University marketing: perceptions, practices and prospects in the less developed world

Abstract

The article reports on research conducted in Zimbabwe's 11 universities between 2001 and 2003. The research sought to find our VCs perceptions of marketing, and the extent to which university customers considered the current marketing arrangements to address their choice and decision needs in the diversifying HE market of Zimbabwe. The research used interviews and questionnaires as the basic data gathering approaches. It found a variety of marketing conceptualisations among the chief university executives and that there was a disjuncture between the core business of universities and their marketing orientations. The paper proposes a new curriculum focused model as a sound bais for developing the Marketing orientation in universities in Zimbabwe