RMP Review Center (Proposal thesis)

CHAPTER 1 The Problem and Its Background

Introduction Most of the students strive harder in studying to have their diplomas. Spending time and effort on their way to triumph only to find out that having a diploma is not enough to find a good job. It is because nowadays, corporate world is being complex when it comes to its people. Companies look for wide-ranging qualifications which require employees to have master’s degree, doctorate degree and professional titles because they believe that a company is only as good as the people who work for it (Lopa,2012). Prestigious companies set high standards on their employees’ credentials to complement with their innovation. Those standards persuade business-course students to take certification examinations. According to the latest statistics of Commission on Higher Education on Graduates projections by discipline as of November 2011, there will be an increasing number of graduates, with the degree of Business Administration. Statistics as of 2011 shows 113, 233 students have graduated from business related courses and CHED’s projection for 2012, 2013 and 2014, graduates will increase to 116 822, 119 526, 122 740 respectively. These figures shows, more likely, that there will be an increasing number of graduates who may pursue to take certification examination to claim professional titles. For this year, 2012, the first Certification Examination was handled by the Junior Achievement of the Philippines Incorporated. According to JAPI (2012), 28

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percent of examinees had passed the 1st Registered Marketing Professional Certification Examination. This supports the findings of JAPI and the Chartered Association of Marketing and Business Professional (CAMBP) in a series of studies that not all the graduates possess the necessary theoretical knowledge and practical problem solving skills necessary to deliver a company’s expected level of performance. (putol)

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Background of the Study Generally, review centers create new breed of professionals that are introduced in the business world. Apparently, most of the review centers are faced to some facts which can be considered as realm that affects the review center. The researchers study these facts and enumerated below before having the desired strategies for the proposed business administration review center. According to Charlie Calimlim of CHED Statistics Department, last two years (2010 and 2011) projects the most graduates in the business administration and related courses, and comparing to other fields, business courses played as one of the top 3 highly-populated courses according to National Statistical Coordination Board (2012) . It only means that Business Administration is highly demanded. Another is that according to blogs/research there is an increase of about 40% in the examinees of Registered Marketing Professional certification examination from 2011 to 2012. This means that it is gaining popularity and acceptance from the market. Along with this is the fact that there is a large number of graduates who fail taking the certification examination comparing to those who pass. That is why the researchers realized the necessity for a review center that will help students take a step higher particularly for graduates who have completed their curriculum in college which will serve as an edge as they enter into a more complex world.

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JAPI promotes this Registered Marketing Professional Certification Program to marketing students who are about to enter the corporate world which is now demanding extensively about their peoples qualifications. RMP serves as a tool for these companies to assess the knowledge and skill level of the graduates. This will help them suit their skills with the needs of the corporate industry. According to JAPI, once you have passed the RMP certification examination, you will be prioritized by the corporate partners dealing with them.

This review center will aid the need of establishments that will help examinees in building a strong foundation in taking through the assessment particularly of courses related to business. The business is oriented to give superior trainings, lectures, and activities that perhaps will contribute to their preparedness in taking the certification examination. With these programs, the business thus engaged itself in boosting the self-confidence and self-discipline of its customers that eventually would also help them in surpassing the pressures forwarded to them. The business will take part with its reasonably priced service in uncovering the potentials of an individual to be competent in his own field. It will also be in negotiation with universities and colleges regarding the terms of how the service will be facilitated. The business is into offering the newly offered Registered Marketing Professional certification examination.

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Statement of the Problem The study seeks to identify the marketing strategies that would be applicable for the proposed Registered Marketing Professional Review Center in Dasmariñas City. Specifically it seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What is the profile of the respondents of Registered Marketing Professional Review Center in terms of: 1.1 Gender 1.2 Family Income 1.3 Bachelor’s Degree Major 1.4 School 2. What is the profile of competitors/indirect competitors in terms of: 2.1 Target Market Profile 2.2 Positioning Strategy 2.3 Service Marketing Mix 3. What is the recommended positioning strategy for the proposed business? 4. What marketing mix strategies will be appropriate for the business in terms of: 4.1 Product Strategy 4.2 Pricing Strategy 4.3 Place Strategy

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4.4 Promotion Strategy 4.5 People Strategy 4.6 Process Strategy 4.7 Physical Environment Strategy

Significance of the Study This study is believed to be significant and to give value information to the following: Students taking business related courses The students can acquire information that could help them in making decisions with their chosen career. The Community The proposed business if established could create employment opportunities to the public. The Entrepreneurs Giving those collective ideas of a potential business that could satisfy the market and could be beneficial for the entrepreneurs afterwards.

