Vårt älskade Alnarp

By surveying conceptions of SLU Alnarp's resources and competence among its students and personnel, this thesis has the purpose of inventing identity, positioning and image of SLU Alnarp. The underlying idea is that the analysis of the opinions of the students and the personnel will provide the SLU management with new ideas and general advice for an innovative strategy for success. Four quantitative interviews with selected representatives from different staff groups were performed. In order to obtain a differentiated view of the employee thoughts and opinions on the university, five persons were selected to be interviewed – all with different types of responsibilities. Furthermore, students were asked to fill out a questionnaire, which was sent out by e-mail. To get a representative picture, and of course to get as much response as possible, the questionnaire was sent out to all of the university's students. The interview results and the student questionnaire results were analyzed with emphasis on key conception notions as identity, positioning and image. For the purpose of being able to give adequate advice on an innovative future success strategy, a model of the type "Blue Ocean Strategy" was applied. This model has the advantage of being precise in the output suggestions for improvement, which are the result of its application. To summarize, the investigation shows significant shortage in the current general picture of SLU Alnarp. It is evident that the conception of the university is not in line with the one desired by its management. This thesis gives concrete suggestions of how the misconceptions, and sometimes incongruities, can be dealt with. The conclusions that are drawn are based on the fact that survival of any university in much relies on active management of its identity. In the end, such management will strengthen the university's market position and image.