Project on

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF NSU

Course: MGT 489 # 1, Fall 2015

Submitted To

Dr. Muslima Zahan

Assistant Professor
Submitted By

Name ID
Muhammad Yeasin Arafat 111 1207 030
Tanvir Ahmed Khan 112 0257 030
MD. Kowsar Gazi 112 0258 030
MD. Nazmul Hassan 112 0446 030

School of Business and Economics

North South University
Date of Submission: 03/12/2015
 Acknowledgement

Firstly, we would like to thank our honorable faculty Dr. Muslima Zahan for guiding us throughout
this project. Without her guidance and support from deciding the research topic till the submission
of this final report, it would not be possible for us to complete this assignment. Moreover, we
would like to express our gratitude to all the respondents who took some of their valuable time
from their daily lives and answered our questionnaire through hand.
 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

December 03, 2015

Dr. Muslima Zahan

Course Instructor
MGT 489, Section -01
School of Business & Economics
North South University.

Subject: Submission of Group Report

Dear Madam

It is our pleasure to submit the report on “COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF NSU” which could
be helpful for providing services and decision making of the organization. According to your
advice, we have completed the report write-up on this topic. We chose “North South University”
as our case study organization. To serve the purpose, we have conducted a detailed analysis on our
survey results to get a sound output. As per your direction, we have tried our best to highlight our
findings through this write-up. We sincerely hope that, this report will fulfill the requirements
suggested by you for the course MGT 489.

Sincerely Yours,

Muhammad Yeasin Arafat

Tanvir Ahmed Khan
MD. Kowsar Gazi
MD. Nazmul Hassan
 Abstract

North South University (NSU) is the first private university in Bangladesh. The report aims at
analyzing the existing situation of NSU and then improvements, suggestions and recommendations
based on our learning form the course – Strategic Management (MGT 489).

To analyze the existing situation of the organization, we first examined the competitive forces,
SWOT & PEST analysis of NSU. Then we went through corporate strategies which deal with
business level strategies & functional level strategies.

Then we has a survey as primary source of data as well as used journals & articles for secondary
source of information. At last we made up our decision based on these & also put a
recommendation which will be good for the organization.
Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1

2.0 Company Overview ............................................................................................................................. 2
3.0 Competitive force model ..................................................................................................................... 5
4.0 SWOT analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 7
5.0 PEST analysis..................................................................................................................................... 10
6.0 Literature Review .............................................................................................................................. 11
7.0 Methodology ........................................................................................................................................ 15
8.0 Corporate Level Strategies and Decision .......................................................................................... 18
9.0 Functional Level Stategies .................................................................................................................. 19
10.0 Business level Strategy of NSU ........................................................................................................ 20
11.0 Root Level of Conpetitive Advantage.............................................................................................. 21
12.0 Corporate Governance .................................................................................................................... 28
13.0 Limitations of the study .................................................................................................................... 29
14.0 Recommendation............................................................................................................................... 29
15.0 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 30
16.0 References .......................................................................................................................................... 31
Appendix ....................................................................................................................................................... i
 1.0 Introduction

Among the developing countries of the world, Bangladesh is perhaps a pioneer in the expansion
of higher education in the private sector. In 1981 the idea of expanding opportunities for higher
education in the private sector was first mooted. About a decade later in 1992 the Private
University Act came into being. It was an epoch-making step. The need for private universities is
now beyond question. Ever since 1992 the private universities have been playing an important role
in developing various academic disciplines. North South University is the first private university
of Bangladesh; the School of Business and Economics is one of the largests and First ACBSP
accredited business school of Bangladesh. It is the pioneer of the concept of private university in
Bangladesh. The university claims to provide international standard education. It has faculty
members with foreign degrees. It is the only university in Bangladesh that hires faculty members
only with foreign degrees. Its current student enrolment is about 21279 (BBS, 2014). NSU
promises its students to give them international standard education; the aim was to get North
American standard education without needing to go to North America. The ultimate objective of
NSU is to become a well-known university not only in Bangladesh but also on an international
level. It wants to attract students and faculty members from all over the world. It is affiliated with
some reputed foreign universities. In this project we have tried to provide a broad SWOT analysis
of NSU as well as incorporated porter’s 5 forces. This study contains an analysis os the root of
competitive advantage of NSU and recommend ways of sustaining the competitive advantage of
NSU.

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 2.0 Company Overview

North South University, the first private university in Bangladesh, was established by a group of
philanthropists, industrialists, bureaucrats and academics. The government of Bangladesh
approved the establishment of North South University in 1992 under Private University Act
(PUA)-1992 (now replaced by PUA-2010). The university was formally inaugurated on 10
February, 1993 by the then Prime Minister of Bangladesh. The honorable President of the People's
Republic of Bangladesh is the Chancellor of NSU. Following the private university act-2010,
Mr. M. A. Kashem is the current Chairman of the Board of Trustees, North South University and
North South University Trust. The Board of Trustees (BOT), the apex body which provides the
overall policy guidelines and approves annual budget of the University, is headed by its Chairman.
The Syndicate runs the administration of the University within the policy guidelines provided by
BOT2010.

