No abstract

This article reports the application of marketing planning in an unusual context. It reports the results of a national survey of business school deans in the USA, and examines the possible effects on university business school performance of the use or non-use of selected marketing planning activities and of selected faculty awards (proxy indicators of the level of importance that business schools might place on certain areas of faculty effort). The relationships that these activities and awards have with one another are measured. Best practices are identified. The number of respondents who employ the various marketing practices is reported, conclusions drawn, limitations identified, and suggestions made for future research.

In the world of higher education, organizational strategies may take the form of a research, teaching, student-centered, comprehensive, or international strategy, just

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 242.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">This paper is part of a stream of research dealing with customer and market orientation within higher education, specifically within business schools holding membership in AACSB-International. A market orientation strategy leading to a customer and market-oriented organizational culture is based upon the acceptance and adoption of the marketing concept.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The market-oriented organization recognizes the importance of coordinating the activities of all departments, functions, and individuals in the organization to satisfy customers by delivering superior value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The market-oriented organization continually monitors customer information, competitor information, and marketplace information to design and provide superior value to its customers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Theory and empirical research suggest that higher levels of customer and market orientation result in a greater ability of the organization to reach its objectives, in other words, higher levels of organizational performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>This paper extends the current research on the use of the market orientation strategy by reporting and analyzing customer and market orientation levels (scores) toward two customer groups within AACSB member business schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The two customer groups studied were students and employers of students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Data input from three separate administrative levels having responsibilities associated with the business school were collected and analyzed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The administrators participating in the study were academic vice-presidents, business school deans and marketing department chairs. A critical underlying question in the research is whether students and employers of students are viewed as customers by higher education administrators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Comparisons of the various reported scores are made against a benchmark established in the marketing literature and then are compared by administrative group against one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The university academic vice-presidents, business school deans, and marketing department chairs were surveyed by way of a national mail survey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>All administrators were from colleges or universities holding membership in AACSB-International. 102 Vice-Presidents, 141 Business School Deans, and 94 Marketing Department Chairs responded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The paper presents details of the research process, findings, statistical inferences, and discusses the implications of the research for schools of business and academic marketing departments.</span></span></p>

No abstract