Supporting student management with business analytics in the UK higher education sector: an exploratory case study

Providing students with the best learning experience and ensuring their academic success throughout their university lifecycle has been a serious challenge for Higher Education Institutions' (HEIs). Whilst advances in digital technologies have enabled HEIs to collect more data in various forms (Big Data) and as some HEIs begin to realise the strategic potential of using Business Analytics (BA) to support student management, many HEI managers are still sceptical about the use of BA even though they are struggling to make sense of the ever growing amount of data and information. A few BA studies suggest that large commercial companies that use BA perform better than those that do not in making better decisions and creating competitive advantages; however, little academic research exists either to understand the current challenges faced by HEI managers in student management in dealing with big data or explore how BA can be utilised to support student management. Experts in the analytics field have also stated that most literature on analytics focuses on the institutional benefit and not the staff-student benefit. These knowledge gaps constrain HEIs abilities to improve student experience and academic success. Therefore, this research seeks to understand the managerial challenges in student management and explore the use and impact of BA for improving student experience through a date driven student management in UK HEIs from an organisational information processing perspective. Employing a qualitative methodology, this research reports an exploratory case study in a UK university with semi-structured interviews. The initial findings of this research help to develop an understanding of the key challenges faced by the HEI managers in student management, and a preliminary framework for future research on the use and impact of BA student management. This research suggests that BA should play a critical role in effective student management, which therefore leads to better student experience and academic performance.