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The Future Researchers This study will be significant for future researchers particularly students who will conduct the same or related study because it may serve as a reference in their field of study. Scope and Limitation of the Study This study will focus to identify the marketing strategies that will be effective for the proposed Registered Marketing Professional Review Center. To arrive with the right strategies, researchers first identify the market that will be treated as their respondents considering their demographic profile in terms of gender, income and bachelors degree major. This research study also in particular is to determine the strategies regarding the positioning that would be compelling to the market and the service marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical environment) that would make the business feasible. In order to formulate the said strategies, the study evaluates also its competitors. The research also included the financial projection. The researchers will consider the office of the proposed business to be situated at Dasmariñas City. Survey questionnaires will be distributed to the respondents which are students taking up B.S. in Business Administration major in Marketing, Marketing Management, Business Management, Human Resource Development Management, Operations Management and Business Economics,

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B.S. in Economics, B.S. in Agricultural Business and B.S. in Home Economics in Colleges and Universities in Dasmariñas City, Silang, Tagaytay and Indang.

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Conceptual Framework The conceptual framework of the study is shown in the Figure 1. Figure 1 describes the flow of the important parts of the study. The structure was divided into three main segments (input, process and output) to give emphasis on the processes that will be involved in the study. The input data shows that the first part of the study. It is focused on gathering data that are necessary in planning the strategies that would be appropriate for the proposed business such as; profile of the respondents in terms of age, family income and bachelors degree major, analysis of competitors strategy and market survey and focused-group discussion. After all the information has been gathered, data will be analyzed and interpreted. Results thereafter will be ready for strategy development. Lastly, after analyzing and interpreting the data, output for business’ positioning strategy, marketing mix strategy (product, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical environment) and financial projection will be determined. Each will weigh parts on the business’ success.

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INPUT

PROCESS

Profile of the respondents    

Data sorting, analysis and interpretation.

Gender Family income Bachelors Degree Major School

OUTPUT Target Market Profile Positioning Strategy Marketing strategies       

Competitor Analysis Market Survey and Focused Group Discussion (FGD)

Product Price Place Promotion People Process Physical Environment

Financial Projections

Figure 1: Research Paradigm

Assumptions of the Study The researchers assumed the following for the proposed Registered Marketing Professional Review Center: 1. Legal requirements are acquired and are visible for the operation of the business.

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2. The reviewers, lecturers, and other employees are highly qualified for the position filled in the business. 3. Materials for the business’ programs are readily available, reliable, and always up-to-date (e.g. books, reviewers) 4. The location and facilities are available for business operation. 5. The researches have enough capital to start the business.

Definition of Terms People. All human actors who play a part in the service delivery Physical Environment. The environment in which the service is delivered and where the firm and customer interact, and any tangible components that facilitate performance or communication of the service Place. Determines the distribution channel strategy of the marketing mix Positioning. The way the product is defined by consumers based on important attributes Price. The amount of money charged for a product or service or the sum of the values that consumers exchange for the benefits of having or using the product or service

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Process. The actual procedures, mechanisms, and flow of activities by which the service is delivered – this service delivery and operating systems Product. Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption and that might satisfy a want or need Promotion. A marketing term used to describe all marketing communications activities Registered Marketing Professional. Certification exam for marketing students, who are about to enter the job market Regiatered Marketing Proofessional Examination. Segmentation. Dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers with different needs, characteristics, or behaviors who might require separate products or marketing mixes Target Market. Set of potential buyers.

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CHAPTER 2 Review of Related Literature

This part contains literature and materials that will bear significance on the study. The information obtained from the materials will be used to draw a picture about the extent of knowledge pertaining to the subject matter at hand in relation to the objectives of the study.

