Estrategia de posicionamiento competitivo para ESPAE mediante análisis de factores financieros y benchmarking

Abstract

The project develops a competitive positioning strategy for the ESPAE Graduate School of Management, based on an analysis of the financial factors that influence applicants' decisions and a comparative evaluation of the Ecuadorian market's business master's degree offerings. The research aims to understand how applicants value aspects such as cost, payment facilities, professional return, and academic attributes when choosing a graduate program. To this end, an analysis of secondary information on the academic offerings of competing institutions was conducted, a survey of master's students, graduates, and potential applicants was administered, and a benchmarking exercise was carried out to systematize academic, financial, and institutional communication variables. The results show that the market is highly similar in terms of program modality, duration, and structure, while price and payment facilities vary significantly between institutions. Likewise, it was found that applicants place greater importance on institutional prestige, academic quality, professional return, formative experiences, and internationalization opportunities. Based on these findings, strategic guidelines are formulated to strengthen ESPAE's competitive positioning, prioritizing the management of perceived value and the communication of differentiating attributes that meet the expectations of graduate students in the Ecuadorian context. Keywords: Graduate education, student perception, value proposition, institutional differentiation