Ph.D. Mashkova N.V., Ph.D. Turchaninova G.V., Matveeva Ya.A.
Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin, Russia
The impact of the development of competition on the market of economic entities
The transitional nature of the Russian economy has affected almost all areas economic activity. Business entities were faced with a fact: to act in market conditions. However, most of these organizations were not ready for this. The conditions for effective competition have not yet been created in Russia. The factors hindering the development of competition between economic entities include such as a high level of state regulation, low solvency of the population, low level of population mobility, and others.
As mentioned above, competition is objective relationship arising between market entities in conditions of limited resources. And, first of all, it is not so much material resources that should be considered as resources, but the market itself, i.e. a group of people with a specific need. Competitive struggle is conducted for this resource, because. in its absence, all other resources lose their meaning. And the reason that competition is a dynamic and continuous phenomenon is that although the number of consumers is limited, their needs, on the contrary, are unlimited. The goal of economic entities trying to conquer the market is to discover new needs and offer their own solution to the consumer problem.
The competitive strategy of an economic entity is the logic of its interaction with the market environment against the backdrop of competition, which forms ways to achieve the goals set by meeting the needs of stakeholders. Therefore, when building a competitive strategy, an economic entity should be guided by the following principles (Fig. 1):
Fig.1. Interaction of an economic entity with the environment against the backdrop of competition
According to Figure 1, the duration and sustainability of the competitive advantages of an economic entity will depend both on external factors and on the actions of competitors. In this regard, the implementation of the entity's competitive strategy is largely determined by the development of competition in the market for the services it offers. The competitive advantage of an economic entity is those distinctive competencies that make the services it provides the least preferable for the client. Hence, the formation of competitive strategies is a process of formation and maintenance of competitive advantages.
An analysis of domestic and foreign experience on the problem of managing the competitiveness of economic entities made it possible to identify several of its main aspects:
· assessment of the level of competitiveness (determination of indicators of competitiveness);
· bringing existing characteristics to the required competitive level;
· maintaining a competitive level based on monitoring, analysis and regulation.
Each of the above aspects is associated with numerous tasks that can be solved in various ways. Some of them affect only the technology of work and can be applied regardless of environmental factors. They do not require significant restructuring in the organization and management of an economic entity. Others affect not only internal, but also external Relations organizations require significant changes in the content of activities, the composition and number of units, their functions, etc.
Among the tasks of the first group, related to finding indicators of the competitiveness of an economic entity, the following are highlighted:
· measurement of the market share of the offered goods (services);
· measurement of costs for products (services) produced by an economic entity at all stages life cycle;
· determination of innovative support for the production of goods (services);
· determination of the timeliness of the provision of services.
The tasks of the second group include:
· analysis of demand for goods (services) (in different markets, with different consumers);
· a comprehensive analysis of your own product (parameters, functions, structure, internal organization, areas of application, etc.);
· complex analysis of substitute services (goods);
· analysis of goods (services) of competitors;
· determination of the stage of the life cycle of goods (services).
The main role among the aspects of managing the competitiveness of an economic entity belongs to the third group of tasks:
· optimization of the quality of goods (provided services) and costs;
· creation of fundamentally new types of goods (services) and updating existing ones;
· introduction of a motivation-based incentive system;
· providing necessary and reliable information.
The concept of the competitiveness of an economic entity is based on the need to accelerate the satisfaction of market requirements, saturating it with services of priority (increased) demand and sustainable development of the enterprise in a competitive environment.
The indicator of competitiveness allows you to assess how the proposed product (service) meets the needs of the market. Financial stability is an indicator of the use of financial resources in a developing environment. The interaction of these two components makes it possible to assess the ability to maintain a stable position of an economic entity during external environment.
Thus, it becomes clear that the stability of the competitiveness of the enterprise depends on how accurately the conditions for the formation and functioning of an economic entity are determined and how optimally the assessment of its competitive potential, the fulfillment of the goals and objectives, as well as the choice of priorities and allocation of resources, is carried out.
Journal Modern Economics No.
UDC 330.322.5
INFLUENCE OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPETITION IN THE MARKET OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICES ON THE FORMATION OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES OF ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
Natalya Vyacheslavovna Mashkova,
Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Ural Federal University named after the first President Yeltsin, (343), *****@
Anton Yurievich Bairanshin,
Applicant, Ural Federal University named after the first President Yeltsin, *****@***ru
Yana Andreevna Matveeva,
Student of the Ural Federal University named after the first President Yeltsin, (343), *****@
N. V. Mashkova,
Cand. Eco. Sci., the senior lecturer of faculty of Business and innovations of the Ural federal university of a name of the first Russian president B. N. Eltsina, (, *****@
A. U. Bairanshin,
The post-graduate student of the Ural federal university of a name of the first Russian president B. N. Eltsina, *****@***ru
J. A. Matveeva
Student of the Ural Federal University of a name of the first Russian president B. N. Eltsina, (343), *****@
The article considers the impact of the development of competition in the market of educational services on the formation of competitive advantages of additional professional education, and also presents a model of the competitiveness management system implemented by the UrFU Business School.
The paper considers the effect of competition on the market of educational services on the formation of the competitive advantages of additional professional education, as well as a model of competitiveness management, implemented by business school UrfU.
Keywords: competitiveness, additional professional education, labor market, competitive advantages, quality of educational services.
key words: competitiveness, further professional education, labor market, competitive advantages, the quality of educational services.
The transitional nature of the Russian economy has affected many areas, including the area of additional professional education (CVE). Institutions of higher and additional professional education were faced with a fact: to act in market conditions. However, most of these organizations were not ready for this. It should be noted that the education system is one of the most conservative systems that are difficult to reform. The reasons for this are varied.
Firstly, the education system serves to reproduce a certain way of thinking, mentality, traditions and values, and therefore is a kind of "repository" and protector of these values, and because of this, it cannot but be conservative.
Secondly, the education system in Russia is still under strong state influence.
Thirdly, in Russia in general, including in the field of education, the conditions for effective competition have not yet been created. Factors hindering the development of competition educational institutions can be attributed to such as a high level of state regulation, low solvency of the population, low level of population mobility and others.
As mentioned above, competition is an objective relationship that arises between market entities in conditions of limited resources. And, first of all, as resources here one should consider not so much material resources as the market itself, that is, a group of people with a certain need. The competition is waged precisely for this resource, because in its absence, all other resources lose their meaning. And the reason that competition is a dynamic and continuous phenomenon is that although the number of consumers is limited, their needs, on the contrary, are unlimited. The goal of business entities trying to conquer the market is to discover new needs and offer their own solution to the consumer problem. The foregoing fully applies to the objects of DPO.
The competitive strategy of the FPE object is the logic of its interaction with the market environment against the backdrop of competition, which forms ways to achieve the goals set by meeting the needs of stakeholders. Therefore, when building a competitive strategy, the APE object should be guided by the following principles (Fig. 1):
Fig.1.9. Interaction of the FPO object with the environment against the background of competition
According to Figure 1, the duration and sustainability of the competitive advantages of an FPO facility will depend both on external factors and on the actions of competitors. In this regard, the implementation of the competitive strategy of the FPE facility is largely determined by the development of competition in the educational services market. The competitive advantage of a DPO facility is those distinctive competencies that make the services provided by a DPO facility the least preferable for a client. Hence, the formation of competitive strategies is a process of formation and maintenance of competitive advantages. However, distinctive competencies are always based on the core competencies that an APE facility must have, and which are “guaranteed” to them through their external evaluation through licensing, attestation, and accreditation of the institution. In this case, it makes sense to talk about two levels of formation of competitive advantages and competitiveness of the FPE facility:
Basic, defining a standard set of qualities of an educational service, mandatory for implementation. Otherwise, the very existence of the educational program is impossible;
Additional, within the framework of which it becomes important to take into account the synergistic properties of the resource potential of the FVE facility, arising from its ability to operate in various markets and, accordingly, satisfy various needs potential clients.
