Thesis (Master in Management) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, December 2019

Primary education has been a strong foundation for learning, skills development, and values and character formation of school-aged children into becoming holistic individuals. Kindergarten and elementary years are significant stages in acquiring education. These are initial phases of a student?s life where going to school should be fun and interesting, and more importantly, acquiring the necessary learnings, skills and competencies, from the provision of quality educational services provided by the different private and public school institutions. The Philippine education industry has implemented curriculum changes as the K-12 program has been initiated. The old education system is six years of primary education from Grade 1 to 6 level and four years of secondary education. In the K-12 Curriculum. The education cycle is extended until Grade 12 which is composed of the elementary level from Grade 1 to 6, Junior High School from Grade 7 to 10, and Grade 11 and 12, the Senior High School level. Kindergarten, as preparatory education for young learners, has become mandatory as a prerequisite to primary education, prior to entering the Grade 1 level. All five-year old children must acquire the kindergarten education as an obligatory to primary education. The Integrated Christian School of Kidapawan, Inc. is a private school in Kidapawan City, a province of Region XII. The school provides primary education with curriculum under the regulated policies and guidelines of the Department of Education (DepEd) it was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2011 and started to operate in 2012, where it only had a pre-school programs, until it eventually opened its elementary level in 2015. Considering that ICS Kidapawan is relatively new in the education sector in Kidapawan City, being in existence for seven years, this private school is still a small player in the industry. The Integrated Christian School of Kidapawan, Inc. envisions to become a premier school that provides early childhood learning and elementary education in the city of Kidapawan, that promotes a holistic development of children with strong Christian values. This vision of the Integrated Christian School of Kidapawan, Inc. is to deliver quality educational services that produces academically excellent students developed in a learning and child-caring environment. The schools aim to thrive in the competitive scenario of the education industry, particularly, in Kidapawan City. Based on the school?s five-year historical data, the Integrated Christian School of Kidapawan, Inc. is currently in a situation where strategic management approaches play to be a vital dynamic in order to thrive as a private school institution. From the thorough analyses of this paper using different tools and methods, it transpired that ICS Kidapawan has not been positively responsive to tis external environment and has a poor financial condition. This five-year strategic management paper was deliberately assessed using the different methods of analysis establishing a thorough study of the school's competitiveness in the industry and its financial performance as an entity. Different frameworks were used in the analyses of the school's performance over the latest five-year historical data (SY 2015-2019). The study had used STEEP (School-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Political), SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), External Factors Evaluation (EFE) Matrix, Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix, and the Porter?s Five Forces Analysis Model to conduct the external and internal environment analysis. Appropriate identifying of selected strategic options for implementation were derived for using SWOT Matrix, IE(Internal-external) Matrix, SPACE (Strategic Position and Action Evaluation) Matrix, and Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM). The five-year strategic plan aims to increase ICS Kidapawan?s student population size and attain higher student retention rate. These shall be the two main strategies of the school. The Integrated Christian School of Kidapawan, Inc., must exert on marketing efforts to introduce itself as a private school institution in Kidapawan City and become competitive in its industry, thereby addressing challenges on low number of students, particularly in pre-school level, and improve its financial performance. Increase in total number of student retention rate are resulting outcomes from the implementation of strategies on market penetration and improved management efficiency. Implementing programs were outlined using the balanced scorecard framework which is expected to translate to significant financial results.