Academic Matters

H6612- ENVIRONMENT SCANNING REPORT ON LAUNCHING AN ENLISH LANGUAGE ISLAMIC EDUCATION CENTRE

Environmental scanning is often defined as the acquirement and usage of information from the organization’s external environment (Choo and Auster 1993).In the present day, the external environment could not be completely ignored because of the volatility of the environment and scanning identifies an organization’s potential threats and opportunities. The external environment of an organization includes all the external factors which could influence the decision making process (Duncan 1972). The external environment varies for differing organizations and is usually dependent on the organization size and industry.

The media hype, especially after the 9/11 tragedy, created a worldwide information awareness on the Muslims and the Islamic religion. In America, thousands of non-Muslims have accepted invitations to visit mosques and many have enrolled for the weekly lessons held for non-Muslims in Islamic Centre, Boston (Middle East Media & Research Institute, 2001). This paper aims to identify the information gathered from the environment and thus deduce the feasibility of launching a niche for an Islamic English Educational Centre for adults in Singapore.

The 2005 official statistics recorded that 85 %( 2.5 million) of the population is at least 15 years old with 83.6 %( 2.1 million) having at least primary school education. The national unemployment rate in June 2006 at 3.4% is the lowest in 5 years with median gross monthly income of full-time workers at $2,170. This figure, after inflation consideration, is an increase of 2.2% p.a. over the past decade. This implies that 83.6% of Singaporeans above 15 years old understood Basic English and could enrol for the proposed courses. The increase in median wage of the population could lead to a forecast of higher disposable income which could be a major factor in deciding the course fees.

Singapore has the most competitive economy in Asia based on the Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007. The 2006 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita at $44,765 is an increase of 6.4% annually. The government forecast that the economy will continue to grow at a healthy rate and thus, Singaporeans will have confidence to spend more. Singapore, an education hub with the government encouraging lifelong learning, has 2,900 educational centres with an average size of 17 employees and an average operating surplus of $250,600. Launching an educational centre in Singapore is seen as a profitable business and has high chances of profitability.

The proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) hike, an increase of 2% from the current 5% will hit a number of enterprises. However enterprises with turnovers of less than $1 million need not register for GST. A small educational centre targeted turnover during the first five years will be lesser than $1 million. The data will be reviewed in a year time to forecast a more accurate targeted turnover.

The launch of Windows Vista operating system by Microsoft is another factor which contributes higher take-up rate of e-learning. The latest Window Vista is user friendly and provides more computing power to the end user thus there will be minimal glitches for e-learning.

There is no official market research done on the local Islamic Educational Centres. Initiatives to call up The Muslim Converts’ Association of Singapore and Singapore Islamic Scholars & Religious Teachers Association (PERGAS) revealed a positive trend in the take-up rate of the Islamic courses. The admin staff of PERGAS confirmed that the current classes have to hold in other premises due to high registrants. Most of the English seminars in the premises of The Muslim Converts’ Association of Singapore, received overwhelming responses from other individuals of differing religion. This positive demand for Islamic courses could possibility be turn to profits and organization should thus concentrate on the English Language niche.

There are so many branches and tenets of Islamic curriculum which could be further developed by the educational centre. Environmental scanning of competitors’ programs range from the short-term seminars to four years bachelor degree. Most of the current program emphasized on the general practices of Islamic faith and short duration seminars/workshops are the most popular. The organization thus can embark on short duration seminar/workshops first and does a general population interest survey later.

It is noted that there is a growing trend of local banks adopting the Islamic banking system. Thus, the centre can embarked on developing introductory courses on Islamic finance and the study of Islamic laws governing it.

The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) set up the Asatizah (religious teacher) Recognition Board (ARB) in 2005 to eradicate the growth of incorrect Islamic teachings by unaccredited individuals. The board oversees the professional conduct of all approved religious teachers in the performance of their teachings and religious services to the community. Recruiting the suitable manpower is crucial and only qualified religious teachers recognized by the ARB will be employed by the organization.

Informal search on the internet revealed that there are at least only six other English Islamic educational centres catered for Adults. Formal search could not be done as there is no official directory of the private Islamic institutions. Searches done on the advertorial in the local newspaper led to discovery of many private Islamic institutions, however none caters to courses conducted in the English Language. Thus, the educational centre could focus on this niche as there is little competition and it will be easier to develop a brand name.

In the personal call made to PERGAS earlier, the admin staff could not remember of any new entrants failing. Thus, it is concluded that there are minimal barrier of entry to the industry and there is little rivalry among the existing centres because each programs caters to different group of individual. Organization could easily penetrate the industry with lesser resistance and thus more resources will be spend on developing quality programs.

The government’s publications are used because of the reliability and accuracy of such documents. Newspaper and the internet are useful sources in finding up-to-date articles. One-one-communication with industry’s experts provides a fast and reliable source of unpublished information. The need for reliability grows with the demand for specific and actionable information (Choo 1998).

The four modes of environment scanning is simultaneously utilized to gather the most accurate and critical information. Subject experts are a vital source for up-to-date information and gaining industry’s insight.

Starting a local English Islamic Educational Centre is recommended as there are obvious growth opportunities for the organization. Catering courses to the English Speaking population is a niche and should be developed further with recommendations from accredited religious bodies.

The four modes of environment scanning and using various sources are recommended to get critical information for the organization’s stability and ability to turn threats to its advantage. Environment scanning is a continuous process and information gathered for this report should be reviewed periodically to stay competent in the industry and to project an accurate organizational forecast.