title: Profit for knowledge’s sake: The challenges for universities in constructing a brand in the twenty-first century

authors: Craig, David

subjects: branding

abstract: This thesis investigated how the challenges of constructing a brand in the twenty-first century are impacting on the idea of a university. 

There is a growing evidence-base in the literature that demonstrates the influence of marketisation on universities. However, there is little research that explores the intersection between the application of disruptive innovation to universities, how they might respond to disruption and the subsequent effect on the construction of their brands. This raises questions about how marketisation has impacted the internal culture of universities, how institutions manage their brands and, how leadership should confront challenges to the idea of a university. 

The theoretical framework for this thesis was informed by social constructionism. The data was collected by undertaking semi-structured interviews with 24 senior leaders and marketing professionals employed by universities in the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), Australia and, the People’s Republic of China (China). The data was analysed by applying the step-by-step guide to thematic analysis provided by Braun and Clark (2006).

This study found that there was tension as universities constructed and communicated their brand identities; tension as most of the participants perceived that some external stakeholders had constructed different ideas from them about what a university is and represents; and, tension as many of the participants observed senior leadership determining the most effective strategies to balance an inherent desire to protect the traditional idea of a university against the complex challenges that were confronting them.

How the participants accounted for this tension was of critical concern to this study. Universities are complex organisations and the findings suggest that there is the potential for tensions to increase as the participants attempt to make sense of the changing demands from their diverse stakeholders. 

The credential is referred to in the literature as the heart of the business of universities (Milligan & Kennedy, 2017) and therefore establishing trust in the credential is core to its brand identity (Galbraith, 2016). A conclusion from this research is that it seems likely that the value of the credential will continue to decline as employers seek a differently skilled workforce. This may have a substantial impact on the ‘product’ that a university has to ‘sell’ and as a consequence their brand identities may need to reposition. 

The findings presented in this thesis build upon an understanding of the literature that relates to the construction of the university brand, the idea of the university and how disruptive innovation applies to universities.

text: Profit for knowledge’s sake: The challenges for universities in constructing a brand in the twenty-first century This thesis investigated how the challenges of constructing a brand in the twenty-first century are impacting on the idea of a university. 

There is a growing evidence-base in the literature that demonstrates the influence of marketisation on universities. However, there is little research that explores the intersection between the application of disruptive innovation to universities, how they might respond to disruption and the subsequent effect on the construction of their brands. This raises questions about how marketisation has impacted the internal culture of universities, how institutions manage their brands and, how leadership should confront challenges to the idea of a university. 

The theoretical framework for this thesis was informed by social constructionism. The data was collected by undertaking semi-structured interviews with 24 senior leaders and marketing professionals employed by universities in the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), Australia and, the People’s Republic of China (China). The data was analysed by applying the step-by-step guide to thematic analysis provided by Braun and Clark (2006).

This study found that there was tension as universities constructed and communicated their brand identities; tension as most of the participants perceived that some external stakeholders had constructed different ideas from them about what a university is and represents; and, tension as many of the participants observed senior leadership determining the most effective strategies to balance an inherent desire to protect the traditional idea of a university against the complex challenges that were confronting them.

How the participants accounted for this tension was of critical concern to this study. Universities are complex organisations and the findings suggest that there is the potential for tensions to increase as the participants attempt to make sense of the changing demands from their diverse stakeholders. 

The credential is referred to in the literature as the heart of the business of universities (Milligan & Kennedy, 2017) and therefore establishing trust in the credential is core to its brand identity (Galbraith, 2016). A conclusion from this research is that it seems likely that the value of the credential will continue to decline as employers seek a differently skilled workforce. This may have a substantial impact on the ‘product’ that a university has to ‘sell’ and as a consequence their brand identities may need to reposition. 

