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MAJOR PUGET SOUND BUSINESSES
Written By:
Jennifer Place
Avi Dhinsa
Lynette Porch
Bryan Vrana
Jason GardnerExecutive Summary
Puget Sound businesses are a very important stakeholder group to investigate when considering the University of Washington, Bothell as a brand. They represent future employers, promoters, consultants, and donators to the University. Area businesses provide the University of Washington, Bothell with a link to life outside of the campus.
To research this significant stakeholder group a questionnaire consisting of twenty-six probing questions was designed and distributed to twenty local corporations. The questions were designed to find out participants perceptions and awareness of UWB; their opinions of UWB’s credibility and communication efforts; and the general opinions of businesses regarding higher education. Sixteen corporations representing a broad range of industries replied either by phone or email.
The results of this survey display local corporation’s insights into UWB. Most of the respondents had knowledge of UWB and felt the quality of education was comparable to that of other local universities. They had no knowledge of the faculty or administration at UWB and had never seen the school’s website. Advertising, friends, family and colleagues had informed the participant of UWB’s existence. Good communication skills and the ability to work in teams were stated frequently as important qualities for a student to posses. Finally, most corporations felt that establishing a relationship with local universities was very important.
After analyzing the research findings, several recommendations emerged. These included: developing joint effort classes with local businesses, increasing the internship program, distributing informational packets, and strengthening the relationship between the career center and businesses.
Despite its ten years of existence, UWB has had little impact on Puget Sound businesses. Developing a strong brand can help to remedy this. The above recommendations can help to establish UWB as a professional, desirable brand with positive attributes. An identifying slogan, “Size does matter- Come to UWB for a quality, world-class education”, can also help to increase awareness of UWB.
Introduction
Puget Sound Businesses are an important stakeholder group to consider when analyzing the University of Washington, Bothell (UWB) as a brand. These businesses represent possible future employers for students; donators to the institution; consultants to the faculty, staff, and students; and promoters of UWB. Local corporations provide an essential link between the University of Washington, Bothell and the business world. Puget Sound Businesses are an essential group to examine because of the many relationships they provide to UWB.
Research Methodology
To thoroughly investigate local Puget Sound Businesses, a hands-on approach was utilized. A survey consisting of 26 different questions was constructed to probe the thoughts of local businessmen and women (See Appendix A). The questions consisted of six different categories, the combination of which was essential to providing a global view of UWB from the participant’s perspective.
The first section of the questionnaire consisted of three introduction questions; the purpose of which was to get general information from the participants, as well as narrowing their focus to the point at hand. The next category consisted of one prompting question to ascertain whether the participant had knowledge of UWB. Depending on the answer to the prompting question, the participant either continued on to a general questions category – to learn the participant’s general views of college students, or on to specific UWB questions (See Appendix B). The specific UWB section contained perception/awareness, communication, and credibility questions. These questions are the most vital element in the survey, as they deal specifically with the information that businesses know and understand about UWB.
To obtain the answers to these vital questions, twenty local corporations were targeted to respond to the survey. Businesses were chosen by their representation of many different industries and also where contacts were available. The many industries represented include insurance, high-tech, aerospace, software, medical, retail, and telecommunication, to name a few. Sixteen companies responded to the survey either by telephone or by email. These companies included: Farmers Insurance, Safeco, Starbucks, Schwindt Enterprises, Entex, Conversay, Boeing, Holland America, AT&T Wireless, WRQ,Inc., Bank of America, Swedish Medical, Getty Images, Real Networks, Phillip Morris, USA, and Costco (See Appendix C). The results of these surveys will provide insights into the knowledge, opinions, and thoughts of local businesses regarding the University of Washington, Bothell.
Research Findings
Awareness/Perception. All but one of the participants had knowledge of UWB and most had knowledge of the Tacoma campus. Although they had heard of UWB, most did not know any specific details about it. None of the businesses had any information about the faculty or administration. Of the programs the University of Washington, Bothell offers, most of the corporations knew of the Business program, although some had knowledge of the Nursing, Technical, and Education programs. The majority of corporations listed a smaller campus, older and commuter students, less extracurricular activities, and less class offerings as the main differences between the Seattle and Bothell campuses.
Communication. The participants knew of UWB from advertising, friends, family, and colleagues. For most of the respondents other corporations had not informed them of UWB. None had used the UWB website.
Credibility. All of the corporations interviewed felt that UWB provided a quality, credible education to its students. They would take a student from UWB just as seriously as from other universities. The participants also felt that the quality of UWB’s programs were comparable or better to other local schools. Most participants viewed UWB as having the same quality as the University of Washington, Seattle. When asked how they would rate UWB compared to other local schools, one participant answered, “The same as I would the UW main campus, a higher quality of learning than most other local schools.”
General-Hiring Practices. Communication skills, the ability to work in teams, and the appropriate skills were listed several times as the most important attributes an applicant should posses. Holding a relevant major was important to some of the businesses, mostly in the technical industries, while others felt any degree would suffice. One respondent replied, “It is not too important unless the job specifically requires it.” Another participant stated, “Just the experience of attending college shows that they have the drive to accomplish something great.” Also, a majority of the businesses felt that the particular school attended wasn’t important When asked if they place an importance on having a degree from a certain college, one respondent said, “No, it’s the degree itself that counts. However, if it’s from a great school that is an added bonus.”
General- Teamwork. An ability to work in teams was cited as very important. Every applicant felt strongly about teamwork. One of the participants said, “Yes… Teamwork is a vital aspect of our workplace.” Another stated, “Teamwork is very important. Our employees have to work together all the time.”
