A REPORT ON

“BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS OF

STUDENT PREFERENCES
FOR EDUCATIONAL PACKAGES”

By
Anshuman Chaturvedi
EduMentor Educational Services
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A REPORT
ON

“BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS OF

STUDENT PREFERENCES
FOR EDUCATIONAL PACKAGES”

EDUMENTOR EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

Date of Submission: 20th May 2009

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The project undertaken requires a lot of information gathering and

guidance which has been provided by various people at various stages of
the project.
For this purpose I would like to thank the Head of the
Organization, Mr. Vikas Jain, who acted as a continuous source of
motivation, inspiration and guidance.

Company Guide, Mr. Ashish Gupta, for his invaluable guidance and
practical suggestions based on the experience.

Faculty Guide, Prof. Vibha Arora, for the continual support,

guidance and encouragement extended towards the result-oriented
approach for the completion of this project. Her unconditional
cooperation has been vital in the accomplishment.

I would also like to thank Mr. Manuj Arora, who provided me the
opportunity to work on various assignments during my internship and
guided me all throughout.

And finally Mr. Ashish Jain for his consistent belief in my capacities.

I would also like to thank my entire team of Edumentor, as all of us

have together worked towards the common organizational objective,
shared our experiences and aided each other in times of need.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover Page………………………………………………………………………………………………..1
Title Page………………………………………………………………………………………………….2
Acknowledgments ………………………………………………………………………………….…3
Authorization …….. ………………………………………………………………………………….…5
Abstract…………..…………………………………………………………………………………….… 6
List of Illustrations. ……………………………………………………………………………………7
Introduction EduMentor..……………………… …………….………….………….…8
Company Structure………………………………….…………………9
Project Description Overview..… ……………… ……………..…………………11
Marketing Mix .... ……………………………..……………17
Board Activity…………………………………………………21
Suggestions and Sales…………..……………………… 27
SWOT analysis…………………………………………….….29
Action Plan……………………………………..………….….34
STP analysis………………………………………..…….…..35
Centre Comparisons………………………………….……39
Porter‟s Model Study……….…………………….….…..41
Competitor Analysis……………………………..……….43
Graphical Analysis……………………………….…….…45
Questionnaire…………………………………………..….48
Product Development…………………………………...49
Human Resources……………………….………….…...57
Performance Appraisal…………………….………….58
Finance………………………………………………….…..60
Growth Potential……………………………………..…..62
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………..….63
Bibliography……………………………………………………………….…………………………64
Annexure
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PROJECT ABSTRACT

This project is basically an analysis of student requirements and

preferences, and to develop the business processes at EduMentor Educational
Services. Following is an account of the progress made in the project at
various levels by the author.

As Zonal Manager of Board Centre Activity, 50 Associates were

trained, clustered and deployed at 12 board centres for 7 days of
board activity for commerce and arts examinations. As a result, there
have been substantial improvements in the sales of the Noida, Mayur
Vihar and Preet Vihar centres.
Standardization of many office processes and documentation
methods regarding record keeping and database management.
Counseling Scripts, Checklists and Schedules prepared for the
board activity and further activities like daily cash collection reports.
As the part of the Centre Management Activities at the Preet Vihar
office (Head Office, EduMentor), the author has been studying the
student preferences and criteria of various aspects of the entrance
exam preparation.
Under the work profile of a “Mentor” and a faculty of GD/PI, the
author has earned significant experience regarding the qualitative
aspect of a student‟s typical preferences and most typically,
difference between the preferences of students belonging to different
backgrounds- economic, social, family history and stream wise. Also,
the close contact between the author and students resulted in a
better understanding of the expectations from these educational
institutions, and career orientation patterns.
Market intelligence activities for sensing competitor activity and
competencies so as to improve the institute‟s competitive advantage.
Also, the Bank Activity is underway to boost sales.
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LIST OF ILLAUSTRATIONS
Annexure Ia Associate Counseling Scripts
Ib Clustering Sheets

Annexure II a Booklet 1 (previous year)

II b Booklet 2
II c Booklet 3
II d Booklet 4
II e Booklet 5
II f Booklet Cover Sheet

Annexure III a School Counseling Database

III b Board Centre wise School List
III c Database Collection Sheet
III d Associate Database
III e Student Database, Centre wise with fee details
III f Conventional Record Keeping Diary
III g School Data Collected through Counseling
III h Quiz developed for students
III I PDP program developed for students

Annexure IV a Board Centre Manager Checklist

IV b over the Phone Counseling Script
IV c Associate Schedule
IV d Cash Collection Report
IV e Zonal Manager Instructions

Annexure Va Posters describing results

Vb Class Schedules
Vc Career Counseling Coupons
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EduMentor Educational Services: An Introduction

The company initially known as Focal was started in the year

2006 by Mr.Vikas Jain with 35 students. In the second year of its
operation the company was renamed as „Mentor‟ classes. In 2007 the
student strength increased to 300. The company was again renamed as
„Edumentor‟ in the third year of its operation because the name Mentor
could not be registered. Again the company showed an exponential
growth as the number of students increased to 900.

Over these years Edumentor has been able to carve a niche for itself in
this competitive industry because of its focus on product quality and
delivery.

In the year 2009 the company targets to be the number one player in
this industry for which a target of 4000 enrollments has been set. For
this purpose a marketing strategy has been planned and executed, the
company has around 50 MBA students working with it to achieve this
target. The company has also expanded its reach in and around Delhi
and NCR with 17 centers.
EduMentor is the only specialised institute for BBS / BBA / BBE
entrance exam preparation. With the highest success ratio in Shaheed
Sukhdev College of Business Studies (SSCBS), 91.7% got final offer from
renowned BBA institutes and 72.7% got multiple offers from various BBA
colleges. The course material and the creative teaching tools are
developed by the team of SSCBS and IIT, Delhi based on the latest
trends in entrance test.
The core team of eduMENTOR comprises of alumni of Shaheed Sukhdev
College of Business Studies and leading MBA institutes which enable
them to guide the students, the right things at the right time. Plus, the
team, being CBSites, are more aware of the changes which have taken
place in the pattern of the written test, GD and PI over the years. In fact,
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our core team consists of members who are involved in suggesting ways
of improvement in the selection process at CBS in capacity of being
Alumni of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies.
EduMentor was established with the goal of providing specialised
coaching to the students who seek admission in BBS / BBA / BBE. That
is the reason why our faculty consist only of those who have been to the
best BBA/BBS/BBE & MBA institute making us „The Only Specialist
BBA/BBS/BBE Entrance Coaching Institute‟. At EduMENTOR our core
competency lies more in Mentoring our students to the right path of
education than merely preparing them to achieve the best results.
In addition to this, our faculty strictly consists of those with experience of
having cleared the BBS / BBA / MBA entrance exams or other entrance
examinations based on similar patterns. This enables them to
understand the requirements of the students better and augment their
strengths.
The team is a capable mix of the alumni of elite institutes like FMS, IIFT,
SP Jain, NIFT, MDI etc.
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COMPANY STRUCTURE
The company in itself is very unstructured owing to two reasons-
The seasonal nature of its business: the company though works on
a full year scale the peak time of its operations is in the months of
February, March and April, since the company hires Summer Interns
every year to work with them a formal structuring is difficult to do.
The company itself is in the initial stages of its growth due to which
the roles are majorly undefined.
Though the employees and the interns have to play multiple roles the
company can be divided into six functional areas.
1. Marketing team
2. Counseling (sales) team
3. Product team
4. Human resources
5. Operations Team
6. IT based R&D
The marketing team is responsible for planning and execution of
marketing strategies mainly the „board centre‟ activity (explained in the
later part of report). After the execution of the marketing plan the
marketing team is dissolved barring a few people and merged with the
sales team.
The sales team or the counseling team is responsible for
converting the leads generated by the marketing activity. This involves
doing the proper counseling of the student on phone, in face to face
meeting and also to convince him/her for joining Edumentor.
The product team is like the corner stone, barely visible but of
utmost importance. They are responsible for creating the study material
of excellent quality. This work requires a lot of research and analysis of
the product being offered by the competitors as well.
This company is a labor intensive company; more than 50 MBA
students are working here so the role of HR becomes very important and
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also the HR works in sync with the product team for hireling of quality
faculties for the product delivery in the classroom.
Apart from the above, the operations team is responsible for the
smooth running and R&D work for the everyday running of the company.
The IT R&D team makes sure that improvements are made
through IT and standardized tools and work becomes easier.

