Using the process of disruption to find new markets and to develop new marketing programs for management education

• Published in: Journal of marketing for higher education 2009-01, Vol.19 (2), p.166-178
• Main Author: Somers, Mark John
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Administrator Education; Business Administration Education; Competition; Differences; differentiation; disruptive thinking; Global Approach; Higher Education; Institutional Characteristics; Lehrplan; Management Development; management education; Strategic Planning; Student Recruitment; Wirtschaftshochschule
• ISSN: 0884-1241; 1540-7144; 1540-7144
• DOI: 10.1080/08841240903418091

The market for management education has grown rapidly over the past 40 years. However, increasing competition stemming from new entrants such as for-profit universities and from the globalization of management education have changed the dynamics of the market thereby presenting business schools with difficult challenges. The process of disruption is offered as a methodology for rethinking program offerings, recruitment, marketing communications, and stakeholder satisfaction. Three disruptive ideas: business schools are not de facto management development centers, the market for management education is fragmented, and management is a profession and should be marketed accordingly are proposed to challenge the conventional thinking that underlies how management education is marketed. The intended result is greater differentiation among business schools, more customer-oriented marketing, and more effective management of the marketing mix.