Jonathan Ivy

Higher Education Institution Image: A Correspondence Analysis Approach.

“Create an image for your company or your competitors will do it for you.” In the higher education sector this statement by Keever is equally true; as competition for students increases and funding decreases universities and technikons need to create and maintain a distinctive image in the market place. Higher education institutions are becoming increasingly aggressive in their marketing activities to convey an image that is favourable to their public, be they prospective students, employers, funders etc. Investigates how marketing is used to convey higher education institution type image in the UK and South Africa. Using correspondence analysis, shows the unique positionings that have been created by the old UK universities, the new UK universities, South African universities and technikons. Also identifies which marketing tools these institution types use in conveying their institutional image.

The marketing strategies of universities in the United Kingdom

Universities in the UK are facing huge changes to their environment, in terms of both supply of funding and level of demand for their courses. One of the most dramatic recent changes has been the alteration in status of the former polytechnics to fully fledged universities. In order to find out how both old and new universities are responding to this rapidly changing environment, we sent questionnaires to a number of senior staff. Based on 131 responses (81 from old universities, 50 from new), we have been able to paint a picture of how marketing is undertaken in these two segments. We report on how these institutions perceive their marketing task, and also the extent to which these two traditionally different sectors agree on the role marketing plays in their sector. Our research clearly indicates these two groups of institutions have fundamentally different approaches to operationalising their marketing strategies.

Succeeding in the MBA Marketplace: Identifying the Underlying Factors.

There has been enormous growth globally in the number of both MBA providers and students over the past few decades. While inclusion in national and international MBA league‐tables is part of the marketing arsenal of every MBA supplier that appears in them, identifying the determinants of success in this ever more crowded marketplace is a far less well understood issue. On the one hand, recognition of the fact that the task is more complex than a simple application of the traditional 4Ps is obvious to all, but on the other hand, operationalisation of relationship marketing principles seems rather too complex in this market where repeat purchase is clearly not the norm. This paper seeks to shed some light on this important but little understood area. We first examine the task through the traditional services marketing mix; comprised of Product, Price, Place, Promotion and People. Then, based on a sample of 507 current MBA students spread across the twelve different state‐subsidised universities in South Africa, determine whether this is indeed the appropriate model, deriving instead a new seven‐element model of the underlying success factors for student recruitment in the MBA marketplace.There has been enormous growth globally in the number of both MBA providers and students over the past few decades. While inclusion in national and international MBA league‐tables is part of the marketing arsenal of every MBA supplier that appears in them, identifying the determinants of success in this ever more crowded marketplace is a far less well understood issue. On the one hand, recognition of the fact that the task is more complex than a simple application of the traditional 4Ps is obvious to all, but on the other hand, operationalisation of relationship marketing principles seems rather too complex in this market where repeat purchase is clearly not the norm. This paper seeks to shed some light on this important but little understood area. We first examine the task through the traditional services marketing mix; comprised of Product, Price, Place, Promotion and People. Then, based on a sample of 507 current MBA students spread across the twelve different state‐subsidised universities in South Afr...

Choosing Futures: Influence of Ethnic Origin in University Choice.

Purpose – This paper aims to determine the role of ethnic origin on university application among Leicester college students.Design/methodology/approach – The approach takes the form of a quantitative survey of 427 students in sixth form colleges in Leicester.Findings – Five distinct motivational factors were derived from a survey of 427 sixth form college students in Leicester (UK). For all ethnic groups, the students career is the most important motivating factor; the other motivators are, however, more varied. The influence of the family was most important among Pakistani and African students. Indian and “other” Asian students were most strongly associated with academic and social motivators. White applicants, on the other hand, had no relative strengths with regard to common motivators. What was perhaps more apparent was how unimportant family was on influencing choice. There were also differences between the ethnic groups and the university type applied for. While Afro‐Caribbeans had 100 per cent acc...

Leaveism and public sector reform: will the practice continue?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine and report how the construct of “Well-being” is being recognised within the public services. Using research conducted in a northern provincial police force in the UK the paper explores the issues that may contribute to sickness absence, presenteeism and leaveism; a recently described manifestation of workload overload. As sweeping public sector reform results in reduced workforce and potentially static demand, the question asked here is, “how do organisations adapt to the shifting landscape and retain employee engagement in the workplace?” Design/methodology/approach – The study used A Short Stress Evaluation Tool to assess the risk of stress in the workforce. The questionnaire employed an online self-administered survey and collected data from 155 respondents on stress perceptions, health, attitude towards the organisation, job satisfaction and commitment to the organisation. Findings – Sickness absence figures receive detailed attention when it comes to ...

Well-being, austerity and policing Is it worth investing in resilience training?

The purpose of this paper is to deepen conceptual understanding of workplace well-being in policing, particularly personal resilience. This is a conceptual paper reviewing and discussing contemporary literature with a focus on themes congruent with personal resilience in a police setting. This paper considers well-being in the context of police work in the UK, how resilience factors impact on an individual’s working life and the implications for policing generally. People can be trained to improve their resilience by a host of activities and approaches. These skills can be used to assess their own levels of resilience, and inform how to manage others through a variety of techniques. Some resilience factors are completely out of an individual’s locus of control; but many are not. Organisations can contribute by providing training and creating environments where individuals can practice these approaches as part and parcel of their daily activity, and flourish from doing so.