PART 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 History and Foundation of KIGS

In 2002 the Kolej International Group Studies (KIGS) Brunei Darussalam was established.
KIGS aims to provide and cater to the developing and growing need for vocational education
and training, particularly in the fields of business and information technology. KIGS was
founded by the late Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Setia Jaya Pengiran Hj Abdul Momin Bin
Pengiran Othman, DK, DSNB, SLJ, POAS, PHBS, PJK.

1.2 Mission and Vision of KIGS

The Mission is to facilitate, support, and develop skilled human capital with the critical skills
and knowledge for the development of Brunei Darussalam according to His Majesty The Sultan
and Yang DiPertuan’s Wawasan 2035.

The Vision is to become a global brand name in tertiary education and becoming a dynamic
industry leader by providing leading-edge tertiary level education and professional training,
catering to both local and global human resources development needs, requirements and
expectations.

1.3 Structure and Growth of KIGS

The Board of Directors was then formed and chaired by Allahyarham Yang Amat Mulia
himself. The appointed members were Datin Paduka Hajah Misli bte Haji Awang, Pg (DR)
Hajah Fatimah bte PSJ Pg Haji Abdul Momin, Pg Hj Mohd Alimin bin PSJ Pg Haji Abdul
Momin, and the late Pg Hj Mohd Shahrimin bin PSJ Pg Hj Abdul Momin.

KIGS is the pioneer local tertiary level institution to be fully accredited by His Majesty`s
Government through National Accreditation Council of Brunei Darussalam, Ministry of
Education in 2003 to conduct the Diploma courses of Brunei Darussalam Technical and
Vocational Education Council (BDTVEC) and now the first to be accredited to run Degree
Programmes.

In June 2004, KIGS started operations and enrolled the first group of students to BDTVEC to
the Pre National Diploma in Computer Studies (PNDCS), National Diploma in Computer
Studies (NDCS), Pre National Diploma in Business & Finance (PNDBF) and National
Diploma in Business & Finance (NDBF). In June 2007, KIGS achieved another milestone
when it launched the Higher National Diploma in Computing, Higher National Diploma in
Business: Management and Accounting respectively.

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In November 2010, KIGS further their operation by the signing of Memorandum of
Understanding between KIGS and Lim Kok Wing University of Creative Technology (LUCT),
to start a collaborative degree program that will be conducted completely locally here in Brunei
Darussalam. The programs that been offered in KIGS are:

a. Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Administration

b. Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Accounting
c. Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Information Technology
d. Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Software Engineering With Multimedia

PART 2: SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT Analysis is an uncomplicated or simple but powerful mechanism for sizing up an

organisation's resource capacities and deficiencies, its market opportunities, and the external
threats to its future" (Thompson et al., 2007: 97). The acronym SWOT stands for strengths,
weakness, opportunities, and threats. The SWOT Analysis also referred to as SWOT Matrix.
The purpose and objective of a SWOT analysis are to use the knowledge an organisation has
about its internal and external environments and to formulate its strategy respectively.

SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning mechanism or tool used to assess the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of an organisation. It provides information that assists
match the organisation's resources and capacities to the competitive environment in which it
operates. This strategic planning analysis evaluates the internal strengths and weaknesses, and
the external opportunities and threats in an organisation's environment.

In SWOT Analysis, strength and weakness aspects of an organisation are recognised by

analysing the factors in its surroundings while environmental opportunities and threats are
defined by analysing the factors outside its environment. The internal analysis is used to
recognise resources, core competencies, capabilities, and competitive advantages essential to
the organisation. Meanwhile, the external analysis recognises market opportunities and threats
by looking at competitors' resources, the industry environment, and the general environment.

Strengths and opportunities are useful to accomplish the organisational objectives and
examined favourable for organisations. Weaknesses and threats are harmful to accomplishing
the organisational purposes which are unfavourable for organisations. Consequently,
underlying any successful adoption of strategies is an analysis of the organisation's internal
strengths and weaknesses that are posed by the internal environment and the opportunities and
threats that are posed by the external environment. In other words, a manager's role is to try to

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implement the analysis of internalities and externalities, to support the organisation's strengths
and weaknesses in the light of environmental opportunities and threats. (figure 1)

a. Strength (S) is the analysis of quality, circumstance which the quality of an organisation
reveals. The significant to be done in investigation, each organisation need to assess the
qualities and deficiencies in contradiction with its rivals.