The Vice Chancellor, as the chief executive and academic officer, along with the Pro Vice
Chancellor, runs the universities with the cooperation of the statutory bodies operate under the
provision of the Statutes prepared within the framework of PUA 2010. The Registrar maintains
the university records including admissions and Controller of Examination results and keeps
liaison with Ministry of Education, University Grants Commission (UGC) and other relevant
authorities.

NSU has the authority, under its Charter, to impart instruction and confer undergraduate and
graduate degrees in all branches of arts, business and sciences, including engineering, agriculture,
law and medicine. It also has the authority to grant diplomas, certificates and other academic
distinctions. Currently, NSU offers Bachelor's and Master's degrees in 29 subjects (15 Bachelor's
degrees and 14 Master's degrees). Additional programs including Ph.D.in different subjects are
under preparation.

The university follows the North American academic system with all its distinctive features-

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semesters, credit hours, letter grades, one examiner system and so on. Its curricula, when first
introduced, were reviewed by relevant departments of U niversity of Illinois, Urbana Champaign,
and University of California at Berkeley, USA, and duly approved by University Grants
Commission, Bangladesh. The academic programs are continually updated and adapted to meet
the changing needs country.

Prof. Gour Gobinda Goswami, Vice Chancellor (in-charge) is providing leadership in improving,
expanding and diversifying various academic programs. NSU now has 329 core (fulltime) faculty
members. All faculty members have higher degrees from reputable foreign universities, with over
90% holding degrees from British, American, Australian and Canadian universities. Visiting
faculty members from foreign universities including US,U.K, Canadian and Australian
universities also teach at NSU.It is very selective in recruiting teachers and admitting students. Its
current student enrolment is about 15,000.

The first freshman classes had 137 students enrolled in three Departments: Business
Administration, Computer Science, and Economics. Department of Environmental Studies and
Management (DESM), English and General and Continuing Education (GCE) were added in May
1997. The Master's program in Economics was introduced in 1994. The MBA program was
launched in Summer 1997. Master's in Development Studies and Bachelor's in Computer
Engineering were introduced in 2002 while MS in Computer Science is being offered from
Summer 2003. Bachelor's in Architecture was introduced in Fall 2004. Master's in English was
launched in Spring 2005. Pharmacy (Undergraduate) and Executive MBA programs came into
being in Spring 2006 and Master's in Biotechnology and Master's in Public Health programs were
started in Summer 2006. BS in Biotechnology, BS in Microbiology and BS in Biochemistry
programs were introduced in Spring 2007. Master in Public Policy and Governance (MPPG)
opened in Fall 2008, BS in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) and Master in Resources
and Environmental Management (MREM) launched in Spring 2009 and Fall 2009 respectively.
The university launched Executive Master in Public Health (EMPH) during Summer 2010 ,
MPharm during spring 2012 and BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEED) opened in
Summer 2013.

3
NSU has three Institutes and one Center: (i) Institute of Development, Environment and Strategic
Studies (IDESS) (ii) Institute of Modern Language (IML) (iii) Confucius Institute Chainess
Language Institute, and (iv) Center of Information & Communication Technology (CICT).

Vision:
North South University will be and remain a center of excellence in higher education. It will gain
recognition, nationally and globally and will attract students, faculty, and staff from all parts of the
world.

Mission:
The mission of North South University is to produce competent graduates in their selected
disciplines who will have productive careers or choose to engage in advanced studies.

Their students will be:

1. Life-long learners with good leadership skills

2. More proficient in oral, written and electronic communication
3. Critical thinkers with well-developed analytical skills
4. Ethical and socially responsible
5. Champions of diversity and tolerance
6. Globally aware with commitment to social justice and sustainability

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 3.0 Competitive force model

According to Porter (1979, p. 3), “The strongest competitive force or forces determine the
profitability of an industry and so are of greatest importance in strategy formulation”.
The components of five forces are new entrants, buyers, suppliers, substitutes, and industry
competitors. The objectives of using this model is to find a position for NSUin the education
industry, where the organization can defend itself against these forces or influence them in its
favor. Porter’s “The Five Forces Model”, Named after Michael E. Porter, is a model that identifies
and analyzes five competitive forces that shape every industry, and helps determine an industry's
weaknesses and strengths.
1. Threat of new entrants
2. Degree of Rivalry
3. Bargaining power of buyers
4. Bargaining power of supplier
5. Threat of substitute products
By analyzing these forces we can identify whether the industry is attractive or not.

3.1 Threat of new entrants

According to UGC annual report 2008, by now private sector universities enrollment reached 60%
of total students in the campus based universities. Regardless the percentage, the number of new
universities opened is low in Bangladesh. To establish a university in Bangladesh especially, a
private university faces following constraints.

 The primary constraint has been shortage in supply of qualified teachers because
universities need teachers with higher degrees from within and outside the country. In
remote places in Bangladesh, it is very difficult to operate a university as there is a shortage
of quality teachers (UGC, 2008).

 UGC (University Grants Commission of Bangladesh) has tried to follow certain conditions
laid down in the Private Universities Act 2010. Most stringent condition has been not to
grant permission for any new program of study to the universities unless they move to their

5
 permanent campus on one acre of land within Dhaka city area and two acres outside Dhaka
city.

