The Role of External Stakeholders in the Development of a "Corporate Brand" in Higher Education

• In Event: Conceptualizing University Identity: Mission, Branding, and the Quest for Quality

Abstract

This paper explores “co-creating” a corporate brand identity as theory suggests that external stakeholders play an important role in its formation. Theoretically this study draws on the corporate branding literature but also spans the organisational behaviour and management literature. Methodologically this work draws on a qualitative paradigm employing a revelatory case approach, documentation and in-depth interviews. The context of the research is a university in the Midlands region of the United Kingdom while the Faculty of Education was primarily where the research took place. Strength and coherency in the education programmes is revealed due to the positive contributions made by multiple stakeholders in the co-construction of a brand identity.

Authors

• Louise Mary Spry, Nottingham Trent University

• Marie Parker-Jenkins, University of Limerick

• Sheine Peart, Nottingham Trent University

• Carley Foster, Nottingham Trent University