The company is a partnership between Mr. Manuj Arora and Mr. Vikas
Jain. The company is financed by internal accruals of the previous years
and the capital infused by Mr. Vikas Jain.

As will be seen later, the company has been a flexible one and has
adapted frequently and accurately to a lot of market stimulus, hence
enhancing its success.
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Project Description

The main objective of the project was to develop the business

processes at EduMentor, and to study the preferences that students
have for various aspects of the packages offered. The operations of the
company after close observation suggest numerous points of notice,
analysis and improvements; hence this revolves around the study and
analysis of the same obstacles and opportunities. Following were the
main issues that were identified:

Board Activity Phase: The Board Centre Activity basically

concentrated around maximizing the reach of the company
to the target audience of 10+2 students, mainly commerce
stream. A lot of co-ordination is required while this activity is
conducted. There is a large ground level workforce that
needs to be deployed after rigorous training in distribution
and short counseling, wherein the “Associate” interacts with
parents and students, hence a detailed training script, and
practice is observed, as these Associates become the first
impression of the company. Also, the “clustering strategy”
was reviewed and a database was prepared for Associates,
their work and their centre‟s assigned. The author has made
significant changes in the organization‟s clustering
methodology, automating it using “Google Maps” and similar
techniques. In this direction, the author has been developing
a much more standardized system of training associates,
managers and organizing the same efforts, samples for the
same have been enclosed in the Annexure I.
Promotional Material: During the board activity promotional
Material is to be circulated to the students. A lot of
information is to be presented, and there are limitations of
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cost per booklet and student disinterest towards heavily text-

loaded booklets. For this purpose, the author has attempted
to improve the material (sample enclosed with report in
Annexure II) into a more interesting and informative
promotional tool. The only meager assistance has been the
previous year‟s sample paper, after which a series of four
new samples were prepared by the author and his fellow
interns, under the guidance of Mr. Manuj Arora and Mr.
Vikas Jain, and finally in the last stages of the activity, the
remaining sample papers were disposed through a single
redesigned leaflet that was stuck on the cover to give it a
new look.
Database Issues: Database management has mostly been a
pen-paper affair at EduMentor till date, but the author has
been able to improve several processes with the efficient
use of Spreadsheets, Database Sheets and Tables, reducing
time wastages and data loss, which has till date been a
major problem faced by the firm. A more detailed DBMS
interface is underway, and should be complete soon. A brief
list of such topics is as follows:

 School Counseling Database of students: This

system of record keeping helped in the better
handling of database regarding the Counseling
phase of operations.(Annexure IIIa, III f and IIIg)

 School Database with respective Board Centres:

This enabled centre-based analysis of schools
that were being considered for the board
activity.(Annexure IIIb)
 Centre-wise database collection sheets:These
Sheets helped the associates to collect data
effectively and in an organized way, also helping
in later on follow-up.(Annexure IIIc)
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 Associate database:This was formulated in view

of managing the associate workforce(Annexure
IIId)
 Employee database (sample unavailable)
 Special Tests and product based
improvements.(Annexure III h and III i)
 EduMentor Centre-wise student database was
developed to keep track of all students and their
fee status (Annexure IIIe).
 Fee Collection Database.(Annexure IIIe)

Automation and Organization: Many other processes have

been worked upon to help the organization use
“standardized documentation” These were:
 BA Manager Checklist: This tool helped make
sure that managers on the Board activity days
do not falter in any scheduled activity.(Annexure
IVa)
 Phone Counseling Scripts: This script helped the
over the phone counseling to become
standardized to a major level. (Annexure IVb)
 Associate schedule:To help keep the associates
on the required timings with the needed action,
a time-table was given to them(Annexure IVc)
 Daily Cash Collection Report: Collection of cash
in an organized way turned out to be a very
important issue, resolved by this standard
tool(Annexure IVd).
 Zonal Manager Instructions:A simple set of rules
put down for all Zonal managers. (Annexure IVe)

Other Material designs:

 Poster‟s for advertizing and awareness.
(Annexure V a)
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 Class Schedules so as to organize the class wise

information flow to students.(Annexure V b)
 Career Counseling Coupons were designed to
attract parents to the seminars organized during
and after the board activity for
parents.(Annexure V c)
 Proposal letter formulation for approaching
schools for counseling sessions. (Annexure V d).
 OMR designing for Mock tests etc.

Brand Development: The awareness of students about the

institute is substantial only in the area of East Delhi, since
the institution had begun from the same area, and hence
the goodwill and word-of-mouth publicity is best there.
However, the rest of Delhi-NCR region is not adequately
informed or aware of the company. Also, brand recall is
affected due to the seasonal nature of operation. Hence a
lot of efforts were made so that the correct display methods
are put up on critical locations. Methods like standees,
posters, Bulk messaging and flex-banners were used.

Student Preferences: A variety of qualitative and quantitative

study was undertaken at various levels of developing
counseling and individual strategies. At the very stage of
induction, approximately 50 students were analyzed for their
criteria of selection and a similar study is planned also at
feedback levels.

Analysis of the firm and its working on the basis of

techniques like SWOT analysis, and studying the Marketing
Mix at EduMentor.
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Market Intelligence activities held in order to assess

competitor activities, competency and techniques so as to
improve the processes at EduMentor for competitive
advantages on terms of product delivery, counseling and
service packages, following which there was a decision
taken to provide components of the preparation as smaller
packages on competitive prices such as:
 Study Material
 Mock Test
 GDPI and PDP sessions
Bank Activity/IP activity: IP university forms and SSCBS
forms are basically the savior of dwindling sales around the
time of mid-April, hence the best associates are deployed
onto various banks and application form outlets, where they
collect contact information and other data to assist the sales
call team to approach a more precise audience, this time
10+2, commerce/arts students, who are already interested
in management courses like BBS/BBA. Hence they have a
better chance of conversion if they have not yet been
enrolled with a competitor. Sometimes though, even
students enrolled with other institutes can be convinced
easily to purchase the smaller chunk deals for test series,
GD/PI sessions or PDP sessions.(Annexure III i)

On the whole, the project primarily focuses on the Marketing

and HR aspects of EduMentor by the study of various key areas of business,
with an in depth analysis of important strategies related to product design and
hence forth the recruitment of the employees, according to the knowledge,
skills and behavioral competencies that are necessary for an employee to
possess in educational services industry. It would require assessment of
competition and their marketing strategies as well.
 16

The project would be industry and organization specific. With

the organizational objectives and competitor strategies analyzed, the project
will further focus on product development and future feasible ventures for the
organization. A valuable component is the study of the various important
aspects of product design and its further development, based on the study of
changing trends in the pattern of examination.