 We know a good press is essential to foster desired growth in institutions in both public
and private sector. The role of the press in fostering smooth development of private
universities has not been helpful either. Instead of obtaining facts from the observation they
simply publish reports based on information given by the UGC

 Brand name is very important in this sector; it became very hard for the new universities
to find students. New universities fail to prove their quality in short time. The process of
building brand is lengthy which demotivates investors to invest in this sector.

3.2 Degree of Rivalry

According to UGC annual report 2010 there are 73 universities in Bangladesh. Out of these, 21
universities are in the public sector, while the other 52 are in the private sector. Though it has been
hard for the universities to enter in business, the demand for the education sector is still growing.
Every year thousands of students search for a good university for graduation. The number of
universities in our county is not enough for enrolling all the students. So the rivalry has not been
intense among the universities and the universities can still grab students if they can ensure quality
education. Moreover the exit barrier of this industry is not high, as the investments are mostly
related to land and infrastructures that are high value in alternate uses, or can be sold. That is why
there are only few universities are functioning business and competing with each other.

3.3 Bargaining power of buyers

According to UGC annual report 2008, almost 900 thousand students pass HSC every year and
look and a bigger portion of that look for a university to study. The existing universities are not
enough to cover all the students. So students do not have much flexibility to bargain over price.
And as education quality differs from university to universities, student cannot just switch to
another university and force a certain university to lower the price. We have seen some movements
regarding lowering tuition fees in the past. Students protested against increasing tuition fees but
that did not work in long run, and universities could increase tuition fees as the demand for good
education increases constantly.

6
3.4 Bargaining power of supplier
The main supplier for education industry is the teachers that are willing to teach. Generally
bargaining power for the job seeker is low in Bangladesh but those who has foreign degree has
high bargaining power. So we can say the bargaining power for the education industry is moderate.
Apart from that, for instrument, infrastructure and other employees has low bargaining power in
the education industry.

3.5 Threat of substitutors

Education industry is developing day by day in our countries prospective. Students are more
interested to take honors degree rather than taking diploma or pass course degree. In that case,
threat of substitution is quite low. But Price points widely differ between the public, private
universities, so if the government decides to open public universities which will provide education
at lower cost students will switch to public universities and on that occasion private universities
will suffer. However, it has been seen that most of the time institutions make strategy to create
value. Institutions may start offering professional courses like CA, ACCA, CIMA, hotel
management etc. and if they can successfully establish the value in the market, customers might
switch to professional degree courses instead of admitting in a university.

4.0 SWOT analysis

In this part of the report we will analyze NSU’s internal strengths and weaknesses as well as
external opportunities and threats.

4.1 STRENGTHS

1. NSU SBE is the first and only one ACBSP accredited business school of Bangladesh.
2. North South University is the largest private university in the country with approximately
20,000 students and more than 300 faculty members – making it an ideal establishment for
the creation and development of new knowledge and entrepreneurship.
3. The Board of Trustees at the university represent the largest business enterprises in the
country in virtually all industrial sectors – giving our students an indispensible edge when
it comes to building corporate relationships and in terms of obtaining funding

7
 4. The university has international collaborations with eight universities in the United States
and many more worldwide and this creates the opportunity for these entrepreneurial
ventures to be implemented locally and internationally.
5. The Career and Placement Center at the university (CPC) works closely with the corporate
sector to secure internship and job opportunities for graduates, giving entrepreneurs access
to an existing corporate platform that will help them in the acquisition and creation of
knowledge.
6. Campus size – North South University currently has 1.2 million sq. feet of floor space
available, making it a perfect location for setting up a business incubator with a full range
of facilities.

4.2 WEAKNESSES
1. There is a very low availability of research funding – making research grants such as the
AIF indispensable
2. New research areas and knowledge creation centers are not being explored due to funding
constraints.

4.3 OPPORTUNITIES
1. North South University has got ACBSP accrediation, which has made it the first university
in Bangladesh to be accredited. Having an incubator would be a value addition for the
university and enhance its chances of accreditation.
2. The university is trying to strengthen its research base, whilst holding on to its core of
teaching. This bridging is possible with the development of an incubation center where
theoretical learning will meet practical implementation. Incubation centers have been an
integral part of research based institutions and have contributed directly and indirectly to
university wide development in all aspects of knowledge based work.
3. A business incubation center will help students/young entrepreneurs realize successful and
marketable business ideas that would otherwise remain unfulfilled for lack of resources
(human, technological and financial)
4. One of the goals of the current government is the creation of a “Digital Bangladesh” – a
knowledge based society incorporates technology in all aspects of governance, business

8
 and social enterprise. Business incubators can act as vessels that transform simple ideas
into commercially viable, digital enterprises that benefit the country, its people and the
entrepreneurs themselves.