An analysis of domestic and foreign experience on the problem of managing the competitiveness of educational institutions made it possible to identify several of its main aspects:
assessment of the level of competitiveness (determination of indicators of competitiveness);
bringing existing characteristics to the required competitive level;
· maintaining a competitive level based on monitoring, analysis and regulation.
Each of the above aspects is associated with numerous tasks that can be solved in various ways. Some of them affect only the technology of work and can be applied regardless of environmental factors. They do not require significant restructuring in the organization and management of the CPE system. Others affect not only internal, but also external relations of the organization, require significant changes in the content of activities, the composition and number of departments, their functions, etc.
Among the tasks of the first group, related to finding indicators of the competitiveness of the APE system, the following are highlighted:
measuring the market share of educational services;
· measuring the costs of educational products (services) at all stages of the life cycle;
definition of innovative provision of educational services;
Determining the timeliness of the provision of educational services.
The tasks of the second group include:
analysis of demand for services (in different markets, with different consumers);
a comprehensive analysis of your own educational product (parameters, functions, structure, internal organization, areas of application, etc.);
a comprehensive analysis of educational services-substitutes;
analysis of competitors' services;
· determination of the stage of the life cycle of educational services.
The main role among the aspects of managing the competitiveness of the APE system belongs to the third group of tasks:
optimization of the quality of services provided and costs;
Creation of fundamentally new types of services and updating existing ones;
· improvement of the training system;
· introduction of a motivationally grounded incentive system;
Providing necessary and reliable information.
The concept of the competitiveness of the APE system comes from the need to accelerate the satisfaction of the requirements of the educational market, to saturate it with services of priority (increased) demand and sustainable development of the APE facility in a competitive environment.
The competitiveness indicator allows you to assess how an educational program or an FVE object meets the needs of the market. Financial sustainability is an indicator of the use of financial resources in a developing environment. The interaction of these two components makes it possible to assess the ability to maintain a stable position of the FPO object in the external environment. However, do not forget that the educational institution pursues the social effect as the main result of its activities, therefore profit is an auxiliary element that ensures progress towards the goal.
Taking into account a wide range of CPE issues when entering the consumer market, and then maintaining its positions in different markets, the competitiveness system should include subsystems of both preparatory work and analysis and diagnostics. Moreover, the second can be attributed to: analysis of the consumer product and learning technology; analysis of demand and identification of customer needs; market research of educational services; analysis of the operating environment; competition; differentiation of services, strategic planning of the functioning of the DPO facility.
To date, the field of additional professional education and the sector of paid business educational services are already quite widely developed, although the demand, even solvent, as surveys show, is far from being saturated. And at the same time, the consumer (an organization or an individual with certain means) is prudent enough and wants to get an educational project that is complete in terms of the cost-effectiveness criterion. In turn, an educational institution, starting certain programs, wants to get a real effect, both economic and social. It should be recognized that when deciding to start educational activities according to one or another model, it is necessary to consciously take into account the presence of factors that can create favorable conditions and competitive advantages for an educational institution. As can be seen from Table 1, such factors are very different for different models of education, and an error in their assessment can be quite expensive both from the standpoint of guaranteeing the quality of education and from the standpoint of achieving sustainable competitive advantages by an educational institution.
Currently, there is a wide variety of forms and methods of paid education, designed for different levels of requirements of students, basic education, and income. To what extent do the services offered meet the requirements of consumers? The answer to this question determines the demand for educational services, and, consequently, the financial success of CPE facilities.
The market of educational services is more dependent on demand, on the preferences of end users and is subject to such factors as:
prestige;
Demand in the labor market;
Mobility;
Acquisition of a certain social status;
Possible profitability of the profession;
Possibility of self-realization.
Table 1
Competitive advantages in the system of higher
and additional professional education (according to )
Professional retraining | Training | Master of Business Administration |
|
ð Demographic factor, large population, a significant contingent of young people with a need for higher education; ð Well-developed modern scientific and methodological potential (library, computers, R&D); ð The critical mass of full-time highly qualified teaching staff in most specialties (presence of specialized departments); | ð Strong links with business (consumer enterprises) or location in regions where a significant number of professional workers in need of retraining; ð Participation in state (including international) development programs human resources(military, unemployed); ð Presence of a core of highly qualified teachers with experience practical work; | ð Availability of unique information, materials, methods, applied know-how; ð Availability of highly qualified specialists in certain thematic areas, acting as teachers, instructors, trainers; ð A detailed methodology for conducting classes using interactive teaching methods and specialized training materials, tools, information technologies; | ð The presence of a developed market for expensive programs, i.e. the need for knowledge and skills for a successful career (attractive jobs, career-oriented young people, companies that finance training) and solvent demand for them; ð Deep awareness of the leadership of the educational institution and the professorship of the specifics of training professional managers; ð Active marketing of programs and thoughtful formation of their portfolio; 3. The pricing policy of the DPO object and competitors in similar positions is analyzed, the analysis of price discrepancies. As a result of the analysis of the competitive position of the DPO object, the following are determined: The size of the market in which competition occurs; Advantages of the DPO facility over competitors (in all of the above parameters). In accordance with the conclusions, the priorities of the competitive policy of the APE object are developed, competitive and unviable unpromising educational programs are determined. We have assessed the sustainability of competitiveness based on the indicators adopted at the Business School of the Ural Federal University (UrFU). As a result of the research, the main criteria characterizing the competitiveness of the FPE facility in terms of quality priorities were identified. Ranking was carried out according to 9 indicators, taking into account the weight factor of actual and forecast values. In order to increase the competitiveness of FPE facilities, it is necessary not only to select the most important indicators and factors, but also to regularly record and analyze these parameters. The main task of the analysis is to identify the proportionality of the state of the components of the competitiveness of the object under study, to develop and implement measures to improve the quality of services provided. Currently, this work is often done haphazardly and episodically. The Ural Federal University Business School implements a model of the system for managing the competitiveness of the FVE object (Fig. 2) based on the process approach, in which external factors affect the competitiveness of the FVE object both at the "input" and at the "output" of the system.