A module also relates to the study of market potential for the

organization. This is the most comprehensive part of the study that covers all
the facets of their business.
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MARKETING AT EDUMENTOR EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

There are a plethora of options for a student after his twelfth

standard and so a whole range of activities carried out by different
departments culminates into attracting the students and enable them to adopt
management as a probable career option.
Marketing in any industry begins with the customer and ends with a satisfied
customer. Marketing of EduMentor also begins with the student and ends with
a satisfied student who gains through its services after he enrolls.

THE MARKETING MIX

Product/Service: BBA entrance test preparation:

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Place- 17 centers in Delhi and NCR including 5 in East Delhi

MAP showing the five centers in East Delhi

 19

No CENTRE

1 Bahubali Karkardooma Vivek Krishna Surajmal

enclave vihar nagar vihar
(HO)

2 Preet vihar Geeta colony Lakshmi Nirmaan Patpad

nagar vihar ganj

3 Mayur vihar Mayur vihar Mayur Kalian puri Ghazipur

ph 1 vihar ph 2

4 Dilshaad Dilshad Yamuna Shahadara Nand

garden garden vihar Nagri

5 Ramprastha Ghaziabad Yojana

park

Price:
Edumentor adopted a dual- pricing strategy, different for private and
government schools.
Private Schools Government school

Rs. 10,500 6,500

The upper price has been kept equal to the market leader (IMS) in order
to compete with them. The low price of government schools serves two
objectives:
Unique strategy adopted by Edumentor to explore a potential
market in the best possible manner.
To increase the revenue – most of the costs incurred by
edumentor are fixed in nature, thereby with more number of students,
revenue earned per student increases the total income whereby once
the breakeven point is reached the number of students drawn in,
because of the low government school fees will be an additional bonus.
 20

PROMOTION:
The marketing activity can be divided into six parts as shown in the
figure:

1. SCHOOL COUNSELING/ SEMINARS

This is the first stage of the brand building activity and attempts to raise
the awareness levels of the students as at this stage it‟d inevitable to
gain the first mover‟s advantage before the student‟s impressionist
minds can be influenced by bigger brand names.
Objectives:
Attempt is to furnish the right information and guidance to the
students.
Emphasize necessity of Entrance Coaching.
Positioning Edumentor as specialists.
Brand Building
Generate target market database for developing contacts with
students during peak season.
This activity was conducted from October to January across
various schools all over Delhi.
 21

2. Workshops – this is the second step, after the school counseling

and involves inviting students to the various centers for free promotional
workshops.
Objective:
To keep the students connected with the company so that there is
a constant brand recall.
To create good brand perception amongst the students so that
they are familiar with the company when they receive a sales call.
Display quality faculty and stress on USP of the organization.
It was conducted in the months of January and February.

3. Board centre activity

This is the biggest marketing event of the company and the most critical one.
This activity is done in during the board exams. I visited board centers during
this tenure and also participated in on the spot counseling and promotional
sample paper distribution.
The need of the hour in every marketing activity is to develop a direct contact
with the target market population. Various means of mass media are adopted
including print ads, radio etc. but keeping in mind the budget constraints the
Board Centre activity was concentrated upon the most. It‟s a crucial time as it
is during this time that the students start making decisions and registering the
existing institutes depending on their visibility and reputation. It involves
distribution of the printed material, on the venue counseling of parents,
collection of student database and generating walk ins to the nearest center.
The objective of the activity is to transmit Edumentor‟s message to a wide
target audience i.e. the class XII students. It was conducted on 3, 7, 13, 17, 21
and 24 March.
The activity involved five stages:
1. Planning
2. Clustering of schools
3. Training of manpower
4. Execution of the plan on the exam day
5. Designing and updating the sample paper
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STAGE1 - PLANNING

Fig . Planning of board centre activity.

Number of Schools
There are more than 20 schools in Noida with the resource constraints it‟s not
possible to cover all of them. The schools are segmented into two categories
1. First priority schools – these are the schools where counseling has
been done, it includes most of the private schools.
2. Second priority schools - these are the schools where counseling
was not done but are of importance, it consists of some private
schools and many government schools.
The maximum numbers of schools covered in a day in Noida Zone was 12

.
 23

Manpower planning/Associate Induction

Fig. manpower structure of board centre activity

Defining the roles of the manpower is an important aspect of this
planning.
Role of a zonal manager – he is responsible for all the stages of this activity
right from planning to the execution.
Role of a manager - he is responsible to get the work done in his cluster.
Cluster is the area awarded to him (explained further).
Role of the associate - distribute the sample paper, do counseling of parents
and collect the data from the school where he is appointed.
The man power requirement depends on the number of schools to be covered
and the strength of the schools to be covered.
Manpower planning also includes the kind of manpower needed i.e. the quality
and Edumentor needs people who are graduates or under graduates because
the work involves apart from distribution, counseling of parents too.
Sample paper design - the planning required here is very
important. While designing the sample two things should be clear
1. The content – Clear and Simple
Highlight quality of faculty and previous year‟s results.
Highlight USP of organization and position it as a specialist in
consumer‟s mind
Enable the students to retain the sample papers with them
2. Cover Page and graphics – Attractive
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STAGE 2 – CLUSTERING
If the number of schools to be targeted is 100, not all the 100 schools
will be in the same area. Every locality will have few schools in close
proximity of each other. In clustering we segment the schools on the
basis of their proximity of each other, and a cluster of 3-6 schools is
awarded to a Manager.

To do this the zonal manager should be familiar with the location of the
schools and should also know the time needed to cover all these schools.
Clustering is done on the basis of:
Proximity between the schools in an locality
The connectivity between these schools

STAGE -3 TRAINING OF THE MANPOWER

A pool of 1800 people was created for this work, this pool consists of
part timers who want to earn pocket money and also work experience.
Only 20% of this pool turned up for the training process and the author
was involved in the training of the associates and briefing them up about
their actions which involves two aspects:

Counseling- Interaction explaining what necessary information to

provide to the parents.

Distribution- Body Language of the associate while distributing

sample papers and how to position themselves so that no student
remains un approached.
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Evaluation of Manpower

After the training the grading of associates is done in this way.

GRADES STATUS USED AT

A+, A Good from the First priority

day one, need schools
no further
training

B+, B Good , average Second priority

need further schools
training have
the potential to
be converted in
A grade

C Cannot be Reject
upgraded

STAGE 4 - EXECUTION OF THE PLAN ON THE DAY OF EXAM

It is to be ensured that the distribution reaches to each and every student. To
make this possible the associate is supposed to hire labors depending upon
the strength of the school to help him. Zonal manager is supposed to visit the
board centers and supervise the functioning of the associates. Tools like
checklists and schedules are deployed to the associates and managers.

STAGE - 5 REDESIGNING AND UPDATING THE SAMPLE PAPER

The sample paper needs to be redesigned and updated after the first 2 exams
to ensure a renewed interest of the students and deal with the competition.
 26

4 – Telephone counselling:
This is a direct marketing activity which runs throughout the year. A student
needs lots of counseling and persuasion before he joins an institute, he might
not have the time or willingness to come to the institute, so the phone
counseling serves this purpose. Being a part of the counseling team I dealt
with a large amount of confused and perplexed students who needed mental
support and encouragement during their boards.A script is used for
standardization.Sales call or tele-calling is based on the data gathered from
the school seminars, Board Centre Activity, Bank activity and IP activity. As a
part of the phone counseling team I validated the student database collected
from the associates and then we resumed calling and provision of information
over phone. I attempted to strike a rapport with the student and tried to
provide information satisfies a student‟s inquisitiveness and
In the current scenario when the enrollments have seen a fall, Bank activity
and Indraprastha University activity was carried out which was successful in
drawing in many more enrollments from the seemingly “exhausted” but “alive”
market.

