Transcript Branding: Are We Delivering Jesuit and Business Curriculums?

Branding: Are We
Delivering Jesuit and
Business Curriculums?
La Verne Hairston Higgins
Le Moyne College
Colleagues in Jesuit
Business Education
9th Annual Conference
28 July 2006
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Branding:
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The process of placing an image of
distinctiveness in the minds of a
targeted audience
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Branding
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“…is anti-intellectual; it is morally
vacuous and manipulative; it so
dignifies materialism as to compromise
the Catholic and Jesuit identity of our
schools…”
John Hollwitz, 20041
1Conversations,
Spring 2004
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Language of ‘Branding’
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Brand equity
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Assets
Liabilities
Brand awareness
Brand loyalty
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What is a ‘Brand’?
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Based on distinctiveness
‘Key’ that elicits attributes or
characteristics
A heuristic
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name
symbol
‘Jesuit’ heuristic?
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?
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What is the “Jesuit” brand?
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Historical reputation
Quality education
Faith based
Commitment to social justice
Strong basic skills
Strong discernment/critical thinking
emphasis
Non-ethnocentric, accepting of diverse
catholic
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What is the business
education brand?
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AACSB
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Quality
Learning objectives
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Disciplinary expertise
Diversity awareness
Global awareness
Technologically savvy
Portability
Heuristic ??
??
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How is the “Jesuit” brand being
meshed into business curricula?
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What is a ‘Jesuit business’ education?
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What is the ‘Jesuit business’ brand?
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What is the curriculum?
What makes it distinctive?
Are we delivering it?
Not just
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Professional preparation
Job training
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Questions
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Is reliance on our ‘liberal arts’ core
enough?
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For example: ‘Humanities’ as the purveyor
of ethical education
Are we subconsciously saying that the
content of business isn’t part of Jesuit
education?
What are we communicating?
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Are our business programs seen as just
add-ons to Jesuit higher education?
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Putting the Jesuit into our
business programs
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Not just community service projects in
capstone courses
Economics
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“Business, government and society”
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“Public good”
Corporate social responsibility
Pre-Milton Freedman curriculum
The whole person for today and tomorrow
?
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