Demographic Profile of the Market According to Kotler and Armstrong (2010), market segmentation is dividing the market into smaller groups with distinct needs, characteristics or behavior. There are four ways of segmenting the market namely, demographic, lifestyle or psychographic segmentation, behavioral segmentation and benefit segmentation. The most popular bases for segmenting customer groups is through demographic variables such as age, gender, income, occupation, education, religion, race and nationality. Demographic variables are easier to measure than any other types of variables because customer profiles vary. Also, it helps the marketers to access the size of the market and reach it efficiently. Gender Business try to associate their products and service with the particular type of users, often defined in demographic terms. One of these demographic terms is gender. Considering the gender of the market might

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be important in establishing a review center. According to the latest statistics of Commission on Higher Education (CHED), 63 percent of the total graduates in business administration and related courses are females. This implies that females are more studious than males. With this in mind, the marketing strategy of a review center might have greater considerations with the females but not bias towards the male genders. Income Business considers the customers’ resources through level of income. In setting up a review center, it is necessary to consider the customers buying power and purchase ability to identify which portion of the market should be targeted for their economic survival. Bachelor’s Degree Major Market may also be segmented demographically in terms of their lifestyle. Business considers this factor to determine which market to focus. Just like how a review center expands a person’s career, they foresee the benefits of the service to their customers by making them professionals.

Positioning According to Lovelock (1991), positioning is the process of establishing and maintaining a distinctive place in the market for an organization and its product or service offerings. It assumes that companies differentiate themselves from

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competitors on their industry. A unique market position is what the marketers should develop so that the company will be perceived exactly like no other on the market. As being in line with service businesses, review centers wish to manifest excellence of performance to their customers. They must look for a redefined position in the market by understanding the demographics of their market and new trends of education (Deluxe for Business, 2009).

Service Marketing Mix Service According to Lovelock (1991), service products being intangible and ephemeral are experienced, rather than owned. These products compete with goods in the market place which offers similar benefits, but being a product or service as close competitors does not mean that the marketing management tasks for each are the same. It differs because in service products, performance is what matters and customers may affect this performance because they actively participate in the service production, delivery and consumption. According to Lamaroza (2012), owner and administrative officer of Lead Tutorial and Review Center in Quezon City, self studying is not enough for an individual to understand and learn what needs to be identify. To fill in the gaps in learning process or prepare them on the next step in their education, those with the

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means to go to review centers can get the help they need. A review center may provide a variety of services depending on the available space and number of staff and their qualification.

Price Pricing decision is the most difficult that business owner has to make. According to Bhasin (2010), pricing strategy should be an integral part of the market-positioning decision, which in turn depends, to a great extent on your overall business development strategy and marketing plans. Companies do not usually set single pricing strategy but rather reflects variations in some factors that may affect the purchasing power of the consumers. According to Lovelock (1991), the foundations underlying pricing strategy consider three factors – cost, competition, and value to customers. It should be clear that determining strategies for pricing service organization requires making decisions on a range of different issues. In businesses, pricing is the process of monetizing their social enterprise’s value to marketplace. This is how they acquire their sales. According to Lamaroza (2012), review centers address a real need for an effective pricing strategy so that they can be much profitable like the others who have mastered its industry. Putting up this kind of business entails careful preparation, coupled with resourcefulness and effective dissemination of knowledge to students.

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According to JAPI (2009), a non-member of Junior Achievement Philippines, Inc. has to pay P7, 900 for the examination while those that are member-schools are given discount and has to pay for only P2, 900. Place According to Wiriadinata (2011), service industry must locate themselves where customers can easily have access. Along with this strategy, marketers should consider the cost of the location to avoid certain losses and also they must ensure that the location of the business is within their potential market. According to Lamaroza (2012), a review center is best located near schools and apartments. This place is the possible location that a review center might operate because this is where their potential markets are to be found. Those near schools to be considered must offer courses that a review center focuses on. There is also another way of operating a review center. As businesses aims for sudden return on investment, they think of something that will give them a good annual sale at a lower cost. For business administration review center, it would be better to have facilitation with their target universities and colleges. They just have to negotiate business to business about the terms of how the service will be render.

