Free Essay Sample on Macro Audit

Macro describes the external aspects that are likely to affect an organizational performance which in this case is Union County College. Since the institution cannot regulate such factors, the management is often forced to align their strategies with the situation at a particular time. Although external factors often create challenges by increasing uncertainties, it has been proven that they are also able to create new opportunities (Denisa & Jaroslav). These factors are demographic, economic, environmental, technological, political and cultural.

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Demographic

Being a community college, a significant population of Union County College students comes from Union County. According to the recent statistics, the district can be rated as the third fasted growing in Ohio, for instance in 2016 the population has reached 55,877. A close evaluation of the countys demographic trends since 1970, where it dropped steadily until 1990 and started rising again implies that the population will continue to expand in future. The increase in population can be attributed to high birth rates, high life expectancy as well as immigration (Unio County OHIO, 2016). Therefore, other than the enlarged size, the population is also heterogeneous i.e. multiple races and ethnic groups. Such a situation presents opportunities as well as challenges to Union college performance.

The opportunity that increased population and diversity possess is an expansion of the market that the organization can serve. Heterogeneous population often have multiple interests which create new demands that the college can incorporate into their operations. The outcome will be increased applications hence, allowing the college to select only the best students. However, the circumstance can pose challenges to the organization as it might put a lot of strain on the available resources thus reducing the quality of the output (Keller & Kotler).

Economic

Statistics indicate that unemployment rate in Union County has risen in the recent years to 9%; this means that the countys GDP has also decreased accordingly. Given that the countys essential facilities such As hospitals must be catered for, the officials are likely to increase taxes which makes life more expensive. The college needs to ascertain whether the problem is temporal or permanent. In case it is permanent, the institution needs to a curriculum that prepares graduates for self-employment.

Environment

Although the government caters for a significant proportion of Union colleges operational costs, it has not managed to help the college enough to prevent its environmental adversities. For instance, lack of campus hostels and shuttle services forces most students to use their transportation. The outcome has been congestion in the available parking space as well as environmental pollution through over-exploitation of fuel and air pollution. Although no plans are underway to eliminate the issue, the college has incorporated several environmental conservation courses.

Technological

Over the years, Union College has been adopting advanced technologies to keep up with the changing environment. Two of the major technologies are ANGEL and TLD programming. The former was adopted in 2008 with an objective of making learning easier for students. The latter has been adopted in 2016; it prepares learners for the job market by correlating the requirements in the job market with the curriculum. The organization has taken leading positions in both programs.

Political

In the past the amount of government funding to colleges were determined by the number of enrollment. However, today they are dependent on the goals and priorities of the state. Such a change has forced the institution to improve the quality of education by aligning the curriculum with the job markets. Through the corporate social responsibility, the college has taken part in environment conservation by raising the publics awareness regarding the importance of environmental sustainability.

Culture

Since Union countys population is highly diverse, there are multiple interests concerning higher education; such a scenario has created new demands in that the college has created new courses which have increased the size of the market it serves. However, the labor force trends are likely to homogenize the differing interests because employers seem to be demanding for a specialized and flexible workforce.

References

Denisa, L., & Jaroslav, D. (n.d.). Marketing Audit and Factors Influencing Its Use in the practice of companies(from an Expert Point of View). Retrieved from http://www.cjournal.cz/files/149.pdf

Keller, K. L., & Kotler, P. (n.d.). Marketing Management. Retrieved from http://socioline.ru/files/5/283/kotler_keller_-_marketing_management_14th_edition.pdf

Unio County OHIO. (2016). Demographics. Demographics. Retrieved from http://www.unioncounty.org/economic-development/why-union-county/demographics/