Consultancy Project Southampton Solent Business School Research Report By Darryl Hall, James Lawrence and Will Bindloss Gibb
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Contents 1.0
Executive Summary
5
1.1
Objectives
6
1.2
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats as stated by client
7
1.3
Interim Report Plan / Deviations from original set plan
8
2.0
Methodology
10
Survey Methodology Focus Group Methodology Competitor Analysis Methodology
10 11 12
3.0
Findings
13
3.1
Questionnaire Analysis
13
Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13
13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 20
3.2
The differences between internet and handwritten surveys
20
3.3
Recommendations
22
4.0
Focus Group Analysis
24 Page | 2
4.1
Findings
25
4.2
Analysis of Findings
26
4.3
Navigation
26
4.4
Design
27
4.5
Ease of Use
28
4.6
Recommendations Based on Focus group
29
5.0
Competitor Analysis
31
5.1
Bournemouth
31
5.2
Portsmouth
34
5.3
Oxford SAID
36
5.4
Plymouth
38
5.5
Warwick
40
5.6
Bradford
42
5.7
Recommendations
44
6.0
Website Mock-up
45
7.0
Conclusion
46
9.0
Bibliography
48
9.0
Appendices
49
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Figures and Tables Graphs
Graph Graph Graph Graph Graph Graph Graph Graph Graph Graph Graph Graph
A B C D E F G H I J K L
13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 19
Figure A Figure B Figure C Figure D Figure E Figure F Figure G Figure H Figure I Figure J Figure K Figure L Figure M Figure N Figure O Figure P
24 24 24 32 33 34 35 36 37 39 40 41 42 43 45 45
Figures Tables Table A Table B
7 20
Table C
38
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1.0 Executive Summary The aim of the project was to create a marketing research report for the Southampton Business School that will revamp and improve the current website. Resulting with increased ratings of current students but mainly focused on prospective students. A range of research methods were used, which included 139 surveys which were divided by being competed online by members of social networking sites who had joined groups about Solent University (39) and filled in by hand by potential students at open days held at the university (50) as well as given out in lecture rooms to current business students (50). A competitor analysis of the leading business school websites was conducted looking at what works well and what doesn’t work so well on those sites. A focus group with potential students as well as current students on a general open day was conducted. Then a critical analysis of this data was conducted to form an opinion of what has to be changed in order for the website to progress to desired levels. From the research gathered, it is apparent that Southampton Solent Business School has not got a website that is geared towards advertising its courses effectively to prospective students. Content, Design, Navigation and Ease of Use are significant areas that need changing in the near-future and it has come to the conclusion that a dedicated business school website with a new redesigned look would need developing in the near future to compete directly with other business schools in the country effectively. A few of the recommendations that have been gathered and analysed include having more content on the website such as Staff Profiles, Accreditation Information, Course introductions by tutors, Recruitment prospects after graduating and statistics, more focus on multimedia such as images and videos, emphasis on SBS being vocational, Interactivity, more personalised content and this is just a short list of the recommendations that have been covered throughout the report.
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1.1 Objectives To fully analyse the Business School and to able to achieve the set aim, below are some objectives that were originally set in the interim report:
Users of the website: Learn who currently uses the website (both current and prospective students) Gain an understanding of what is missing and what could be added Whether users are able to obtain all the information they are searching for Attraction to the website: Reasoning behind why the website is used by people currently, as it is the basis of the whole project. Knowing what people want and how to provide the best service to new and existing users. Perception of the website: As the website is used for both prospective and current students it is essential that it accommodates both users, therefore knowing what both users need is important. Knowing what people currently think will allow the client to understand what changes need to be implemented. Use surveys to find current feelings towards the business school website and then use this to ascertain modifications needed, or content not already included. Analysis of the Competitors: A comparison and contrast between Southampton Solent’s business school website with the leading competitor’s offerings. Undertaking research that will allow the client to see what a successful Business School website offers the student, as well as content that Southampton Solent’s Business School website does not.
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1.2 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats as stated by client
Strengths
Easy to use.
Easy to read/understand,
All essential information provided.
Table A
Weaknesses
Not receiving enough ‘hits’ (number of people accessing the website),
Not very effective
Not attractive enough
Content needs adapting for audience
Difficult to find site
Not many people aware of it
Website does not use opportunities to get current students i.e. the target audience’s peers, to communicate their message.
Lack of services available on this site compared to many of its competitors such as; search questions, staff profiles etc.
Opportunities
Already has suitable platform on the Solent website to launch improved site,
The amount of people using and having access to the Internet has never been greater.
No problems with brand loyalty in this market.
Threats
Strong competitors.
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1.3 Interim Report Plan / Deviations from original set plan Our research approach: One to one interviews with senior lecturers:
1. Business Management – Ann Serrito (communication problems, did not interview) 2. HND, Foundations Area – Mike Johnston 3. Blended / Distance Learning – Mike Johnston 4. Accountancy – Stuart Wrighton (communication problems, did not interview) 5. Marketing – Phil Prior
Question that were to be asked:
What attracts people to the website? (Either new or current students)
Good and bad points of the current website and other competitor business school websites.
