International Strategy

Re-inventing HEC-ULg
BOUCHAT Maxime DEOLIVEIRALEITE Rafael HAJJAJI Clia NDUWAYO Jean-Claude RABHIOU Abdel THERASSE Maxime

Table of contents
Table of contents...................................................................................................... 2 1. Strategic Position of HEC-ULg ............................................................................. 3
External Analysis..............................................................................................................3 PESTEL Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 3 Internal Analysis ..............................................................................................................4 SWOT Analysis .................................................................................................................5

2. Reconsider the Mission / Vision, Goals and Objectives of the School within the University of Liege .................................................................................................... 7
Mission reconsidered .......................................................................................................7 Key factors of change & success .......................................................................................8 Reconsidered Vision.........................................................................................................9

3. Design and propose a strategic segmentation (the portfolio of Strategic Business Units) of HEC-Ulg .................................................................................................... 10
Strategic Business Units ................................................................................................. 10

4. The strategy ....................................................................................................... 12 5. Actions to implement ......................................................................................... 13 6. Appendix ............................................................................................................ 15

Appendix 1 : Porters Five Forces .................................................................................... 15 Appendix 2: Porters Value Chain ................................................................................... 18 Appendix 3: Strategic Business Units .............................................................................. 21

1. Strategic Position of HEC-ULg External Analysis

We can easily understand the strategic position of HEC-ULg through its external environment that is why we first made up the PESTEL analysis. For a better understanding it is also advised to consider the Porter's Five Forces Model (appendix 1) in order to detect all threats, power and rivalry on the market.
PESTEL Analysis

Political: Here there is an international influence. The Belgium as other countries has signed the Bolognas declaration. The Bolognas process has an objective to ensure comparability in standards and quality of higher education qualifications. This has created the European Higher Education Area and the ECBE (European Council for Business Education) Harmonization of the education system which have an impact of program design, students and teachers mobility and quality assurance throughout EU member states and in other European countries Other national policies for increasing competition among universities Public policy aspirations to place Belgium as a global centre of innovation in knowledge for promoting the economy Other common programs: Lifelong learning program, ERASMUS program and Education and culture Economic: Financial crisis, slower economic growth and mounting pressure on Government budgets are the dangers of the development of the education system. Social: The up to date tendency to prepare the new generation of leaders for a networked globalised society: value creation and service to society to integrate humanism into management education The increasing of unemployment rate discourage the younger to follow high studies Numerous partnerships with worldwide companies and universities and growing internationalization of its programs and faculty The tendency of young people to not follow universities program
3

 Declining in birth rate reflecting the actual national trends Technological: Development of the new information technologies and communication (digital lifestyle) Increasing degree of research and development by introducing some courses as research-to-practice seminars Environmental: Transformation of management education to enable business managers and leaders to make a relevant contribution to resolving the worlds environmental challenges (the education of corporate social responsibility, environmental sustainability, social entrepreneurship and community involvement) Legal: The obligation of having European ECTS label for the assessment of study performance The recognition of levels by adopting a system of easily identifiable and comparable level Immigration legislation that facilitate foreign students to follow studies in Belgium.

Internal Analysis
The internal analysis of HEC-ULg Management School affords us also to understand the strategic position of the school. Through the Porter's chain value (appendix 2) we can see the primary and support activities of HEC-ULg and so have a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school that can be found in the next point with the SWOT analysis. The SWOT analysis is a good way to represent this external (opportunities and threats) and internal (strengths and weaknesses) analysis of the management school.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths
Education in English since the first year and classes given in English from the third year. Internship in 5th year with the opportunity to realize a Project-Thesis. Good reputation Alumni network high-developed Good international network with Erasmus students and partnerships with many internationals universities Good student folk to attract new students and get some practical experience though many students associations and interest groups. EPAS accreditation Strong international delegation Soft skills development through portfolios Many partnerships with local and national companies Many researchers Double degree in law and HEC Internet platform, which allow an easy communication with students. Good location nearby city center and student housing Crossroad with Brussels, Paris, Maastricht but also the Germany.

Weaknesses
HEC Ulg is based in Lige, which isnt really internationally famous as Brussels for instance. No master in digital area Very few native speakers among the professors Too many theoretical courses in bachelor, not enough practical Not enough relationships with the alumni network Imperfect Erasmus student ranking Not enough study rooms HEC-Ulg is not in the ranking of the European business schools whereas other Belgian schools are in.