The key elements of the system for managing the competitiveness of an FVE facility are the development of its competitive policy in accordance with the mission of this educational institution, the assessment of the actual level of competitiveness in comparison with the main competitors in the market, the definition of tools for increasing the competitiveness of the FVE facility, and the assessment of the effectiveness of managing its competitiveness. In the modern market of educational services, it is vital to take into account the demands of the labor market as a whole and consumers of educational services separately (states, organizations, societies). From the point of view of the main consumers of educational services of the CVE system - graduates - managing the competitiveness of this educational sphere is impossible without constant monitoring of the employment of graduates and their salary levels, as well as the image of the university that provided such educational services in the eyes of graduates. At the same time, one should not forget about the influence of external factors on ensuring the sustainability of the competitiveness of the FPE facility. The results of its activities are largely due to the economic and geographical position, investment, financial, labor potential of the state, region and city where the object is located. In addition, when assessing and managing the competitive advantages of this educational area, it is necessary to take into account legal, political, environmental, as well as socio-demographic factors in the region and the country as a whole. Bibliography 1. Education quality management in high school/ Ed. . - St. Petersburg: Publishing House of St. Petersburg State University of Economics, 2005. - 315 p. 2. Gorbashko quality and competitiveness: a study guide. - St. Petersburg: Publishing House of St. Petersburg State University of Economics, 2001. - 233 p. 3. Matveeva state and directions of innovative development of additional professional education // Journal "Regional Economics: Theory and Practice", No. 17 (56), 2007 - P. 67-77. 4. Business education: specifics, programs, technologies, organization / Under the general. ed. . - M.: Publishing House of the State University Higher School of Economics, 2004. - 690 p. 5. Matveeva quality in the system of additional professional education: Monograph. Ekaterinburg: RAN, 2007 - 200 p. |
What are competitive methods? Even people who are far from entrepreneurial activity and economic sciences have general ideas about this issue. In this article we will talk about what are the methods of competition in the market, we will discuss it different kinds and forms. Such information can be useful both to a wide audience and to aspiring entrepreneurs or economics students.
After all, we are faced with manifestations of the competitive struggle of firms every day, whether they are small enterprises or large well-known companies, foreign or domestic organizations. All of them compete with each other, and this manifests itself in completely different ways.
What is competition?
On this topic there are many bulky scientific works, various studies, articles, and literature. In addition, there are a lot of definitions for the concept of "competition", they are given by different economists and scientists, but at the same time they all carry a similar meaning. Methods of competitive struggle is often the most important issue raised within the framework of this topic.
So, most definitions of competition boil down to the fact that enterprises strive to take a leading position in their market, thereby covering more consumers, which, in turn, will bring additional profit. Based on this, we can conclude that the struggle for the client is competition. Competitive methods include a large number of ways to increase your position in the market. For example, these can be price methods of competition or mixed forms based on various tricks and tricks. There can be a lot of options and combinations, and their effectiveness is determined by the ability to adapt to the market situation.
Types, methods of competition
Depending on the markets and their size, there are many forms for the development of competition. Touching upon the types of competition, as a rule, they mean, and in the conditions of the modern economy there are many examples of its manifestations. To do this, a quick glance at various markets and industries is enough.
As for the methods of competition, they are divided into price and non-price. Both are used and improved in business, while taking on new forms, changing and adapting to new realities. Next, the methods of competition in the market will be highlighted.
Price
Their implementation is the simplest in terms of the activities that the organization should carry out. Price methods of competition include, as a rule, a decrease in the cost of goods. The result of such actions may be an increase in consumer attention to products, an increase in sales and demand for goods. However, it should be remembered that everything has its own resource and border, when crossing which the opposite effect occurs.
The main disadvantage of the price method is that, firstly, the company must budget, initially planning to reduce prices, or the cost of production must be colossally low in order for the business to be profitable. Therefore, these methods are good as long as the business remains profitable.
The second disadvantage will be such a factor as the attachment of the price to the consumer properties of the product. It is quite possible to sell products for almost nothing compared to competitors, but no one has canceled the fact that if the quality of a product is so unsatisfactory, then it may not be in any demand at all. It turns out that in order to use price methods, a product or service must meet at least the minimum quality requirements, and sales must generate income.
Non-price
Speaking about these ways to increase competitiveness, very often they mean a wide range of different actions. For example, it can be marketing activities, and improving the consumer properties of the product, it also includes improving the quality, service, warranty service, and so on.
In today's economy, non-price methods of competition are much more effective. The fact is that consumers often perceive a simple price reduction as a sign of low quality of goods, and some types of products, such as mobile phones, as an indicator of status, so a price reduction in this case can scare off potential users. Next, specific methods of competition that are non-price will be described.
Brand recognition
The most effective way to increase competitiveness is to create products that the consumer will recognize. You don’t even need to give names, just simply describe the industry, and examples will come to mind, because there are a lot of such goods - there are world-famous cars, there are food industry products (carbonated drinks, various snacks), clothes, shoes, stationery and, of course, smartphones. Probably, most readers thought of the same brands, automobile concerns and groups of companies, because their products are well known.
Such methods of competitive struggle allow not only to maintain their position in the market, but also deter new firms. It is possible that the consumer will never know that new company makes better products, corny because of the lack of trust in it.
Quality
If before that we were talking about brand awareness, now we should move on to that aspect, without which it can become a business failure. Without quality products, it is impossible to achieve recognition. Recognition can work both ways, and if a product has poor consumer properties, then not only will they not buy it, but they will also inform other potential customers about it.
Quality is not only formalities and compliance with all norms and metrological standards, but also the satisfaction of consumer expectations. If the properties of a product or service are not enough to make the customer satisfied, then they need to be upgraded.
Service and Maintenance
A firm's competitive methods may include an emphasis on product support. This is especially true for high-tech products, such as computers, smartphones, cars, as well as some services, such as communications.
Product support can take many forms depending on the industry. For example, it could be hotlines, repair shops, service stations, and even staff who will fix a problem with a product at home.
Prestige
As mentioned above, brand recognition is great Prestige follows from this, because most people prefer to use products with a rich history, be it the same cars or carbonated drinks. The status of a thing is very important for a certain category of customers, and competent marketing activities and market positioning will help make the product such.
Advertising
Competitive methods include many powerful tools. Advertising is one of them. In today's world, there is a lot of room for marketing activities. Thanks to the development of technology, advertising has come a long way. Now it is not just columns in newspapers or billboards, but also television and radio. A wide scope for showing your product is provided by the Internet and social networks. A large number of Internet resources will help not only to inform about yourself, but also attract more additional audience, which may be looking for exactly your offer.
Product life extension
Very often, consumers complain that relatively new products quickly become unusable. As a rule, it is about household appliances, electronics, and sometimes about clothes. An excellent competitive advantage will be either an improvement in the quality of products, or a longer product. A good attitude towards the client is a guarantee that he will return to buy your products again.
Types of competition
Returning to this topic, we should again note the existence of both perfect and imperfect competition.
In the first case, a free market is implied, where firms can safely enter and exit with their products. In addition, in the case of free competition, enterprises cannot significantly affect the cost of goods in their segment, which gives rise to a breadth of choice for the buyer.
There is another group of features that includes such factors as the free exchange of information, the exceptionally honest behavior of enterprises in relation to pricing policy, in addition, high mobility of organizations can be included here in the context of the fact that firms can freely change their activities.
It implies the absence or distortion of the above conditions, as well as the emergence of various collusions, increased pressure and control of certain industries, the emergence of monopolists (the only firms in their industry).
One of the most common types of imperfect competition today is oligopoly. In this case, it means a limited number of different manufacturers and sellers that dominate their industries. This situation occurs, for example, among manufacturers of automobiles, some foodstuffs, and cosmetics. The entry thresholds for these markets are quite high for new firms.
What gives competition
Methods of competitive struggle, due to their characteristics, are of great benefit to society. If competition is developed, consumers receive either the best product or products at a lower price compared to the offer of other market participants.