Where to go next?
What to add?
Why they think Bradford Business school website is currently rated number 1?
Other data collection methods:
Survey of 200+ students currently or looking at studying on a Business related course at Southampton Solent University. (139 were conducted in all, due to lower than expected turnout on open days that the surveys were conducted, as well as difficulties with getting a large amount of online surveys filled in by students)
(Competitor Analysis was conducted as well, this meant that features that other websites had could be looked at for implementation with Southampton Solent’s)
(A focus group was conducted, which meant that in all three research methods were used, giving a very wide and more valid result)
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Where / When / How and How Many:
Interviews were conducted after week 10 with the senior lecturers.
5 lectures in all are to be interviewed, to get a mixed review of everything that is needed or thought to be needed. (not all were interviewed due to communication issues)
Surveys are going to be conducted after week 12 on campus. (Campus surveys did not return enough results and so an online survey was conducted also)
A mix of 50% open day attendees are going to be surveyed to gain understanding of their experiences with the website, as well as 50% of current students to gain an understanding of their experiences. (Instead of doing survey work across the University with current students, it was decided doing survey work in lecture rooms with current students before lectures started was more efficient)
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2.0 Methodology
2.1 Survey Methodology Respondents and sampling size The 139 survey’s were divided by being competed online by members of social networking site www.facebook.com who had joined groups about Solent University (39) and filled in by hand by potential students at open days held at the university (50) as well as given out in lecture rooms to current business students (50). This was done in able to get a good range of students both potential and current and a range of demographic characteristics. The respondents remain anonymous and no personal information was taken to ensure the highest standard of ethical practice.
Design The survey had 12 closed questions for quick and easy completion that would not put people off taking the time to answer it. But one question had to be open ended in case our questions did not suggest an idea that the respondents thought of, this also gave the respondent to tell us in their own words what they thought of our ideas, without asking them to write more than a couple of lines.
Procedure Once the survey’s were completed the answers were tallied up and recorded in a data base where the data could more easily be analysed, and all comments read and recorded separately again for ease of an analysis, the comments were then tallied with similar answers and filter down to leave only the constructive criticisms that allow good recommendations to be made.
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Limitations The survey did not allow for as much description and personal views of the applicant as we would wish because of the difficulty in analysing all that data into usable data and getting applicants to complete the survey if it would take that extra time.
2.2 Focus Group Methodology Respondents and sampling size We used five potential students we met at an open day who were happy to help us with our studies. The group consisted of 5 males age range 19-25, who were all interested in business courses and had looked at the website before attending the open day. The respondents were all from different locations in England.
Design and procedure We set up the focus group in a free class room at the university and had the website on a projector in front of the respondents so they could see what they were talking about and to refresh their memories of the site. We sat with them in a circle and try to keep the set-up as causal as possible to make the respondents feel comfortable so we can get as honest answers as possible. We keep the questions informal and used language we would use every day as we are similar of a similar age range as the respondents. There was no predetermined questions, we had a criteria and directed conversation to these points.
Limitations The group we had did not have a wide range of demographic characteristics all being male, from England and of similar ages and this might affect the results gained, and may have meant we missed out on issues that are more important to other groups of people. Also the
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group environment (when compared to a one-on-one interview) meant some of the respondents may have felt too uncomfortable to express their true thoughts on the matter.
2.3 Competitor Analysis Methodology A sample size of 6 websites from the best business school websites in the country were chosen to give us an idea of what the Southampton Solent business school website should strive to achieve. The websites chosen were, Plymouths, oxfords, Bournemouth, Bradford, Warwick and Portsmouth. These websites were recommend by other students and the times online university survey.
Procedure The main things that were noted from the sites where design and layout, content, the ease of use of the navigation, features and functions, these were explored and then analysed for how appropriate it could be for the Southampton Solent business school website.
Limitations This does not tell u how effective these features are at persuading students to join these universities. The sampling size of the university could be greater for better clarification. And only using high-end Business school did not give a good range to what all business schools are doing.
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3.0 Findings 3.1 Questionnaire Analysis These questionnaires were divided between 100 surveys competed by hand and 39 completed on the internet, they were handed out to potential students on open days and the online ones sent to (www.facebook.com) users who had joined groups about wanting to join Southampton Solent University. The questionnaire results worked well with most of the questions having clear results which can be used constructively to find where the website is falling short. And the 139 completed results covered a good range of students meaning the results are not biased towards one group of people.
3.2 Breakdown of each question: Q1 We try to use sensible, coherent English on the website. Are the pages written in a language that is easy to understand? Graph A 120 100
Results: (Percentage % / Response Count) Yes
80.6 / 112
No
19.4 / 27
Total
100 / 139
80 60 40 20 0 Yes
No
Even though the answer is 80.6% the students found that the language used on the website was suitable, just under 2 in 10 people is a lot when considering the importance of the issue, how likely it is to deter a potential student, potentially it is an easy problem to fix and how everyone looking at the website should find the language used suitable.