5 - BANK ACTIVITY and IP activity: This activity is similar to the Board centre
activity but the difference is the place of action. The activity was carried out at
Canara Bank branches and IP University campus. Shaheed Sukhdev College of
business Studies forms were available at Canara Bank branches which made
a large part of the target market available for us. I personally counseled many
students and handed them the Institute brochures at the Canara Bank, Vivek
Vihar branch many of whom turned up at the centre for counseling and
enrollments. I also visited the IP University campus and handled face to face
counseling.

4. Word of mouth
Word of mouth is created by all the associates, past students, employees of
the company.
 27

Suggestions:
Provision of Discounts: A Promotional Activity
To draw in a larger chunk of target customers a scheme of Cash Backs or
Student Scholarship due to academic excellence was suggested. Apart from
this it was also suggested providing students with free “IP forms” included in
the course fees which allures the target audience.
It is also suggested to form tie- ups with some professional career counseling
centers which can provide us with forwarded students who are inclined
towards management after undergoing psychometric tests and can thereby
widen our reach over students. This is still under consideration. Mentoring
sessions are also being coordinated as per the author‟s suggestion to [provide
a guidance system that helps students achieve the best results of the short
duration course. Parts of this Mentoring process are special tests developed by
the author. Dual pricing strategy for an Express course package for BBE
entrance has also been suggested.

SALES

The ultimate objective of the Board center activity and the school
counseling and seminar sessions was to increase brand awareness,
attain student database, inform the target customers and generate walk-
ins to the center which are potential enrollments to be taken care of by
the counselor. Thus being the center counselor I got the opportunity to
close the sales by a adopting a variety of techniques.
The USP of Edumentor is its counseling technique adopted and
undertaken by MBA professionals.
Provide Information
Dispel myths about various career paths and inform them about
college details and career prospects
Generate feel good factor and a flexible way of handling the
customer pertaining to each one of their personalities and
Understated persuasion
 28

Creating Urgency
Being at the Head Office I got the opportunity to interact with a
vast array of customers with different perceptions, awareness levels and
buying mindset with multiple walk-ins during rush hours.

Fig - The Sales Process.

 29

SWOT ANALYSIS

It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or

project and identifying the internal and external factors that are
favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective
Identification of SWOTs is essential because subsequent steps in
the process of planning for achievement of the selected objective may
be derived from the SWOTs.
The aim of any SWOT analysis is to identify the key internal and
external factors that are important to achieving the objective. These
come from within the company's unique value chain.
The internal factors may be viewed as strengths or weaknesses
depending upon their impact on the organization's objectives. What may
represent strengths with respect to one objective may be weaknesses
for another objective. The factors may include all of the 4P's; as well as
personnel, finance, manufacturing capabilities, and so on. The external
factors may include macroeconomic matters, technological change,
legislation, and socio-cultural changes, as well as changes in the
marketplace or competitive position.

The results are often presented in the form of a matrix.

Strengths : internal, positives Weaknesses : internal, negatives

1) Focus: specialist educational 1) Less visibility and awareness

institute
2) Only operational for 6 months
2) Team: alumni of CBS; creative and
3) Very less permanent
motivated team
employees(HR)
3) Effective small scale marketing tools

4) Quality product with faculty

4) Unstructured organization with
 30

from top B-schools no formal functional

specifications/boundaries
Special sessions, comprehensive study
material. 5) Inefficient HR practices

5) The results or the promising 6) No proper Student Information

growth shown System

7) Poor logistics

8) The centers work in isolation

that creates database management
problems.

Opportunities : external, positive Threats : external, negatives

1) Diversification, into new 1) Competition

complimentary market
2) New entrants, region specific,
2) More visibility, with mass like presence of Singh Study Circle
media marketing tools in West Delhi

3) Time management, and stress 3) Establishing a better brand

buster classes name to enhance brand loyalty

4) Student information system

5) Expansion geographically,
spread of centres to other cities

6) Mergers or acquisitions

7) More advanced class taking

techniques

8) More permanent centres

 31

STRENGTHS
The strengths of the organization are as follows:
The pioneers of the institute and the faculty are passouts from the
esteemed Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies and thereby
have the requisite knowledge about the entrance procedure,
determination of what it takes
Experienced and esteemed Faculty
o Alumni of Sukhdev College of Business Studies
o More than 15 MBA‟s from colleges like IIM Kolkota, IIM
Bangalore, IIOFT, FMS and MDI
o Record holders Limca Book of World Records which hold
special sessions
o Guest lecturers at Sukhdev College of Business Studies

Specialist Coaching institute for BBS, BBE and BBA

Memory building classes are offered to the students for better
memory retention and vocabulary building.
Detailed and informative Counseling sessions by MBA graduates
who possess the requisite knowledge
Focus on personality development and grooming of students by
conducting PD classes every week
Form filling assistance is offered to the students
The entrepreneurial venture was started as a Small Scale business
but effective marketing tools and concentrated effort within the
respective zonal schools ensured that the institute gains a competitive
edge over the other coaching institutions.
No hierarchy is prevalent so innovative ideas and inputs from
employees are encouraged and are directly discussed upon by the
senior management.
1:1 Individual student Mentoring
WEAKNESSES
Owing to the absence of visibility in the city there is a general lack
of consumer awareness regarding the Edumentor Educational Services.
 32

The low brand value of Edumentor acts as a hurdle for many

service consumers who prefer to go for batter branded and reputed
services.
The organization is unstructured with absence of
departmentalization and thereby lack of proper delegation of job tasks.
Distributed effort results in lack of efficiency and acts as a hindrance in
the smooth functioning of the organization. Job requirements and Job
description is not specified which creates a lot of confusion within
employees.
Inefficient HR practices result in low employee morale,
commitment level and low motivational level.
Lack of proper Information System creates leads to more
documentation and less transparency im operational procedures.
Existence of poor logistics and transportation
Lack of loyalty among employees and high attrition rate.
The company is operational only for a span of 6 months.

OPPORTUNITIES
There is an immense scope for diversification into other avenues
like offering preparatory courses for CA which has an immense market
potential and is a popular alternative career option or substitute for our
target market.
Expansion into other geographic areas can also be considered in
the near future.
There exists an ardent need to increase the brand visibility through
mass media like print and radio advertisements, upgrading the website,
collaborating with professional counselors and sourcing students
through them into our institute.
 33

THREATS
The prime threat faced by the institute is from the competitors who
draw a large part of the target market away. IMS being the market
leader when you take into account the total enrollments which have
occurred all over Delhi for most of the undergraduate entrances is
actually one of the prime threats. Larger competitors have had majority
of the market share.
Threat of new entrants also looms over any educational services
organization.
There exists a certain brand fixation within the consumer minds
that influences their buying behavior be it any product or service.
 34

ACTION PLAN

STRENGHTS-

Attempt should be to maintain the quality standards of the faculty and retain
the specialist image and in fact build up upon it. Interaction with CBS alumni
should be encouraged more as it enhances the motivational level of the
students and positions Edumentor in the minds of the students and generates
a feel good factor.

WEAKNESSES-

Brand consciousness should be increased by adopting a well formulated

communication mix by improving visibility by installation of hoardings,
advertising through mass media, and conducting sales promotion activities.
A structuring program needs to be initiated within the organization to
encourage transparency and smoothness in the operational activities and
departmentalization would ensure proper distribution of job tasks and
definition of job roles.