b. A weakness (W) is an examination of deficiency, circumstance or condition of an

organisation. It is an approach to break down the deficiencies in an organisation that was a
natural obstacle in the advancement of an organisation.

c. Opportunity (O) is an examination of chance, circumstance or condition which an open

door at the outside of an organisation and gives the chance of development to the association
later on. It is to explore for circumstances or leap forward that permit an organisation to go
advanced.

d. Threat (T) is an investigation of the threat, how to break down the danger or problem that
must be confronted by an organisation to face an assortment of a natural variable that did not
look good to an organisation which comes to be the reason for disintegrated. If did not soon be
succeeded, the risk would be an obstacle for a business concerned at present and what is to
come.

2.1 SWOT Analysis of KIGS

2.1.1 Strength
a. Specialised academic staff
The academic staff members in the KIGS departments are engaged in teaching, research, and
consultation. All the departments employ qualified teaching staff members, with various ranks
and specialisations. Some of them have more than ten years of teaching and research
experience. Due to the distinct backgrounds in their specialisation, current research projects
were successfully conducted between the academic staff in the departments.

b. New technologies
Most of the universities nowadays had been using Internet services for the purpose of teaching
and learning. Besides, at the current trend, most of the universities apply Web-based courses
for the students. These Web-based courses are for the students so that they could access their
courses, and print notes before classes. Besides some universities have the same system with
an additional advantage that the lecturers could access to their students’ progress, and even
observed their attendance.

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Technology promises and guarantees to be the vehicle for the easier and accessible approach
into the higher education platform, specifically, the internet facilitates distance learning by
allowing access to education sources and materials and interaction with faculty without the
physical interaction of the student and the lecturer (Collis, 199b). Furthermore, technology
provides for the replication of the educational experience at very economical marginal cost.
Furthermore, there are also computer-based learning and virtual classrooms in universities.
With the current technological segment, the way of learning which is currently in classrooms
could also be affected by the improving technologies. Students could improve the learning
quality and their academic performance with these technologies offered in the universities
because it currently has become a need for revolutionizing in the education sector for the better.

Learning resources that are used for the benefit of all departments or faculties are part of the
overall KIGS resources. These resources are available to all KIGS students. KIGS intended to
use new technologies and administrative staff who are capable of using these technologies, in
order to enhance and develop the quality of learning outcome. For the time being, KIGS have
implemented an LMS system that enables the lecturer and student to log into the system and
check the available desire resources regarding the module that the students are undergoing.
This platform has become the stepping stone for KIGS in utilising the available resources and
become a technological campus.

c. MOE accreditation
KIGS has received accreditation of Brunei Darussalam Ministry of Education (MOE). This is
vitally important for any higher institution or Universities in conducting any courses under
their management. Without an accreditation student and parents would not even think to enroll
in KIGS. It like a waste of time and money when the student has to spend three hard work years
of undergoing a degree program but yet, in the end, it will not be accredited by the Brunei
Darussalam MOE Accreditation department even after their graduation.

Quality Assurance is one of the elements in the Political/Legal Segment. Under the Ministry
of Education, they have stated that the Department of Higher Education will concentrate on the
respective areas in order to improve the quality of education services and to ensure that all the
program offered by the higher education public and private institutions in Brunei Darussalam
are of high quality and achieve international standards.

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d. Campus Characteristics
KIGS is a medium size college with small class size. All the faculties, lecturer staffroom, and
classrooms are centralised in one main building and while the administration block is just a
stone's throw away. This is an outstanding characteristic of the KIGS where all the focus can
be fully utilised amongst the students and lecturers. Students or lecturers do not have to travel
from one faculty to another faculty unlike the other massive institution or universities such as
the University of Brunei Darussalam, University of Technology Brunei, and many others when
the students and lecturers usually do.

All the KIGS facilities are well and easy to maintain since it only a small compound, and on
the other hand, KIGS attractive buildings and surrounded by shops and many attractive places
such as hotel, gym, a public park (Taman Jubli), cinema, and many other facilities. KIGS
growth potential as a contemporary higher institution or universities which is different from

the traditional higher institution and universities environment here in Brunei Darussalam.


