Innovation and Change Management: Banqer
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This study will focus on an online financial education software which is based in New Zealand. The study will highlight its mission, vision, objectives and its external environment. It will also outline impact of the internal environment and will lastly recommend certain new types of innovation that can be used by the company.
History
Banqer evolved out of the extensive rise of the financially illiterate children of the society which has ramifications with it. Banqer is a simulated online banking for classroom that provides helps on ecology for the kids in order to make them creative, curious and confident with money. It pays the students for providing positive behavior and completing the tasks that are assigned in the classroom (Banqer, 2017). With the students, they explore budgeting as they educate themselves with the valuable skills of their life by the management of their desks receiving payment for the privileges of the class. Students aging from 2 to 8 explore various topics that range from savings, interest, and tax to the insurance.
Products and services
Banqer allows the students to gain knowledge about the financial literacy responsibility in an extremely engaging and an immersive manner. As far as the product is concerned it is an online software which is concerned with education which the teachers and the students prefer (Banqer, 2017).
Mission, Vision, objectives
The mission lies in improving the financial capabilities of the entire world. Thus making the students well aware of the financial aspects.
The vision statement is associating the teachers in order to make Banqer the best.
The objective is to improve Banqer’s space within the domain of where they are positioned now and collaborating with certain movers and shakers in order to understand the worth and the potential of Banqer. Their goal lies in gaining direct experience in terms of education, technology, finance and design (Banqer, 2017).
In the year 2016, the main focus of Banqer was in building partnerships both in the financial services as well as in the allied industries. The students in this industry were capable of buying and investing in the virtual properties as they might need to mortgage and earn rental income in order to pay off the amount they have borrowed.
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Political factors
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Economic factors
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Social factors
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Technological factors
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Legal factors
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Environmental factors
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Political factors
When a certain company begins its business in this country, it takes into consideration political system, the economic stability along with the law and order of the country so that it can provide the economic strength to the trade and business. As New Zealand has a stable government so there is a huge chance of success due to the impactful rules and the regulations. Hence, the chances of Banqer’s success is immense. The New Zealand government had conducted changes in the education administration and introduced special education policy along with other policies (Ministry of Education, 2017). The policies and political stability of New Zealand would promote Banqer as the country aims to achieve inclusive education system (Banqer, 2017).
Economic factors
The economic condition of New Zealand is excellent with 3.5% GDP growth as in 2014 (Tradingeconomics, 2017). Due to the huge population of the country the resources are abundantly available. The products are economical in nature and are easily afforded by everyone. The unemployment is quite high at 3.5% in spite of literacy rate of 99% in the country. Banqer can easily appoint skilled staffs who are willing to work. The company would be able to promote the educational tool in the country to further literate children and decrease unemployment.
Social factors-
The social system of New Zealand is such which is dependent on business with the other countries.As it depends on other countries for technology so it makes them spend quite an amount on the work of research and development. As the banking system is extremely strong so allows foreign direct investment in the country (Banqer, 2017). Banquer would be impacted by the social status of New Zealand as education imparted using technology would ensure welfare of the country.
Technological factors-
The country has an effective educational system. With the help of the technological advancements it has introduced IT and the use of Internet which has helped Banqer in the provision of its service in this country (Richard, 2012). Due to the various online education facilities it has increased the rate if literacy to almost 99% which is more than most of the countries. Ministry of New Zealand had also launched a program named Enrollment for Education Solutions (EES) to provide licensed program for software which is beneficial for Banqer (Dashper, 2017).
Legal factors-
As the government changes after every three years so there is an establishment of new laws and regulations (Moskovitz, 2016). The Education Legislation Amendment Act 2016 and Education Act 1989 positively impacted Banqer as educational institutes abide by the laws and plan and digitalized their educational status using software (Martin, 2016).
Environmental factor-
People of New Zealand are well aware of the unique ecological system. People have adopted the latest technology in order to cope up with the garbage and helps to not pollute the atmosphere (Crossley, et al., 2015). Certain initiatives are taken in order to make the country free from pollution and dust which is also abided by Banqer.