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Q2 Did the website give you a good first impression of Southampton Solent Business School? 120 100
Results: (Percentage % / Response Count)
80 60
Yes
70.5 / 98
No
29.4 / 41
20
Total
100 / 139
0
40
Yes
No
Graph B These results show how much room for improvement there is overall, and can used later to indicate how successful any changes have been and set goals for any changes made.
Q3 Was the Southampton Solent Business School section of www.solent.ac.uk easy to find? 100 80
Results: (Percentage % / Response Count)
60
Yes
64 / 89
40
No
36 / 50
20
Total
100 / 139
0 Yes
No
Graph C Every person looking at the website should be able to the find the page easily and this shows problems with the design of the main Solent.ac.uk website, not necessarily the business school page itself, although there is indication that this might be hindering the success of the business school website and should be addressed.
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Q4 Using the rating scale below, please tell us where the different aspects of the business School website fit [Navigation] Graph D Results: (Percentage % / Responses) Excellent
12.2 / 17
Good
33.8 / 47
Fine
22 / 31
Bad
24.5 / 34
Terrible
7.1 / 10
Total
100 / 139
50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
Navigation (Final Outcome) Navigation (Online Results) Navigation (Survey Results)
The 31.6% of negative responses shows a lot of people are unhappy about this aspect of the website and indicate that maybe it should be addressed, but if the navigation of the site is changed in a way that the 68% of satisfied users are no longer satisfied with the navigation then the site would actually get worse.
Q5 Using the rating scale below, please tell us where the different aspects of the business School website fit [Text Sizing] Graph E 60
Results: (Percentage % / Responses)
50 40
Excellent
14.4 / 20
30
Good
29.5 / 41
20
Fine
39.5 / 55
10
Bad
14.4 / 20
0
Terrible
1.4 / 2
Total
100 / 139
Text Sizing (Final Outcome) Text Sizing (Online Results) Text Sizing (Survey Results)
The 83.4% of satisfied users shows that the text sizing is not a major problem for the website and resources should be used at improving the more poorly performing areas. Page | 15
Q6 Using the rating scale below, please tell us where the different aspects of the business School website fit [Design] Graph F 60 50
Results: (Percentage % / Responses)
40
Excellent
9.4 / 13
30
Good
15.8 / 22
20
Fine
33.8 / 47
10
Bad
36.7 / 51
0
Terrible
3.6 / 5
Total
100 / 139
Design (Final Outcome) Design (Online Results) Design (Survey Results)
Design preferences are often down to taste which is individual and so it can be hard to please everyone, but the website needs to impress potential applicants and the website does not seem to be doing this with the majority of votes on bad and fine the way it is.
Q7 Using the rating scale below, please tell us where the different aspects of the business School website fit [Ease of Use]
Graph G
60 50
Results: (Percentage % / Responses)
40
Excellent
7.9 / 11
30
Ease of use (Final Outcome)
Good
32.4 / 45
20
Ease of use (Online Results)
Fine
36 / 50
10
Bad
16.5 / 23
Terrible
6.5 / 9
Total
100 / 139
Ease of use (Survey Results)
0
The majority of people (76.3) gave a positive response to ease of use with the website, showing it is not a major issue for the future development of the site. Page | 16
Q8 Would you be interested in getting information about your tutors before picking a course here at Southampton Solent University? (E.g. tutor profiles with pictures and interviews)
Graph H 120 100
Results: (Percentage % / Response Count)
80 60
Yes
69 / 96
No
30.9 / 43
Total
100 / 139
40 20 0 Yes
No
With such a positive response to this suggested improvement it would seem to be a good feature to add to site in the future (Illustrated further in this report with the mock-up website)
Q9 Would you like to see more information / content about your relevant course? (Such as information / multimedia which can highlight the advantages of studying and what it would be like to study at Southampton Solent University?)
Graph I
120 100
Results: (Percentage % / Response Count)
80 60
Yes
76.3 / 106
No
23.7 / 3
Total
100 / 139
40 20 0 Yes
No
With such a positive response to this suggested improvement it would seem to be a good feature to add to site. But the findings have not given any clues to which of the suggested ideas would be most appreciated, yes none the less content is severely lacking. Page | 17
Q10 Would you agree that the ideas we have put forward in this survey, if implemented, have meant you would have looked at Southampton Solent University in a positive way?
Graph J
70 60 50
Results: (Percentage % / Responses)
40
Yes
42.4 / 59
30
No
16.5 / 23
20
Maybe
41 / 57
10
Total
100 / 139
0 Yes
No
Maybe at the time
If the improvements suggested can increase the amount of potential applicants who look at the website and instantly look at the university in a positive way by at least 42.4 (the amount of people who voted yes) then they will be a big success as this could potentially bring a lot more students to the Southampton business School and therefore should definitely be integrated into the site.