Promotion

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Services are more difficult to assess in terms of attributes in comparison to tangible products. The marketing manager is expected to be creative, innovative and clear when it comes to the benefits to the target market of his or her service. According to Lovelock (2012), communication plays three basic roles in marketing: to inform, to persuade and to remind. Promotion needs to be clean and persuasive or inviting for the business to be known quickly, stay longer and be effective in the industry. An effective communication campaign should comprise a well thought communication strategy. Memorable style and attractive way of promoting can convey a variety of messages from overall image to highlighting a particular competitive advantage. With this in determining the right promotion strategy, a review center that is newly-introduced business must consider factors that will surely have a great effect on the establishment of the business. Promotion deals with any communication that will help a business take a place in the market and this strategy should be thoroughly examined for the business success.

People People are one of the elements of service businesses that customers interact with. This is why service organizations requires appropriate interpersonal skills, aptitude and service knowledge of their people to deliver a quality service. Organizations should apply accreditations to show that their people are well trained to prescribed standards and best practices.

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According to Lamaroza (2012), a review center would need at least three management staff. The administrative officer handles inquiries, client relations and schedules while the marketing officer takes care of marketing strategies and updates the center’s ads. The finance officer, aside from being the designated money person, may also act as the human resource personnel and hire the teaching personnel. The rest of the workforce can be full-time or part-time lecturers, tutors, and reviewers. In some particulars, the utmost focuses of review centers are reviewers. For a more competitive review center, having great reviewers is a commodity. It is what the general public mostly look for. In fact, students learn more from a reviewer who manages to hold their attention for hours as compared to someone who bores his/her listener. That is why review centers should have a great track of records of their reviewers.

Process According to Zeithaml (2008), process is the actual procedures, mechanisms and flow of activities by which the service is delivered. It is more about the customer interface between the business and consumer and how they deal with each other in a series of steps in stages throughout the process. In establishing a review center, all services must be executed with clearly defined and efficient processes because this will avoid customer confusion to the service quality. The service provider presents its customers with organized and

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honest evidence of its services. The company must present the clear instruction to their individual customer on how to inquire with their service offered. When it comes to organizational negotiation, the review center must prepare a proposal of the terms of the service offered to the business customer and wait for its approval. The conditions needed to be discussed are the terms of customer inquiry, reservations, service delivery, payment and settlement. These stipulations should be developed and must be presented clearly to the market. Through this, the business will be able to promote consistent service and foster customer loyalty.

Physical Environment According to Zeithaml (2008), physical environment includes buildings, equipments, uniforms employees wear, signs and logos, annual accounts, and business reports, brochures, website and even business cards. It is where the service is delivered and where the firm’s people and customer interact, and any tangible components that facilitate performance or communication of the service. But since the proposed business administration review center desires to facilitate with the amenities of the universities and colleges to whom they will make negotiation there are less physical attributes to consider in the service. With this, customers tend to rely on materials cues only. That is why the business will prepare teaching modules to let the market have an idea of how the service will be render. According to Lamaroza (2012), review centers should stick to use reputable books and other credible sources of reference to support a premium

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price for the service and establish a positive experience for the customers who will make judgments about the business based on its physical evidence.

Synthesis Achieving goals in one’s life is identical to being personally fulfilled. As the researchers take the risk and courage to go further, they see to it that they do their best for at least not to regret anything in case circumstances turn out of bound. But for this not to happen, the researcher also, before taking any other pace cited literatures and materials from several authors that are related and can support the subject matter of this study. The literatures above are considered to play integral part in conducting this study. Included in the writings reviewed by the researchers is the demographic profile of the respondents. Distinguishing characteristics of market need and their behavior are the bases for classifying market according to manners of segmenting. Moreover, readings concerning the positioning strategy are also cited. This will help the business differentiate itself from others through creative and unique positioning of the company and leave a remarkable image perceived by the market. In addition, studies about service marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical environment) are discussed. Service is differentiated distinctively from manufactured products based on its characteristics.