2.1.2 Weakness
a. Academic Master Plan
There is a need for an Academic Affairs Master Plan that aligns with the mission, vision, and
direction of the institution and that represents academic priorities and determines actions that
will be continued to accomplish those priorities. The deficiency of an academic master plan
results in the continuance of the status quo and works to prevent any purposive action on the
parts of colleges and departments.

b. Geographic location
Bandar Seri Begawan probably is the primary central location in Brunei Darussalam where all
the high institutions or universities have been located. The location would be the greatest
challenge for the student who is from Temburong and Belait district. Since KIGS has only one
main campus in Kiulap, Bandar Seri Begawan, this would be a challenge to increase student
enrollment from the other districts. To add on, low population density, below-average family
incomes, and a weak tradition of college attendance hinder enrollment efforts from the two
districts as mentioned above.

Therefore KIGS should be reconsidered to provide standards and expectations of students and
parents regarding housing and related amenities have grown more sophisticated. The KIGS
needs to reinvest in its housing to stock to meet these expectations and present a viable
alternative to off-campus housing nearby the KIGS especially for the student who came from
another district like Kuala Belait and Temburong.

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c. Athletic facilities and intercollegiate programs
From inadequate and unavailable sports fields to a football stadium, athletic facilities are
lacking in essential features, in disrepair, and need of necessary rejuvenation. Even though
sport abilities criterion is not in the KIGS selection like in most high institution or universities
in the western countries, however, the availability of athletic and recreational facilities need to
be provided, therefore having campus athletic facilities would make KIGS be on par with peer
institutions is vital to our growing and retaining of students.

Fewer sports and extracurricular activities are the weakness of KIGS. As KIGS is a private
university thus is often smaller sizes, they could not offer us all the sports, clubs in addition to
extracurricular action of which higher, local universities perform. Additional, even though
smaller sized, KIGS often have running teams in most like sports, for instance, basketball in
addition to badminton. For big sports fans, this is a weakness, since the school’s team may not
attract a considerable crowd and national attention that competitive teams at prominent
universities do.

d. Expensive Course fee

KIGS has a higher tuition fee than other public institutions in Brunei Darussalam. KIGS is a
private institution and does not receive public funding from the state as do public universities.
As a result tuition fees of KIGS can be twice as much or more than at public universities. The
campus could be restricted or perhaps nonexistent raising the expenses associated with
attendance further. Generally, KIGS offset those costs by offering financial aid package and
scholarships that are not tied to financial need.

e. Poor Service
KIGS need to improve their services especially in satisfying the student need and inquiries
regarding KIGS-related matters. Most of the time, sluggish responsiveness to student needs
from the administration department can be very annoying. An unanswered phone call and
unsure can be a big problem especially to those who need the information regarding KIGS
related matters.

2.1.3 Opportunities
a. Changeable education environments
The appearance of E-conferences, E-learning facilities, and Blended Learning yield to include
these modern techniques in the plan of each teaching organisation. Hence, Blackboard,
Academic Staff websites, and Automated Exams are day after day more activated and

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depended on in the teaching-Learning process in the department. Also, the trends of graduation
aimed toward E- Application in all departments of KIGS.
b. Competitive advantage
Competitive advantages give the KIGS an edge over its rivals and an ability to generate higher
value for the organisation and its shareholders. The sustainable the competitive advantage, the
more challenging it is for competitors to neutralise the advantage. The KIGS struggles to gain
a competitive advantage in this field at the educational level, through differentiation advantage.
That affects the number of accepted students comparing with other universities which do not
have the same program and specialisation.

c. Recruit faculty who embrace teaching

Private colleges understand the importance of using their best faculty to teach lower division
courses-faculty who also consider it their priority to make time for student interaction outside
the traditional classroom. As current faculty retire or leave to work elsewhere, implementing a
campus-wide practice of hiring the only faculty who understand and the value of teaching lower
division courses to undergraduates and who embrace and make time for student interaction,
will go a long way toward improving student persistence and graduation.

d. Expand enrollments in high demand academic degree programs

High demand degree course such as nursing, education, communications, engineering, Islamic
finance, and many others. The creation of new academic programs will require the creation of
improved support structures and revenue sharing models that maximise our grant potential.
This structure and revenue sharing models can create the incentive needed to encourage and
nurture a robust community of engaged and prolific faculty. These activities will diversify or
expand KIGS's revenue sources and create additional financial resources for departments and
faculty. Robust new programs will help recruit and retain high-quality faculty in KIGS.

e. Societal trends
Increased value of higher education completion. This can illustrate from the Brunei Darussalam
Education Statistics 2013-2017 which show an increase of student who pursue higher
education. (figure 2). This growing trend and demand for the local Bruneian aim for high
education graduates. Hence, KIGS has a significant chance of attracting local student in
pursuing their studies in the college.

