Strategic groups in higher education: university market in Chile

Abstract

The present research is based on the theory of strategic groups to study the competitive dynamics of universities. First, using exploratory factor analysis and information from the set of universities that operated in Chile in 2014, it was found that the competitive dynamics of the university market is determined by the strategic dimensions: reputation, social responsibility, on-line education, scope, corporate governance, infrastructure, and advertising. Secondly, the cluster analysis of k-means was applied to obtain ten strategic groups of Chilean universities; the universities are grouped in these clusters according to the positioning they have in each of the strategic dimensions. Third, Pearson’s correlation analysis was used, and it concluded that the performance of universities (measured by the increase in undergraduate and postgraduate enrollment, position in the rankings, career fees, and financial indicators) is consistent with the decisions and deployment of resources that make the different strategic dimensions.