4.4 THREATS
1. Lack of continuous funding may stunt the growth of the incubator.
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
1.Largest private university in the country
2. Existing industrial relationships in virtually all 1. Low availability of research funding
sectors of development 2. Lack of research/knowledge creation centers
3. Significant number of international
collaborations
4. Strong corporate presence due to graduates &
CPDS
5. Large campus will allow for adaquate facilities

SWOT
ANALYSIS
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
1.NSU is seeking international accreditation - 1. Lack of continous funding may stunt the
accredited institutions have business incubation growth of the business incubator
centers
2. Incubation center can be used to strengthen
university's research base
3. Incubated business will result in more
employment opportunities for graduates
4. ICT based business projects will work towards
the development of a Digital Bangladesh

Figure 1: SWOT Analysis of NSU

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 5.0 PEST analysis

We will now discuss about the PEST analysis of North South University.

5.1 Political Factors:

Political factors signify the government regulations and legal subjects, which state both formal and
informal rules and regulations that private universities should follow. And that involve
employment laws, environmental regulations, tax policy, and also political stability. Bangladesh
is a country where political situation is always unpredictable; and at some point of the year or
mostly, it goes through some political unrest for sure. This does has a huge impact on the
universities’ regular schedules. Furthermore, the government sets criterions for private
universities, and the private universities have to fulfill the criterions to survive in the industry.

5.2 Economic Factors:

Economic factors apparently talk about the firm’s cost of capital, and purchasing power of
potential customers. Economic growth, exchange rates, interest rates, and inflation rate, all these
things do play a pivotal role in this. Bangladesh is a poor country in context of customers’ buying
power. Private universities charge higher tuition fees compare to public universities. As a result, a
huge portion of the population does not get the opportunity to afford a private university education.
The industry as a whole is flourishing. So, it is a lucrative industry in Bangladesh.

5.3 Social Factors:

Demographic and cultural aspects of the external macro-environment are the vital aspects when it
comes to social factors; size of potential markets and customers’ needs is affected by these. Social
factors mainly signify career attitudes, population growth rate, age distribution, health
consciousness, and emphasis on safety. The private university industry has surely made a huge
impact on the job market of Bangladesh as well helping the youth potential of the country become
eligible for their future career. Private universities creating employment in many ways; they hire

10
faculty members, accountants, lawyers, doctors, counselor, security officers, and the list goes on.
This way they are working on the betterment of the society.

5.4 Technological Factors:

Reduction of minimum efficient production levels, barriers to entry, and influence outsourcing
decisions are some of the significant aspects of technological factors. This factor lowers the
barriers to entry. Technological factors apparently signify automation, R&D activity, technology
incentives, and rate of technological change. Bangladesh is not very technologically advanced.
Apart from few reputed private universities, most of the universities are not technologically
innovative or advanced. And compare to other developed countries, Bangladesh has a lot to
improve in terms of technology in the education sector. Considering the political situation of the
country, it is high time that universities start coming up with alternative way of teaching i.e. online
teaching when necessary.

Purpose of the project:

The purpose of the project is basically to find out the current strategies that NSU is implementing
to remain competitive, the challenges it is facing, where it lacks, and where it should focus on for
improvements. And how the university can do better to achieve its vision. After analyzing the
internal and external factors we will be able to determine the competitive advantage of NSU and
propose business strategy that will help North South University sustain the competitive advantage.

6.0 Literature Review

Private Universities are those higher education institutions established privately by a group of
People or an organization with the Government permission with an aim to spreading the
opportunities of higher education among larger number of students under Private University
Act,1992 (Amended 1998) that was passed on 9th August in 1992. According to the Act ‘Private

11
University’ means; any private university establishment under this Act; and following the
provisions of this act and in fulfillment of the conditions provided by the government, any
institution managed under the affiliation of any foreign university which is operating courses of
Honours or Masters Degree, Diploma or Certificate Courses or any institution which is offering
Degree, Diploma or Certificates(Section-2, Subsection-(g), Private University Act, 1992,
Amended 1998). Each private university must fulfill the minimum requirements i.e.; 5 acre land,
Tk. 5 crore fixed deposit to any recognized Bank, qualified teaching staff, ¾ full time faculty
members, modern lab and library which are set by the UGC in matters of academic standard and
physical facilities.

In Bangladesh, only a few studies have been done to explore the education quality of private
universities. UNESCO and IIEP have conducted a research in 2006. This study analyzes growth
and expansion of the private sector and discusses the financing, management and administrative
control, and regulation of quality control measures. In that study, the researchers took into account
the indicators among others, those are selected for this study. Syed Saad Andaleeb (2003)
conducted another study in 2003 used 9 factor model to explain the satisfaction of alumni with
their education. These factors include teacher quality, method and content, peer quality, facilities
and resources, the effectiveness of the administration, campus politics, gender and year of
graduation. A study by Jamal (2002) explored the role of private universities in human resource
development. The aim of the study is to analyze the effectiveness of private universities in
promoting quality higher education in Bangladesh and their contribution to human resource
development (HRD) in the country. He argued that despite many shortcomings, private universities
provide a global flavor to their students. Some of their facilities are of a very high standard.
By analyzing the secondary data we have come up with the following information regarding
private universities students and teachers.