General- Relationships. A majority of the companies interviewed felt that maintaining relationships with universities is very important. Most had already garnered relationships through career centers and contacts while others are still establishing relationships. One major corporation even has a separate department that specifically deals with university relationships. “We partner with universities to discuss job opportunities. We even have a department that specializes in building relationships with universities.”
Puget Sound Businesses - Specific Recommendations
Several recommendations to improve the UWB brand have emerged after analyzing the research findings. Some of these recommendations entail partnering and working with local businesses and others involve an individual effort by the University of Washington, Bothell.
Joint Effort Recommendations.
Establish a joint-class venture with local businesses. This would require a corporation to have direct involvement with a specific course at UWB. The idea of this course would be to apply real-life specifics and current, relevant information to the content of the course. This course would strengthen the relationships between UWB and businesses and also enhance the student’s quality of education.
Strengthen the internship program. This could involve making an internship mandatory for graduation. Internships not only enhance the college experience for the student, they also provide businesses with quality, energetic employees.
Develop stronger contacts and relationships through the career center. This plan involves expanding the career center and making students more aware of what it has to offer. Students can utilize the strong community relationships the career center has with businesses through job shadows, internships and general information sessions.
Individual Effort Recommendations.
Distribute information packets to all area businesses. These packets should contain what programs UWB offers and highlights about UWB students. It also could include the entrance standards, average student scores and demographic information. Basically, this packet should inform the businesses of all the positive attributes of the University of Washington, Bothell.
Strengthen the Bothell career center through cooperation with the UW, Seattle career center. Utilizing Seattle’s established contacts and systems could greatly improve UWB’s career center.
Emphasize UWB’s positive differences via radio, movie preview, and billboard advertisements; high schools; and information packets. The positive differences highlighted could include: smaller class sizes; debate style classes; quality, highly regarded professors; brand-new, state-of-the-art campus; and one-on-one attention from professors.
Conclusion
The University of Washington, Bothell is a relatively new university that needs to establish its own unique image and reputation. Despite its ten years of existence, Puget Sound Businesses know little about UWB. Viewing UWB as a brand and consequently applying all the traditional techniques generally applied to marketing a brand will help UWB establish a positive reputation for itself. The question has been posed, “How would you describe the UWB brand in one sentence?” The attribute of UWB that has appeared most frequently is that of small class sizes and the quality of education that this implies. A one-sentence slogan capturing UWB’s image and outlook is, “Size does matter - Come to the University of Washington, Bothell for a quality, world-class education.” This slogan, along with the recommendations provided above, can greatly improve awareness of UWB and its reputation.
Appendix A-Questionnaire
Introduction Questions
- Rate on a scale of 1-7 how important you feel a college degree is when hiring an applicant.
- What exactly do you feel is the importance of hiring an employee with a college degree?
- Do you place an importance on having a degree from a certain college, if so, which type of college?
Prompting Question
- In the last decade the U of W has expanded to include three campuses.
One of the campuses is in Seattle; do you know where the other two are?
Bothell Advantage Questions
Perception/Awareness
- Do you perceive a difference between the campuses?
6.How would you rate UWB compared to other local schools?
- Do you have knowledge of the faculty at UWB? What are your opinions about the faculty?
- Do you have knowledge of the administration at UWB? What are your opinions about the administration?
9. Do you know what types of programs UWB offers?
Communication Questions
10. How have you heard about UWB?
11. Have other companies informed you about UWB?
12. Have you seen and used our website? - No
13. If so, what did you think of it? Was it effective and informative?
Credibility Questions
14. How seriously do you take a student from UWB?
15. Do you feel UWB has quality programs?
Additional Questions
16. What should UWB do to solicit a better reaction from employers?
17. What do you feel are the negative aspects of UWB, if any?
- What do you particularly like about UWB students applying for a job?
- Would you send your employees to UWB’s master program?
General Questions
- What do you look for an in an applicant?
- How important is holding a relevant major when applying for a position at your company?
- Do you feel that the ability to work in groups is important? In what way?
- Do you think small class sizes improve the quality of education?
- Do you feel that having attended a graduate style (debates, seminar style classes) school makes a difference when hiring an applicant? How so?
25. What is your company philosophy with respect to building relationships with universities?
26. What is the nature of your relationship with universities in this area?
Appendix B-Flow Chart
Appendix C- List of Contacts
AT&T Wireless- Jared Skeith, Account Executive
Bank of America-Esperanza Clymer, Team Lead, NW Region Staffing
Boeing- Rachelle Bluhm, Configuration Change Management
Conversay- Grace Douglas, Recruiting Coordinator
Costco- Robin DeLaVergne, Tax Specialist
Entex- Richard Lyons
Farmers Insurance- Phillip Hicks, Financial Adviser
Getty Images- Todd Stroh, Human Resources Generalist
Holland America- Kim Jensen, Key Account Representative
Phillip Morris, USA- Michelle Woelke, Territorial Sales Manager
Real Networks- Ravi Soin, Program Manager
Safeco- Kimberly Black, Human Resource Coordinator
Schwindt Enterprises-Robert Schwindt
Starbucks- Suzanne Owen, District Manager
Swedish Medical Center-Jeanna Goldberg, Employment Specialist
Swedish Medical Center- Jennifer Tieman, Employment Specialist
WRQ,Inc.- Tim Randall, Partner Account Manager
Appendix E- Transcripts
(AVAILABLE FROM SANDEEP)