Purpose

In a VUCA world leaders are expected to adapt their leadership to meet new demands. This proposal argues that leaders will need to change their mindsets and adopt different frames of reference to succeed.  The proposal outlines six marketing dimensions that can provide leaders with a new set of lens to define their leadership role in the time of change.

Conceptual framework

Many writers on leadership and organisational theory advocate in times of chaos, unpredictability and fast-moving change, that they adapt, respond, and act proactively. The environment in which we currently live has been termed the VUCA world, the acronym standing for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. The drumbeat for the past sixty years has been that leaders need to re-invent themselves to be adaptive and adopt new perspectives to meet the new challengers (Drucker, 1980, 1995,2002; Hamel and Prahahalad, 1994; Bennis, 2015; Peters, 1991, 2002; Covey, 1990; Toffler, 1970)). More recently with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic leaders are faced with new situations seldom or never faced before. The new normal requires leaders to be more entrepreneurial and innovative. In turn, this means adopting new perspectives and new mindsets. Bolman and Deal (2017) called this reframing. Reframing requires leaders to see things differently whether they are situations, experiences, events, ideas or emotions. One important approach to changing perspective is for educational leaders is to adopt a marketing mindset. The presentation will explain what we mean by a marketing mindset and identify six marketing dimensions that leaders can assume.

The concept of marketing is often confusing and misunderstood in management. The ‘common’ view of marketing is that it is selling and advertising. Many regard marketing with suspicion because they perceive it as dishonest, exploitative and manipulative. Paradoxically it is one of the oldest of human activities, yet a recent business discipline.  Modern marketing is said to date from the 1950s when Peter Drucker (1954) argued that marketing was central to the organisation’s endeavours.

‘Marketing is not only much broader than selling; it is not a specialised activity at all. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of its result, that is, from the customer’s point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the enterprise’ (Drucker, 1954:35-36).

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines marketing as

…the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large (AMA, 2007).

It is argued that marketing not only reflects and drives modern society but marketing is modern society. The author argues that the concept of marketing in modern society is an important perspective for school leaders to understand and use. Marketing is future-oriented and opportunity focused. It can help school leaders frame problems, explore options, and strategically shift problem boundaries (Schoemaker, Heaton & Teece, 2018).

The presentation will outline several dimensions of marketing that offer a wide range of perspectives that provide leaders with a valuable new set of lenses from which to view their school. A marketing mindset that incorporates multiple dimensions of marketing can enhance their school’s performance by helping to set direction, understand the internal and external school context, develop people, build the organisation, improve teaching and learning, and improve communication. The presentation covers six dimensions of marketing that can create a new mindset – market orientation, marketing as a function, marketing as a strategy, relationship marketing, brand orientation, and digital orientation. Each of these orientations represents the evolution of modern marketing and could be viewed as a sub-disciple within marketing.

The presentation is a conceptual paper based on the extensive literature review on marketing, the author’s study of marketing including a PhD on marketing in schools (Author 2001, 2002, 2003, 2015), and has developed and taught the subject ‘Marketing in Education’ in Educational Administration Master’s program for 20 years. The literature on marketing and marketing in education is used to support this presentation paper. The concept of marketing is one of the most confusing and misunderstood concepts in management. ‘The enigma of marketing is that it is one of man's oldest activities and yet it is regarded as the most recent of the business disciplines’ (Baker, 1995). The ‘person-in–the-street’ view of marketing is selling and advertising. For many critics marketing is viewed as manipulative, devious, unethical and inherently distasteful (Brown, 1995). It is not surprising the concept of marketing is contentious in education and is viewed with skepticism and suspicion. This is re-enforced by the way neoliberalism has captured the western world and is basically rejected by educationalists (Mercer, Barker, Bird, 2010). Many school administrators, teachers, and community members do not believe schools should market or compete. This resistance is often associated with attitudes about the role and resourcing of educational institutions in society, as well as negative attitudes towards marketing. It is not surprising that there is resistance to marketing. Yet academic texts define it as much more (Kotler, 1994:xxiv). Definitions of marketing vary. Virtually every text on marketing starts with a different definition. Baker (1996) lists 16 different definitions. One key reason why marketing is confusing is that it is seen both as a function and a philosophy. Crosier (1975) reviewed over 50 definitions. The literature classifies at least three major groups. 1. Marketing as a process or function 2. Marketing as a concept or philosophy of business. 3. Marketing as an orientation -- the phenomenon that makes the concept and a process possible. As a relatively new discipline, marketing continues to evolve. The author’s own research has identified at least six different approaches to marketing which are explored in the presentation. The six are identified in the conceptual framework and outcomes section of this proposal. They represent different perspectives of marketing and provide an opportunity for leaders to adopt a different lens when viewing their schools and how they operate in their own context. This can within most European countries as well as most western educational systems.

The presentation shows the importance of changing the school leaders’ mindset in a VUCA world. Six dimensions of marketing will be presented that can help forge a new mindset. The six dimensions are market orientation; marketing management; market strategy; relationship marketing; brand orientation and digital technology. The finding will define and outline how school leaders can see the school differently and therefore act differently. 1. Market orientation – this approach defines marketing as a philosophy - a way of doing business. It is the whole school organisation seen from the point of view of all the school’s stakeholders (students, parents, school communities and beyond). The mindset is the upside pyramid where the students’ needs are the focus. 2. Marketing management - this is matching what the school offers with satisfying the needs of all the constituents. The leader’s mindset is to develop a value proposition based on targeting, segmenting, and differentiating a range of curriculum offerings and services that are designed to meet customer needs. 3. Marketing as a strategy – this approach is setting direction and adapting to a competitive position as circumstances change. This is an opportunity to re-imagine the school in search of competitive advantage and sustainability. 4. Relationship marketing- creating partnerships and buy-in so the students, parents and the community are co-creators of value. 5 Brand orientation - putting brand at the centre of the organisation and understanding the reciprocal relationship between building an effective school culture and developing a strong brand image. Leaders communicate a strong sense of brand purpose and answer questions such as ‘What does the school stand for?’ and ‘Where does it make a real difference?’ 6 Digital Orientation -shifting from traditional school structures to digital platforms and embracing social media. These are examples that will be presented and expanded on in the presentation.

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