Effects of Resources on Competitive Advantage and Strategic Enrollment Management of Brazilian Private Colleges

Abstract

The study aims to evaluate the effect of allocated resources, mediated by competitive advantage, on the performance of strategic enrollment management at Brazilian private colleges. Strategic enrollment management comprises activities to attract and retain students. Through a survey in two secondary sources, the Higher Education Census (Censup) and the results of the Students' Performance National Exam (Enade), data from 771 private colleges in Brazil were collected. The relationships between resources and competitive advantage, competitive advantage and strategic enrollment management, as well as between resources and strategic enrollment management, were tested, in addition to the presence of a mediating effect of competitive advantage in the relationship between resources and strategic enrollment management. The results indicate that the resources allocated by private colleges have a positive and significant effect on both recruiting and retaining students, as well as obtaining competitive advantage. Competitive advantage also has a positive and significant effect on strategic enrollment management. The mediating effect of competitive advantage, predicted in theory, was observed only in the relationship between resources and student retention, not being present in the case of recruiting new students. The research proves the empirical applicability of the Resource-based View, expands the body of scientific knowledge on university administration, discussing the management of private colleges, and applies, in the Brazilian context, a comprehensive study on strategic enrollment management. It follows that private colleges have resources that are already exploited in obtaining competitive advantage and in Strategic Enrollment Management practices, but that there is still room for improvement, especially in the case of obtaining new students.