OPPORTUNITIES-
By diversifying into the coaching for other entrances like Common Pre
admission test for CA, Edumentor would be able to target the remaining part of
their segmented market. It should diversify by initiating a venture under a
different name by adopting marketing strategies under Co-branding so that it
doesn‟t dilute its specialist image.

THREATS-
Brand building needs to be initiated along with ensuring that our USP isn‟t
diluted and the service quality is improved with better and innovative methods
of teaching, holding special sessions and giving personal attention to the
students.
 35

SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING

Dividing the market by grouping the customers with similar

tastes and preferences into one segment is called segmentation. This is
all the more important in a service industry because of the perish ability
and tangibility characteristics, due to which the delivery of services is
different for each customer.

SEGMENTATION
At EduMentor, the kind of segmentation that is done is, segment
marketing, based on
a) Nature of school, i.e. public or private schools. Segmenting schools
on the basis of its ownership, so that economically less privileged
students of government schools can also be targeted, is unique to only
EduMentor. No other player in the market, cater to the untapped
potential of government school students
b) The segmentation can also be done on the basis of subjects
studied at the +2 level. Like on the basis of stream: commerce, sciences
and humanities.
 36

Though student from any stream can apply for these entrances, but the
target market becomes a little specific when considering commerce
students, because often these entrances and other related courses are
the first choice for them.
Likewise, even within commerce students, the market can be segmented
on the basis of subject mathematics, studied at the +2level.
Mathematics is essential for the entrance exam of BBE; hence, the
students with commerce with math‟s can be motivated in that direction.

TARGETING
Since BBS is a management related course it is a primary option for
commerce students, so the biggest target students for the organization
is students with commerce background.
Humanities are going out of fashion, and the courses like Mass
Communication and Hotel Management have tests on same pattern as
of BBS. So, BBA training can help a student aspiring to clear a Mass
Communication entrance test and also BBA entrance, like a backup
option.
The targeting through board centre activities are illustrated in the
following table:

Zone NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST

AND
Details
Noida

Number of 455 450 421 491

schools
available

Number of 81 213 130(E 109

board centers ast
covered Delhi)

23(No
 37

Total:350 ida)

Number of 10-12 18-20 32 15-17

tuition centers

counseling/sem 26 67 65- 40-50

inars/workshop privat
s e

at schools 45-
govt

After the primary data collection, the strategy used to reach to the
prospective customers was done on the following segmentation:
 38

POSITIONING
The organization has managed to form a niche for itself, in presence of
strong competition from established players in the market. The
positioning of the brand has been done from the very beginning, on two
important propositions:
1) The organization being the only institute for providing specialized
coaching to the students who seek admission in BBS / BBA / BBE. That
is the reason why the institute‟s faculty consists only of those who have
been to the best BBA/BBS/BBE & MBA institute making us „The Only
Specialist BBA/BBS/BBE Entrance Coaching Institute‟. At EduMENTOR,
the core competency lies more in Mentoring the students to the right
path of education than merely preparing them to achieve the best
results.
2) The core team comprises of alumni of Shaheed Sukhdev College
of Business Studies and the leading MBA institutes which enable the
organisation to guide the students, the right things at the right time.
Plus, the team, being CBSites, are more aware of the changes which
have taken place in the pattern of the written test, GD and PI over the
years. In fact, the core team consists of members who are involved in
suggesting ways of improvement in the selection process at CBS in
capacity of being Alumni of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business
Studies.
 39

COMPARISON OF EDUMENOR CENTRES

WALK ENROLLMENTS
INS
KARKARDOOMA 392 282
PREET VIHAR 310 248
KAILASH 198 152
COLONY
JANAKPURI 155 124
PITAMPURA 147 118
ROHINI 142 115
DILSHAD 138 105
GARDEN
NORTH 86 60
CAMPUS

On the basis of the figures generated above we can determine the

success ratio at each of the centers. The prime objective is to generate
maximum walk-ins and convert them into enrollments which also
determine their success ratio.
As seen above the number of walk –in‟s generated at the East Delhi
centers Karkardooma and Preet Vihar are the highest because of more
 40

consumer awareness in these regions because of better brand presence

developed over the span of last four years.
Dealing with the walk- in‟s at the head office I was able to assess the
conversion percentage at Karkardooma centre which is about 70% to
80% which is a highly successful rate. At the Rohini center located in the
North Zone there is a comparatively less influx of students. This data
was collected from the author‟s counterparts at these centres.

A Graphical representation of the actual conversion of the walk in‟s into

enrollments and the relative performance of the given centres
 41

PORTERS MODEL

The Five Forces Model of Porter is an outside-in business

unit strategy tool that is used to make an analysis of the attractiveness
of an industry structure. The Competitive Forces analysis is made by the
identification of 5 fundamental competitive forces:

Entry of competitors

Threat of potential new entrants who can garner the target

market like the institutions Pratham, „New Horizons‟ by Career Launcher,
New Parameter, Singh Study Circle in West Delhi and Alchemist looms
over Edumentor which has been functional for 4 years now. Pratham has
an extremely attractive and informative website and has entered the
market with smarter and innovative technological methods of advertising
and has garnered approximately 500 enrollments out of the total market
share.

Threat of Substitutes
Threat from other substitutes like the alternative
courses the undergraduate students can go for after their XIIth
standard challenges us many times. These include BCA, LLB,
HM and primarily CA which draws a vast majority of the
potential market.
 42

Bargaining power of Buyers

In the current scenario, the bargaining power of buyers,

have increased to a certain extent, owing to the excessive competition
level in the industry, with the rise of new entrants like Pratham,
Alchemist and New Parameter who are offering their services at lower
cost. The attempt by the higher management was to maintain a
homogenous price across all the centers at par with the market leader.
Under these conditions the probable threat by the other players of the
niche market increases all the more.

Bargaining power of Suppliers

The suppliers for any Educational Services organization are the

service providers i.e. the faculty which is highly trained and demand
remuneration as per the number of hours devoted and experience.

Rivalry among Existing Players

Currently the market leader is IMS due to a huge brand

presence all over Delhi, adopting a wider array of marketing tools like
advertising through mass media. Apart from this a comparison of the
existing competitors is given below some of whom are adopting Negative
Marketing by dissipating unfavorable news about the institute in the
market.
 43

COMPETITORS‟ ANALYSIS

After the targeting is done comes the sales.

