Creating Value in the Entrepreneurial University: Marketization and Merchandising Strategies

Chiara Fantauzzi, Rocco Frondizi, Nathalie Colasanti and Gloria Fiorani
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Chiara Fantauzzi: Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Roma, Italy
Rocco Frondizi: Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Roma, Italy
Nathalie Colasanti: Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Roma, Italy
Gloria Fiorani: Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Roma, Italy

Administrative Sciences, 2019, vol. 9, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: Higher education institutions are called to expand their role and responsibilities, by enhancing their entrepreneurial mindset and redefining relationships with stakeholders. In order to cope with these new challenges, they have started to operate in a strategic manner, by performing marketing and merchandising activities. Indeed, in a sector characterized by the presence of competitive funding models, several forms of accountability, and performance indicators, universities have become open systems and have started to operate like enterprises, considering students as customers. Given this premise, the aim of the paper is to individuate marketing and merchandising strategies in higher education and to evaluate their effectiveness in order to foster stakeholders engagement. This is in line with the entrepreneurial university model that represents the starting point of the theoretical study, then a literature review of “marketization” in higher education institutions is presented, showing how this field is not yet completely investigated. Data refer to the Italian context and are analyzed through a qualitative method. Findings suggest that most Italian universities perform merchandising strategies, but currently there is not sufficient information to evaluate their effectiveness in higher education, it was only possible to make hypotheses.

Keywords: university; stakeholders engagement; public marketing; merchandising (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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