Abstract
Orientation: Academic staff members have a crucial role in the success of higher education institutions (HEIs). Therefore, it is imperative to cultivate an appealing organisational brand that will attract them to HEIs as an employer of choice.Research purpose: The main objective of this study was to explore management perceptions on a higher educational institution as a brand for the attraction of talented academic staff.Motivation for the study: Although a substantial amount of research has been conducted on organisational branding, not much has emphasised the higher educational sector.Research approach, design and method: A qualitative research approach was adopted, using semi-structured interviews to collect data from management (N = 12) of a merged South African HEI.Main findings: The findings revealed six themes that should form the core of a higher educational brand for academic staff: reputation and image, organisational culture and identity, strategic vision, corporate social responsibility and work and surrounding environment.Practical/managerial implications: The findings of the study will assist higher education management to create a compelling organisational brand and work environment to attract and retain talented academic staff members.Contribution/value-add: This research makes a valuable contribution towards creating new knowledge in the key that should form part of an appealing higher education brand that will attract and retain current and future talent.
Highlights
Diminishing global boundaries and technological modifications have deepened the importance of the organisational branding of higher education (Harsha & Shah, 2011)
Other themes that arose in descending order of frequency were reputation and image, organisational culture and identity, corporate social responsibility, merger implications as well as strategic vision
The participants were of the opinion that a working environment that enables academic staff members to perform is imperative to ensure that they stay ahead as an institution of higher learning as described by the following participant: the most important thing is the environment which I would say is our competitive edge, to ensure that we provide a conducive environment for an academic to develop themselves because in an academic situation, an academic career is highly competitive. (Participant 1, male, executive management, doctoral degree, black or African)
Summary
Diminishing global boundaries and technological modifications have deepened the importance of the organisational branding of higher education (Harsha & Shah, 2011). Branding of higher education institutions (HEIs) originates from the transference of noble practises from the private business arena into the arena of academia (Wæraas & Solbakk, 2009). Harsha and Shah (2011) postulate that the supremacy of a higher educational brand is signified by the judgements, outlooks, opinions, images and experiences associated with the brand in the minds of citizens or audiences and what these consumers have learnt, felt, observed and heard concerning HEIs over time. According to Biraghi and Gambetti (2015), organisational branding is a continuous strategic process that mirrors the efforts of top managers to capture the identity of organisations and express it in a dependable and attractive manner to promote the organisational identification and support of stakeholders. HEIs should attract qualified academic staff who can ensure sustainability and quality over the long term (Makondo, 2014; Pienaar & Bester, 2008)
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