Competitive advantage refers to the condition or circumstance that puts a company in a

favorable or superior business position. Porter's Five Competitive Forces and the Competitive
Strategies applied by Sunway University is to be analyzed to see how is the business doing in the
education industry.
The first competitive force would be the threat of new entrants. Setting up a new university in
Malaysia requires high capitalization and a lot of the factors have to be considered but that doesn't
guarantee that the university would be able to attract students. Just think about it, what makes you, my
fellow classmates to enrol to a UTAR? Some of you might be here because of the cheaper cost
compared to other private universities, some may be here because it is near where you stay, some may
be here because of your parents' choice (yeah some of you just smiled) but wait your parents have
chosen UTAR for its reputation isn't it? The point here is that, for a new university to be as location-
wise to provide convenience to the students; to be as highly accreditated to earn respect in the
marketplace that leads to employment; and to be as well-equipped in terms of the facilities and standard
provided as the existing universities, it requires a huge lot of money. However there's a low entry level
for the education industry in Malaysia as our government is not putting restriction onto it, large
companies that are able to afford the cost required have the ability to strive and contest in the industry,
as observed in INTI International College who was once a new entrant but now a giant in the education
industry in Malaysia. In short, the threat of new entrants does prove to be a possible challenge, but is
considered relatively weak compared to the other competitive forces.
The next competitive force would be the threat of substitute products or services. A substitute
performs the similar function through a different means. In terms of education it would mean online
degree. Bet some of you have heard about it don't you? Online courses distinguish themselves with the
flexibility and efficiency they provide. Those who are working are able study in their meantime and
students are free to choose any course that is deemed helpful and join any class when the time is right
for them. Sounds nice doesn't it but why are we not doing that? Perhaps it is just not the conventional
way of studying, as we can see, studying under the current system disciplines us as we are bound to the
timetable. Given a free will to decide what we'll do with our time, how many of us would really go and
study but how many of us would procrastinate? Not to forget that there are coursework for online
courses too. But the main reason would be that online degrees are still relatively new so we are still not
confident with it as there is no any well-known successful cases yet, and some of them even turn out to
be a scam. However, any quality concerns are soon to be rectified in the near future as two
organizations are already in the motion of accrediting online degree schools and what would happen
when the online schools get recognition? There are already several education online available such as
Alison, and UNITAR not UTAR (perhaps some of you have heard of it) so are they a threat to us or
not? Online degree provides a more favorable studying platform for the introverts who perform better
individually, but seeing how students in Malaysia nowadays enjoy the socialization experience inherent
to the traditional universities, one could reasonably argue that online education is still not much of a
concern for now, but this underlying threat, its huge potential to revolutionize the way of how
education is being delivered buttressed by the arrival of digital native must never be overlooked.
What follows would be the bargaining power of suppliers. First of all suppliers are those
individuals or organizations that provide materials, information, or knowledge to allow and
organization to produce its products or services. So for a university, bookstores, health clinic, and food
services make up a portion of supplier power and the biggest contributor is the faculty, its highly skilled
labour in the form of instructors, researchers, and administrators. Porter argues that the supplier power
is strong if the industry participants face switching cost in changing the supplier in this case students
have to pay the fees to change university; if the supplier offers differentiated products and services
which is be discussed in the next section Competitive Strategies; and if there is no substitute for what
the supply groups provide. Many professors at elite institutions are highly respected and considered
thought leaders in their field. With the prestige they provide to their university, it makes them very
difficult to be replaced. Ultimately, the faculty's bargaining power remains high because currently there
is no realistic substitute.
The last competitive force Sunway University is facing is the competitive rivalry among
existing universities. Rivalry among existing competitors takes many forms, including price
discounting, new product introduction, advertising campaigns, and service improvements. Currently,
there are 20 public universities, 33 polytechnics, and 62 private universities in Malaysia and the rivalry
is strong among the institution to attract as many students as possible. In terms of reputation, Sunway
University faces strong competition from rivals such as UTAR which is renowned for its accounting
course, Curtin Sarawak that is popular for its engineering, Monash University which received
accreditation from the Australian Medical Council (AMC), making it the first medical course fully
conducted in Malaysia to be accredited by a foreign medical accreditation council. In terms of price
charged, most of the students got enrolled into government universities for the affordability; while
Sunway University still contests against other private universities such as UTAR, who charges at a
much lower price compared to other private universities; INTI, Taylor, Nottingham, and Aimst as they
provide almost the same services in terms of courses, facilities, and have quite a level of reputation in
Malaysia. For example, for a 3-year Actuarial Science degree, UTAR charges it at the price of RM
39,700 while Sunway charges it at RM 81,500. With all the information above, there are sufficient
evidence to conclude that the intensity of rivalry within the industry is high.
As a conclusion, Sunway University faces low pressure from the bargaining power of buyers,
moderate pressure from the threat of new entrants, and high pressure from the bargaining power of
suppliers, threat of substitute products or services, and competitive of rivalry within the education
industry.

In order to succeed in business, organizations often adopt one or more of the three generic
competitive strategies: (1) cost leadership, (2) differentiation, or (3) market focus known as Porters
Generic Strategies model to gain competitive advantage.
The first generic strategy is the cost leadership strategy. To pursue a low cost strategy usually
requires the firm to bring down costs and in the service sector, it would mean low-cost labor and
efficient training procedures because of high turnover. The cost leadership is deemed inappropriate for
the education industry, as up to date modern facilities, technology and attractive premises such as
laboratory, computer labs, football field, swimming pool and any other facilities are the standard
hallmarks for a quality institution, thus making cost leadership strategy unapplicable.
Next, Sunway University does better than most of the universities in differentiating themselves
as they provide a variety of well-equipped services. Similar to the others, Sunway University provides
facilities such as accommodation, auditorium, student lockers, ATM machines, library, dining room,
computer centres, and specialized labs. But better than most of the university's, Sunway provides gym,
badminton court, tennis court, jogging track, netball court, volleyball court, an olympic-sized
swimming pool, and a FIFA certified football field for students to practice sports activities. With the
campus internet link upgraded in mid 2012, the institution obtains world-class bandwidth and
consistently enjoys the advanced benefits of having a direct linkage to the international Educational
Research networks in UK, Australia and Singapore.
Lastly, Sunway University applies market focus strategy too. In general, Sunway University
accepts students from any background but setting its enrollment fees at a high price, Sunway is
targeting students coming from families with higher income level. With the comprehensive services
provided plus the high accreditation paired with high employment rate of the students, Sunway
University charges its students at a higher price compared to most of the universities.
 As a conclusion, Sunway University has the competitive advantage in the education industry in
Malaysia as it is a renowned university with well-equipped and updated facilities, high accreditation
and high employment rate. It differentiated the services it provides and target students from a family of
higher income level, expanding its business and further strengthen its position in the industry.