Public University in 21st Century: Public Relations and Marketing

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Public University in 21st CenturyPublic
Relations and Marketing
Peter J. Bjacek March 2007
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Brno University of Technology
This paper deals with problems of public
relations and marketing in 21st century. These
two functions are closely related and should not
be separated public relations is essential to
raising money, attracting new students, placing
of graduates and cooperation with industry. It
is presented in a context of reorganization of
marketing and public relations of Brno University
of Technology, Czech Republic.
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Brno University of Technology

• CONTENT
• INTRODUCTION
• A. REORGANIZATION OF PUBLIC RELATIONS AND
  MARKETING AT BUT
• B. PREPARATION OF THE CHANGES
• C. MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
• D. NEW ORGANIZATION OF PUBLIC RELATIONS AND
  MARKETING
• F. IMPLEMENTATION
• G. STAFFING
• H. T FINANCES AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
• CONCLUSION

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Brno University of Technology

• INTRODUCTION
• 1. Challenges of the 21st Century
• 2. Definitions
• 3. Present Organizational Framework and Structure
  of Public Relations and
• Marketing in Czech Universities
• 4. Decision-making in Czech Public Universities
• 5. Higher Education in Czech Republic

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Brno University of Technology

• 1. Challenges of the 21st Century
• Competition for students private and foreign
  institutions
• Competition for money insufficient funds
  provided by Government
• Calls to open public universities to public
• Calls for professional management
• Fast advancement of technological innovations and
  knowledge.

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Brno University of Technology

• 1. Challenges of the 21st Century (Cont.)
• How Can we Deal with these Challenges?
• Excellence in education to attract students
• Hire only the best teachers
• They have to keep themselves on top of the latest
  technological development
• Admit only the best student applicants
• Associate your institution only with the best
  institutions and businesses
• Aggressive marketing effort to get private funds
• Has to be based on a sound reality
• Open universities to public scrutiny, business
  community
• Engage professionals to manage university
• Prepare students for a lifelong learning -
  develop their ability to think and to research
  independently.

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Brno University of Technology

• Challenges of the 21st Century (Cont.)
• New Paradigm
• A public university can no longer rely only on
  its past achievements or goodwill of public
• It must prove that it is worthy of public
  investment, satisfies needs of its community
• I must be managed like business marketing and
  public relations play an important role.

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Brno University of Technology

• Challenges of the 21st Century (Cont.)
• Businesslike Management
• It requires from a public university to
• Clearly define its mission, vision and goals
• Create a comprehensive plan of allocation of
  resources to attain them
• Be flexible respond to changes in demand by
  adjusting programs and services
• Continuously evaluate operations to assess their
  effectiveness
• Achieve consensus on controversial issues
• Work together with business and government to
  achieve common goals
• Communicate goals, needs and successes internally
  and externally.

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Brno University of Technology

• 2. Definitions
• Marketing is a social and managerial function
  associated with the process of researching,
  developing, promoting, selling, and distributing
  a product, service, or intellectual property
  (Wikipedia).
• Promotion is one of the four aspects of
  marketing. It involves disseminating information
  about a product, product line, brand, or company.
  Promotion is comprised of
• Personal and non-personal selling
• Advertising and sales promotion
• Publicity and public relations
• Tradeshows
• Direct selling
• Product placement
• A specification of these four variables creates a
  promotional mix or promotional
• plan (Wikipedia).

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Brno University of Technology

• 2. Definitions (Cont.)
• Brand Recognition is created by
• the accumulation of experiences with the specific
  product or service, both directly relating to its
  use, and
• through the influence of advertising, design, and
  media commentary.

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Brno University of Technology

• 2. Definitions (Cont.)
• Brand Management
• is the application of marketing techniques to a
  specific product / service, product line, or
  brand
• It seeks to increase the product's perceived
  value to the customer, it is an implied promise
  that the level of quality people have come to
  expect from a brand will continue with present
  and future purchases of the same product service.
  
• This may
• increase sales by making a comparison with
  competing products more favorable
• empower the entity to charge more for the its
  product / service.