This is due to the endless struggle of market participants for leading positions, which gives a huge plus for the development of society and the economy, both at the smallest levels and on an international scale. It is important to remember that the main goal of a business is to generate and maximize profits, however, a large number of participants in the battle for customers demand advantages over other firms. Organizations must create products and provide services that are of interest to potential buyers. The main methods of competition in the implementation process themselves impose a kind of restriction on the business, preventing the provision of goods. inadequate quality and adjust the price.
Results
The modern market cannot exist without competition. Yes, it takes various forms, and the methods of competition - depending on industries and areas - are also different. They are constantly being improved, and organizations are forced to adapt to the dynamics of what is happening in the external environment.
Depending on economic, technical, social and political factors, some industries choose perfect competition while others move towards monopoly or even oligopoly. The task of enterprises is to recognize the changes in time and adapt to them.
These are natural processes, the actions of firms generate competition. The methods of competitive struggle in this case are only a consequence of changes environment, as well as the spirit of the times.
Competition in the market of educational services: theoretical and practical aspects
IN AND. Sukhochev, rector, A.M. Sukhocheva, vice-rector,
Kumertau Institute of Economics and Law
From the foundations of economic theory, it is known that competition is one of the conditions that contribute to the efficient functioning of economic entities in the market. This provision also applies to the market of educational services. Analysis of works in the field of economics of education shows that this question was studied by a group of scientists from the Samara State Economic University on the example of their
areas. Their research is presented in the collection of scientific papers under the general editorship of Professor A.P. Zhabin. . Chentsov A.O. also paid attention to the problem. in his article "On the business of educational services". However, in these works, first of all, the problems of increasing the competitiveness of higher education institutions, creating a system of rating assessment of universities, and methodological support for the process of self-evaluation of a university are investigated, but the theoretical and practical aspects of the state of competition in the market of educational services are not sufficiently analyzed.
Borisov E.F. defines competition as "rivalry between participants in the market economy for the best conditions for the production, purchase and sale of goods" . Raizbert B.A., Lozovsky L.Sh., Starodubtseva E.B. understand competition as “a competition between producers (sellers) of goods, and in the general case between any economic, market entities; struggle for markets for goods in order to obtain higher incomes, profits, and other benefits. N.L. Zaitsev formulates competition as " economic conditions sale of goods in which there is competition for markets for profit and other benefits.
According to S.S. Nosova, “competition is a confrontation, rivalry between producers of goods and services for the right to maximize profits, the existence of many producers and buyers on the market and the possibility of their free exit from the market and entry into it” .
Projecting these definitions onto the market of educational services, we propose the following definition of competition in the market of educational services.
Competition in the market of educational services is the rivalry between market entities for the best conditions for the sale and consumption of educational services.
Investigating competition in the market of educational services, it can be revealed that in modern conditions it develops in three directions. The first direction is competition between educational institutions themselves. The second is competition between potential consumers of educational services (applicants). The third is competition between educational institutions and applicants. Let's analyze these directions. Let us first formulate the definition of competition between educational institutions.
Competition between educational institutions is the rivalry between them for the best conditions for the implementation of educational services.
The best conditions include:
Demand for educational services implemented by an educational institution exceeds their supply (presence of competition among applicants);
There is a tendency to increase the standards for financing educational institutions from the budgets of various levels;
The solvency of the population of nearby areas is increasing, which allows the educational institution to increase the amount of tuition fees;
There are no competitive educational institutions in the surrounding areas;
The demographic situation in the region is developing positively educational institution.
The ideal conditions for the implementation of educational services for any educational institution is a market condition in which the demand for educational services sold by this educational institution exceeds their supply. This is relevant both at the present stage of the state and development of Russian society, and in the future. In the coming years, a real struggle will unfold between educational institutions for each applicant, and not only between professional, but also general education. This is due to the beginning of the demographic decline and the introduction of the principle of per capita funding of state educational institutions under the slogan "money follows students."
Competition between educational institutions at the present stage of development of the Russian educational system, in our opinion, can be classified according to various criteria:
1. By the level of education being implemented. Let's conditionally call it intra-level competition. Intra-level competition is competition between educational institutions that implement educational programs of the same level and belong to the same type of educational institutions. This competition can also be called intratype. On this basis, competition unfolds between:
Children's preschool institutions;
general education schools;
Institutions of primary vocational education;
Institutions of secondary vocational education;
Institutions of higher professional education.
2. By sectoral specialization of educational institutions. Let's conditionally call it intra-industry competition. Intra-industry competition is competition between educational institutions of the same industry of specialization. federal Service state statistics (Rosstat) identifies 7 groups of industries for which training is conducted by professional educational institutions in Russia. On the basis of industry specialization, competition unfolds between educational institutions:
Industry and construction;
Agriculture;
Transport and communications;
Economics and law;
Health, physical culture and sports;
education;
Arts and Cinematography.
3. By geographical location of educational institutions. Let's conditionally call it territorial competition. Territorial competition is
competition between educational institutions of different levels and different industry specializations located within the same administrative territory. On this basis, competition for the opportunity to get a future student unfolds between educational institutions, as a rule, located in the same city or district.
4. By form of ownership. Let's conditionally call it the competition of forms of ownership. The competition of forms of ownership is the competition between educational institutions of various forms of ownership. On this basis, competition unfolds between state, municipal and non-state educational institutions.
5. By accreditation status. Let's conditionally call it status competition. Status competition is competition between educational institutions of the same level, but different accreditation statuses. On this basis, competition unfolds between accredited and non-accredited educational institutions, as a rule, of the same level.
6. According to the specialties (directions) of training of workers or specialists implemented by educational institutions. Let's conditionally call it competition of specialties. The competition of specialties is a competition between educational institutions of the same level within the framework of the specialty of the same name. On this basis, competition unfolds between educational institutions of the same level that provide educational services in the same specialty.
The study of the state of the educational services market allows the authors to conclude that at the present stage, the most acute struggle between educational institutions as producers (sellers) of educational services unfolds within the framework of territorial competition. The most pronounced competition is between higher educational institutions located in large regional and republican centers, and especially in Moscow, where a fairly large part of Russian universities are concentrated. Territorial competition forced large universities to look for new markets for their educational product, new markets for the sale of educational services, a new potential student. To a greater extent, this manifested itself in the second half of the 1990s. 20th century and the beginning of the XXI century. It was during these years that the branch network and the network of representative offices of universities developed rapidly, and at present the number of branches of universities exceeds the number of universities themselves. It should be noted that even today there is a struggle between universities to “capture new territories”, to expand the geography of their influence. At the same time, regional educational authorities, councils of rectors of local universities began to oppose the promotion of metropolitan universities and universities of other
other regions to their territories, using their permissive right granted to them by regulatory legal acts. Moreover, the process of gradual “squeezing out” of branches of universities in other regions by the councils of rectors of universities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and the executive bodies of the education authorities of the regions has already begun, which use their right to participate in the expert commissions on attestation and accreditation of branches of universities. In all likelihood, in the near future in the republics, territories, regions, the process of self-liquidation of peripheral branches of metropolitan universities and branches of universities in other regions will begin. This is due to the ongoing process of regionalization of vocational educational institutions, the transfer of part of them from the Federal Education Agency to the jurisdiction of republican and regional educational authorities and, accordingly, the replacement of funding from federal budget financed from the regional budget. Due to the insufficiency of budgetary funds in the regions, funding for state educational institutions, which are under the jurisdiction of republican or regional educational authorities, will apparently be reduced. Thus, in 2005 alone, the number of state-funded places in state higher educational institutions decreased by 43,000. In turn, the head universities will be forced to reduce or even stop funding their branches located in other regions. All this will lead to a reduction in budget places for students of university branches, the introduction of tuition fees and, as a result, the transfer of university branches to self-financing. This will put branches in equal conditions with local non-state educational institutions located in this territory. As a result, the competitiveness and attractiveness of local accredited non-state universities will increase. An analysis of tuition fees in a number of regions shows that in branches of metropolitan universities it is higher than in peripheral non-state universities, since the fee is set by the head university, which focuses on the prices for educational services that exist in the capital or in a large regional center, where, respectively, and higher demand for educational services. Therefore, in Lately due to the unprofitability of university branches, the process of their closure has already begun. In this case, students are offered to transfer to the main university, which is located far from their place of residence and where the cost of education is much higher. As a result, some students will be forced to stop their studies. The danger that the branches may be closed at any time causes distrust on the part of the population, and, as a result, increases
competitiveness of local non-state and state universities that train students on a paid basis. The process of regionalization of the education system, which began in 2004, creates better competitive conditions for local universities and colleges, while at the same time creating their own closed regional education systems significantly reduces the ability of regions to use the powerful scientific, methodological, educational and teaching potential of the largest and oldest Russian universities.