Q11 How did you find the Southampton Solent Business School website? Search Engine
24.5 / 34
Friend
25.9 / 36
Prospectus
36.7 / 51
Solent Staff
10.8 / 15
Other
7.9 / 11
Graph K
60 50 40 30 20 10 0
These results show that the universities prospectus is currently the most successful marketing tool for getting potential students to find the site, while word of mouth and search engines are moderately successful but Southampton Solent Staff are not getting many people onto the site Page | 18
Q12 What would you specifically want to see on the business school website? (This could anything that would have helped your choice of business schools/university before applying) Most constructive results
Famous old students
More information about course, classes and facilities
Staff Profiles
The website is very dull/ the website does not have that ‘wow’ factor
A comparison with other universities
Sample of work
Interview/ interaction with current students
More media should be included
Q13 If you are an international student, was the website accessible in your native language? (If not, then please specify which language)
Graph L
140 120
Results: (Percentage % / Responses)
100
Yes
8.6 / 12
80
No
0.7 / 1
60
N/A
90.6 / 126
Total
100 / 139
40 20 0 Yes
No
N/A
These results show that the vast majority of people accessing the site either can read English (90.6%) or there was a suitable language choice on the site. The one applicant who was not satisfied spoke Arabic, this would not be enough to warrant translating into their native language, but additional research could be undertaken in the future to ascertain any language issues.
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3.3 The differences between internet and handwritten surveys The differences in percent of answers for the online and written surveys are displayed in the graph below
Table B Question number /
Online (%)
Written (%)
Difference
1 / yes
97.4
74
23.4
1 / no
2.6
26
23.4
2 / Yes
87.2
64
23.2
2 / No
12.8
36
23.2
3 / Yes
69
62
7
3 / No
30.8
38
7.2
4 / excellent
5.1
15
9.9
4 / good
56.4
47
9.6
4 / fine
25.6
21
4.6
4 / bad
10.3
30
19.7
4 / terrible
2.6
9
6.4
5 / good
12.8
15
2.2
5 / good
46.2
23
23.2
5 / fine
35.9
41
5.1
5 / bad
2.6
19
16.4
5 / terrible
0
2
2
6 / excellent
5.1
11
5.1
6 / good
28.2
11
17.2
6 / fine
48.7
28
20.7
6 / bad
15.4
45
29.6
6 / terrible
0
5
5
7 / excellent
10.3
7
3.3
7 / good
41
29
12
7 / fine
33.3
37
3.7
answer
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Table B (continued) 7 / bad
12.8
18
5.2
7 / terrible
0
9
9
8 / yes
89.7
61
28.7
8 / no
10.3
39
28.7
9 / yes
92
70
22
9 / no
7.7
30
22.3
10 / yes
48.7
40
8.7
10 / no
2.6
22
19.4
10 / maybe
48.7
38
10.7
11 / search engine
17.9
27
9.1
11 / friend
25.6
26
0.4
11 / prospectus
38.5
36
2.5
11 / staff
25.6
5
20.6
11 / other
5.1
9
3.9
12 / yes
12.8
7
5.8
12 / no
0
1
1
12 / N/A
87.2
92
4.8
One of the biggest differences is in question 1 and a reason for this may be that online people have a chance to look at the information and find it easy to read/understand, but without this information in front of them there memory left them thinking that the language used was not suitable, this may be down to the format it was in or the way it was presented rather than the content itself which is less memorable. The online survey answers were generally more positive about the sites current state than the written surveys this could also be explained by online survey fillers being able to access the site while filling out the questionnaire and may mean the site does not leave as good of a lasting impression on people. Another reason for this could also be that the online surveys were distributed on online ‘user groups’ for people planning to join Solent and if they have already decided to join Solent university then they are more likely to have a positive impression of the university. Page | 21
3.4 Recommendations These results show that the following areas are the most important areas to address and all of the below are highly recommended improvements:
More course information with 76.3% thinking this was a good idea
A change in design with 40.3% giving a negative response to its current design, but any change in design should be in-sync with the main site.
Information about tutors should be added with 69% agreeing it would add something positive to the site. But with one third of people not being interested in the profiles they should be on a separate page so people can see them only if they want to
A change in language used to make it more sensible and coherent as 19.4% thought this was not done at present, simple changes in format and amount of information on a page can make information easier to digest. Currently there is allot on information on the Southampton Solent Business School home page and allot of it might be interesting to all so it should be split up and categorised.
Celebrity endorsements are big money earner in retail and this principle can be related to the website with famous ex-students being named on the site.
Some kind of interaction with current students would be positive, a real time Q&A session with current students would be a great way for potential students to get the answers they really want, but getting current students to do this may be difficult, but profiles and interviews of promising students is a nice feature and is an easy feature to implement and can be found on a lot of other sites.
Less significant areas to look at are:
Navigation as 32% results were negative but the 68% of positive results could be compromised if the system is changed. To guarantee that 68% is not reduced the same navigation system could be kept but with the incorporation of an additional system, maybe a site map allocated on the left of the screen similar to the set up used on www.facebook.com.
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
Ease of use, again 23% of results were negative but the positive results may be compromised if the system is changed.

Some kind of comparison with other universities was mentioned but information provided would have to be carefully chosen so it does not promote other universities ahead of Solent University

With the large number of foreign based students at Southampton Solent consideration should be made to cover all suitable languages but as shown the majority of people either already speak English or there is currently a suitable language on the site so this is of a low priority
These last improvements should only be made if all the other issues have first been addressed and resources allow it.