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2.1.4 Threats
a. Development of another university
Laksmana College is probably the biggest threat to KIGS. Laksmana College would be the
closest rivalry to KIGS in-term of course offered and background. Afterall KIGS and Laksama
college are the only two private institutions which offered a Degree program. The challenge
will be higher if the other private institution such as Cosmopolitan, Micronet, and Kemuda are
granted accreditation for the same degree program from the MOE.

b. Complex processes for approvals on new programs

Complex processes for approvals on new programs: The improving and developing new
programs is hard to undertake because this program must shape the criteria's of higher
education besides the priorities of academic departments. To achieve this step, we need to
collaboration and organisation in many aspects, such as staff, committees, procedures, and
systems contained by the University. On the other hand, the innovative program needs an
endorsement from the commission of the Ministry of Higher Education, and this process needs
to a year or more to be achieved.

c. Rapid technological change. Uncertainty conditions

Rapid technological change: Advancing technology threats the stability and competitiveness
of the organisation such as KIGS. These threats may be unpredictable and unavoidable.
Therefore, the countries must put plans to deal with it and Brunei needs to made radical
changed in there infrastructure.

d. Negative public perception

It is a skeptical mindset of Bruneian where most of the people believe in a good reputation of
Public higher institution or universities in Brunei Darussalam. They believe the standard is
higher studying in public universities rather than in private universities. The mindset of "money
can buy qualification" has been in Bruneian for a decade. Un least it is the private universities
aboard then it is a different perspective. Perception is a reality. We need to change our
perception of being viewed as an open-access University to that of a destination if we want to
be considered as a viable choice among academically well-prepared students. By growing the
Honors Program and also intentionally lifting the floor on undergraduate admissions
requirements, over time public perception will change, and KIGS will become more of a
destination. As the University attracts better academically prepared students, retention and
graduation rates will likely improve.

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e. Financial and Regulation & legislation of the country
In financial aspect, particularly in the developing country like Brunei Darussalam where higher
education has been under-financed, worsening intense political pressures to expand access. It
may influence of decision of the investor to invest money in KIGS. Also, according to the
policy of Brunei Darussalam, the foreign investor have to pay more tax than a local investor.

On the other hand, regulation and legislation in Brunei Darussalam can be a complicated
procedure especially when a private university such as KIGS plans to introduce new courses.
In order to ensure this, the higher education public and private institutions in Brunei have to
gain recognition of Brunei degrees by foreign countries. In order to offer a program, which is
one of the conditions on recommendation from the National Accreditation Council of Brunei
Darussalam, MOE, private institutions including the KIGS must also obtain approval from the
authority. Institutions must provide all details in their documentation such as information
regarding the teachers, subjects, facilities, management system, and the reasons for providing
the course. Therefore the universities in Brunei either public or private must abide with the
government standards and must meet the standards of accreditation in order to ensure the
quality assurance of the university.

PART 3: PORTER'S 5 FORCES

A vital model of this school of thought is Porter's (1985) five competitive forces for analysing
an industry's structures. In this model, a firm's profitability is influenced by its relative size
compared to its industries rivals, suppliers, and customers (Porter, 1985). Since its introduction,
Porter's five forces model of competition has been widely used as an analytical tool or
mechanism analyse the intensity of competition and to identify the level of profitability of an
industry. This model is also applied to manage the processes by which an organisation can
develop strategies and protect itself from competitive forces in the industry. Porter's five forces
model of competition have five elements, stated as below:

3.1 Competitive Rivalry

Private Higher Education Industries aim for a competitive advantage over their rivals, and the
rivalry differs across industries. The rivalry is estimated by indicators of industry concentration
with the Concentration Ratio (CR) as the measure. The CR indicates the percent of the market
share held by the largest firms in an industry. A high Concentration Ratio indicates that the
most prestigious firms hold a high market share; the industry is concentrated. The education
sector as an industry has many private colleges in Brunei Darussalam, all of which are
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competitors. A low concentration ratio means that the industry is characterised by several
rivals, one of which has a significant market share.
Rivalry with universities has to do with who is going to offer the best education services such
as courses, tuition fees, environments, and so on. In Brunei Darussalam, there is a total of four
public universities and two private universities. Therefore, the rivalry universities among
existing higher education are the University of Brunei Darussalam, University of Technology
Brunei, Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University, Kolej Universiti Perguruan Ugama, and
Laksamana College of Business.