Examining the state of competition between state and non-state educational institutions, we can conclude that the situation that has developed in the market of educational services makes it difficult to create and further operate non-state universities and colleges. The fact is that the market of educational services at the present stage is monopolized by the state in the person of the executive bodies of education management and state educational institutions. The process of licensing educational institutions is entirely in the hands of the state. This allows the executive bodies of the state, which have their own educational institutions, to prevent future potential competitors from entering the educational services market. In order to open a non-state university, Rosobrnadzor, in violation of existing legislation, requires the written consent of the education authority and the council of rectors of universities in the region, which is very difficult to obtain. This explains the slowdown in the growth rate of the number of non-state universities and colleges in the regions in recent years. Under such unequal conditions, non-state non-accredited educational institutions cannot compete with a state educational institution in any serious way.
The second direction in which competition is developing in the market of educational services is competition between potential consumers of educational services (applicants). We formulate the definition of this competition as follows.
Competition between consumers of educational services is the rivalry between potential consumers (entrants) for the best conditions for the consumption of educational services.
The experience of the authors' practical work with applicants shows that the best conditions for the consumption of educational services at the present stage, in conditions of low mobility and low solvency, are considered by applicants and their parents:
Education at the expense of the state budget in a nearby educational institution;
Training in specialties that are in demand on the labor market;
Training in specialties, work in which in the future will give a large income (good salary);
Education in an educational institution that provides the highest quality training of specialists.
During the entrance examinations, applicants fight for the right to be enrolled in the number of students in a prestigious specialty for studying on a budgetary basis at a nearby university. As a rule, those who have more in-depth knowledge win. At the same time, there are exceptions to the rules, and the student may not be the best applicant. This is due to the negative trends that have developed in the Russian educational system in recent years and are especially pronounced now.
It is well known that in a competitive struggle among buyers of a product, the one who offers a higher price for the product wins. Is it possible to this statement classical economists to apply in relation to such a specific service as educational? In principle, it is possible, especially when the number of those wishing to study at a given educational institution on a paid basis exceeds the number of places in an educational institution, that is, when demand exceeds supply. Is it possible in these cases to sell the available study places at an open auction or through a closed tender? At least, there are no bans on the sale of educational places at an auction or through a closed tender in the existing legislation. The starting price of the educational service is determined by the calculation method. Persons who have the appropriate basic education in accordance with the admission rules and who have successfully passed entrance tests. Relevant documents are submitted to the selection (competitive) commission. Based on the analysis of the documents, the commission appoints either an open auction or a closed tender. The winner is the one who offers a higher price for an educational service (for a study place). speaking out this proposal, the authors foresee an explosion of anger among the Russian school pedagogical community in defense of "geniuses and nuggets" who do not have sufficient funds to receive higher education. At the same time, a question arises for the school pedagogical community: why are certificates of secondary (complete) general education issued to almost all graduates without exception, even if they have not fully mastered the school curriculum? The President of the Republic of Bashkortostan, in his speech at the republican pedagogical meeting in August 2005, noted that “about 20% of graduates
vayut school curriculum is not in full. But at the same time they receive certificates. Such "pulling up" of estimates becomes a vicious practice. Even some of the medalists do not pass the entrance exams to higher and secondary educational institutions. Any applicant who has received a secondary (complete) general education, in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, has the right and can be a student of a university if he offers a higher price for an educational place compared to other applicants. In the end, for especially gifted students, it is possible to develop special conditions for entering a university to study on a budgetary basis or plan measures for their state support.
In our opinion, it is possible to single out a third direction in which competition will develop in the market of educational services. This is competition between sellers and consumers who are on opposite positions. Competition between producers and consumers of educational services is competition between educational institutions and applicants for the best conditions for the implementation and consumption of educational services. What group of subjects of the market of educational services will win the "battle"? Of course, the one that is more united and, as a result, can impose its price on the “enemy”. At the present stage of development of the Russian educational system, the most cohesive educational institutions are those that have unifying public structures (associations, unions, boards of directors and rectors) and, therefore, while educational institutions “win the battle” and dictate their price to consumers of educational services.
Analyzing the state of competition between producers (sellers) and consumers (buyers) of educational services, we can conclude that today the educational services market can be described as a “sellers’ market”, since the dominant position here is occupied by producers (sellers) of educational services who “dictate » buyers their price of educational services. This is explained by the fact that the demand for the services of higher and middle-level vocational schools exceeds their supply. At the same time, as an analysis of the demographic situation shows, in 2010 the number of school graduates will equal the number of places in educational institutions financed from the state budget and, consequently, the state of the educational services market in the second decade of the 21st century. can be described as a "buyers' market". In this case, the buyers of educational services will "dictate" their price to educational institutions that sell paid educational services.
Competition in the market of educational services is inextricably linked with the monopoly, which manifests itself in the monopoly of the state on the production and sale of educational services. Thus, out of 64,800 general education schools, 63,800 or 98% are state-owned, out of 2,809 secondary specialized educational institutions 2,627 or 94% are state-owned, and out of 1,046 higher educational institutions 654 or 63% are state-owned. The monopoly of the state in the market of educational services can be characterized as an artificial stable monopoly, in which state educational institutions have concentrated in their hands the production and sale of the bulk of educational services. This artificial stable monopoly hinders the functioning of the mechanism of free market competition.
One of the main directions of reforming the Russian educational system at the present stage is the regionalization of education, that is, the transfer of the bulk of educational institutions from the jurisdiction of the federal center to the jurisdiction of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and, accordingly, a change in the main source budget financing. Due to the insufficiency of budgetary funds, the process of reducing the number of budget-funded places in state educational institutions has already begun. An increase in the number of paid places will lead to a gradual equalization of the conditions for the functioning of state and accredited non-state educational institutions. This process will cause the gradual displacement of the artificial stable monopoly of state educational institutions in the educational services market and, as a result, will lead to an improvement in the conditions for the functioning of the market.
Literature
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2 Chentsov, A.O. On the business of educational services [Text] / A.O. Chentsov // Higher education in Russia. 1999. No. 2. pp. 120-122.