Opportunities
More national and international partnerships with companies and universities Becoming an important business school at the level of Europe and be part of his intern development EPAS accreditation extended to engineering degree and doctorate. Administration fees very low in Belgium (increase attractiveness)

Threats
Less autonomy (financial and/or operational) from the ULg Less subsidies from the Wallonia Other business schools in Belgium and abroad Financial crisis: business studies in 3 years (for instance Sainte Marie in Lige) are more affordable. Sart-Tilman campus. Too far from the center. Not easy to deal with the schedules.

2. Reconsider the Mission / Vision, Goals and Objectives of the School within the University of Liege

Mission reconsidered
According to the fact that the mission statement includes, within the statement, the organization reason for existing but also the ways used by the organization that will allow it to reach its purposes, we can highlight some key elements that drive the whole organizational strategy. After that, we will be able to discuss their relevancy. First of all, HEC aims to train creative and responsible managers and emphasizes on innovative student personal development practices. But, the university also values research with socio-economic impact or with a focus on pedagogical innovation. According to us, creativity and innovation seem to be essential for any business school. A mission has to be brief but the university could point out that there are different ways to reach these goals such as being a member of an association, participating to portfolio or even in applying for a master in entrepreneurship. In addition, speaking about responsibility, the school assumes the importance of commitment to society. A good way to engage in life is to develop soft skills and to be involved in projects. This appears in the declaration by these words true engagement in actions and real involvement and should be definitely kept. Then, the statement speaks about the future of businesses and organizations and the cross-cultural world. These words underline the importance of the international aspect within the strategy of the school and its awareness about the future. We think that the school should be a bit more precise about the term future. Nowadays, the world is in perpetual change and time is running out. One day, we speak about globalization as the best way to increase the well being of the population while the other day we will focus on local businesses as a solution to avoid environmental damages. For us, HEC has to be aware about all of these changes and trends. The future managers will have to deal with this complexity. Or, the starting point to deal with problems is to be informed about their causes. That is why we believe that our executive School has to be, at least, up to date with these trends and define itself has a flexible organization. We also wonder why the ethic dimension doesnt appear in the statement while sustainability has become a common word in our language.

The cross-cultural world matches with the following dimension: active proficiency in three languages. Today, we cannot imagine a manager that is not able to speak at least two languages including English. The School should keep this in the statement and, eventually, accentuate the importance of the language knowledge within the educational program or more globally in our world. The statement also mentions the peaks of excellence. This has to be kept. The school could mention that among these peaks of excellence, it exists specific peaks of excellence that are only given in HEC. As an example, this is the case with the Social Enterprise master. Finally, we appreciate the fact that HEC can think international as well as local: active in the regional economic development. The stakeholders have to be in the statement. But, HEC could show more interest for the need to build a network. This network has to be as wide as possible but with close relations between the partners. Partners could include alumni; local companies as well as international companies, institutions and so on.

Key factors of change & success

KFS required: these allowed the company to survive in the industry Courses and training courses programs given in order to educate managers and economists.

KFS sufficient : these allowed the company to enhance the differentiation with the rivals Alumni network developed. Accreditations (e.g.: EPAS) Peaks of excellence Students associations, interests groups Spirit of the school Practical training programs

Reconsidered Vision
HEC ULg, as European Management School, wants to become a benchmark actor recognized and accredited for the high quality of its initial and continuous training, in Belgium and in all the neighboring trans-frontier regions, in Germany, the Netherlands, France and the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg. Its ambition is that its research teams should enjoy a very good spontaneous international reputation in its fields of excellence. It wants to reinforce its international and national partnerships in order to consolidate its positioning and to attract talent HEC-ULg also aims to become a central, reputed actor committed to European economic trans-regional development through transversal platforms.

3. Design and propose a strategic segmentation (the portfolio of Strategic Business Units) of HEC-Ulg

Strategic Business Units

A strategic business unit (SBU) is a part of an organization for which there is a distinct external market for goods or services that is different from another SBU. In the case of HEC-Ulg, we have first to define the demand side which is define as follows: - Regular students - Brigding Students - Erasmus - External students (out of hours) - PhD And the supply side is all the courses of studies provided by HEC-ULg. In the appendix 3, the graphic shows the courses of studies for regular students, Erasmus, Brigding Students. Concerning the external students, HEC-ULg offers: An Executive Degree in Financial Risk Management, specializing in Analysis, Control and Audit An Executive Degree in Financial Risk Management, specializing in Finance An Executive Master in Fiscal Law A Master in Management Sciences with a specialist option in general management Preparatory year for Master in Management Sciences (2 years) and a Master in Management Sciences (60 credits - 1 year)

