growing EEC’s business in Malaysia.
An important success factor in Malaysia and Southeast Asia more broadly, was the relocation of EEC’s Academic Director, Associate Professor Christopher Vas to Singapore. The move demonstrated that the EEC was committed to a long-term presence in the region, giving both partner organisations and through them, students, the confidence to invest and enrol.
Finding the right structure was a difficult task however. Foreign universities must either set up a branch office or establish a joint venture, but are only allowed to do so with the small number of local private universities, which are generally less highlyregarded than public ones. Dr Lopez explains that budget constraints meant that a joint venture with a local partner was a more viable option than setting up a branch office.
Over the past two decades, a number of reputable regional and global universities with strong brand presence had established joint ventures in both Malaysia and Singapore. EEC understood that it would be competing on a number of levels (cost, accessibility and prestige) with a wide range of players (Singaporean, European, American and more).
The team had been negotiating with a local private university in Malaysia for some time, but decided to cease negotiations after adverse findings surfaced during the due diligence process.
This initial setback gave EEC a chance to revise its strategy. It illuminated the need to capitalise on its niche study areas (including food security and productivity), identify a specific target market and price its products accurately for its potential customer. Here is where Dr Lopez said market research and an on-the-ground presence were critical advantages.
Having first-hand knowledge of the Malaysian customer’s motivators of choice helped the EEC understand that the initial one-cost approach, which was intended to demonstrate a consistent quality across their offerings in Perth, Singapore and Malaysia, would not work. Instead, the same courses had to be re-packaged and offered at different price points to suit the target market within each city or country.
Having settled on a price point, EEC’s research also suggested that the delivery mode, be it online or a blended online model, needed to be flexible so that its niche subjects would still appeal to a broad range of customers, within its target market, who required different levels of qualifications and accreditations.
“In spite of our limited resources, the flexibility that we have as a small organisation, to quickly adapt to our market intelligence has been critical,” says Dr Lopez.
According to him, a windfall is unlikely in the first year as target customers take time to become familiar with the brand. “Set a medium-to-longterm goal early on. Be flexible and prepared to suffer some losses in the first year in a competitive market like Malaysia. But the long-term approach will give you time to test what model works best,” he advises.
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www.murdoch.edu.au/Executive-Education