Besides, the competition is build up when competitors are numerous and similarly balanced.
Thus, the competitors for the KIGS is high due to the numerous universities in Brunei
Darussalam. Besides, standardised products or services such as programmed offered by
universities have intensity in price competition. Therefore, this might be a threat to KIGS
whether students opt for them as an advantage or not. Consequently, the level of rivalry among
competitors in the education industry will be high.

Key Question Situation for the SME Can you fight back against buyer
power?
-2 NO +2 YES
1 Competition amongst More choice available in the market -2
local public universities
2 Low Course Fee for Price range is much higher than the substitute -2
Local universities price
3 Higher differentiation Public universities offer variety course than the -1
of course offered private universities

3.2 Threat of substitutes

A threat of substitutes exists when product demand is affected by the price change of a
substitute. Products price elasticity is affected by substitute products because as more
substitutes become available, the demand becomes more elastic since students have better
alternatives. A close substitute product restrains the capacity of firms in an industry to increase
prices. For the subject of the sciences, public university is specialised in diverse aspects of
science by offering a bachelor degree in biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, statistics,
and engineering whereas these specialised courses are not available in KIGS which only
offered the two science course such Bachelor of Information Technology and Bachelor of
Software Engineering with Multimedia.

Private universities are mainly in profit-driven that focus on courses that been offered, while
public universities provide a comprehensive approach to university education. Therefore, the
threat of substitute products in the higher education industry will be medium due to the
selection for students only can choose either private universities or public universities for their
studies.
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 Key Question
1 Public universities
universities to compete with public universities
2 Upgrade to further
differentiate
3 Switching Cost
Situation for the SME Can you fight back against buyer
power?
-2 NO +2 YES
In term of fee, there is no chance private -2
KIGS have the high chances to compete with +1
other universities in term of
marketing/technology
KIGS have a lower switching cost compare to +2
its rivalry the Laksamana College

3.3 The bargaining power of buyers

The power of buyers is the result that customers have in a producing industry. When buyer
power is higher, the relationship to the producing industry is near to oligopoly, a market in
which there are numerous suppliers but only one buyer. With such market conditions, the buyer
has the power to sets the price. Buyers are influential if they are concentrated or if there are a
few buyers with significant market share. The power of the buyer is the hand of the student and
the parent, in the sense that they can purchase education from any desired institution or
universities. The power of the student rises as the services offered become more standardised,
which empowers them to readily compare offerings and make more informed choices, hence
reducing the switching costs (Pringle and Huisman, 2011). The more choices the buyer has to
choose or pick from, the more power the buyer has. New substitutes or entrants disintegrate
the monopoly that traditional universities have enjoyed. Higher education is not an ideal or
perfect market, and information and options are two frameworks by which to analyse the
buyer's bargaining power.

According to the bargaining power of buyers, buyers can drive down the prices, demand higher
quality products or services, and play competitor against each other. The primary buyer is a
student and followed by their parent as well. Therefore, power can be gained by several factors.
Firstly, all of us need to get either a degree or a diploma certificate as a minimum qualification
to get a better job for future, which will lead to the higher the concentration of buyers relative
to the education industry. Next, the services are can be differentiated into two choices, which
either a choice between the private universities or public universities. For instance, a student
can choose to study at KIGS Campus rather than Laksamana College of Business or other
public universities based on the prices, and courses offered. Other than that, buyers like parents
can make a comparison for the environments and education qualities when deciding on the
university. For this reason, buyers can control the selection of universities based on their
preferences. Consequently, the bargaining power of buyers is high in the education industry.

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 Key Question Situation for the SME Can you fight back against buyer
power?
-2 NO +2 YES
1 Higher Buyer (student Pursuing higher education is a social trend at the +2
and parent) present time in Brunei Darussalam
2 High Quality KIGS can compete with other public +1
universities in term of the education quality
3 Standardised Product Student might have a little problem in choosing -1
limited choice offered in KIGS

3.4 The bargaining power of suppliers

Businesses must secure the resources that they need to carry out their activities from resource
suppliers. These resources fall into four categories; human, financial, physical, and intellectual.
Resources are obtained in resource markets where prices are defined by the interaction between
the business supplying a resource (suppliers) and the organisations from each of the industry
using the particular resource in question. It is important to note that many resources are used
by more than one industry. As a result, the bargaining power of suppliers will not be determined
solely by their relationship with one industry but by their relationships with all of the industries
that they serve.