10

Market position
High Medium 1. Master in social enterprises Hig h 1. Master in engineering 2. Master in entrepreneuship Protect position Attractiveness of the market 2. ERASMUS 3. International students & peers Invest to build Me diu m 1. Bridging students 2. Bachelor 3. Master in management sciences Selectivity 1. Doctoral programs (PhD) Low

Build selectively

Build selectively

Limited expansion or harvest

Low Invest/Grow Manage for earnings 1. MBA

Invest / Grow

Statu quo

Operate/Desinvest

11

4. The strategy
HEC-ULg, as a business school, is evolving in a global world. Clearly, HEC wants to grow and to be a benchmark actor in term of high-quality study programs. But the School also wants to be recognized abroad for its excellence. The main strategic objectives for HEC are to develop its international side, invest to improve the quality of its peaks of excellence programs and enhance its reputation within the country as well as abroad. HEC knows that its institution is playing in a global place. Nearly thirty percent of its graduated is working abroad. As a matter of fact, building an international network has been essential. That is why HEC works to build new partnerships in order to attract and exchanges students, teachers or talents. The School wants to be a modal in the educational sector. HEC is working to enter into different rankings (international or not) by applying to receive some accreditations. The School also innovates and offers up-to-date studying programs. Then, HEC-ULg defends its spirit. HEC wants to build a strong community that strengthen its reputation. To sum up, here is the strategy of HEC-ULg: HEC-ULg wants to be one of the leaders on the education market. The school can be proud of its peaks of excellence and its desire to be more international. To lead in the market, the school will continue to maintain its actual network, build new partnerships, promote research and exchange programs. Note that the School pays a particular attention to its reputation in order to attract talents within the organization.

12

5. Actions to implement

The School is proud of its internationalization aspect but there is a lack of courses given in English. We deeply believe that some courses should be given in English in the early stage of the formation (1st bachelor). That is already the case in some business schools abroad and its a sign of excellence and awareness about the importance of English in trade. HEC executive School should also integrate courses related with the peaks of excellence within the bachelors programs. Indeed, as an example, some people decide to follow the financial analysis and the audit master without even knowing what audit really is. The Alumni network in Europe has not the same way to think than the American one. Indeed, the business schools in the U.S receive amounts of money from their old students (alumni). That is not common in Europe. If the school could change this, the university would be less dependent on the State. Concerning the master in management in social enterprises, the courses are not given in English (only one). Thats a pity. The school should promote this master because it accentuates the differentiation with the other business schools. Its also a sign of awareness about environmental and social considerations. The master in entrepreneurship has a good reputation, even abroad. But, nearly 5 students from HEC can access to this master each year. This is not enough. We think that entrepreneurship is one of the peaks of excellence of the school but this peak is not developed enough. We also think that it could be great to give the opportunity to the students to have training during their bachelor years (in addition to the one they will have to achieve during their master years). The practical aspect is important. Normally, the bachelor is based on theoretical courses and the master on more practical works. A sign of change appears with the portfolios. They are a good idea to develop soft skill but work has still to be done because the workload and the attractiveness between them are too different to be really efficient. The School wants to be aware of its students. But the students would appreciate to have tools to express themselves. Indeed, according to the school, the students will be the managers of the future. But how can actually these managers propose and defend their ideas? Its not always easy to know whom we should contact if we have something important to say

13

In this section, we will present more concrete actions to enhance the international aspect. First of all, we have thought about a kind of patronage ( parrainage ) for all the erasmus and/or international students. The idea is to promote integration of our Erasmus students. This will enhance the cultural and language exchanges between the students. The system of patronage consists in assistance of an Erasmus or an international student during its trip. For example, the tasks could include : giving a lift from the airport to the town, visit of our town/school, present the associations and so on. The host student can be rewared by credits or by a mention on his diploma. This could be integrate in the portfolio program. In the last case, a selection of the candidates could be done to ensure that the motivation is encountered. But, to pursue this idea, we think that Erasmus students should not be able to pick up specific programs for erasmus students. They have to be considered as regular students during the whole time they spent in the university. Doing works with erasmus students force us to speak in english. That is something we dont usually do if we have the choice even if we consider english or an other language as something important. Second, the school could launch the possibility for foreign people to register and learn some courses online. This system exists in some school and is up-to-date. Once the platform developed, the cost by user is very low. This is a good way to extend the network of our students abroad without having to invest in facilities. E-learning could interest workers that doesnt have enough time to reach the university but that would like to extend their knowledge at the same time. This could also be a basis to build a network with external professors. The idea is to promote exchanges between teachers between the universities. Online courses could be a kind of advert of the quality our teachers could provide.

