The Commons

Conversations for Nonprofits in Tough Times

‘Insight’ Archive

Don’t Forget About the People Behind Your Brand Experience

2010 Apr 19
Comments (2)
Permalink

This interesting brand management article in the Gallup Management Journal shines the spotlight on an often forgotten marketing “P.”
My take on this topic…brand experience is the next most important horizon for all brands. As marketers, we continue to refine and master the “channels” and the product positioning and the pitch — but, ugh, those darn [...]

Continue reading »

More on the B-school Ethical Evolution…

2010 Apr 15
Comments (0)
Permalink

Another day, another important article – this one in U.S. News and World Report – on how business schools are “re-evaluating the importance of business ethics and different methods of teaching ethics.”
This topic has had a lot of coverage for several years, starting even before Enron and other high-profile ethical messes. The global financial meltdown [...]

Continue reading »

Does Character Count for Business School Brands?

2010 Apr 14
Comments (0)
Permalink

Did the MBAs do it?  The debate rages whether business schools and their graduates are responsible for the global financial crisis.  Dutifully, many schools are “introspecting” on the subject.
Why Character is Destiny for Business Schools – and the MBAs They Groom, in the new issue of the Baylor Business Review takes a look at the [...]

Continue reading »

The MFA barista—what is the true value of a degree?

2010 Mar 30
Comments (1)
Permalink

New legislation being considered by the U.S. Department of Education is squarely aimed at for-profit colleges, with the intent of linking a student’s debt with their post-graduate earnings.  Their concern is that students—lured by advertising—are investing in credentials or degrees that don’t actually deliver the earning power that the student expects, generating flotillas of “underwater” [...]

Continue reading »

Reputation is On the Line When Choosing New Deans

2010 Mar 26
Comments (0)
Permalink

Upon reading the first article in a three-part Business Week series examining high-profile searches for new business school deans, it struck me that it is hard to overstate the importance of getting this process right. As with a corporate CEO position, the individual leading each of these institutions — or at any top business school [...]

Continue reading »

Somebody tell me why…

2010 Mar 23
Comments (0)
Permalink

…colleges and universities are advertising so lavishly in The Chronicle of Higher Education.  It’s a trend that’s been accelerating lately, and it’s really getting out of hand.  In the March 12, 2010 edition there are full-page ads by:
•    University of North Texas
•    Arcadia University
•    East Carolina University
•    Texas A&M (three pages worth! And they’ve been [...]

Continue reading »

Big Thoughts on Branding

2010 Feb 8
Comments (0)
Permalink

My book on higher ed branding – The Real U: Building Brands that Resonate with Students, Faculty, Staff, and Donors – is being published later this month by CASE.  Buy one now!
The Real U represents the first book-length manuscript I’ve written since completing my doctoral program, which was largely focused on modern and contemporary American [...]

Continue reading »

Eisenberg’s Critique of Philanthropic Practices Off the Mark

2009 Nov 9
Comments (0)
Permalink

Pablo Eisenberg’s jeremiad on charitable giving in the Wall Street Journal misses the mark in a variety of ways.  First, of his nine recommendations, only one of them deals with the more than 80 percent of philanthropic giving that is made by individuals – and that one only marginally.  He is beating a tired, lame [...]

Continue reading »

B-Schools Need to Strike a Balance

2009 Oct 20
Comments (2)
Permalink

I work with and study a lot of business schools and no doubt this article on M.B.A.’s and social change identifies a real trend toward students wanting to explore issues of sustainability, corporate social responsibility, “green” enterprises and other social entrepreneurship concepts. These are, not surprisingly, subjects with tremendous natural appeal in today’s environment.
One can [...]

Continue reading »

A WILD CARD IN THE SELECTIVE ADMISSIONS GAME: NO-LOAN AID

2009 Oct 12
Comments (0)
Permalink

When Princeton University announced in 2001 that it would replace all student loans with grants, a chain reaction was set in action, slowly but surely. Students weren’t so much being enticed to choose Princeton—an attractive enough option on its own—as they were being lured away from Princeton’s nearest competitors.
It wasn’t just that Princeton had found [...]

Continue reading »

« Previous Posts