Building School Culture and Brand: The New Leadership Challenge for School Principals
Author(s):
Lawrence Drysdale (presenting / submitting) David Gurr (presenting)
Conference:
ECER 2014
Network:
26. Educational Leadership
Format:
Paper

Session Information

26 SES 06 B, Principals Performance, Legal Standards and Brand Management

Paper Session

Time:
2014-09-03
15:30-17:00
Room:
B028 Anfiteatro
Chair:
Lawrence Drysdale

Contribution

Description

It is acknowledged that a key aspect of school leaders is to get the ‘culture’ right.  Culture is what people feel and experience from the inside the organisation. But today the demands go beyond the internal to the external. Brand is what people feel and experience about an institution from the outside. Culture and brand are two sides of the same coin. To be successful in today’s competitive educational environment, the principal’s challenge is not only to develop the culture but build the brand.

The Research Question: How can school leaders build the reputation and image of their school through brand management and also shape school culture so they are aligned and lead to school success.

Objectives:

Explain why brand management is important in today’s educational environment

Explore how brand management can enhance a school’s image, reputation, resources and enrolments?

Explore the synergistic relationship between culture and brand

Identify in what ways school principals can build brand equity

Framework

The paper proposes that in addition to the importance of the principal’s role in shaping the culture of the school, they also have an equally important role of building the school’s brand in order to enhance the school’s reputation and image. The importance of organisational culture is without question and the principal’s role in helping to shape it is critical.

The authors argue that culture and brand are two sides of the one coin. There are numerous definitions of culture, but more commonly it is defined as a system of shared meanings that include a pattern of beliefs, symbols, rituals, myths and practices that have evolved over time (Deal and Kennedy 1982; Schein 1984/5). It is often summed up as ‘the way things are done around here.’ Because it involves beliefs and assumptions that we apply at work as part of the social processes, culture is sometimes regarded as being intangible; however, it is made more concrete when we look at the behaviours of people, the artefacts, symbols and rituals that take place in a school. Culture is largely internal to the organisation because it involves the feelings, beliefs, assumptions and perceptions people within the organisation. Brand is similar to culture is that it is also largely intangible. A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the products or services of one organisation or group of organisations and to differentiate them from those of competitors. . ‘Branding is an attempt to strategically "personify" products and to encapsulate a balance between different economic values: quality, utility, symbolic, and cultural worth’ (Power & Haug, 2008).

In our previous research we explored market orientation and found that schools with a strong market orientation were likely to be more successful. Market orientation is defined as a philosophy that put the needs of students and their families at the centre of the organisation and attempts to see how the school perceives products and services from the their point of view ( Drysdale & Gurr 2003).  In this paper we are suggesting that market orientation is perhaps a reflection of organisation culture and brand.

Method

While this paper is largely conceptual it is firmly based on data collected through four sources. It is based on a review of relevant literature on organisational culture and brand management; from evidence and findings from previous research findings on marketing in schools conducted by the authors; observational data of school profiles of schools from the web (school web sites); and ongoing research based on case studies on brand management in schools. Literature Review The authors reviewed the literature on organisational culture and the role of the school principals in shaping the culture of the school as a means of confirming the importance of school culture. The authors also explored the notion of brand management from the marketing literature both in business and education. Research on marketing on schools The authors draw on the findings from previous research of marketing and brand management of schools from case studies conducted over the past decade. The authors collected data from case studies of seven schools using qualitative methods that included multiple perspective interviews, document and observational data. The multiple perspective interviews were held with a range of people from within the schools including the principal, assistant principals, senior teachers, teachers, parents and the marketing department. Ongoing research Currently the authors are exploring the concept of brand management in schools through case study analysis. Currently two case studies have been completed. The authors also have data from two PhD students who are exploring brand through a case study approach (China and Australia) and one PhD student who is exploring market orientation in schools in Victoria by quantitative methods. Observational Data from the Web Using students from our Masters course who have completed the subject ‘Marketing in Education’ (over 100 students) we have collected data on brand identification and image from school web sites of schools in Victoria, Australia. On particular interest were those schools that have attempted to improve their image, change their name, or ‘re-brand’ themselves.

Expected Outcomes

The literature shows that shaping the school culture remains an important role of the principal, but it also shows that that brand management is a key marketing strategy used to enhance the reputation and image of the school. The research shows that many schools have been innovative and creative in building their brand using branding activities such as logos, symbols, artefacts, uniforms, publications, and merchandising. But the data also indicates that those schools where re-branding has been successful occurred when it was driven by the principal and there was alignment between the school culture and the school brand. In deed we have evidence that bran/market orientation is linked to school success. Attempting to change the brand without attention to school culture was a less effective strategy. The authors propose that principals have a duel role- - building school culture (what people feel and see from the inside), and brand development (what people see of the school from the outside). Culture building and brand development appear to be more effective if their go hand-in glove. There are important synergies when brand and culture are seen as two sides of the same coin. The authors outline a number of key strategies that principals can adopt to manage their bran more effectively.

References

Deal, T. E. and Kennedy, A.A. (1982) Corporate Culture: The Rites and Rituals of Cororate Life, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Drysdale, L. (1995). The evolution of marketing: implications for schools. Hot Topics: Australian Council of Educational Administration, 2, 1-4. Drysdale, L. 2000, ‘Promotion Orientation Versus Market Orientation’, Hot Topics Australian Council for Educational Administration, No. 2, pp. 1-2. Drysdale, L. (2001) Towards a Model of Market Centred Leadership, Leading and Managing Vol. 7 No.1 Page 76-89. Drysdale, L. (2001) Getting the Most Out of Marketing for Schools, ACEA Monograph, No. 29. October. Drysdale, L. (2002). A Study of Marketing and Market Orientation in Selected Victorian Schools of the Future. Unpublished PhD Thesis, The University of Melbourne. Drysdale, L. & Gurr, D. (2003). Market Centred Leadership, International Journal of Learning, 10, 2619-2630. Keller, K.L (2008) Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity. Pearson Educational International, New Jersey. Kotler, P., Brown, L., Burton, S., and Armstrong, G. (2010) Marketing 8e Pearson Australia Frenchs Forest NSW. McKay, M.M. (2001) Application of brand equity measures in service markets, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 15 No. 3 2001, pp. 210-221. Peterson, K. D. and Deal, T. E. (1998) How Leaders Influence the Culture of Schools Educational Leadership, Vol 56. No 1 pp 28-30. Power, D and Hauge, A. (2008) No Man's Brand--Brands, Institutions, and Fashion Growth and Change Volume 39 Issue 1 Page 123-143. Schein, E. H. (1984) Coming to a New Awareness of Organisational Culture, Sloan Management Review, Winter, Page 7 Schein, E. H. (1985) Organisational Culture and Leadership, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Thomas, S and Kohli, C (2009) A Brand is Forever! The framework for revitalizing declining and dead brands, Business Horizons (2009) 52, 377—386. Trout, J and Rivkin, S. (2010) Repositioning: Marketing in an Era of Competition, Change and Crisis McGraw Hill, New York. Ulrich, D. and Smallwood, N. (2007) Building a Leadership Brand, Harvard Business Review, July-August pp 93-100.

Author Information

Lawrence Drysdale (presenting / submitting)
University of Melbourne
Melbourne
David Gurr (presenting)
The University of Melbourne
Melbourne Graduate School of Education
Parkville

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