The role and importance of marketing tools in the sustainable development of domestic universities
Abstract Despite a significant reduction in the number of universities in our country, this sector of educational activity is represented by a sufficient number of private and public universities, which form a serious competitive environment, which is strengtheningfor public universities, alongwith a narrowing of the number of budget places in many profiles and areas of the higher education. The market orientation towards consumers of educational products and services becomes relevant, which strengthens the confidence in the expediency and timeliness of the use of marketing tools and the concept of benchmarking in order to ensure competitive advantages of domestic universities, both private and public ones. It is obvious that in today`s competitive environment, universities must constantly monitor and satisfy needs and desires of their target group of consumers, as well as their goals to maintain their presence, as it is customary in the practice of the business environment. A business can produce products and services that, in its opinion, will be unlike its competitors and completely suitable for its consumers. However, if consumers are not aware of these products and services or are not satisfied with their use, this will complicate the sales efforts of any business. In the same way, when planning and implementing all their activities, higher education institutions should carry out consumer-oriented marketing activities that meet the consumers` needs.
Keywords: marketing, university, economics, benchmarking, development, efficiency, analysis, evaluation, system, education
Highlights:
♦ the paper substantiates the position of the authors that in modern conditions, increasingthe efficiency of educational activities of universities is an important factor in the formation of the socio-economic stability of the country;
♦ the relevance of the study is due to the analysis of theoretical and empirical aspects and experience of marketing and benchmarking in the activities of organizations in the field of higher education in friendly foreign countries, on the basis of which the authors` model of continuous improvement of the activities of universities based on the concept of the Deming cycle is proposed;
♦ the authors substantiate that marketing activities should allow to accurately analyze the needs and desires of consumers in the target audience of manufacturers of educational products and services (universities), and marketing tools are able to form a synergetic effect for universities on the way to the modernization of the domestic higher education system.
Vladimir M. Juha, Narine R. Khachaturian, Anastasia A. Churyumova - Rostov State University of Economics, Rostov-on-Don, Russia