Students and parents don‟t look for the best alternative they look for the
most convenient alternative, or first satisfying alternative.
Convenience of Proximity, Timings, Fees, Infrastructure
Based on these factors, the competitors‟ analysis can be seen from the
table given below:

Name USP No of School SM Hoarding Prin Boar Tele Curren

center counselin S s t d callin t
s g centr g status
e *
IMS National 30-35 No Yes Yes Yes Yes yes 1100
player,
huge
brand
presence
CL Same as 20-25 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes yes 500
IMS
Edument Specialis 18 Yes Fe No No Yes Yes 2000
or t w
institute,
product
Alchemis Faculty Aroun No Yes No No Yes Yes 400
t d 10
Smart Price Aroun No No No Yes Little Little 250
career d 10
New Price 6-7 No No Kiosk Yes Yes yes 200
paramet
ers

The market leaders did all kind of promotional activities as they have got
bigger budgets but, as the data we have the most effective thing is tele-
calling being supported by school counseling. Only Edumentor did
counseling in the schools on a very large scale. CL and IMS did Board
Center Activity on a very limited scale. The smaller competitors tried to
 44

copy the model of Edumentor but could not match because the reach of
EduMentor was very wide and the associates were better trained and
highly motivated. The performance of any company in services depends
on the talent of the HR. The product is not something which is tangible,
its an concept which needs to be understood by the prospect before he
buys. The marketing can bring the prospect to the company but the sales
can be executed only if the councilor is able to convince the prospect.
On this front also Edumentor scores above the others ( we know this
because we made many calls to other institutes to see how they do the
counseling, also visited the institutes as a mystery shopper)

Institute Counseling The pitch Able to Negative Full info Able to

on phone create marketing about the handle
urgency courses rough
calls
Alchemist Yes USP of No Yes Satisfactory No
alchemist
focused
on the
website
and the
software
CL No Visit our No No No Yes
centre for
info
IMS No Visit the No No Somewhat Yes
centre or
website
New No Fees Somewhat Yes No No
parameter
Edumentor Yes Faculty, Yes No Yes Yes
result
 45

Graphical Results of Analysis

The following are the results that have been analyzed through a
questionnaire regarding student preferences and priorities. A total no. of
100 respondents from 4 different batches of students at the Noida and
Preet Vihar Centres were asked to fill in the questionnaire.

The above chart shows the break-up of the students enrolled with
EduMentor, on the basis of Government, Semi-government and Private
Schools. As teaching methods often need to be adjusted, as well as the
counseling, the firm keeps track of this data so as to evaluate the needs
of the students. Here we see that the break-up is roughly balanced,
hence the strategies have to be “moderated” so as to suit the needs of
both categories of students.
 46

Brand Awareness Test

It is vital information for the organization to know where the

students got their first interaction with EduMentor; so that we know the
best point of contact with our audience. Hence the four batches were
analyzed, and hence it was found that the most effective way by which
students were informed, was the board centre activity, where the
students received information booklets. This again, justifies the
investment and resource s applied to the activity. On the other hand, the
Display boards/ flex-boards haven‟t been able to justify their
expenditure, though it cannot be eliminated altogether, and significant
opportunities lie in the “Referral Program”, which for now appears to be
an under rated process, and needs to be encouraged. Also, the outgoing
sales call process is maintaining the importance as a way of spreading
quality awareness.
 47

Deciding Factors for Choosing an Institute

What are the final deciding factors that a student considers

before enrolling with an institute when it comes to the entrance examination
preparation becomes a vital piece of information as there is a significant
indication towards the demonstration classes that are conducted by extremely
proficient and special faculty, and point that it is the most effective way of
convincing the student of the quality of education. The Results come next,
being a major proof of performance. Also, the faculty‟s impact and the parental
influence are very necessary. Also, it was seen that friend circles happen to be
a major motivation for the students, as there are better chances of a smooth
preparation. It was also noticed that the “Environment” of a tuition centre and
the influence of teachers hardly affect a student‟s choice of preparation
institute.
 48

Questionnaire Used
Student Awareness Questionnaire
Hi!
Your Name_________________________Your School________________ EduMentor Id__________

Your Stream:
Commerece Arts Science

Your School is a:
Govt School Semi Govt School Private School

You first came to know about EduMentor from:

Booklet Sales Call

Reference Display Boards

What made you choose EduMentor?

Faculty Result

Environment Demo Class

Brand Name Friend Circle

Parent Advice Teacher’s Advice

Which other institutes did you consider before joining EduMentor?

How has your experience been at EduMentor so far? Are you satisfied with your decision?

Thank You

Date__________________ Signature______________________
 49

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Since, the organization deals with educational services, the product
development incorporated all the areas and products that can help the
organization provide high quality deliverables.
The major objectives that were kept in mind, while developing the product
were:
1) It is objective than subjective : based on customer perceptions, market
needs and feasibility.

2) The developments objectives should be precise.

3) It should be fact driven.

4) It has to be methodologically

The product development at edumentor took place at 5 stages:

The first stage comprises of the preparation of books.

This is done with the objective of making the books more comprehensive
and adding the variety needed, according to the changing trends of the
examinations.
From the feedback received from last year, the institute decided on the
number of books to be provided.
The content of the books is looked into in-detail. The proofing and
updating of the books is done 3 times, before it goes for final printing.
The proofing and updating of books were given enough, so that a
precision and accuracy in the content can be achieved.
For making the course material more comprehensive and relevant in
recent times, a detailed study of sample papers and the earlier years‟
test papers. A visit to the CBS, was also very insightful, about the
changing pattern of entrances.
The second stage comprises of the structuring of classes, according to
the topics to be covered, in each subject. This part of product
development comprised of use of innovative techniques of teaching that
will help student to comprehend and grasp a topic better. Like, the
suggestion of teaching vocabulary by the use of word games in classes
was incorporated. Also, to inculcate the competitive stint in the student
from the very beginning, and to help them try different types of questions
on a topic, a class test for each class on each topic was also introduced.
Thus, the variety of questions in a topic was also covered to build the
 50

familiarity, which will help the students face different types of questions
in the entrance examinations. Along with the class structure, the class
notes were also prepared for the reference of the faculty, so that the
faculty can have a better command on the topics to be taught.

The third and the most important stage of product development is the
hiring and training of the faculty. To deliver a quality services, the
importance of hiring faculty with the requisite skills and knowledge is
immense.
The recruitment and selection procedure followed at edumentor is:
RECRUITMENT OF FACULTY
Recruitment is the process of seeking and attracting a pool of people chosen
from which qualified candidates for job vacancies can be chosen
Searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in
the organization
The main sources of recruitment at edumentor are all external sources
like
a) Advertisements: this includes the calling of suitable candidates
through posters. One of the main sources of circulating information,
widely used at edumentor was with the use of notifications through
emails and other social networking sites and portals, on internet

b) Employee Referral : under this, the existing faculty members were

contacted to give their references, who will be interested in teaching

c) Educational Institutes : another main source of hiring faculty was

approaching top B-schools with lucrative short term project
proposals, that the students who have just passed out from their B-
schools and are placed also are approached for 2-3months of
responsible work opportunitites.

d) Interested Applicants : apart from the above mentioned sources,

candidates could also apply on their own. They could drop in and give
interviews after fixing an appointment.

The next stage in hiring of faculty involved the selection process.

SELECTION OF FACULTY
Process of choosing the most suitable candidate for the job from among the
available candidates for a job from among the available candidates, by
 51

ascertaining the qualifications, experience, skills, knowledge etc, for the

purpose of determining the suitability for a job is referred to as Selection.
Selection procedure depends on the organization‟s strategy and objectives, the
tasks and responsibilities of the job, and the qualifications, experience, and
characteristics required in an individual to perform these tasks and
responsibilities successfully.
1) Application forms : this primarily include the scanning of initial details
about the candidates, like the personal information, professional
information, and reference checks.

These application forms were scanned according to the clinical

method, in which based on the details mentioned resumes, a fair idea
about the candidate‟s personality is made. While scanning the details
about the candidates, greater weight age was given to educational
qualifications and work experience, and this can be substantiated in
the remuneration, the different candidates get.
2) Selection tests : the second stage of selection process when the
candidate after being shortlisted according to their grading based on
the details in the application forms, have to physically present. At this
stage, the candidates are given situational tests, wherein they are
given simulation exercises and role play exercises.

3) Interviews : at this stage, the after passing the selection stage, the
candidates have to face two rounds of interviews.

