Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Leadership and branding in business schools: A Bourdieusian analysis

Naidoo, Rajani; Gosling, Jonathan; Bolden, Richard; O'Brien, Anne; Hawkins, Beverley

Leadership and branding in business schools: A Bourdieusian analysis Thumbnail


Authors

Rajani Naidoo

Jonathan Gosling

Richard Bolden Richard.Bolden@uwe.ac.uk
Dir of Res Ctr - Ldrship & Behav Change

Anne O'Brien

Beverley Hawkins



Abstract

This paper explores the growth of corporate branding in higher education (HE) and its use by academic and professional managers as a mechanism for not only enhancing institutional reputation but also for facilitating internal culture change. It uses Bourdieu's framework of field, capital and habitus to analyse case studies of branding in two English business schools from the perspectives of academics, management and professional staff and students. The findings reveal a number of tensions and inconsistencies between the experiences of these groups that highlight the contested nature of branding in HE. In an era of rankings, metrics and student fees, it is suggested that branding has become an important means through which HE leaders and managers (re)negotiate the perceived value of different forms of capital and their relative positions within the field. Whilst branding operates at a largely ideological level it has a material effect on the allocation of power and resources within institutions. This is an important development in a sector that has typically privileged scientific capital and contributes towards an understanding of the ways in which leadership is 'distributed' within universities. © 2014 © 2014 HERDSA.

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2014
Deposit Date Jan 21, 2014
Publicly Available Date Oct 19, 2016
Journal Higher Education Research and Development
Print ISSN 0729-4360
Electronic ISSN 1469-8366
Publisher Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 33
Issue 1
Pages 144-156
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2013.864612
Keywords Bourdieu, branding, capital, field, habitus, identity, leadership
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/825791
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2013.864612
Related Public URLs http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cher20/current
Additional Information Additional Information : This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Higher Education Research & Development on 31/01/2014, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2013.864612
Contract Date Oct 19, 2016

Files






You might also like



Downloadable Citations