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4.0 Focus Group Analysis From the Interim report, it was put forward that a focus group, would be a benefit to the research on the Business School website. It was therefore arranged that a focus group would be conducted in March 2008 and be consisted of five interviewee’s.
-
Two were undergraduates studying on business related courses.
-
Three were prospective students looking around on an open day.
We did this in order to gain an insight from both current and prospective students, as the business school website is by large viewed by prospective students (Prior, 2008)
Similar questions were asked to the focus group as the surveys; as this meant that we could ideally get the most complete view of the feelings of students on the SBS website.
Figure A
Figure B
Figure C
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4.1 Findings During the focus group, many ideas and criticisms were expressed concerning the Business School website, the criticisms included:
-
Average Looking / Boring
-
Not enough information
-
Competitors offerings much better
-
Navigation is limited
-
Nothing stands out
-
People found out about the business school through the Solent.ac.uk profile
-
Nothing sells the courses
-
Copied and Pasted Feel
-
Not appealing to the target market
-
Too much text, no break ups of the text, so nothing is read
Students came up with some ideas on how to improve the website overall: -
Tutor profiles / their background / what they bring / more personal
-
Introductions with more personal feel
-
Side navigation seems to be preferred, clearer and easier to navigate
In summary, the Business School website is not highly received by the target market, being almost supplementary to any information sources about the University and the courses on offer by SBS. The website seems to not come across as transparent and this will be looked at further into this report. (focusgroup, 2008)
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4.2 Analysis of Findings To outline the analysis of the findings clearer, the analysis will be focused on three main areas, Navigation, Design and Ease of Use.
4.3 Navigation The navigation on the Solent.ac.uk portal consists of top bar navigation as well as a sidebar in the SBS section. This is what students who took part in the focus group said concerning navigation:
-
Navigation is limited
-
Side navigation seems to be preferred, clearer and easier to navigate
As students have said, side navigation is preferred to top bar navigation, as it is easier and clearer to see where you have navigated to and an easy “top down� approach to get back again. There is a sidebar on the business school website, yet there is no information in it for students.
Other Business School’s have a dedicated website for the school, which means that navigation is easier for the student, everything links back to each other and so finding the information you require, is very simple. As the SBS website is not a website, it is a webpage on the Solent.ac.uk portal, all the faults with the portal, mean that the business school will gather those faults as well.
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4.4 Design Southampton business school website is in keeping with the current design of the main Solent website, below is listed what students had to say in regards with the current design.
-
Average Looking / Boring
-
Nothing stands out
-
Copied and Pasted Feel
-
Not appealing to the target market
-
Tutor profiles, their backgrounds and what they bring to the courses would make the website better
-
Introductions with a more personal feel would be appreciated
When analysing the competitor’s websites, it was found that the design of the competitions offerings was better, in that it was clearer and easier to navigate and had a modern feel / personal feel.
Bradford’s Business School website in an independent report was considered the best, this was because not only was it designed well, and the information on the website was above and beyond what a typical prospective student is looking for.
Students in the focus group expressed concern that the website had a very “Copy and Pasted” feel and didn’t at all seem personal. If the Southampton Solent Business School is to succeed, it needs to sells itself more, the entire website is promoting its business courses and if the website is unable to convince a student over another business school, it doesn’t say much about the business school and its teachings if it cannot sell itself.
As backed up from the survey work as well as the competitor’s analysis, tutor profiles are something that is looked highly upon from students, as well as background information and a more personal feel.
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4.5 Ease of Use As highlighted previously, the following was said in regards to ease of use,
-
People found out about the business school through the Solent.ac.uk profile, but it took a while to find the actual business school website.
-
Too much text, no break ups of the text, so nothing is read
Ease of use and accessibility is something that was touched upon during the focus group, as all websites are now required by law to be accessible by people with problems that could affect reading a website, modern browsers have the ability to zoom in and enlarge text automatically, but some don’t and that means that a website should have accessibility options for users who are for example blind.
From browsing the whole website, the focus group discovered that there were no available methods for blind people to view the website properly. From the focus group session, this was thought to be a significant issue that would need addressing in the future.
Another complaint was that the website was very “text heavy” in that there were large blocks of text that meant the user just skipped what was being said. For the male population, this is more of a problem, as psycho graphically speaking, males have shorter attention spans to females and this is why for example, men’s magazines you can see very little blocks of texts, but short and to the point sentences and paragraphs.
The website is not supposed to be a lecture and is meant to be used for information and communication. Although classed under a design issue, the focus group thought that the website was very compacted, which meant it had a very messy feel to it and could cause problems with ease of us as everything was confusing and misleading.
A positive outcome was that people felt that the website in general was simple in design which meant it was fairly easy to use after taking a look around the website as a whole.
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4.6 Recommendations Based on Focus group
Based on the focus group, the answers that we got from students were similar to and were able to support the survey work done previously.
-
Recruitment prospects after study and typical organisations that have hired students in the past
-
Accreditation information
-
Rankings of the Business School
-
Staff Contact Details with staff profiles/pictures as well as video interviews
-
Press Center with events listing for the business school
-
Alumni section, with networking and calendar events along with career help
-
Latest news from the business school
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A personal message from the Dean to business students and a profile picture, even a video.