Type of courses offered and Teachers 1997-2001

Year Number of Courses on offer

Private Students Teachers Accounting, Administrative Science,
Universities Agricultural Science, Architecture, Bangla,

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1997 16 5,668 636 BBA, MBA, Civil Engineering, Communication
Science, Computer Science, Computer Science
and Engineering, Computer Science and
Informatics, Education, Economics, Electronics
and Communication Engineering, Electrical and
1998 16 8,718 914 Electronics Engineering, Environmental Studies,
Engineering and Technology, Environmental
Science and Management, English Language and
Literature, Government and Politics,
Homeopathy, Islamic History and Culture,
1999 16 13,340 1,214 Islamic Studies, Nursing, Pharmacy, Political
2002 51 35,000 3000(app) Science, Physical Science, Physiotherapy,
Shariah, Social Science, Development Studies

Figure 2: Number of private Universities, Total Enrollments & Courses

Figure 3: Number of universities and students in BD

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From the line graph it can be seen that the number of universities was around 10. Among them the
number of public and private universities was 9 and 1 respectively. Since then the number of
private universities started increasing gradually and reached to approximately 58 in 2005 and
remained constant till 2008. And then it again started increasing drastically and reached around 90
universities in 2014. Whereas, the number of public universities was much less than private
universities and it was around 38 in 2014.

The number of students in private universities was zero in 1991. Whereas, the number of students
in private universities was around 90000 in 1991. However, the number of students in private
universities increased to almost 400000 in 2013 and the number of students was around 480000 in
2013.

This increase in the number of students in private universities may be because of the increasing
demand of the students. Another reason may be the quality of education in private universities is
greater than that of public universities.

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 7.0 Methodology

The major objective of this project is to analyze the competitive advantage of NSU and recommend
NSU the ways of sustaining competitive advantage. To do this we have surfed different websites
and got journals regarding our project topic. By analyzing the information that we’ve found in the
articles we will prepare a base for the project. Then we have gone for primary data collection
through a survey questionnaire which consists of 15 questions. We surveyed 30 students of NSU
in order to find the reasons for NSU having competitive advantage. After analyzing both primary
and secondary data we will formulate the root for competitive advantage of NSU.

Primary Data Analysis

Question 1: Do you think that ACBSP accreditation will give NSU a competitive edge over its
competitors?

20%

0%
Yes
No
Neutral

80%

80% of respondents replied that ACBSP accreditation will give NSU a competitive edge over the
competitors. Whereas, 20% respondents replied that ACBSP accreditation won’t give a
competitive edge over the competitor.

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Question 2: NSU faculties are efficient in their ways of teaching

20%

0%
Yes
No
Neutral

80%

80% of respondents replied that NSU faculties are efficient in their way of teaching. Whereas,
20% respondents replied that the faculties are not efficient in their ways of teaching.

Question 3: How would you measure the efficiency of administration?

80% 75%

70%
60%
50%
40%
30% 25%
20%
10%
0% 0%
0%
0%
Very High High
Medium
Low
Very Low

75% of respondents replied that NSU administration is very highly efficient whereas 25% replied
that their efficiency level is high.

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Question 4: How would you measure the efficiency of the NSU library?

70%
70%

60%

50%

40%

30%
20%
20%
10%
10%
0% 0%
0%
Very High High Medium Low Very Low

70% replied that NSU library system is highly efficient and 20% believe that NSU library system
is highly efficient. Besides, 10% believe that library system’s efficiency is moderate.

Question 5: As a student of NSU what is your overall satisfaction level?

80% 75%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%
0
0%
1 2

75% respondents believe that they are very highly satisfied and 25% are highly satisfied.
Findings:
According to the primary data 80% of respondents believe that ACBSP accreditation will give
NSU an edge over the competitors. Most of the students are satisfied with the efficiency level of
the faculties. Students believe that NSU has the best library in Bangladesh. They are satisfied with

17
the online advising system. Most of the respondents believe that higher quality of education gives
NSU a competitive edge over the competitors.

8.0 Corporate Level Strategies and Decision

Recent Corporate
Strategies &
Decision

Accreditation New Project Plan Properties

Figure 4: Corporate Level Strategy

8.1 Accreditation: NSU is already accredited under the University Grants Commission or UGC.
Most importantly, NSU has got ACBSP accredited recently. Currently North South fulfills 18 of
the 22 eligibility requirements of the Middle States Commission of Higher Education.

8.2 Properties: NSU has recently bought new lands and properties. These purchases have been
made mainly for its diversification and growth in the coming years in new sectors to ensure its
long term profitability, quality and sustainability.

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 9.0 Functional Level Stategies

North South University has functional level startegy for its service development, for instance,
means that the company has developed for selling its services to its students. Functional business
strategy is part of an organization's wider strategic plan

9.1 Efficiency: the most efficiency of North South University is to make number one private
university thorough its campus and high educated faculty members. The other thing is its the first
private university in Bangladesh. every year lot of student in each department get good job not
only in this country but also outside beacuse the quality of education is provided.

9.2 Innovation:NSU has developed of new process like its advising system, payment system.
Recently NSU try to get accretion and students can migrate in any north american university
without ielts. according to this students credit count and result will be same for transformation.

9.3 Quality: The significant aspect of an educational institution is the quality of education that it
provides to its students. NSU has always been the number one private university when it comes to
the term of quality of education. Faculty members’ contribution to the society is also outstanding.
Most of them have their own research work based on societal improvement, which are highly
appreciated by the different parties of the society.