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Knowing the market need will help on settling the kind of service to be offered. Strategic decision regarding the price considers factors that will help the organization to be more lucrative and survive economically. Place or location is also important considering the marketability and accessibility and other factors that possibly affect the strategies. As to promotion, uniqueness of communication strategies together with creative execution will highlight competitive advantage among others. When it comes to service providers, knowledge and skills are the requirement since they are the one who interacts with the customers. Procedures must be clearly defined and delivered efficiently to gain customer loyalty. Lastly, physical environment must be established with positive aura to avoid critics. These readings will be useful for the researchers in understanding the said strategies that in due course will assist them in developing the approaches to be use for the proposed business administration review center. On the other hand, the researchers also included concepts and evidences from authors that are directly related with the review center. These will be significant for the entire creation and establishment of strategies that will be implemented to the business. All the literatures and materials drawn above in conclusion with no bias are related to the proposed business. Those will weigh contributions to the researchers in conducting this study.

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CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research design, research locale, population and sampling design, research instruments, data gathering procedure and data analysis techniques or statistical treatment that will be used for the proposed business Registered Marketing Professional Review Center.

Research Design The study will utilize the descriptive method research design. Descriptive method is used to describe the present behavior or characteristics of a population (Sirug, 2011). Using this approach the researchers will be able to acquire factual and accurate data from its respondents such as their demographic profile and preference in relation to review center.

Research Locale The respondents will be graduating students taking up business related courses from selected colleges and universities in Dasmariñas City (De La Salle University, Philippine Christian University, National College of Science and Technology, and Lyceum of the Philippines University), Silang (Rogationist

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College), Tagaytay City (Olivarez College, City College of Tagaytay, and STI) and Indang (Cavite State University). Those universities and colleges are the institutions that are offering extensive range of business related courses within the area. Population and Sampling Technique The researchers in this study of the proposed business administration review center in order to determine or identify the number of respondents have agreed to use the Slovin’s formula. Universities and Colleges

De La Salle University Philippine Christian University National College of Science and Technology Lyceum of the Philippines University Rogationist College Olivarez College City College of Tagaytay Systems Technology Institute Cavite State University TOTAL:

No. of Business Sample Size Administration and (percentage) related courses students 199 33%

Sample Size (actual)

79

32

5%

12

33

5%

12

95

16%

39

31

5%

12

36 23

6% 4%

15 10

15

2%

5

145

24%

58

609

100%

242

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Formula: n = N / ( 1 + N x e²) Where: n = sample size N = population e²= margin of error Computation: n = N / (1 + N x e²) = 609 / (1 + (609 x .05²)) = 609 / (1 + 1.5225) = 609 / 2.5225 n = 241.43 or 242  Using the Slovin’s formula, sample size of the respondents needed for the research study will be 242 / 250.

Research Instrument The study in order to gather necessary information for the proposed Registered

Marketing

Professional

Review

Center

will

use

the

survey

questionnaire and Focus Group Discussion as its instruments. The survey questionnaire that will be distributed to the respondents will be divided into three parts: Profile. The first part of the questionnaire is the profile. This part contains questions concerning the personal data of the respondents like gender, family income and bachelor’s degree major. The data will be significant for the researchers to segment and select its target market.

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Positioning. The second part is the positioning. It will comprise of questions regarding the position strategy. It will give the researchers insights on how to strike the market and come up with an appealing positioning strategy and statement. Service Marketing Mix. Lastly is the service marketing mix. The third part of the survey questionnaire will focus mainly on the preference of the respondents with the business’ marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical environment). This will help the business in establishing effective service marketing strategies.

Data Gathering Procedure In establishing the proposed Registered Marketing Professional Review Center, data from the respondents will be vital in developing appropriate strategies that will be convincing to the market. Thus gathering data is considered as one of the most substantial step in this study. In

compliance,

the

researchers

will

personally

administer

the

questionnaires. It will be distributed to the respondents, a letter of consent will be sent to the school administration for the authorization to conduct survey. Also, the researcher will make an informed consent to the respondents to ensure that they are knowledgeable about the adequate procedures of the survey to safeguard their anonymity. For the FGD procedure, the researcher will select participants from the respondents who will also answer the survey. The respondents will be chosen upon their availability. For the procedure proper, the respondents will be

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assembled to a complimentary place. The process will be introduced by the facilitators or the researchers to secure a comprehensive discussion. The discussion will focus primarily on the topic of the study. The entire symposium will be recorded prior to the approval of the respondents. All the data that will be gather through survey and Focus Group Discussion will be kept for analysis and interpretation.