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Resources list of what is available to business students in particular whilst studying
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Streamable Videos
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Emphasis on SBS being more vocational than other business schools.
This list is compiled not just from focus group information, but also what the competitors offer.
Now the design needs to be addressed, as this is a significant issue, as many complaints were heard about the terrible design of the website and navigation throughout it.
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More emphasis on “vertical navigation” meaning that side bars should be used more often.
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A dedicated website for the Southampton Solent Business School is needed if the University wants to compete with competitors such as Bradford University for example, currently with the best designed website. A new designed website would need to surpass that off Bradford’s. E.g. (www.sbs.ac.uk) Page | 29
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Interactivity is needed to become a modern, younger orientated website that will attract prospective students.
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The design itself needs cleaning up, with less bulks of text, more spacing and more images to break the site up.
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Personalising the browsing experience, so anything that looks “Copied and Pasted” from another source directly onto the website should be rewritten and more personal.
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Making the website “have a face” would mean students would feel less like the website is just more literature to read and study over, it would make the experience fun.
There are two ways to take this research and suggestions, from previous discussions, it is apparent that significant changes to the website will not happen in the future, because of lack of resources and staff to undertake such a venture. If small improvements are looked for, then please take into consideration the content issues that have been highlighted if significant design changes cannot be implemented sufficiently.
There is a mock-up that was conducted of a completely re-hauled and redesigned, individually hosted website for just the Business School on the following page.
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5.0 Competitor Analysis To complete a successful analysis of Southampton Business School, a competitor analysis will offer an insight into fellow competitors in surrounding regions e.g. Bournemouth and business schools nationwide e.g. Bradford. By making comparisons between the business schools will show the differences / similarities, which may make a difference in the decision for perspective students who wish to enrol with that particular university.
For the analysis, six universities were examined who currently compete with the Southampton Solent Business School in a number of ways. Three of the universities are in surrounding regions providing local competition and three of the universities are in the top five of the timesonline.co.uk university poll (Sunday Times, 2008) Below, is the list of universities that were utilised in the competitor analysis
Bournemouth
Plymouth
Portsmouth
Bradford
Oxford
Warwick
5.1 Bournemouth The first university in the competitor analysis was Bournemouth. Bournemouth University has a dedicated website for their business school, unlike Southampton Solent which has related pages. The Bournemouth Business school website looks of high quality with a toolbar on the left hand side of the main page, to make navigation of the website easy and effective for the user. At the top of the main page, is a ‘quick search’ function, which allows the user to search for a course using key words or the name of the course quickly.
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An accessible ‘text selection’ is available to direct the user in the right direction e.g. course description, teacher profiles etc. This will allow perspective students to access the right information instantly.
Figure D
Source: Bournemouth Business School Website, Main Page (2008)
Above, is an example from the Bournemouth Business school website displaying the main features as well as functions. On the left hand side of the web page is a menu for navigation. Within the menu, is ‘Advantages of taking a business course’ which contains local and international companies who work incorporation with the business school and offer the chance of graduate schemes There are also organisations, which sponsor and fund the business schools as it produces great advertising for students and other businesses.
The website includes the usual ‘contact’ section for student to get in contact with potential and current tutors e.g. e-mail address and telephone number. Information regarding open days is also displayed here for the attention of perspective students.
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Figure E
Source: Bournemouth Business School Website, People (2008)
The ‘people’ section of the website is a unique section that displays staff and tutor profiles plus ‘blogs’ from current students to offer their personal opinions of the courses and a ‘student-to-student’ view point. By having this feature, perspective may feel more at ease when applying to a course at Bournemouth Business School.
The website has plenty of colour (university colours) and pictures to gain attention and with the addition of some multimedia e.g. videos it is user friendly, even for inexperienced users.
Throughout the site, there are plenty of links to other parts of the university website so if a user has been misdirected; it is easy to return to the correct section e.g. Arts and Media. This is something, which some users of the Solent Business School found difficult to do for various reasons.
A full list of courses and details are available on a separate page for viewing, which perspective students can view at any time and make comments if they so wish, through the feedback section. Page | 33
5.2 Portsmouth The second Business school to be examined was Portsmouth. When you access the main home page of the Business school, you are greeted with the image below. The colour scheme is black and purple (university colours) but it has a lot of black text, which may not make it appealing. This website again is independent of the main university and has a menu bar running down the left hand side of the screen.
Figure F
Source: Portsmouth Business School Website, Main Page (2008)
The major plus point of this website, is that the business school have an extensive client list of all companies they work with currently or have done in the recent past, with comments from both students and employees. This leads on to the ‘placement’ section which offers advice and positive/negative views of taking on a work placement. Sponsor organisations are also featured in this section to offer their own opinions and potential graduate opportunities. The only drawback is the ‘unfriendly’ black text, which is not very appealing for users.
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There is a full list of courses displayed on a web page but again written all in black text so it may not appeal to all. A staff profiles section with contact numbers and email is available with a brief history and photo of the member of staff.