The kind of interviews that are taken in are:

a) Preliminary interview : in this the initial information about the
candidate is assessed.

b) Unstructured interview : in this there are no specific questions,

that are to be asked, and the interview process is not all
structured and rigid. As the interview progresses, the questions
asked, follow the previous ones. The questions asked are open
ended.

c) Panel interview : in this there are two three people asking

questions, and trying to assess different skills of the candidate.

At edumentor, for the vacancies of 25-30 faculty members, to be teaching at

18centres all over Delhi and NCR, near about 386 interviews were taken.
 52

A ratio of 1:15 was maintained, i.e. out of every 15 candidates that apply for
the post, 1 person was selected. This substantiates the point that the quality
was not compromised on. To conduct these many interviews, nearly 1676
people were approached.
The interviews were done for the opening of two posts, mainly
a) Faculty

b) Center Manager

The requirements for the two openings were entirely different. The opening for
the post of faculty, required excellent teaching skills, great command over the
subject, confidence and passion for the profession. The opening for the post
centre management required great convincing skills, since the job was of core
marketing and sales; patience, and excellent management skills.
During this whole process of recruitment, I have had the opportunity, to take
interviews of candidates from top B-schools like IIMs, MDI, IMT ,IBS, Narsee
Monjee and many other.
The fifth and the final stage of the product development process, which is
considered to be the main and the most essential part of the whole working of
the organization is the scheduling. Since, the work related to scheduling
relates to the administration and coordination work, with the faculty members
and the centers, on a day to day basis, hence, it forms the backbone for the
smooth functioning of the organization‟s operations.

COMPETITORS‟ PRODUCT COMPARISON

Details Pricing Number of Number of GD/PI Test Series

Institute lectures books classes
Edumentor Rs 48 7, including Classes Comprehensive
10500 sessions the BA and per week 8 full length
5classes GK i.e. tests, with
per week of book(specific 10classes specialized
2 hours to only tests also for
duration edumentor) each entrance
each tests for
In addition, BBA/BBS/BBE
special entrances
sessions on
memory
building
IMS Rs 32 5books 5classes 4 full length
 53

10500 sessions tests

4classes
per week of
3 hours
duration
each
Career Rs 33 5 books 4classes 5 full length
Launcher 7500 sessions tests
4classes
per week of
3 hours
duration
each
Pratham Rs 35 5 books 4classes 4 full length
6500 sessions tests
5classes
per week of
2 hours of
duration

The first stage comprises of the preparation of books.

This is done with the objective of making the books more comprehensive
and adding the variety needed, according to the changing trends of the
examinations.
From the feedback received from last year, the institute decided on the
number of books to be provided.
The content of the books is looked into in-detail. The proofing and
updating of the books is done 3 times, before it goes for final printing.
The proofing and updating of books were given enough, so that a
precision and accuracy in the content can be achieved.
For making the course material more comprehensive and relevant in
recent times, a detailed study of sample papers and the earlier years‟
test papers. A visit to the CBS, was also very insightful, about the
changing pattern of entrances.
The second stage comprises of the structuring of classes, according to
the topics to be covered, in each subject. This part of product
development comprised of use of innovative techniques of teaching that
will help student to comprehend and grasp a topic better. Like, the
suggestion of teaching vocabulary by the use of word games in classes
 54

was incorporated. Also, to inculcate the competitive stint in the student

from the very beginning, and to help them try different types of questions
on a topic, a class test for each class on each topic was also introduced.
Thus, the variety of questions in a topic was also covered to build the
familiarity, which will help the students face different types of questions
in the entrance examinations. Along with the class structure, the class
notes were also prepared for the reference of the faculty, so that the
faculty can have a better command on the topics to be taught.

The third and the most important stage of product development is the
hiring and training of the faculty. To deliver a quality services, the
importance of hiring faculty with the requisite skills and knowledge is
immense.
The recruitment and selection procedure followed at edumentor is:

RECRUITMENT OF FACULTY
Recruitment is the process of seeking and attracting a pool of people chosen
from which qualified candidates for job vacancies can be chosen
Searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in
the organization
The main sources of recruitment at edumentor are all external sources
like
e) Advertisements: this includes the calling of suitable candidates
through posters. One of the main sources of circulating information,
widely used at edumentor was with the use of notifications through
emails and other social networking sites and portals, on internet

f) Employee Referral : under this, the existing faculty members were

contacted to give their references, who will be interested in teaching

g) Educational Institutes: another main source of hiring faculty was

approaching top B-schools with lucrative short term project
proposals, that the students who have just passed out from their B-
schools and are placed also are approached for 2-3months of
responsible work opportunities.
 55

h) Interested Applicants: apart from the above mentioned sources,

candidates could also apply on their own. They could drop in and give
interviews after fixing an appointment.

The next stage in hiring of faculty involved the selection process.

SELECTION OF FACULTY
Process of choosing the most suitable candidate for the job from among the
available candidates for a job from among the available candidates, by
ascertaining the qualifications, experience, skills, knowledge etc, for the
purpose of determining the suitability for a job is referred to as Selection.
Selection procedure depends on the organization‟s strategy and objectives, the
tasks and responsibilities of the job, and the qualifications, experience, and
characteristics required in an individual to perform these tasks and
responsibilities successfully.
4) Application forms : this primarily include the scanning of initial details
about the candidates, like the personal information, professional
information, and reference checks.

These application forms were scanned according to the clinical

method, in which based on the details mentioned resumes, a fair idea
about the candidate‟s personality is made. While scanning the details
about the candidates, greater weight age was given to educational
qualifications and work experience, and this can be substantiated in
the remuneration, the different candidates get.
5) Selection tests : the second stage of selection process when the
candidate after being shortlisted according to their grading based on
the details in the application forms, have to physically present. At this
stage, the candidates are given situational tests, wherein they are
given simulation exercises and role play exercises.

6) Interviews : at this stage, the after passing the selection stage, the
candidates have to face two rounds of interviews.

The kind of interviews that are taken in are:

d) Preliminary interview : in this the initial information about the
candidate is assessed.

e) Unstructured interview : in this there are no specific questions,

that are to be asked, and the interview process is not all
 56

structured and rigid. As the interview progresses, the questions

asked, follow the previous ones. The questions asked are open
ended.

f) Panel interview: in this there are two three people asking

questions, and trying to assess different skills of the candidate.

At edumentor, for the vacancies of 25-30 faculty members, to be teaching at

18centres all over Delhi and NCR, near about 386 interviews were taken.
A ratio of 1:15 was maintained, i.e. out of every 15 candidates that apply for
the post, 1 person was selected. This substantiates the point that the quality
was not compromised on. To conduct these many interviews, nearly 1676
people were approached.
The interviews were done for the opening of two posts, mainly
c) Faculty

d) Center Manager

The requirements for the two openings were entirely different. The opening for
the post of faculty, required excellent teaching skills, great command over the
subject, confidence and passion for the profession. The opening for the post
centre management required great convincing skills, since the job was of core
marketing and sales; patience, and excellent management skills.
During this whole process of recruitment, I have had the opportunity, to take
interviews of candidates from top B-schools like IIMs, MDI, IMT ,IBS, Narsee
Monjee and many other.
The fifth and the final stage of the product development process, which is
considered to be the main and the most essential part of the whole working of
the organization is the scheduling. Since, the work related to scheduling
relates to the administration and coordination work, with the faculty members
and the centers, on a day to day basis, hence, it forms the backbone for the
smooth functioning of the organization‟s operations.
 57