9.4 Customer Responsiveness: The resource like faculty members, physical resources, staffs are
always there to help out the students. Students get a prompt response if they demand anything. The
faculty members are very amicable and helpful in and outside the class. At the end of every
semester, the students are given evaluation sheets for appraising their course instructor. The
department must evaluate the results of these evaluation sheets and inform the faculty members of
their outcomes. Feedback will be given to the faculty members regarding the results of the
appraisal.

North Suth University has functioal deparpment those are working for this strategy.

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 10.0 Business level Strategy of NSU

Definition of Business level Strategy: The business overall competitve theme, the way it position
itself in the market place to gain a competitive advantage and the different position of stategies
that can be used in differnent industry settings.

North south University is a single business company, its business level strategy is identical to its
corporate level startegy. Its sucessful strategy has bulit competititve advantage. The SWOT
analysis will be helpful in identifying the strategic options available to the NSU.

According to Porter an organization can develop its competitive advantage either on the basis
of low cost or differentiation. Low cost of NSU can be derived by minimizing the cost in carrying
out various value creating activities. North South University is able to achieve the lowest cost
position in an industry it becomes cost leader in that industry.

NSU has maintained differentiation because this advantage is derived by offering a product or
service with either unique or highly differentiated features which helps the organization to enhance
the willingness to pay of its students. However focus is not an independent strategy. It has to be
based on either low cost or differentiation. These two decisions are very important while
formulating the business-level strategy of an organization. Based on the source of competitive
advantage and the scope of operations an organization can implement one of the following
strategies:

 Broad Cost-leadership
 Broad Differentiation
 Focused Cost-leadership
 Focused Differentiation

In the case of broad cost-leadership an organization operates industry wide and derives competitive
advantage on the basis of low cost. Similarly broad differentiation refers to industry wide
operations and derivation of competitive advantage on the basis of differentiation.

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According to Porter, NSU tries to implement both cost-leadership and differentiation
simultaneously. However some of the recent academic studies have concluded that it could be
possible to implement both the strategies together and still derive a competitive advantage.

NSU advising system, readvising system, online payment system, using database through internet,
intranet and extranet. NSu has huge resouces those are creating differentiate from others like
efficient faculty members, automated resourch, huge admin buliding, several kinds of clubs,
updated career and placement center, etc. NSU can afford their logstics accroding to porter like
buyers power. Every logistics Have been bought a small amount from its competitors because of
the first mover in this industry. From this NSU can make low cost and differentiate due to business
level strategy.

11.0 Root Level of Conpetitive Advantage

Competitive advantage requires identifying a specific target audience with a clearly defined

need, developing and delivering a high-quality and appropriately priced product or service and
doing it better than anybody else. Effective business strategy begins with focusing on the particular
needs of a target audience .North South university always looking for a ompetitive advantage.

Students are seeking education with most up to date technology.

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 Figure 6: The Root Level of Competitive Advantage

11.1 Superior Quality: The significant aspect of an educational institution is the quality of
education that it provides to its students. NSU has always been the number one private university
when it comes to the term of quality of education. Faculty members’ contribution to the society
is also outstanding. Most of them have their own research work based on societal improvement,
which are highly appreciated by the different parties of the society.

11.2 Superior Customer Responsiveness: The resource like faculty members, physical
resources, staffs are always there to help out the students. Students get a prompt response if they
demand anything. The faculty members are very amicable and helpful in and outside the class. At
the end of every semester, the students are given evaluation sheets for appraising their course
instructor. The department must evaluate the results of these evaluation sheets and inform the
faculty members of their outcomes. Feedback will be given to the faculty members regarding the
results of the appraisal.

11.3 Superior Innovation: North South University has a beautiful campus with modern
equipment’s which most universities lack. It has a fully automated library. NSU has a good looking
auditorium, playground. Online advising is one of the prominent feature of North South
University. Since the fall semester of 2014, the task of conducting student advising has been
assigned to the register department. The students are given priority based on the number of credits

22
they have completed. Students of School of Business department who want to take more than 4
courses are unable to do so through advising. Students of other departments are able to take more
than 4 courses without issues, but when the School of Business students are trying to take more
than 4 courses, the system crashes due to either initial miscalculation in forecasting or faulty
programming. The purpose of the new advising system was to eliminate re-advising. This process
can be cost effective and very efficient way to increase service quality
There are communications among the employees of different departments through internal
networking system. University provides sufficient technological facilities to ensure quality
education .
Steps to improve the advising process of the Register department are given below. The
implementation of these processes may initially result in a high cost, but overtime the benefit will
outweigh the cost.

COMPLETING ADVISING FORMALITIES

Phase
STUDENT

Register for Advise on

START END
Wi-Fi their own.

Prepare a
Register dept.

team capable
Conduct
Schedule of handling
Start Advising End
Slots Properly most common
students system
problems

Give Wi-Fi
Make sure
IS/IT dept.

access to
the system Solve log in
START students that END
can support issue
they can
all students
support

Figure 7: New Advising System

11.4 Superior Efficiency: The whole system is designed in a way that it can work efficiently.
Faculties are teaching contemporary issues and all of them have experience of teaching. Foreign
faculty members provide standardize education that can be shared by the local faculty members.