In higher education, labour is recognised as the most significant supplier and should be viewed
through the lens of a supplier. The biggest supplier power in the KIGS is, however, highly
skilled labour in the form or kind of lecturers, researchers, and administrators (Pringle and
Huisman, 2011). Where the lecturers have associations, they wield a great deal of power. The
power wielded by lecturer will, nevertheless, depend on whether they are tenured or not, status
and reputation of the university and the discipline. In some disciplines, there is extra qualified
faculty than positions, therefore reducing supplier power, especially at the front end of the
hiring process and method (Martinez and Wolverton, 2009a,b). With the growing number of
inadequate trained faculty members, the suppliers have powerful bargaining power (Anand,
2012).The suppliers can raise the price or reduce the quantity and quality of input in the
barraging power of suppliers. The leading suppliers for KIGS are the Lim Kok Wing University
of Creative Technology (LUCT). There is one of the reasons that the LUCT can gain power
due to the collaboration memorandum that been chosen by this KIGS. This is because some of
the teaching material and sources are heavily from the LUCT.

Key Question
1 Availability of the
Supplier
2 Availability of Labour
3 Switching Cost
Situation for the SME Can you fight back against buyer
power?
-2 NO +2 YES
KIGs have a low power since the availability -1
can be found elsewhere from the other
universities
The availability of labour (lecturer) in the +1
market is quite easy to find, in case the KIGS
want to find a substitute lecturer
KIGS is bond with LUCT, and -2

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3.5 The threat of new entrants to the industry
The probability that a new organisation may penetrate the industry affects competition. New
entrants as directly correlated to the barrier to entry for that specific industry and clarifies that
it is not certain the exact entry of new competitors but the threat of new entrants to the industry
that stimulates competition and affects the industry’s profitability.The threat of new entrants is
the capacity of a new university to successful enters into the education industry created by the
level of barriers to entry. There are some barriers encountered by the new entrants when they
enter into the education industry. A new entrant will be based on the economics of scale for
entering the education industry, which means the opportunities of the broader market are
empowering them to enter into this industry and make a profit on that. Furthermore, the new
university needs a massive amount of capital required to start up their business and to establish
in Brunei Darussalam. Therefore, this will become a challenge for a new university to enter
into the education industry because they must able to find sufficient funding investment.

Besides, there will be no switching costs in universities industry due to the limited supply. For
the new entrants who have access to distribution channels in the education industry, they will
be providing some foreign student exchange programs and internship programs to reduce the
barriers in the industry. The cost disadvantages independent of scale can be one of the barriers
for a new entrant. This is because the new entrant must have advanced technology in their
teaching and learning skills, whereas they also need to explore for a suitable location for
implementing the university in Brunei Darussalam.

According to the Ministry of Education (MOE), Brunei Darussalam, all university must be
recommended by the National Accreditation Council with the government policy and aim to
offer a program in Brunei Darussalam. For instance, KIGS as the private university, they need
to get approval from the MOE in order to implement the institution in Brunei. Therefore, to
make sure the quality assurance of the KIGS, they should have the ability to meet the standards
of authorisation and accept the government standards and policies. The government is welcome
the higher education industry to be implemented, which they can improve the Brunei
Darussalam education level throughout the whole industry.

Key Question Situation for the SME Can you fight back against buyer
power?
-2 NO +2 YES
1 Economies of Scale limited professional lecturer in another field -2
such as engineering, nursing and many others

2 Capital Requirement Since KIGS is a private universities, capital -1

might be the biggest issue
4 Strict MOE Accreditation Accreditation is challenging for some private -1
institution

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PART 4: RECOMMENDATIONS
It was recommended that KIGS should use competitive strategies of their choice to improve
on their competitiveness; Field attachments and field trips should be encouraged because these
are the extra services the KIGS could offer to attract more students. The KIGS should also
focus more on good teaching and colleges strategic location because these had the highest
percentage of reasons why students’ patronising the college.