Analysis of Data The data gathered through the survey questionnaire will be compiled and analyzed. The information will be subjected to statistical analysis to answer the problems of the study. The researcher will use adjectival rating and frequency distribution and percentage for the abstract of the results. The data gathered will also be presented in tabular form: pie graph, bar graph and similar forms. The adjectival ratings that will be used to assign the rating to the responses are the following: 4.20 – 5.00

Strongly Agree

3.40 – 4.19

Agree

2.60 – 3.39

neither Agree nor Disagree

1.80 – 2.59

Disagree

1.00 – 1.79

Strongly Disagree

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REFERENCES

Armstrong, G. and Kotler, P. (2010). Marketing: An Introduction. 10th Edition: Pearson Education Inc. Diola, Z. and Tichepco, E. (2009). Marketing: A simplified Approach. C&E Publishing Inc. Zeithaml, V. (2008). Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm. The McGraw-Hill Companies Incorporated Lovelock,

C.

(1991).

Services

Marketing.

Second

Edition:

Prentice-Hall

International

Remollino, A. (2012). Nowhere to GO for Most Graduates. Retrieved from http://www.bulatlat.com/news/6-8/6-8-jobs.htm. November 15, 2012

Madrona, M. (2012). May 2012 Certified Public Accountant Licensure Exam Results. Retrieved from http://rightonthemark.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/may-2012-certified-publicaccountant-licensure-exam-results-1995-new-accountants/. December 12, 2012

Bhasin, H. (2010). Service Marketing Mix. Retrieve from http://www.marketing91.com/category/marketing-mix-2/.

November

2012

Lamaroza, P. (2012). How to run a Review Center. Retrieved from

15,

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http://www.entrepreneur.com.ph/get-started/article/how-to-run-a-reviewcenter. November 15, 2012 GMA News Online. (2012). 4, 772 pass CPA Board Exams. Retrieved from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/278328/news/nation/4-772-passcpa-board-exams-2-ust-graduates-emerge-on-top. December 12, 2012

Commission on Higher Education. (November 2011). Graduates Projection by Discipline. Retrieved from http://www.ched.gov.ph/chedwww/index.php/eng/Information/Statistics . November 15, 2012

Philippine Institute of CPAs. (2012). CPA Board Examination Passers. Retrieved from http://www.picpa.org/content/38481.aspx. December 12, 2012 Junior Achievement of the Philippines. (2012). 1st Registered Marketing Professional Certification Examination Program batch 2011-2012 Passers. Retrieved

from

http://japionline.org/1st-registered-marketing-

professional%C2%AE-rmp-certification-examination-program-batch-20112012-passers/. December 16, 2012

www.cvsu.edu.ph www.pcu.edu.ph www.dlsud.edu.ph www.rog.edu.ph

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LUIS IGNACIO A. LOPA, JAPI President, Vice President & Head for Enterprise Subsidiaries Account Management ng PLDT. This fact made further testimonial that in able to dig up the understanding of the examiners, there will be a need for supplementary improvement on the review methods. That is why the researchers come up with the idea of providing review centers that will not only foster understanding among business administration and related courses but also a review center that will create and render excellence service.

ang general situation mo kasi is may problems sa match ng graduates at jobs una, kasi mas madaming graduates kesa jobs kaya mataas ang competition pangalawa, hindi match yung skill set na meron ang graduate sa hinahanap ng industry kaya nagkaron ng rmp. tapos discuss niyo anu yung rmp kaso, kahit may rmp na, mababa ang passing rate kaya ineencourage ng JAPI na magtake ng review ang graduates or graduating students kaya naman nagka idea kayo na magtayo ng review center diba???