The presentation on Elon and how it is not only a school, but is a business was very interesting and insightful. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that not every student knows about or would think to look into it. Most of the plans and goals are online, but most of the time students will be using the website for other purposes such as study abroad applications, admissions, and the major checklists. Elon University is striving to be at the same level as the big name schools that are already present here in North Carolina such as Wake Forest, Duke, and North Carolina Chapel Hill. We are absolutely on our way there with the success that has been present in the past several years.
The mission of Elon is embracing its founders’ vision of an academic community that transforms mind body and spirit and encourages freedom of thought and liberty of conscience. This is just the beginning statement for what Elon really stands for and what they are striving to do, but it sums up a large majority of what they are about. They are sticking to their roots of how the University was founded, but building on it to make it more modernized and more successful as a business as well as a school. It is interesting to see that they are striving to build and expand off of their foundation because that is exactly what all of the other “real” businesses that we have visited are doing, just in different types of ways. Other businesses want to expand on their computer system and networking such as LabCorp and SAS while some want to build on the quality and customers satisfaction of their products and services. Elon wishes to build on their foundation and continue to make the university more selective and more challenging in order to gain more success for their students and business.
Elon’s customers are parents and students that are paying tuition. The main way Elon makes money is through tuition so their most highly valued customers are the students and parents that are paying the tuition to go to school here. Another customer for Elon University is the town of Elon. They work together as partners, but they also are treated as customers because Elon University will receive donations and bonds that will provide money to expand the school’s campus, get better teaching, improve degree programs, etc. So, the two main customers are the people that are paying the school for tuition and the town of Elon itself.
Elon’s customers value a high quality education and the overall success of the university in its expansion and plans for the future. Elon has been getting better as a whole exponentially over the past several years. They also were just nominated as one of the best schools in the South. They are continuously receiving accolades for their efforts in the field of academia and this is exactly what customers will value. Parents and students paying thousands of dollars of tuition are paying it in hopes of receiving a great education and then going on to getting a job that is well worthy and will lead that customer to success. Elon has a great program of doing this and they are meeting exactly what the customers value.
Elon’s results is that they are well on their way to being matched with the highly competitive and selective schools of North Carolina. This year there has been a record high in applications and a record high in number of tours. They are continuously looking for new ways to expand and make the university better and the results are an increased amount of attention. This increase in amount of students applying will lead to an increase in the amount of students accepted and the expansion of the campus is only necessary. They are right on top of their planning and the result is university success and profit.
Elon’s plan for the future is to expand and improve on what they are doing. They want to exceed the expectations that their customers and students have. From what we saw in the video of what the ten year plan is, they are far exceeding what I expected to be happening over the next ten years. The expansion of the campus is amazing and will definitely lead to more success and an increase in profit. Elon is very specific and precise about the money that they are receiving and spending (budgeting), and they have stayed on top of their game in this regard. They are budgeting perfectly and they are making additions that are pleasing to the students along with their parents, so they are making everyone happy considering the large expense on tuition.
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