The SWOT analysis is an effective framework to understand how a company in sector compare its internal and external conditions within an industry. Banqer as a startup has been effective in simulating financial exercises and helping students to gain literacy in the topic and subject. The following contains a brief discussion about its various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Strengths
The major strength of the start-up has been to understand the key to develop STEM (Science and Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) among school kids. In this regard, the company has tried to the bridge the gap that was noted in the endeavours to focus on these subjects in Australian and New Zealand school systems. Another major strength of the company has been word-of-mouth marketing that helped built its credibility, mostly because the teachers who had tried the system understood its ingenuity and efficiency (startupdaily, 2015). The company has also grown on the basis of its partnerships with renowned firms like those in real estate to develop modules for students and attract more kids who would be more interested in such subjects.
What has also worked for Banqer is their simple pay model which starts at free of cost for the initial trial period after which 3.5 dollars are charged per student per semester, which can reduce down to 2 dollars if the student signs up for multiple semesters (stuff.co.nz, 2015). It has also partnered with Kiwibank in order to provide better flexibility to students who cannot support their subscription fees.
Weaknesses
One of the major weaknesses can be noted is the lack of diversification in the kinds of services that are offered. At present, the company is only focussed in the financing subject which could pose problems for the company. Another problem that can be noted is to rope in the appropriate investor for the project. The company is looking to reach a high saturation point before entering into other markets. In this regard, it is looking for investors who can form part of the team but also who need to understand the basic concept of the start-up and not meddle with the inherent strategy of the company.
Another initial challenge that had proved to be a weakness in the past was to change the attitude of the schools and parents. While expanding, such a challenge can also be felt in other countries as well.
Opportunities:
The opportunities for the company have already been identified by one of the co-founders, Kendall Flutey. She has noted that the opportunities lie in expanding the services on a global scale starting with Australia and moving on to the United States. She has also noted that since United States place emphasis on financial based learning, it would be profitable for the business to consider expanding there (Robson, 2016). While finding investors can be an issue while expanding, crowd-funding might also be looked into as a possible source of investment and finding the right of investors who are as motivated on making education convenient rather than making profits.
Threats
The biggest threat is possibly the over-dependence on the online medium as with the various technological advances, there are several ways, nowadays, in which hackers might interrupt and pose problems for the company and the novelty which had made it successful in the first place. The novelty that has worked for Banqer can also change quickly as more companies see the profit generating capabilities and develop their own versions and certainly with technological advances, there might be better options as well.
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With the considerable advances in the technological aspects and the ways in which communication is being impacted all over the world, it would be particularly relevant for the company to administer certain changes and develop modules that are more student specific. One of the recent developments that have been made is the CV writing and application process that the company is providing within simulated environments (McNicol, 2016). What is really interesting to note in this regard is the emphasis on student-teacher interaction which is the value of this innovation to the organization. However, the modules and the courses can be noted to be developed on a comprehensive level, and probably it would be hugely beneficial if specific modules are created keeping in mind the specific abilities and needs of the students.
Another important aspect has been the developments in the curriculum innovation that is changing the education on global levels. What had been considered to be the most important subjects in school are now being regarded as auxiliary to the main subjects. So, it would be a naturally evolutionary process to incorporate the various developments that are being made all around the world in order to stay updated with the recent developments.
The most effective strategy to motivate the innovation would be to develop a basic plan that is flexible in order to incorporate the changes that are being made on a daily basis. In this context, it can be recommended that the company regularly set up meetings with the schools and the educational experts in order to gain a more comprehensive knowledge about the developments that are being made on a global scale.
Also, in order to incorporate the changes that are required to be made in terms of providing personal assistance, it would probably be recommended to set up one-to-one sessions with the students in order to understand their personal lacks and how those can be overcome through effective sessions. The task might be tedious at first, but the whole process can be streamlined if teachers are integrated within the system and involved.
Banqer has been one of the most efficient online programs in the recent past that has sought to redefine financial literacy for the students. It has been successful in the New Zealand market and hopes to expand. However, the threats of replication can be major problem. In this regard, the company can start innovating and customize their modules to suit the needs of the students.