Saga, strategy and the marketing mix: A case study of Lynchburg College

• Main Author: Hunnius, Howard Ray
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: W&M ScholarWorks 1987
• Subjects: Higher Education
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539618696; https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1906&context=etd

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which institutional saga and charter influence the formulation of institutional operating strategy and the degree to which the resultant strategy utilizes the concept of the marketing mix in an attempt to achieve institutional objectives.;Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Virginia was chosen as the subject of the study for several reasons. First, as a private institution, it was assumed that Lynchburg College would exercise more discretion in the allocation of institutional resources to its marketing efforts than would a public institution. Second, Lynchburg College offered an opportunity to examine an institution that, while sound academically, fiscally and administratively, is not well known beyond the region it serves. Third, Lynchburg College experienced administrative transition at the same time the institution recognized the problems it faced as a result of rising costs and declining enrollment. Thus the College offered a unique opportunity to observe the response of a new administration to existing and anticipated institutional problems.;It was hypothesized that (1) the marketing practices of Lynchburg College would conform to marketing practice as prescribed by the concept of the marketing mix and (2) that institutional strategy developed on the basis of the marketing mix would be influenced by institutional saga and charter.;It was concluded that institutional saga and charter were exercising a definite influence on the choice of institutional strategy. The study was not able to establish the degree to which strategy as developed by Lynchburg College conformed to the concept of the marketing mix.;Further study is needed to establish the extent to which a concept such as the marketing mix serves as a basis for developing institutional strategy.