14

6. Appendix

Appendix 1: Porters Five Forces

Threat of new entries: A new university or school in Belgium may be founded by three main players: the government, foundations or private educational groups. Given that the investment to set up a university is really huge and the European economy is dealing with a struggled situation that, in turn, has strongly impacted the economy of Liege, the risk of new entries in the Belgian educational market should not be considerable in the coming years, especially if the current situation get worst as the perspectives indicate. In other words, the economic crisis will likely avoid growth on the government investment in education and will reduce new private investments, given that a private company hardly will be interested in increasing the product offer in a low demand market. Threat of substitutes: Although investments in new universities and schools that apply the traditional ways of teaching will not likely be considerable as a threat in the coming years, the application of technology to spread out the knowledge in a cheap way has become a reality. Some prestigious universities like Yale, Harvard and MIT have already offered on the Internet some of their chairs for free, aiming at the increase of their worldwide reach. So many others universities have already changed its business model to provide only online-based courses at a less expensive cost and flexible way for the students. This trend may appear as a substitute to the traditional way of teaching on which HEC Management School is based so far and will make the competition global, given that a student may be able to attend an American MBA program, for example, wherever he or she is.

15

Supplier Power: The main suppliers of a Management school, like HEC-ULg, are related to its primary activities at the Porters value chain. As HECs activities do not require too many specific external inputs, there are lots of suppliers that can meet its needs. Therefore, the supplier power is considerably low and does not require complex analysis. Buyer Power: More different programs a Management School offers, larger is the range of buyers and, consequently, it is less dependent on them. Hereafter, it is HEC Management Schools products and its main customer targets: Product Bachelor Degrees Master Degrees Doctoral programs Executive programs Customer profile Students from 18 to 24 years old interested in entering on job market Students interested in research development in a specific area Experienced professionals interested in recycling their knowledge and strengthening their network and management abilities

At the Bachelor and Master degrees, HECs customer power is not so strong, given that HECs brand is associated with quality and a good employability that are strong decision factors for this public. However, at the Executive programs, the buyer power is significantly higher due to several different reasons: Firstly, as these customers have already got a college diploma, they are, in general, more demanding than the Bachelor and Master students. The contents, for example, should be really focused on real situations applied to their jobs; otherwise, they do not feel interested in it. Secondly, as there are lots of strong players on this market is great, it increases considerably the competitiveness and thus the buyer power in terms of price, quality requirement, and so on. The doctoral students are still a little group compared with the others. Industry Rivalry: The HECs competitors can be divided according to the geographic location: national and international competitors. Nationally, HEC competes against Management Schools that are settled down in Belgium, not only in francophone zone, but also in the Flemish zone, given that most of the universities offer degrees taught only in English, eliminating the language barrier. Internationally, regarding the HECs customer targets, the main competitor s are in Europe, especially in France, Netherlands and Germany. The first one due to the language and in the last two countries, the main competitors are close to Liege. Some of the
16

advantages of the international competitors are: better being in stronger economies than the Wallonia one, which can increase student employability and opportunities of partnerships with big companies and non-European universities; and being more attractive to foreign students. In Netherlands and Germany, the better English level is also an advantage for these competitors. On the other hand, HEC offers the opportunity of a bilingual life to the foreign students, with lectures in English and the day-by-day in French, which is attractive for non-francophone speakers. Some examples of competitors are: Solvay Management School, Maastricht University, Louvain School of Management.

17

Appendix 2: Porters Value Chain

Primary activities: Inbound logistics: Here, in the case of HEC-ULg, we can consider as inbound logistics all things that are upstream of the core activities of the school. Including for example: finding good teachers, being and staying state of the art, planning the training programs, being located at an appropriate place, Lige, the creative city in the heart of Europe, finding and providing adapted equipment (amphitheater, blackboard, overhead projectors, computers, etc.). Operations: The operations can be regarded as all the activities of the school such as providing quality courses, providing knowledge, skills, reasoning in economic, business, management, matching appropriate teachers with courses (theoretical courses, practical lessons, portfolios, seminars, exchange programs), using equipment efficiently, educating students, using pedagogical innovation, being specific (management, economic, RH, marketing, audit,), using efficiently expertise (six peaks of excellence ensure the coherence of academic research, teaching, and Socio-Economic expertise). Outbound logistics: N/A Marketing and sales: In the chain value, marketing and sales are the activities associated with getting buyers to purchase the product. Here it includes the communication between teachers, students, alumni, graduates, staff and partners, the participation at student fairs like SIEP, the website and social networks, the word of mouth, the reputation through wellknown partnerships and sponsors like ArcelorMittal, Ethias, Deloitte, PriceWaterHouseCoopers, through seminars and conferences, by publishing magazines like Spirit of Management.