3 Borisov, E.F. Economic theory: a course of lectures for students of higher educational institutions. [Text] / E.F. Borisov. M.: Society "Knowledge" of Russia. Central Institute of Continuous Education, 1996. 548 p.
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Competition in the market of educational services
M. LUKASHENKO, professor
Moscow Financial and Industrial Academy
The spring activity of the academic community was marked, among many others, by two events that, at first glance, have no direct relationship to each other. First, on February 14, a methodological seminar was held by the Center for Bio- and Ecophilosophy of the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences. And then, on May 17, the First Analytical Conference “Competition: Strategy, Tactics, Models, Training” was held at the National Hotel (organized by the Moscow Academy of Finance and Industry and the Public Council for Promoting Higher Education Quality Improvement). It would seem, what is the connection between such different events? It turned out to be very significant. The fact is that the emotional scientific discussion that took place at the seminar was devoted to the discussion of the book by V.I. Nazarov “Evolution is not according to Darwin. Changing the evolutionary model. Criticizing the theory of Charles Darwin, the author of the book emphasizes that "modern biology has not confirmed the existence in nature of either intraspecific competition or the cumulative action of natural selection." It is obvious that the very fact of “encroachment on the foundations” can excite not only world-class scientists studying this issue (which was clearly manifested in the materials of the round table), but also specialists developing completely different scientific directions. And this was very precisely formulated by L.V. Fesenkova: “The central concept of Darwinism is “ natural selection” - acquired the status of an important component of the modern mentality. It is invisibly present in our culture and creates self-evidence. general ideas about nature. We do not notice that not only our methodology in various fields knowledge is built on the principles of Darwinism, but the axiomatics of many fundamental concepts is nothing more than a paraphrase of Darwin's ideas about evolutionary processes in the living world. Today, with the help of the concepts of adaptation and selection, even the emergence of religion, art, and morality is interpreted. They are viewed through the prism of their selective value in the general processes of competitive struggle, which seem to be the essence of anthropogenesis and cultural genesis ... Thus, Darwinism is not only a science, it is also a worldview.
Without delving further into the discussion between "Darwinists" and "anti-Darwinists", let's turn to another event - the conference "Competition: Strategy, Tactics, Models, Education". As the name implies, the organizers of the conference have made an attempt to systematically address the issues of competition and competitiveness. Thus, the first group of questions was devoted to models competitive behavior as the most important vector for the development of the competitiveness of Russian business entities. The second group focused on state competition policy and antimonopoly regulation of markets, which provide the appropriate infrastructure for the development of the Russian economy. The third was key to the educational community, as it focused on the formation professional competencies in the field of competitive behavior. Without aiming to analyze all the speeches made at the conference, we note only their diversity, versatility and constructiveness, which made it possible not only to make significant progress in the study of the stated problems, but also to outline further steps in such research.
Now let's dwell on one of the speeches, which, in fact, prompted us to draw a parallel between the problems of the competitiveness of Russian business and the development of "anti-Darwinism". We are talking about the speech of Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Deputy Director of the Central Economics and Mathematics Institute G.B. Kleiner. Speaking in this speech about the knowledge economy as an upcoming stage in the economic development of society, the author highlights the following features:
Individualization of goods;
Individualization of transactions;
Variety of knowledge functions;
Personalization of knowledge;
The need for a professional environment for knowledge producers;
A combination of rivalry and cooperation between agents in the knowledge market. If in the economy wealth the competitiveness of producers is important, then in the knowledge economy it is the ability to cooperate, i.e. concordance;
Instead of competition between enterprises and corporate conflicts, there is “co-competition” and “competition”*.
Explaining these features, G.B. Kleiner focuses on the fact that “in the knowledge economy, we can no longer consider competition as the dominant mode of relations between enterprises. The combination of competition and cooperation, the combination of cooperation and rivalry - this is a fundamentally new point to which I would like to draw the attention of those present. Competition is only one side of the coin. Yes, competition is important, but not all-encompassing. Without cooperation, as well as without competition, the existence of a modern economy in general and a knowledge economy, all the more, is impossible. Developing this idea, the author notes significant shifts in the theoretical basis of economic science: “Environmental social formations play a significant role in the new economic paradigms: institutions, knowledge, beliefs, systems of trust and cooperation, various kinds of integration clubs and networks. It should be noted that the latter unite not only agents - consumers and producers, but also various levels of the economy, including the state and enterprises. Let us fix this idea, since it is extremely important for our subsequent analysis of the situation on the educational services market.
As one of the arguments, the author notes the change in the modern marketing paradigm - from defeating competitors to creating a value system together with the consumer, which, from his point of view, means a new ideology of the economy as an integral organism. And here again there is a need to return to the aforementioned round table and refer to the statement of Academician G.A. Zavarzin, that “the goal is to achieve harmony as a necessary condition for sustainability” . Isn't it a pretty clear parallel?
Does the above mean that competition in market position enterprises cease to play a key role? Let us turn again to the speech of G.B. Kleiner: “The main part of competitive advantages should be of a potential nature, i.e. be used if necessary. Just as the achievement of nuclear parity between countries contributed to the preservation of peace both between them and throughout the world, the presence of competitive advantages for an enterprise should prevent unleashing a competitive war with it. Concluding such an abundant quotation, we note only the author’s unusual view of the problem of competitiveness: “An enterprise, as you know, is called competitive if it has the ability to take its rightful place in the competition with other enterprises for a sufficiently long period. Accordingly, an enterprise is not competitive if it does not have such opportunities. However, it is more important for an objective assessment of an enterprise that it has opportunities for long-term development outside the competition! At the same time, we understand development as the functioning of an enterprise in a market environment, accompanied by active innovative reproduction processes. It is natural to call such an enterprise non-competitive, i.e. able to function and develop, as it were, “without the help” of competitors, regardless of them, i.e. out of competition. A good runner, by precise definition, is not the one who beats his rivals, but the one who develops high speed without any rivals!
Now let's turn to the current situation in the market of educational services. It seems most correct to analyze this situation from the perspective of the system of continuous education, understanding by it not only the concept of “lifelong learning”, but also the relationship between different levels of education. So, let's consider the system of school education and, above all, the burning problem of the transition of schools to specialized education. It should immediately be noted that, theoretically, schools, as is known, are included in the non-market model of economic relations in education, and therefore should not be subjects of the educational services market. Nevertheless, almost every school offers a set of paid educational services, which means that it acts as a market entity interested in attracting as many consumers of these services as possible. Consequently, the school, like other educational institutions, is included in the competition and also uses certain models of competitive behavior. Moreover, in the conditions of the “demographic hole”, the struggle for the consumer of services means no longer additional, but the main income, since the amount of budgetary funds allocated to an educational institution is directly dependent on the student population.
At the regional and municipal levels, the concept of specialized education involves the development of models and mechanisms for its implementation based on the principle of ensuring the variability of education. As you know, three such models are offered:
One-profile educational institution;
Multidisciplinary educational institution;
Network organization (this model is implemented in two versions - "Resource Center" and "School - institution of additional education - university").
So, the child is studying at school, not yet realizing that it is one-profile and this “one profile” does not coincide with his future choice. As soon as this understanding comes, the child is faced with a choice, to move to another school or "step on the throat of his own song" and change his profile. Isn't it a depressing picture? The school is also having a hard time: “their own” students who prefer a different profile are forced to move to another school, and in order to ensure the filling of classes, it is necessary to specially recruit “foreign” children who will transfer from other schools. Thus, in our opinion, the model of one-profile training does not stand up to criticism.