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Brno University of Technology

• 2. Definitions (Cont.)
• Relationship between Marketing and Public
  Relations
• Public Relations is one of the processes / tools
  of marketing. Therefore, solving the problem
  reorganization of Public Relations cannot be done
  separately from its impact on marketing, the user
  of this service.
• A Brand is
• A collection of images and ideas representing an
  economic producer, a symbolic embodiment of all
  the information connected to a company, product
  or service
• Serves to create associations and expectations
  among products made by a producer
• It often includes an explicit logo, fonts, color
  schemes, symbols, sound which may be developed to
  represent implicit values, ideas, and even
  personality.

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Brno University of Technology

• Present Organizational Framework and Structure of
  Public Relations and Marketing in Czech
  Universities
• Public relations functions are parts of External
  Relations Departments
• They have one to four employees
• Marketing function is missing the only active
  marketing is at Masaryk University
• Both public relations and marketing play a minor
  role in universities organizational structures.

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Brno University of Technology

• 4. Decision-making in Czech Public Universities
• Present situation
• Governance of universities is prescribed by the
  Higher Education Act
• Detail management of a university is a matter of
  its statue
• All decision-making is in hands of Academic
  Senates both on university and faculty level
  public universities are closed self-governing
  institutions without public control
• Boards consisting of general public deal only
  with legal matters (control property transfers)
• Deans are not responsible to Rector, but to
  faculties Academic Senates this make
  management and administration of a university a
  major challenge, an exercise in futility.

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Brno University of Technology

• 4. Decision-making in Czech Public Universities
  (Cont.)
• Future development
• Present Higher Education Act will be replaced in
  near future
• The main features of the new Act will include
• Emphases on internal integration of universities
  increased role of central university
  administrations
• Opening decision-making of public universities to
  society
• substantially more important role of the Board
  (allocation of resources)
• decreased role of academic senates
• Increased importance of private finances
  emphases on fundraising and public relations.

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Brno University of Technology

• Higher Education in Czech Republic
• Present student population is 340 000
• 100 000 applicants are admitted annually
• There are both public and private institutions
• the public ones represent about 95 of the
  student body
• Annual government financing of higher education
  is CZK 27 milliards (approximately 1 milliard
  euros).

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Brno University of Technology

• REORGANIZATION OF PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MARKETING
  AT BUT
• 1. New Rector
• 2. Change in Organization of Public Relations
• 3. Major Barriers to the Change

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Brno University of Technology

• 1. New Rector
• New Rector was appointed in February 2006 for a
  four-year term
• Decided to reorganize the Rectors Office /
  Central Administration to make it more
  efficient
• Department of External Relations will
• Transfer student exchange programs EU to
  Pro-rector for Academic Affairs
• Concentrate all public relations functions to the
  Department of Public Relations and Marketing (new
  name of the Department)
• The emphases of the reconstituted Department will
  be on marketing, creating and enhancing of public
  image, and on communications both external and
  internal, to unify individual parts of the
  University.

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Brno University of Technology

• 2. Realization of Change in Organization
  Structure of Public Relations
• The change will be a process that will take time
  to implement - not a one-shot event
• Current employees will be persuaded to accept and
  support the change
• Rector will lead the change - will be personally
  involved
• The outcome of the reorganization will be
  flexible at present, we cannot predict the
  final arrangement with certainty
• The responsible person for the reorganization
  will be Pro-rector for External Relations.

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Brno University of Technology

• 3. Major Barriers to the Change
• Nonprofit character of the institution the new
  organization might be in conflict with
  established paradigm in which
• people are process oriented instead of goal
  oriented
• spending culture - no focus on the bottom line
• conflict of profit and non-profit activities
• are there shared values
• is the university willing to address these
  conflicts
• lack of history of goals, plans, implementation
  and evaluation of plans - lax measurements of
  progress
• Time and effort needed for revisions of strategic
  and long-term goals, motto, mission, values
  statements, including
• Setting concrete objectives for reaching of the
  goals to measure progress
• Assigning concrete responsibilities and timetable
  of actions
• Universitys environment not conducive to the
  change - present Higher Education Act limits some
  of the needed changes.