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 Resources:
Quality faculty members,
Organized Library, CPDS,
Clubs
Functional Level
Build strategy:

1. Superior quality
education
2. Bringing
Changes Differentiation Value
Distinctive 3. Proper Creation
Competencies Responsiveness
towards
students

Capabilities:
Build
1. Ability to provide
Quality education

2. Flexible students

3. Capable Department
Chairs

4. CPC’s dedication to
students.

Figure 8: Value Creation of Functional Strategies

1. Ability to provide Quality education

2. Flexible students
3. Capable Department Chairs
4. CPC’s dedication to students.

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By using resources with the help of capabilities North South University crates its functional level
strategies those are given below:

Ensuring Quality Education through functional level activities:

 North South University only hires teachers who are passed from recognized international
university. Here they teach in North American curriculum and most of the faculty members
have a past on north amercing curriculum. So North South University make uses of their
quality teachers properly by letting them teach the way they have learned at the same token
they also provide the best quality education towards the student. North South University
creates value in the mind of faculty members as well which help university retain their
faculty members and they get more efficient over time.

 By day quality education does not always mean only theoretical education system it also
consist of practical knowledge. Through different clubs North South University ensure
students are getting the real life experience of different work. A faculty advisor is always
there to look after the club. The faculty advisor always ensures the students are
experiencing learning effects and getting more efficient in practical work.
 North South University arranges a different program where student gets to compete with
each other earns more experience in real life competition.
 North South University also gives quality education by bringing big corporate employees,
faculty members of international universities also brings people like “Noble Prize Winner”
in different seminars to build up the knowledge of students and ensure the quality that
North South University tries to provide.

Creating efficiency through proper channel:

 North South University has a resource center. Through this center it runs a resource center
where students get the study material, it has an email system where it connects students
with faculty members via google class.

25
  Faculty members have a flexible timing system where they gets to choose their timing for
the class in a semester and they have office hours given as well. So that students always
can get in touch with the faculty members for any issues.

Adapting to Changes:

People do not like changes as we all know. But North South University Is really good in that in
every semester business level and corporate level always takes the decision to change in few
sectors here and there. But the flexibility of faculty members and Students let them adapt to the
decision of business and corporate level which leads to innovation of new taste in education. For
example; Recent change in advising system of North South University was possible because of the
flexibility of It department. Register office also went through some new changes which will
ultimately lead to a better experience to the students.

Responsiveness towards Students:

 North South University tries to support students with ‘Career & Placement Center (CPC)’
after their most courses are complete and give them chance to apply for internship in
different renowned organization and try to crate job for the students. They also keep track
of old students from North South University who are working for different organization
and have vast experience. They try to use those old students in order to teach new things
to the fresh graduates of the real worlds by arranging seminars.
 There is a information center and well maintained website where students gets to any notice
they need in terms of any decision of university.

By using these resources and capabilities of different functional level of North South University
the university is trying to shape a distinctive competency which can be named as ‘Experience of
North South University’. NSU ultimately tries giving the quality education, efficient support,
changes and proper responsiveness towards students. In order to create value the North South
University tries to satisfy the student needs and ultimately create a brand loyalty for the university

26
till now with its functional level strategies. But in order to keep it up they need to pursue continuous
changes and make use of resources to its full potential in order to keep things rolling.

Core Competencies of NSU

We wanted to find out from the success attributes comparison that what are the core competencies
of NSU.

Figure 8: Core competencies of NSU

 North South University has quality faculty members, a nice big campus and as well as a
brand name that creates demand for students.
 The faculty members have the capability to provide highest quality education compare to
other private university because most of them studied on North American curriculum and
also have vast experience in the teaching field .

27
  The authority always tries to keep the university clean and secured that keep the
environment better than other universities.
 The nice and good looking campus always creates a demand for students.
 Lastly, the North South University charge the highest amount of tuition fees from students
which are actually a good thing for the university they have more earning and more to spent
in the betterment of the university, hire the best quality teacher as well as can provide
overall experience with the financial resources they have.

12.0 Corporate Governance

NSU's Corporate Governance with the help of executives in the different sectors are trying to
achieve:
 Improve educational quality as well as maintaining profit to make sure the competitive
advantage
 Maintaining the financial management of NSU for students and stuffs
 Try to maintain proper educational quality and research how improve the educational
quality
 Maintaining Internal relationship with the members and directors
 Maintaining relation with outer partner and members of NSU
 Maintaining the NSU campus and make the staffs , students to follow the NSU rules and
regulation

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 13.0 Limitations of the study

The report has certain limitations, which are shown as below:

 There is a limitation on the availability of latest statistical data from the relevant government
department.
 There are no in-depth studies on related industry and competition.
 There are some organization’s confidential policy related to the release of data, the
organization’s internal analysis is somewhat limited.
 There were reluctance in survey respondents to answer the questionnaire.
 There are lack of systematic data and relevant information.