The advantages of a multidisciplinary educational institution are obvious, but providing a multidisciplinary educational institution is economically feasible only in new schools, where more than two parallels of high school students study, or in entrepreneurial-oriented general education institutions, where there is a board of trustees and there is additional non-budgetary funding for the school. In the conditions of the “demographic hole” that has come, few schools will be able to provide the variability of education with a minimum contingent of students. The disadvantage of multidisciplinary, in our opinion, lies in the difficulty of providing the educational process in the specialized classes of one school with the necessary resources, including personnel. Hence the decline in the quality of profile education. Nevertheless, according to the results of the distribution of experimental schools in the Southern Educational District of Moscow according to the models for the implementation of specialized education, 56% of schools chose the model of a multidisciplinary educational institution (Fig.).
Rice. Distribution of the experimental schools of the Southern Urals District by models of the implementation of specialized education (according to the department of the strategy for the development of educational institutions of the Southern Urals District)
The most effective, in our opinion, is the network organization model. It should be noted that the idea of a resource center has been worked out by specialists from the perspective of its application in the system of pre-university education since 1993. Thus, it was during this period of time that two Moscow schools of the South-Western educational district of Moscow, located in the neighborhood, tried to combine efforts to prepare students to universities. In the first school there was preparation for economic universities, in the second - for technical ones. Each student was engaged in the chosen program of additional education after classes on the basis of either their own school or a neighboring one.
At present, it is proposed to consider as a resource center both one of the schools in the microdistrict, the most technically or personnel-equipped, and an educational institution of a different educational level, which has the resources necessary for the implementation of specialized education. In the first case, we have an example of competitive relations in the segment general education implemented as a model of horizontal integration, in the second - an example of vertical integration.
Another view of the network organization is reflected in the program for the phased introduction of specialized training in educational institutions of the Southern District of Moscow. When organizing network interaction between educational institutions, the program developers proceed from the following provisions: the network is created and maintained by common issues that are of interest to all members of the network; each of the network nodes offers its own vision of a particular problem and its solution, while using other network nodes as an additional resource. Thus, the concept of a network node arises, which is defined by the developers as an educational institution that meets the following requirements:
Has its own resources and infrastructure to implement the content of its educational model;
Understands the partiality of its content and sees an opportunity to use additional resources at the expense of other network nodes.
Accordingly, the network interaction of educational institutions can be carried out on the basis of:
implementation of the educational process;
use of material and technical resources;
attraction of personnel;
application of information and communication technologies.
Thus, the proposed network model reflects the presence of not a single resource center, but a group of owners of certain resources that enter into a relationship of exchanging them - that is, in a competitive relationship. And if so, then optimal shape In a competitive network model, it would be correct to consider a ring of resource centers interconnected and basing their own activities on a compatible software and technological base. This implies the expediency of designing a ring of resource centers as the basis of a unified district educational system.
It should be noted that the idea of a resource center or a network organization of such ideally corresponds to the very paradigm of competitive relations and perfectly extends to all levels of education, being embodied in models and horizontal and vertical integration. So, considering the system of higher professional education, we note that it is by no means economically profitable for every university to keep its own printing base, meanwhile, providing the educational process with educational and methodological materials is both one of the important licensing requirements and an indicator of the quality of education. Hence the expediency of partnerships between universities, in which one acts as a customer, and the other as a executor of printing work. Ideally, these relations may not be limited to polygraphy, but extend to the formation of a common educational and methodological resource. Of particular relevance is the idea of a resource center in the field of education using new information educational technologies(e-learning), since the development of e-learning courses is truly expensive. Both the exchange of courses and the development of "general" courses by the efforts of interuniversity authors' teams can significantly reduce the costs of creating the content of an educational program. Of course, in this case, a number of issues need to be resolved, especially in terms of intellectual property management, but the benefits of such competition between universities are obvious.
Competitive processes also extend to models of vertical integration. As you know, the system of lifelong education involves a wide interaction of educational institutions that implement various forms and levels of education. These are schools and colleges, colleges and universities, schools and universities, etc. The most common model of cooperation is the educational model "school - university". On its basis, schools and universities implement a variety of educational programs: from preparation for a university to in-depth study of a number of special disciplines on the basis of a school, followed by study at a university according to an individual plan. Educational activities is carried out, as a rule, on the basis of an agreement between the school and the university, with the involvement of university teachers, and on the terms of compensation for the costs of education by the parents of students. The demand for joint educational programs is large and is able to provide an influx of non-budgetary financial resources into the school.
Currently, as has been shown, schools are moving to profile education. At the same time, it is stated that it is neither training for a university, nor vocational education. However, we believe that one does not exclude the other and, if the educational process is properly organized, does not lead to an overload of students. In contrast to the approach in which children have to “profile” at school, and then go to university preparatory courses, while not receiving any basics at all. professional knowledge. In the process of constructing a model of lifelong education at the Moscow Financial and Industrial Academy, we have done a tremendous amount of work to align the didactic units of educational programs at various educational levels. And we can say with full confidence that profile education is perfectly complemented by the parallel development of the program of secondary vocational education (of course, not in full), in any case, if we are talking about the socio-economic profile and such specialties of secondary vocational education as “Management” or “Economics and Accounting”, or the IT profile and specialty “Automated Information Processing and Management Systems”. Of course, all this is possible only by ensuring the consistency and continuity of mastering the material while avoiding its duplication, which involves scrupulous joint work of departments of educational institutions of various educational levels responsible for the content of education, educational and methodological support and organization of the educational process. At the same time, the requirements for the structure and content of educational and methodological support increase, since the student must master a certain amount of material on his own. Teachers, in turn, are required to teach the student the correct and effective independent work competent use of various information resources.
How do preparation for university and the professionalization of specialized training have to do with competition processes?
Firstly, the “demographic hole” makes the number of children in the final grades who want to study in the same profile (and therefore choose the same university) insufficient to ensure the economic feasibility of the project of joint provision of educational services.
Secondly, profile education still does not have its own methodological support, while many university developments could be quite effective for solving the problems of profiling.
Thirdly, issues of professional orientation are closely correlated with issues of career guidance, which cannot be resolved by schools themselves and, as it turns out now, cannot be completely resolved by universities without the participation of the employer.
Fourthly, today they are already trying to tie profiling to the prospective needs of the labor market, which makes this task impossible for schools.
Thus, strategic alliances are required, including partnerships between schools, universities, employers and local authorities. state power and management. The latter should be responsible for state priorities in terms of training specialists.
It should be noted that local alliances of this kind exist in the market of educational services. For example, on the basis of Education Center No. 1694, educational services are provided for training in a number of universities according to a single program agreed with the participating universities. The teaching process involves teachers from all universities that are members of this alliance. Universities recognized the quality of training children under a single program. In fact, this is the implementation of the concept of an interuniversity center, which we described in detail in the monograph “Education in a market environment: the concept of an educational institution” (M., 2002). This concept is based on an interuniversity agreement that regulates the procedure for conducting pre-university training and contains a listing of:
additional opportunities for admission to the budgetary department (passing out of the competition; an additional point when participating in the competition; participation in olympiads and other events equated to entrance exams according to the current regulations and instructions of the Ministry of Education and Science);
additional opportunities for admission on a contractual basis - financial (discounts, payment in installments, the possibility of transferring to a budget department or a 100% discount in tuition fees in case of excellent academic performance) and organizational (passing out of the competition; additional points when participating in the competition; enrollment by interview results, etc.).