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Brno University of Technology

• B. PREPARATION OF THE CHANGE
• 1. Revision of Basic Statements and Plans
• 2. Basic statements of BUT
• 3. Planning

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Brno University of Technology

• Revision of Basic Statements and Plans
• Current legislation does not require a university
  to formulate its basic statements - motto,
  mission statement and statement values
• Before any promotion can be done there has to be
  an explicit definition of the institution and its
  services
• Targeted audience wants to know where is
  institution leading - a university must have a
  formal statement of vision, and long-term and
  strategic plans.
• Drafting of these documents is critically
  important for building universitys image, its
  effective public relations and marketing.

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Brno University of Technology

• 2. Basic Statements of BUT (Cont.)
• Motto
• Present motto of BUT is Sapere Aude Dare to
  know
• It reflects a particular social situation at the
  end of the Nineteenth century, it is the main
  motto of the eighteen century Enlightenment
• The motto is not informative nor mobilizing at
  present and it would be problematic to use it for
  public relations purpose projecting image of
  the University
• It should be revised to reflect the Twenty-first
  century and the new social role of the
  University.

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Brno University of Technology

• 2. Basic Statements of BUT (Cont.)
• Mission Statement
• There is no formal mission statement
• In general, mission of a university is stated in
  the Higher Education Act.
• The general statement does not offer its specific
  reasons for being, cannot serve for creating of a
  concrete image of the University
• There is an urgent need for preparation of such a
  statement.

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Brno University of Technology

• 2. Basic Statements of BUT (Cont.)
• Values Statement
• There is no formal values statement
• From Universitys documents one can deduct that
  its core values are
• Spirit of invention and scientific inquiry
• Creativity
• Professionalism
• Freedom of thoughts and
• Contribution to democratic development of our
  society
• There an urgent need for creation of such a
  statement.

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Brno University of Technology

• 3. Planning
• Long-term Intentions
• Long-term planning is prescribed by present
  Higher Education Act. It requires universities to
  file a statement called Long-term Intentions
  that is detailed annually as Actualization of
  Long-term Intentions.
• It has the following content Assumptions
  Priorities Internationalization Quality of
  educational processes Quality and culture of
  academic plan
• This statement does not have a character of a
  long-term plan does not deals with long-term
  allocation of resources, nor responsibilities and
  timetable
• The Act does not require any vision statement or
  a strategic plan
• Professional management will require existence of
  a long-term plan.

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Brno University of Technology

• C. MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
• 1. Marketing Functions of the University
• Requirements of Marketing on Public Relations

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Brno University of Technology

• 1. Marketing Functions of the University
• Each university has at least the following areas
  of marketing
• Marketing of the institution fundraising /
  development
• Marketing cooperation with business / industry
• Recruitment of students
• Recruitment of staff
• Placement of graduates
• Marketing of programs of lifelong education
• There are no institutions for some of the
  functions fundraising, placement.

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Brno University of Technology

• 2. Marketing Requirements - Public Relations
• The requirements vary according to marketing
  areas
• Fundraising generation of positive a image
  (brand management) and annual reports
• Marketing cooperation with business - generation
  of a positive image (brand management), annual
  reports, information about research potential of
  academicians
• Recruitment of students - generation of a
  positive image (brand management), information
  about educational programs and student life,
  successes in placement
• Recruitment of staff - generation of a positive
  image (brand management)
• Placement of graduates - generation of a positive
  image (brand management)
• Marketing of programs of lifelong education -
  generation of a positive image (brand
  management).
• The most important common requirements are
  generation of positive image (brand management)
  and annual reports the areas the new Public
  Relations organization should concentrate on.

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Brno University of Technology

• D. NEW ORGANIZATION OF PUBLIC RELATIONS AND
  MARKETING
• 1. Present Organizational Framework of Department
  of External Relations
• 2. Future Organizational Framework of Marketing
  and Public Relations

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Brno University of Technology

• 1. Present Organizational Framework of Department
  of External Relations
• It is a part of Rectors office (central
  administration)
• The head is Pro-rector for External Relationships
  responsible directly to Rector
• Public Relations functions are not in this
  Department
• Press Secretary reports directly to Rector
• All universitys publications are concentrated in
  VUTIUM and the head reports to Pro-rector for
  Information and Telecommunication Technologies
• Public relations publications are shared by press
  secretary and VUTIUM
• The main activity of the Department has been
  students and teachers mobility EU programs.