14.0 Recommendation

1. NSU needs to focus on the building blocks of competitive advantage to remain competitive
in the market. They need to be very careful while nurturing all the four elements of
competitive advantage.
2. NSU needs to institute continuous improvement and learning to have a competitive edge
over its competitors. Their current Competitive advantage may be imitated by the rivals
through innovation. So NSU always needs to seek ways to improve their operations and
constantly upgrade value of their distinctive competencies or create new competencies.
3. North South University needs to identify and adopt best industrial practice to develop
distinctive competencies that contribute to superior efficiency, quality, innovation, and
responsiveness.
4. They need to overcome the internal forces that are a barrier to change within NSU. Good
leadership from every school will help identify barriers and implement change to overcome
the barriers.
5. NSU needs to focus more on the quality of new students rather than the quantity.

29
 15.0 Conclusion

The study mainly focuses on the strategic analysis. Throughout this study, the competitive situation
of NSU has been analyzed by considering internal and external environment. Industry analysis and
part of SWOT analysis highlighted the external issues and other areas deals with the internal
environmental issues. Study of core competencies also considered to identify the capabilities of
NSU or help them to identify in which area NSU is good at. Effort had been made to develop
strategies that give the future direction to NSU to sustain competitive advantage. NSU should keep
on providing quality education with quality service and a view towards long presence in the
education sector in Bangladesh and at the same time develop strategies to enter the global
education sector. The above-mentioned findings and recommendations of this study could assist
North South University to achieve such aim.

30
 16.0 References

Andaleeb, S. S. (2003). Rejuvenating the Nation’s Higher Education System. Proceedingof the
workshop organised by International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, Dhaka,
Bangladesh.

Jamal, Shawkat A. N. M. (2002), Role of Private Universities in Human Resource Development.

February 24, 2009, Retrieved from
http://www.international.ac.uk/resources/ROLE%20OF%20PRIVATE%20UNIVERSITIES%20
IN%20HUMAN%20RESOURCE%20Development %20in%20Bangladesh.pdf

Porter M. E., 1979, The Competitive Advantage of a Nation, Mcmillan Press, Hong Kong.
World Bank. (2002) Constructing Knowledge Societies: New Challenges for Tertiary Education,
World Bank: Washington, DC, USA.

Other Sources:
University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh, Annual Report: 2008, Dhaka: UGC
Publication No.128
Annual report 2010, University Grant Commission of Bangladesh.,Dhaka.
Undergraduate Catalog, North South University, 2001-2003
http:/www.nsu.edu
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Dhaka 2001

31
 Appendix

Questionnaire: To evaluate the perceptions of the students regarding the “Competitive Advantage
of North South University”.

Purpose: We are trying identify to what extent the students perceive that NSU has competitive
edge over it’s competitors and what are the reasons for NSU’s competitive advantage.

Instructor: We are the students of North South University from School of Business and
Economics. We are doing a course MGT489 under the instruction of Dr. Muslima Jahan and also
doing a project on the perceptions of the students regarding Competitive Advantage of NSU.

Notes for the respondents: Please read the questions carefully and provide us your TRUE
opinions. It is important to mention that the results of the study will be used only for academic
purposes. Your opinion will be kept confidential. You have all rights to participate in this survey
or leave the survey without any participation. But your participation is highly appreciated.

Please circle your preferred option (only one)

1. Are you familiar with the term Competitive Advantage?

a) Yes, please continue with the survey.

b) No, please return the questionnaire.

2. I am: a) Female b) Male

3. Education: a) Graduate b) Undergraduate

4. Which School of NSU are you belong to?

a) SBE b) c) SEPS d) SHSS e) SHLS

5. According to you what is (are) the competitive advantage of NSU?

a) Quality of faculties. b) Greater managerial Skills. C) Technological Innovation D) Advanced

resources e) Others……………

i
6. Do you think that ACBSP accreditation will give NSU a competitive edge over its competitors?

a) Yes b) No c) Neutral

7. NSU faculties are efficient in their ways of teaching:

a) Yes b) No c) Neutral

8. Are you satisfied with the Course curriculum of NSU?

a) Yes b) No c) Neutral

9. How would you measure the efficiency of administration?

a. Very High b) High c) Medium d) Low e) Very low

10. How would you measure the efficiency of the NSU resource?

a. Very High b) High c) Medium d)Low e) Very low

11. How do you feel about infrastructure of NSU?

a) Excellent b) Good c) Neutral d) Not good

12. How would you measure the efficiency of the NSU library?

a. Very High b) High c) Medium d) Low e) Very low

13. How would you measure the efficiency of the NSU IT department?

a. Very High b) High c) Medium d) Low e) Very low

14. As a student of NSU what is your overall satisfaction level?

1. Very high 2. High 3. Medium 4. Low 5. Very low

15. According to you, what can be done to sustain the competitive advantage of NSU?

Answer:
…………………………………………………………………………………………………......................
..........................................................................................................................................................................

“THANK YOU”

ii
Business Model Canvas of NSU

iii
Value Chain Analysis of NSU

iv
Success attributes of Private University industry

• Brand Name
Quality

Intangible factors

• Campus &
Service

facilities • Value in the

• Education job markets of
withing the
• Students university Graduate
• Facutly Students
• Environment
Members • Commitment
of the
Institution to
build the best
graduate