18

Service: the service activities are these that maintain and enhance the product's value. This category include: providing sessions of questions/answers, giving additional practical exercises to help students to understand the theoretical concepts, the availability of teachers when students have questions during the lesson but also outside of class time, providing example of questions for exams or previous exams to prepare students to the final exam, the e-learning platform lol@ which is very useful for student to find the courses descriptions, the contents, the objectives, the syllabus, the comments and announcements of teachers, the agenda for all courses in which they are enrolled, the creation of ID_CAMPUS which is a platform for collaborative and open innovation, the developed alumni network (organization of events, newsletters) and the possibility to integrate the students' association, interest groups and junior companies in which students can practice what they are learning, can develop soft skills and can be well integrated in the school.

Secondary activities: Procurement: Here are some figures of the core "raw materials" of the school that we can more or less consider as the procurement in this value chain. - Total number of students: 2,300 - Percentage of international students (not including Erasmus): 15% - 89 professors (core faculty), 96 invited professors (adjunct faculty), 76 teaching & research assistants/researchers (scientific staff) - 70 students enrolled in the economic and management sciences PhD Program and 130 researchers under contract in 2009 - 13,000 HEC-ULg graduates - 150 partner universities across 36 countries - Double-degree with Fachhochschule Aachen and negotiations for joint degrees with other institutions and creation of joint Masters underway. Technology development: HEC-ULg can be proud of their technology developments that support its value chain activities. It includes particularly the transversal platforms to embrace major societal challenges with ID-Campus (open and interdisciplinary platform) and the educational resource platforms with the virtual campus LOL@ which is a complete elearning platform. By crossing competencies transversally inside and outside the boundaries of the school and with the educational resources platforms designed to foster pedagogical innovation, the management school try to be at the forefront and acquire accreditations. Moreover, the school is well equipped in term of technology, the Wi-Fi is available everywhere in classrooms, and there is even a computer room. HEC-ULg acquires also professional software like Belfirst. Human resource management: While turning resolutely towards Europe and the world, HEC-ULg also emphasizes the human dimension of the work environment, the regional focus of its missions of service to the community, the managerial relevance of its teaching and its applied research projects without forgetting the richness of inter-faculty partnerships. The school has today 89 professors (core faculty), 96 invited professors (adjunct faculty) and 76 teaching & research assistants/researchers (scientific staff).

19

Firm infrastructure: General management: the specific governance which ensures its unique anchorage to the economic world via an important presence of the enterprise in the school council, in charge of strategic decisions, budget and programs and via a governance council, mainly composed by enterprises representatives, national and international, in charge of evaluating the strategic positioning for the school, and find adequate additional financial means. Quality management: firmly committed to European values, it enrolled at the outset in the Bologna process. It participates in European research and teaching programs. It is engaged in quality assessment by the EUA since 1999. It has won several quality labels including ECTS, Diploma Supplement and HRS4R labels and it is a EURAXESS center. The 6 peaks of excellence are: Asset and Risk Management Economic Analysis and Public Governance Human Resources Management and Organizational Change Social Enterprises and the Social Economy Supply Chain Management and Quantitative Methods Tax Institute

20

Appendix 3: Strategic Business Units

21

Business Ingeneering

Management Sciences

Economic Sciences

Business Ingeneering (120 ECTS)

Financial Ingeenering Performance Management Systems Supply Chain Management IntraPreneur

Management Sciences (60 ECTS)

Management Sciences (120 ECTS)
Audit
Market ing

Economic Sciences (60 ECTS)

Economic Sciences (120 ECTS)

HR

Banking

Law

Social

Entrepre neurship

Economic Analysis and Public Governance

Economics and Finance

Finalit Didactique

Bridging Students Erasmus Students (IN)

PhD
22

Bibliography

http://www.enseignement.be/index.php?page=25837&navi=2503 Fdration Wallonie-Bruxelles, Enseignement et recherch scientifique, Bologne : http://www.enseignement.be/index.php?page=26646&navi=3338 Alumni Matters2012: What Alumni Want, Carringtoncrisp, Executive summary. EFMD Danos Speech 2013 Istanbul http://lola.hec.ulg.ac.be/claroline/backends/download.php/RUZNRF9EYW5vc19TcGVlY2gyMDEzSXN0YW5i dWwucGRm?cidReset=true&cidReq=GEST3029_1 HEC-ULg, Missions et valeurs: http://www.hec.ulg.ac.be/hec-ulg/missions-et-valeurs The Future of Business Education, http://www.ft.com/intl/businesseducation/future-of-business-schools Rankings by Financial Times http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/rankings

23