The findings presented in this thesis build upon an understanding of the literature that relates to the construction of the university brand, the idea of the university and how disruptive innovation applies to universities.

year: 2020

title: A question of scale: How turbulence around aerial roots shapes the seabed morphology in mangrove forests of the Mekong Delta

authors: Mullarney, Julia C.

abstract: Mangrove forests are highly productive ecosystems that provide many physical, societal, and ecological services in tropical and subtropical regions. Accurate prediction of the morphological evolution for these areas, in the face of global sea level rise and changes in sediment supply, requires understanding of interactions between vegetation growth, water flows, and sediment transport. Data presented from a wave-exposed mangrove forest in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, include unique measurements that resolved water flows in and around the aerial mangrove roots (known as pneumatophores) over scales from a few millimeters to hundreds of meters. Flows were highly turbulent, with turbulence values sometimes as large as those measured in surf zones. These energetic processes appear to stir up sediments, with small scour troughs observed around individual pneumatophores, and larger-scale scour around clusters of pneumatophores. The vegetation fringe (the boundary between forest and mudflat) was a particularly dynamic area, with elevated turbulence levels, greater vegetation densities, coarser sediments, and occasional wave breaking. Intense turbulent dissipation at the fringe then reduces the energy of shoreward-propagating waves, sheltering the forest interior. The small-scale processes appear to be linked with forest-wide patterns of sediment transport and deposition. We discuss these links in the context of the biophysical interactions that control the changing shapes of deltas worldwide.

text: A question of scale: How turbulence around aerial roots shapes the seabed morphology in mangrove forests of the Mekong Delta Mangrove forests are highly productive ecosystems that provide many physical, societal, and ecological services in tropical and subtropical regions. Accurate prediction of the morphological evolution for these areas, in the face of global sea level rise and changes in sediment supply, requires understanding of interactions between vegetation growth, water flows, and sediment transport. Data presented from a wave-exposed mangrove forest in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, include unique measurements that resolved water flows in and around the aerial mangrove roots (known as pneumatophores) over scales from a few millimeters to hundreds of meters. Flows were highly turbulent, with turbulence values sometimes as large as those measured in surf zones. These energetic processes appear to stir up sediments, with small scour troughs observed around individual pneumatophores, and larger-scale scour around clusters of pneumatophores. The vegetation fringe (the boundary between forest and mudflat) was a particularly dynamic area, with elevated turbulence levels, greater vegetation densities, coarser sediments, and occasional wave breaking. Intense turbulent dissipation at the fringe then reduces the energy of shoreward-propagating waves, sheltering the forest interior. The small-scale processes appear to be linked with forest-wide patterns of sediment transport and deposition. We discuss these links in the context of the biophysical interactions that control the changing shapes of deltas worldwide.

year: 2017

title: Nga taonga o Te Urewera

authors: Te Awekotuku, Ngahuia

subjects: Maori

abstract: This report sets out to establish that Te Urewera and Tuhoe - the place, the people -
are synonymous. It is argued by two discrete approaches - cultural property and the
significance of place. These are both enmeshed in the Tuhoe concept of
matemateaone, which is defined and demonstrated throughout the text. Issues of
Tuhoe heritage and cultural property are positioned within the international
indigenous context, and considered in detail with reference to the United Nations
Report on the Protection of the Heritage of Indigenous Peoples tabled in June 1995.
A Tuhoe response to the nine sections of this document form the basis of this
submission, as they clearly reflect the intentions and principles that configure the
articles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

text: Nga taonga o Te Urewera This report sets out to establish that Te Urewera and Tuhoe - the place, the people -
are synonymous. It is argued by two discrete approaches - cultural property and the
significance of place. These are both enmeshed in the Tuhoe concept of
matemateaone, which is defined and demonstrated throughout the text. Issues of
Tuhoe heritage and cultural property are positioned within the international
indigenous context, and considered in detail with reference to the United Nations
Report on the Protection of the Heritage of Indigenous Peoples tabled in June 1995.
A Tuhoe response to the nine sections of this document form the basis of this
submission, as they clearly reflect the intentions and principles that configure the
articles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

year: 2003-08