HUMAN RESOURCE

The organization works on a seasonal basis, being operational only for the
6months, from December to June. The organization has very limited
permanent members. Since, the business is seasonal, the organization hire
employees for limited people and mainly fresh MBA interns that are available
for 3-4months for their internship projects.At each of the centres, are
managed by 2-3 centre managers.Like has been mentioned before the
employees and the interns have to play multiple roles in the company that can
be divided into four functional areas.
1. Marketing team
2. Counseling (sales) team
3. Product team
4. Human resources

The marketing team is responsible for planning and execution of

marketing stratagies mainly the „board centre‟ activity (explained in the later
part of report). After the execution of the marketing plan the marketing team is
dissolved barring a few people and merged with the sales team.
The sales team or the counseling team is responsible for
converting the leads generated by the marketing activity. This involves doing
the proper counseling of the student on phone, in face to face meeting and
also to convince him/her for joining Edumentor.
The product team is like the corner stone, barely visible but of
utmost importance. They are responsible for creating the study material of
excellent quality. This work requires a lot of research and analysis of the
product being offered by the competitors as well.
This company is a labor intensive company; more than 50 MBA
students are working here so the role of HR becomes very important .
Operations team is constantly in need of shuffling manpower
between centres, dates and timings.
 58

Now, the remuneration of each of the following also differ based

on the nature of work, and the institute they belong to and the educational
qualifications and work experience that the person has.

Details Number of members Nature of Incentives given

Team remuneration
Faculty 25-30 Hourly basis i.e. Based on the
Rs 300/hr number of classes
Interns and centre Interns : 42 Monthly basis, but Based on the
managers Centre managers: 19 higher remuneration number of
for people from A-line enrolments
B-schools
Associates and junior Associates : 1800 all Daily basis i.e. Based on the
managers over Delhi and NCR Associates : Rs number of walk-in or
(only for board centre Junior managers: 50- 200/day the number of
activities) 60 Junior Managers : Rs enrolments they
350/day convert

Performance Appraisal

Though, the organization still being in the nascent stages is much

unstructured. Also, since there are very limited permanent members working
in the organization, any performance appraisal plan cannot be per say
implemented.

But the incentives, offered by the institute, as illustrated in the above

figure and performance of faculty has to be assessed. Hence, a 360 appraisal
type of an appraisal system is adopted by the institute.
For the employees of the organization, like the interns and the centre
managers, the incentives are given, based on the number of enrolments they
make, or the number of walk-ins they generate or the number of walk-ins they
convert into enrolments. Also, the administrative and managerial skills are
taken into consideration.
For the faculty, the performance is assessed by keeping a track of their
feedback from the students, after each class.
Another aspect of recruitment in the organization was of the associates and
junior managers, for the board centre and bank activities, that was in the
 59

organization called „The Associate Hunt‟. The intern team of IIPM conducted it
this year.

For this, the sources of recruitment were all external, like:

1) Approaching people from shopping malls or bus stops.

2) Approaching school students and college students.

3) Referral system, from the past year associates and relatives.

Criteria for applying: minimum class XII pass out and a presentable
personality.
The people who were interested in this work were firstly given an orientation
about how to approach the parents and students present at the schools and
banks. In this, firstly the counselling script developed by the author was
discussed, which was also open to suggestions. The candidates were given
instructions about the code of conduct to be followed, like the tips on acting
professional, language usage and attitude (being polite) to be followed.
After the orientation process, the candidates were asked to do a simulation
session, where the candidates were supposed to present themselves, as they
would do in front of the parents.
Based on this simulation exercise, the candidates were then graded A, B or C,
after scoring them on the basis of confidence level, seriousness, attitude,
presentability and language.
The Grade A and B candidates were the one who scored well, and were hired
as junior managers, for the short and long counselling. The Grade C,
candidates were, hired as associates for the sample distribution. A study on
the associate feedback is also being done, to improve on the activity for the
next years.
Since, most of the employees at the institute work on an internship basis, for a
span of just a few months, with variable work timings, the study of what
motivates them to work so hard. Hence, the study on what motivates the
employees at such a service organization can be very insightful.
 60

FINANCE

The financial analysis of the company can be done by studying the revenue
and expenditure sides of the organization.
The only source of revenue for EduMentor is the number of students taking the
educational service package. Since, Edumentor offers only one package
service, the insights about the revenue side of the company can be gauged
through the study of the number of enrolments and the price charged.
The expenditure side of the company can be broadly divided into :
1) Marketing expenditure: this includes the cost incurred on the
promotional activities undertaken. These include the board centre
activity, bank centre activity, sample paper distribution, posters,
workshops conducted etc.

2) Operational expenses : these include the major chunk of the cost, which
is inevitable for the smooth functioning of the organization. These can be
sub divided into

a) Remuneration of faculty: being a service company, the major portion

of the expenditure is gone in the hiring and remuneration of faculty

b) Remuneration of employees

c) Administrative expenses : can include phone bills, rent of the centres

hired, electricity etc.

d) Printing and book material cost : these not only include the proofing
and printing of books that we offer in our service package, but also
the cost of printing the pamphlets, posters and the sample papers.
 61

ZONES DETAILS 2008 (in Rs) 2009 (in Rs)

Number of enrolments 398 911
Revenue 3383000 7795000
EAST AND Expenditure 2412000 3600000
NOIDA Net profit/loss 971000 4195000
Growth rate 332%
Number of enrolments 234 481
Revenue 1989000 4250500
WEST Expenditure 1474000 2200000
Net profit/loss 515000 2050500
Growth rate 298%
Number of enrolments 155 360
Revenue 1317500 3220000
SOUTH Expenditure 1809000 2700000
AND Net profit/loss -491500 520000
GURGAON Growth rate 205%
Number of enrolments 83 438
Revenue 705500 3679000
NORTH Expenditure 1005000 1500000
Net profit/loss -299500 2179000
Growth rate 827.%
*all the figures are in approximation
 62

GROWTH POTENTIAL

Since, Edumentor has a seasonal type of business, with the operational

months being the early 6 months of the year, so to bring a little stability to the
business, the organization could capitalize on the opportunity to provide
entrance test preparation for CPT, i.e. the examination for Chartered
Accountancy.
The CPT exam can be appeared for, twice a year, first in June and again in
December. So, providing training for the entrance test preparation. By
counselling done in the organization, it was found that a lot of students are
interested in giving CPT entrances, and keep it as a backup option. They
generally prepare for the examination, once they have not been able to clear
other entrances.
 63

CONCLUSIONS
The firm and project hold a strong potential of growth and are
applying their resources in a good manner.

The HR system needs to be formalized and structured for better

role and goal clarity.

Brand Awareness must be worked upon outside E.Delhi so as to

use the true potential of the market

Diversification is slowly becoming a necessity, hence other

markets like CA/CS/BCA/HM/Law must be explored

Better alliances with other institutes is necessary.

A full year round operational system is required, for long term

sustainability.

The instruments developed by the author have been of substantial

assistance in the organized working of the company.

IT based solutions are majorly required in the EduMentor business

model, as it was a section so far ignored.

The student preference analysis points out at many trends that the
organization must pay attention to, eg the graphical analysis said that
the organization‟s brand presence through hoardings was quite less.

The organization should consider spreading its operations to

neighboring tier ii cities, as there lies a much lower competition and
much higher potential.
 64

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The information booklets of the company and the competitors.

News paper advertisements.
Mystery shopping.
Websites of the competitors, colleges and universities which
include:
a) www.edumentor.co.in
b) www.careerlauncher.com/
c) www.imsindia.com
d) http://www.du.ac.in/
e) http://ggsipu.nic.in/
f) http://cbse.nic.in