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Brno University of Technology

• 2. Future Organizational Framework of Marketing
  and Public Relations
• The name of the Department will be changed to
  Department of Marketing and Public Relations
• The Department will remain to be a part of
  Rectors office
• Head of the Department, Pro-rector, will report
  directly to Rector - his function will be
  equivalent to Universitys Chief Communication
  Officer
• Responsibilities for students mobility programs
  will be transferred to Pro-rector for Study and
  Students Affairs
• Press Secretary and VUTIUM will be transferred to
  this Department and report to the Pro-rector.

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Brno University of Technology

• F. IMPLEMENTATION
• 1. Major Factors Influencing the Implementation
• 2. The First Year

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Brno University of Technology

• 1. Major Factors Influencing the Implementation
• The implementation will be influenced by at least
  these factors
• Support of the top decision-makers of the
  University
• Availability of funds for the functions
• Availability of eligible candidates for the new
  positions
• Positive results of early fundraising effort
• Positive changes in environment conducive to the
  Universitys marketing and public relations.

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Brno University of Technology

• 2. The First Year
• During the first year will be reached the
  following
• The individual PR functions will be transferred
  and created the new functions
• Hired additional personnel
• Prepared long-term plans and set down strategic
  goals for each of the functions
• Established the supporting institutions
• Set-up objectives (controllable targets)
• Determined the next implementation steps.

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Brno University of Technology

• G. STAFFING
• 1. Major Constraints
• 2. Common Feature of All positions

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Brno University of Technology

• 1. Major Constraints
• Hiring of personnel for all the functions faces
  several major problems
• Budget the funds available for the functions
  will be only incremental ones, full funding is
  not feasible
• Pay scale employees of the central
  administrations are considered by the Academic
  Senate and by the Faculties as parasites and this
  is reflected in their pay scales deep under
  standard in business
• Lack of available candidates there is a general
  shortage of experienced marketing and public
  relations people and potential employees with
  background from the non-profit sphere are even
  rarer.

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Brno University of Technology

• 2. Common Feature of All positions
• All related marketing and public relations
  management positions share some features
• Responsibility for planning and management of
  employees
• University education with four to seven years of
  related experience the minimum
• Knowledge of two world languages
• Traits self-starters with business acumen,
  excellent communication and interpersonal skills,
  fast thinking, confident team leader.

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Brno University of Technology

• H. FINANCE AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
• 1. Fundraising
• 2. Financial Constraints of the Reorganization

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Brno University of Technology

• Fundraising
• How realistic is to expect that fundraising will
  generate additional funds?
• An often mentioned argument is that there is no
  giving culture in our society. While this may be
  valid for annual giving of individuals, fast
  increase in standard of living might invoke a
  cultural change
• However, we are a part of the global economy.
  There are global corporations in our country that
  do not share the culture and consider giving a
  part of its responsibility to contribute to
  social advancement
• For domestic corporate subject the major concern
  regarding giving is the tax deductibility of such
  contributions
• At present we are witnessing vast contributions
  of Czech companies to various sport activities
  have any university asked them for a major
  contribution?
• We have started to build our civic society one
  of its features is the culture of giving.

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• 2. Financial Constraints of the Reorganization
• Allocation of funds is the domain of the Academic
  Senate. A request for any additional funds for
  the central administration faces a hostile
  reaction - the Senate considers it a robbery of
  funds of the Faculties.
• Therefore, the financial requirements of the
  reorganization will have to be minimal at the
  beginning and their increase can be only
  incremental.
• Once fundraising will start to generate funds,
  these restrictions might be substantially lower
  or completely eliminated.

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• CONCLUSION
• Reorganization and creation of public relations
  and marketing functions represents a major
  attempt to face the challenges of the 21st
  century.
• Remember the precondition of an effective
  public relations and of a successful marketing of
  the University is, first of all, an existence of
  a first-quality institution.
• Thank you for your attention.