The organizational aspects of training in the interuniversity center are as follows.
1. The student is preparing to enter several participating universities at the same time, for a group of specialties (of course, preparation for economic specialties will differ from preparation for mathematical, natural sciences, etc.).
2. Preparation is carried out on the basis of an agreement between the parties concerned. The student concludes an agreement with the interuniversity center, if it acts as a legal entity; in the event that such a center is a structural subdivision of the university and is not authorized to conclude contracts, the contract is concluded with the university itself, on the basis of which this structural subdivision. The contract contains references to an agreement between the interested parties.
3. The student receives a training program approved by the participating universities, and the necessary educational and methodological support. The training program includes an in-depth study of disciplines relevant to the participating universities, mandatory career guidance classes, trainings and business games - the “highlights” of the participating universities.
4. Classes are held on a modular basis: the module includes introductory lectures held at each participating university, and the development of material in practical classes with the involvement of school teachers - tutors.
Let's consider what opportunities are acquired by interested parties in the implementation of such a model.
The benefit for the student is obvious - he has more opportunities to enter both the budgetary and non-budgetary departments of the participating universities. In addition, during the period of study, he gets acquainted in detail with both the chosen specialty and the peculiarities of training in this specialty in all participating universities.
In this case, students' (and their parents') preference for a university is formed under the influence of both price and non-price factors (applicant's impressions of the library fund, university public life, etc.).
The economic interest of the interuniversity center is due to the following factors. First, it is easier to recruit students for integrated training programs than for an educational program for a single university. Secondly, such educational programs make it possible to use the integrated resources of participating universities and thus reduce costs. The other side of the coin is a more complex organization of activities within the framework of the implementation of integrated programs, however, the higher the interest of the participating universities, the greater the support of the project management can be provided.
Finally, the economic interest of participating universities. Already today, in private, confessional and specialized schools (with in-depth study of a foreign language, mathematics, etc.), almost every student is oriented towards a particular university. Both the school and the students are interested in programs integrated with the university, however, due to the extremely small size of the group, the equilibrium price of such programs is not determined.
Since the cost of studying for a university preparation program includes a significant number of overhead costs, it significantly exceeds the cost of a private tutor. Thus, the equilibrium price of integrated programs is formed only in the case of a sufficient number of students, which is provided by the offer of training not in one, but in several universities.
In addition, the "demographic hole" inevitably aggravates the competition of universities not only for non-budgetary, but also for state-funded students. In this case, the most complex function - the recruitment of students - is implemented by a third-party organization. As well as all the management of the learning process for the interuniversity program of pre-university training. In addition, university teachers involved in the educational process are provided with extra-budgetary work.
Universities interested in attracting future students should be ready to provide their own resources (human resources, technical, technological) at reasonable prices, that is, to act as a resource center. For marketing purposes, it is beneficial for them to hold even free events (the university pays for the costs of holding such events together with students from the system of pre-university training of the university itself).
I should note that the implementation of the concept of an interuniversity center is a very difficult task, requiring enormous communication efforts and the gift of persuasion. In the process of interaction with universities, university snobbery appears as an unexpected phenomenon, which consists in the unwillingness to delegate to anyone the educational process for preparing for a university, because "except for ourselves, no one can prepare for our university." Universities are very careful about delegation marketing functions, seeing this as "an encroachment on the general segment of the market." Often the communication process comes to a standstill due to the bureaucratization of numerous approvals. If the structural subdivision of the university responsible for pre-university training tries to solve this problem, it is “suspected” by the participating universities that in the process of preparation, applicants recruited for admission to several universities will eventually be oriented to one. This task is somewhat easier to solve by a third-party independent educational organization of an entrepreneurial type.
Nevertheless, it is precisely such interuniversity centers, due to their mobility, simplicity of organizational structure and efficiency of management, that are able to take on a coordinating role in complex competitive processes of university interaction in order to implement pre-university education programs, help schools in the transition to specialized education and applicants in vocational guidance And right choice its further path.
As we see, the cementing basis of the activity of the interuniversity center is also the idea of a resource center, and the most viable, from our point of view, is its network organization.
Let us consider one more aspect of the development of competition in the market of educational services. The onset of the "demographic hole" led to the close attention of entrepreneurial universities to corporate training programs (in order to interact with business) and postgraduate educational programs. Their activation in universities, in our opinion, will be accompanied by the following processes:
Mutual incorporation of education and business and the creation of strategic alliances "university - enterprise";
Promotion of universities to corporate universities with short-term educational programs of an applied nature (mainly today there is an interest in trainings); development of competitive or competitive relations with professional training centers, inclusion of “freelancers” (trainers and consultants working on the market as “free artists”) into the orbit of their own activities;
Attempts to create areas of business consulting in universities, which in turn will entail either entry into competition or the development of competitive relations with specialized companies providing business consulting.
And finally, let us turn to the most important world trend - the globalization of education and its consequence - the rapid development of the export of educational services in a number of countries. As you know, the globalization of education is in direct connection with the emergence of online universities and the development of transnational education. According to the Australian scientist G. McBurney, as a representative of the exporting country of transnational education, it is “a difficult topic of debate. Importing nations invent regulatory legislation for different reasons including consumer protection, protection of local education systems and quality assurance. Exporters create codes of ethics and look after the reputation of their institutions as they operate in the international arena. International organizations such as UNESCO, as well as non-governmental and private international organizations such as International Union transnational education adhere to the principles of good practice in transnational education” .
Meanwhile, in 1999, 35 out of 38 Australian universities reported providing 750 transnational courses (a compelling example of competition, isn't it?). By 2000, the number of enrolled students was approximately 32,000 (trained both on site and remotely) plus 6,250 people studying only remotely.
The globalization of education attracts the attention of the largest international institutions and organizations: UNESCO, the UN, the World Bank, the Council of Europe, etc. International relations in the field of education are intensifying: they are aimed at the quality and accessibility of education, ensuring recognition of the equivalence of diplomas, and overcoming national barriers.
According to experts, in the coming years, the education of foreign students in a number of countries will become one of the most profitable sectors of the economy. As for Russia, as we know, despite the availability of technical, technological, and substantive support for the export of educational services, a significant breakthrough in the provision of educational services to foreign students through e-learning has not yet been noted. In this regard, it is impossible to ignore another opportunity to develop the export of educational services - through the activation of competitive processes with stakeholders from the "near" and "far" abroad and the initiation of innovative educational projects in the format of international cooperation.
Perhaps it is the integration processes in education that will play a decisive positive role in the processes of reforming the domestic education system. And then the economics of education, like modern biology, will record the rejection of such tactical models of competitive behavior as offensive and defensive in favor of models of ordered effective interaction and cooperation.
Literature
competitive educational professional
1. Is there natural selection? (Materials of the round table) // Higher education in Russia. - 2006. - No. 7.
2. Is there natural selection? (Materials of the round table) // Higher education in Russia. - 2006. - No. 8.
3. McBurney G. Globalization as a political paradigm of higher education // Higher education today. - 2001. - No. 1.
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