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In this series I have made the case for why a higher education institution needs a strategy. Then I highlighted the importance of understanding an institution’s competitive position within a market and, frankly, to underscore that market positioning should be paramount in any discussion of the design and launch of educational programs.

Higher Education Strategy Series: This is entry #5 of this series. This page describes the whole series and provides links to all of the articles.

An institution taking a differentiation approach will focus its efforts on making its offerings more attractive than those of its competitors. An institution using this strategy usually has recognizable branding backed by effective marketing. Its product or service is superior in one or more dimensions, and it’s backed by associated research, development, and innovation.

Higher Education Strategy Series: This is entry #4 of this series. This page describes the whole series and provides links to all of the articles.

The ideal process for strategy definition starts at the institutional level. After a broad-scale institutional strategy is defined, the schools define (or refine) their individual strategies, and then the programs follow suit. Different institutions might leave different facets of their strategies undefined (or with a default value defined), but coherence of strategies across units makes it easier for programs to get their messages to the market successfully (and with less expense).

Higher Education Strategy Series: This is the third entry of this series. This page describes the whole series and provides links to all of the articles.

A university can have a strategy, as can a school, a department, and a program. A school can set a strategy for its online programs. All of this is true, but the question remains: At what organizational level does creating a strategy have the most impact?

Higher Education Strategy Series: This is the second entry of this series. This page describes the whole series and provides links to all of the articles.

For some, a strategy is something that has been written — sometimes through a process that involves countless meetings and untold memos — and then put on a shelf to be forever ignored. Others have operated in an organization that, as far as is known, does not have a strategy. A lucky few of us have worked in an organization that has a clearly stated strategy. In this article I make the case for having a strategy and at what level of the organization it should be defined and be operational.

Higher Education Strategy Series: This is the first entry of this series. This page describes the whole series and provides links to all of the articles.