A graduate opinions page is a positive feature for perspective students to view to see where completion of their chosen course might take them e.g. from graduation to a role in a successful company.
Figure G
Source: Portsmouth Business School Website, Placements (2008)
The final section, which does not appear in both the Solent and the Bournemouth Business school website, is the ‘Research’ feature. This includes newsletters and updates, which are currently being undertaken by companies and students to illustrate the benefit different forms of research can make to a particular project.
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5.3 Oxford SAID The third business school in the analysis was Oxford SAID. Oxford is currently ranked number one in the times100.co.uk league table for Business Studies courses. This would provide an Ideal comparison for are other selected universities in the competitor analysis.
Figure H
Source: Oxford SAID Business School Website, Main Page (2008)
The layout of the website looks very professional to the human eye and there is plenty of bulked information for the user but the layout helps disguise this. There are pictures on the site but again due to the quality of the layout it does not look like they are missing. This includes a student photo and video section where current students can add their own opinions and views for perspective students.
The navigation of the website is all controlled from the drop down bar at the top of the screen, this is very easy to use and all the information appears to be in a logical order. There is a lot of information content on the website and the language may be prove hard to understand for international students who are unfamiliar to this style. This still gives the site a very professional feel, which is suited to this particular university. Page | 36
There are some great interactive features on the site and it is very professional, but not very fun and this may disillusion some students. It looks a generally well-designed site with all information required and more for any perspective students.
Figure I
Source: Oxford SAID Business School Website, “Example of Images utilized on the website, this is a lecture room (2008)
The Oxford Business School has a large list of important features, which can be viewed at any time. These include available programmes and outlines of the course, faculty and student profiles and a ‘meet us’ programme, which is organised through open days.
Other functions include Facilities
Careers
Oxford lifestyle
Fees and funding
Studying at Oxford
Scholarships
EMBA ‘blogs’
Admissions events
Meet us
Faculty & Research
Career advancement
Research areas
Saïd Business School
Events
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Below is a comparison chart for Oxford and Southampton Solent University. This table shows the difference between the two business schools and the facilities on offer. Southampton Solent in comparison to Oxford is missing key parts for example, information on placements, information on research areas and news. This is an area, which the Solent business school can look into for improving the current portal. Feature
Saïd Business School
Basic information on university Subject areas Staff information Information on placements News and events Subject Areas Information on research areas Student information Class information Virtual tour of the school
√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Southampton Solent Business School √ √ X X X √ X X X X
Table C 5.4 Plymouth The layout of this website is similar to the Southampton Solent version. With limited pictures and other media resources there is a lot of information most of which is in bulk and is not very aesthetically pleasing which may again discourage potential students. For navigation around the site, there are many links on the home page and this may become a distraction to people who are looking for something specific. The allocation of certain information under some links is unexpected and means some information a student may be looking for may not be found easily. For example, ‘student options’ is found under the work experience page but is more general about the university than the work experience programme itself. The level of information and detail available on the PBS website is its best feature with high detailed course and staff information, which is presented in an easy manner to understand the language used. Page | 38
Overall, the vast quantity of information available on the site may not be enough to inspire potential students as the site may come across as uninspiring and is not very interactive for the user. It does not make best use of available media resources such as flash videos despite there being a tour video on the site.
Figure J
Source: Plymouth Business School Website, Front Page (2008)
As with other competitors, Plymouth Business School has a list of functions for the user to choose from: The Staff List
PCSG Research Objectives
Plymouth Business School Work
PCSG Contact details
Placements
PBS Student Work
News and Events
Experience
Plymouth Business School Subject
What our students say
Areas
about us
Research @ PBS
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Figure K
Source: Plymouth Business School Website, Teaching & Learning (2008)
5.5 Warwick Warwick has an entire Domain dedicated to the Business School (www.wbs.ac.uk), which will make it more accessible for potential students. Recruitment prospects after study are extensively covered on the website and typical organisations that have hired students in the past offer their views and guidance. The overall rankings of the Business School are on display to show students where they stand in compared to other universities, which some students may follow.
Staff Contact Details with staff profiles/pictures are available to show perspective students who could be teaching them in the upcoming year. This may make students more ‘relaxed’ when applying and viewing the website. A Press Centre with events listing, Podcasts, Media files and Digital Postcards are all available to download and view in various sections of the site.
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A ‘Why Warwick?’ section is useful as it creates a ‘friendly’ feel for perspective student’s e.g. current student views, where to socialise etc. Open Days, specific to the business school are available to book so that students can look at potential courses suited just for business. An ‘Alumni’ section, with networking and calendar events along with career help is useful for students to keep in touch with university events and the option of career help can be beneficial. The usual functions of latest news from the business school and a contact list are available for current and perspective students. The main page of Warwick Business School could be viewed as ‘bland’ as it does not have a lot of colour or appeal. This may discourage potential students from investigating further. The menu bar runs along the top of the main page for navigation purposes.
