[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-594518-105":59,"doc-detail-594518-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","strategic-avoidance-can-universities-learn-from-other-sectors-article","Strategic Avoidance: Can universities learn from other sectors? - Article","","Strategic Avoidance examines how Australian universities face intensified recruitment competition and expanding international providers amid deregulation and uncertainty. It argues that effective planning can draw on cross-sector comparisons and structured processes such as benchmarking, environmental scanning, knowledge management, and risk management. Two complementary approaches are proposed: broaden planning frameworks beyond higher education and use lessons from other sectors’ failures, framing this as “strategic avoidance.” The paper also links these ideas to branding, marketing, and global pressures.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/strategic-avoidance-can-universities-learn-from-other-sectors-article/594518/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/strategic-avoidance-can-universities-learn-from-other-sectors-article/594518.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Aldword","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-19","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why is strategic planning important for universities in the current environment?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Universities face increasing uncertainty, including market deregulation and global competitive pressures. Strategic planning helps identify best practice and guide strategic pursuit through structured organisational processes.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Which processes does the paper associate with university strategic planning?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The paper highlights benchmarking, environmental scanning, knowledge management, and risk management as key processes for identifying best practice and supporting decisions.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What does “strategic avoidance” mean in this context?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Strategic avoidance refers to using the planning processes not only for strategic pursuit but also to learn from mistakes made in other sectors, helping universities avoid repeating failures.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},594518,1792105796,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":19,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":34,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},2336478940917,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W  \nStrategic Avoidance: Can universities learn from other sectors?  \nGreg Kerr  \nUniversity of Wollongong  \nPeter Hosie Curtin University  \nUniversities live in interesting times. For instance, government policies in Australia are allowing for more deregulation of the student market while overseas universities are entering the Australian domestic market. In an environment of increasing uncertainty, sound strategic planning is important. Processes including benchmarking, environmental scanning, knowledge management and risk management can identify best practice and guide ‘strategic pursuit’. Two approaches are suggested to assist universities. The first is to expand planning frameworks from within-sector to include cross-sector comparisons. The second is to use these processes not only towards strategic pursuit but also to learn from mistakes made in other sectors, that is,‘strategic avoidance’. To defend this approach, potential lessons which could be learnt by universities from other sectors are provided. The concept of strategic avoidance has relevance for universities in other countries, and in addition, may be used by organisations in other sectors.  \nIntroduction  \nCompetition for the recruitment of students in the higher education sector has intensified. While academic mobility is not a new phenomenon (Wildavsky, 2010), students now have increasing opportunities to choose between studying at higher education institutions in either domestic or offshore locations. Also, the opportunity for students to complete a degree across a number of institutions is becoming more prevalent. For an existing or potential student there are an increasing number of suppliers from which to choose the higher education ‘product’. Not only do higher education institutions now compete to attract the best students, there is also a desire by many to increase total student numbers, that is, increase market share. For many institutions, income  \nfrom additional students provides marginal revenues to meet increasing operating costs. Many universities have recruitment tactics to ensure that enrolment objectives are realised. In some countries, this may include employing recruitment officers and the payment of commission agents to recruit students (Wildavsky, 2010) .  \nIn Australia for instance, the higher education market is being increasingly deregulated by its national government. This has occurred in conjunction with the expansion of the domestic market in response to government policies intended to increase the opportunities for Australian citizens to receive higher education. A number of international universities including Carnegie Mellon (Mather, 2011), Laureate (Mather, 2011), New York University (Van Onsellen, 2011) and University College London (Van Onsellen, 2011) now have a presence in Australia.  \nvol. 55, no. 1, 2013 Strategic Avoidance: Can universities learn from other sectors?, Greg Kerr & Peter Hosie 59  \nA U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W  \nCompeting more so in a global marketplace, Australian universities have to contend with issues such as currency fluctuations and government immigration policies when seeking to attract international students (Hilmer, 2010) . As an export industry, the provision of higher education to international students by Australian universities is faced with more competition by universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and Singapore.The current strong Australian dollar means that Australian education is less price-competitive against many overseas institutions, particularly the United States and United Kingdom. Further, Australian students have more buying power in overseas markets and there are reports of its best students now being lured to top overseas universities (see Stevenson & Rosenberg, 2011) .  \nNot unique to Australia, higher education is entering an era in which there is increasing en","cbCaijzUcVCEbqCD","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijzUcVCEbqCD","pdf",463929,"English","# Introduction\n## Organisational planning processes\n### Benchmarking and best practice\n### Types of external benchmarking","[{\"question\":\"Why is strategic planning important for universities in the current environment?\",\"answer\":\"Universities face increasing uncertainty, including market deregulation and global competitive pressures. Strategic planning helps identify best practice and guide strategic pursuit through structured organisational processes.\"},{\"question\":\"Which processes does the paper associate with university strategic planning?\",\"answer\":\"The paper highlights benchmarking, environmental scanning, knowledge management, and risk management as key processes for identifying best practice and supporting decisions.\"},{\"question\":\"What does “strategic avoidance” mean in this context?\",\"answer\":\"Strategic avoidance refers to using the planning processes not only for strategic pursuit but also to learn from mistakes made in other sectors, helping universities avoid repeating failures.\"}]","Strategic Avoidance: Can universities learn from other sectors? - Article | PDF",1792079301,18]