A strategic decision has significant implications for the future success and direction of an
organisation. Strategic decisions are unique, they commit significant organisational resources
and trigger subsequent decisions, but without proper implementation, long-term success cannot
be achieved (Schermerhorn, 2012). Therefore, it becomes a paramount and valuable factor for
organisations (Hambrick & Fredrickson, 2001). Numerous models are used to justify corporate
development and support with the identification of strategic options, from which at least four
distinct means by which organisations commonly grow, emerge (Schermerhorn, 2012). This
study has discussed forms of strategic issues such as strategic management in higher education,
the SWOT analysis, and Porter’s five forces in the context of KIGS. We have discovered that
there are several methods and approaches which can be adapted and implement: By expansion

in the institution’s existing market or domain.


 By diversification into new territory. This could take a mixture of forms, including the
development of courses, modes, etc. vertical integration and unrelated diversification.
By opening up, another branch in another district such as Temburong and Kuala Belait
might enhance the KIGS market share and increase student enrollment.

 Through technological developments, for example, using IT to deliver courses such as

computer-based teaching, distance learning, large lecture groups.
 As mentioned in

the above studies, the KIGS is now implementing the LMS online platform and trying
their best in fully utilised the system in managing the courses in the KIGS. This system
believed to support the KIGS in managing the course that conducted much convenient
and efficient.

 Through the use of improved management techniques by increasing the efficiency of

the management process. The KIGS need to design a better and proper master plan as
a System Operation Procedures (SOP) or guidelines in managing the campus. This
SOP needs to be followed by the lecturer and student in order to achieve the mission
and vision of the KIGS.
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To add on, this process is decisive in determining the KIGS future. It was concluded that the
Threat of new entrants influences competitiveness had an average to a great extent. The extent
to which the threat of substitutes influences competitiveness is great. The bargaining power of
buyers influences competitiveness to a great extent. The bargaining power of suppliers
influences competitiveness to a great extent. Competitive rivalry influences competitiveness to
a great extent. Differentiation strategy was used to a moderate extent to influence
competitiveness.

5. CONCLUSION
Education is the vital or essential elements which provide skilled workers, administrators,
engineers, doctors, and nurses and many other professions; indeed, to lead and control all
sectors and division of the modern economy by practicing and implementing advanced
knowledge, a well-functioning education system is mandatory and higher education has an
important role to play. Higher education has a crucial role to perform in the renovation of
educational systems and development in general, because of its role and the impact of its
institutions and programs on all societal activities.

If we are willing to change and take risks, the future is bright for the nation. Brunei Darussalam
needs a strong higher institution and universities to serve its citizens. Even though our place in
the state’s higher education master plan is not well defined, we, the faculty and administration
at KIGS have the opportunity to manage that role. The above-mentioned study was an endeavor
to evaluate the institutional environment internally and externally through a SWOT analysis
framework. It is generally observed that environmental analysis of educational institutions and
business organisation plays an important role to accomplish the desired goals.

The past several years have been challenging ones for the KIGS, but this institution has come
out of it much stronger. KIGS have strengthened the organisation leadership, and have been
reorganised most of the academic units that focused efforts on economic development. KIGS
have hired many young and talented faculty lecturers who prioritised academic programs and
have become much clearer in what are the KIGS strengths and weaknesses and have become
much more effective in working with the faculty and staff in a shared-governance model. KIGS
are well-positioned to begin a strategic planning process.

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6. APPENDIX
Figure 1

Figure 2

7. REFERENCES
Kolej International Graduate Studies. Retrieved from http://www.kolejigs.edu.bn

Emut G (2017). Swot Analysis: A Theoretical Review.

Michea A. King A Strategic Assessment of The Higher Education Industry: Applying the
Porter's Five Forces for Industry Analysis.

Oya T. Aydın (2016). Porter's Five Forces Model in Higher Education.

Porter, M. E. (2008). "The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy." Harvard Business
Review86(1): 78.

Porter, M.E. (1980), “Competitive strategy: techniques for analyzing industries and
competitors”, The Free Press, New York, NY.

Jashim U: Ahmed K.U: Ahmed M.A: Sadat S: Roy Z (2015). Managing Strategies for Higher
Education Institutions in the UK: An Overview

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM EDUCATION STATISTICS AND INDICATORS HANDBOOK

2013-2017. Retrieved from:
http://www.moe.gov.bn/DocumentDownloads/Education%20Statistics%20and%20Indicators
%20Handbook/Brunei%20Darussalam%20Education%20Statistics%20and%20Indicators%2
0Handbook%202017.pdf

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