Casos para Ensino: Qualidade e Estratégia no Ensino Superior: O Caso da UniItalo

Abstract

This teaching case presents the dilemma of many higher education institutions present in Brazil face in an attempt to create a competitive advantage. In the case of UniItalo, despite its growth, the institution faced major challenges. In addition to increasing sector competitiveness and the presence of large players, there was a suspicion that accelerated growth could be harming the quality of students and learning. The progress of the case highlights the institution’s efforts in searching for indicators to analyze education quality in its various aspects, not only regarding student satisfaction, but also with respect to the level of student learning. However, many questions still hang in the air and there are still many challenges where the academic area must answer questions from institutional leadership. The case explores discussions related to Strategic Management of an Educational Institution (competitive positioning, search for differentials, analysis of the five forces and SWOT [strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats]), Educational Management of a Higher Education Institution (how to evaluate and achieve higher quality, assess satisfaction versus learning, choice of theoretical approach regarding evaluation) and Quality Management Services (concepts of service quality, perceived quality, assess when and where before, during or after the production process).