Figure L
Source: Warwick Business School Website, Front Page (2008)
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5.6 Bradford The business school was voted number one in “WebWorks�. (Crisp, A & Hardcastle, S, 2007) One of the key functions that Bradford Business School has is an extensive staff profiles and subject related as well as entire staff and contact details included for the benefit of the student. The Deans Message to students and profile picture is on the website to be used as a welcome for students.
Figure M
Source: Bradford Business School Website, Front Page (2008)
Accreditations and rankings are a popular theme with a large emphasis on accreditations made throughout the website. This may attract more students if they see many successful graduate students have attended the business school or that Bradford has been voted number one. International partners for the business school will provide international appeal and advertising across the internet (provide a larger reach).
The usual selection of courses is listed with a wide range of resources, which is available to all students within the business school. A contact and feedback section is there for students wishing to contact tutors or staff at the business school.
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An in-depth Alumni section, with networking facilities, jobs and services the university offers is in place so prospective students can look at what is on offer to them once they join e.g. jobs within the campus and campus facilities. The News and Events section includes a school magazine that is purely based on the business school, which is interesting for an alternative angle. Press releases are part of the news and events section so that students can keep up to date with any developments within the business school. Multimedia features are throughout the website with videos of staff and students ‘blogs’ to inform. The colour scheme of the website is black and blue, the colour of their university which is unique to them. The results from this analysis confirm that most universities use this technique as the colour schemes make them independent.
Figure N
Source: Bradford Business School Website, About the School “Streaming Video’s” (2008)
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5.7 Recommendations
Solent University should use their business school as an independent website so it is easier for the user and does not become mixed with other forms of the university e.g. Arts and Media.
The virtual tour of the Oxford business school looks great and is very interactive and gives student an idea of what lecture theatre and classrooms are like. Solent business school could use this idea to involve more multimedia in their website e.g. flash player.
Improve the use of site search tools rather than site navigation. With each having slightly different navigation, participants appeared to prefer to search for phases relating to their question. Search tools can be used to gain quick access to the information.
Increase the functions on the website. For example, implementing a ‘placement’ feature for graduates or more student friendly services e.g. student views
The content of the website is just as important as the design. Sites, which have a strong impact, their content was not as strong, pushing themselves down the order. The top two sites in “WebWorks” survey, found the top two sites had contrasting design styles but both offered easy access to information.
Difficult access to a site can affect student’s views on aspects of the site e.g. loading times between pages.
By cutting the amount of clicking on functions and scrolling through menus, students may feel more comfortable with the set up. Southampton Solent could benefit from this as our research shows.
In a number of sites including Southampton Solent, careers and alumni information were difficult to find but these can be used as a highly effective marketing tool if students could see it. Prospective students may look at the website for information on careers and alumni just like graduates.
Repeating accreditation of the Business School’s strengths at appropriate points through a website reinforces positive messages about Solent University.
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6.0 Website Mock-up This website was created solely for this report, from the research that has been gathered and analysed, this mock-up represents what students have said would be a positive change, other pages would included of course more interactivity, with videos and images, trying to become more “user-centric� the website would be a Web 2.0 type of site that was aimed at a younger demographics, such as the 18-26 age group.
Figure O
Figure P
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7.0 Conclusion In this project, three types of successful surveys were carried out in order to find out what prospective students thought of Solent University Business School. The results received were then critically analysed and detailed within the report. The focus group survey came to the conclusion that the Business School website is not highly received by the target market which means prospective students may be discouraged from joining a business course at Solent University. Participants from the focus group brought up many ideas and opinions regarding various features of the business school website e.g. the style and design of the site, photos and profiles of tutors etc.
The survey analysis had one hundred surveys competed by hand and 39 completed on the Internet, they were handed out to potential students on open days and the online ones sent to (www.facebook.com) users. The surveys contained results, which were crucial to find out student views for progressing and highlighting areas where they may have been problems.
The third type of analysis was competitor. By studying competitors, the various differences produced ideas and gave an insight to higher rated Business schools. This analysis looked at areas where Solent University Business School could possibly improve to compete with other universities in the times100.co.uk.
The executive summary included this statement: “The aim of the project was to create a marketing plan for the Southampton Business School that will revamp and improve the current website. Resulting with increased ratings of current students but mainly focused on prospective students.� The report needed to address these issues like producing findings in order to improve the current Business school website. The results from the questionnaires, surveys and competitor analysis helped with making these decisions. Page | 46
To progress in the future, The Business School will need to look at results from this report to see about making possible changes/alterations to the current format e.g. the design and content. By making these changes, the Business School may be viewed differently by prospective students and other sources to benefit and become successful in the UK business school environment.
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8.0 Bibliography The Time Online [online]. (2008).University Ranking League Table, Good University Guide.Available:http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/gug/gooduniversityguide.php?AC_sub=Busi ness+Studies&sub=3&x=20&y=12.Last Accessed: 20th of April 2008. Andrew Crisp & Sarah Hardcastle. (2007). Generation Web Executive Summary. Web Works. August 2007 (1), 8. Hall, D (Director). (2008). SBS Focus Group [Motion Picture]. Prior, P. (2008, January 5). Minutes of Meeting. (D. Hall, Interviewer)
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9.0 Appendices
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