In a recent post (Who are our customers for education:II Society as customer. April 22, 2007) I discussed possible societal expectations for higher education in an increasingly globalized world. In this, I drew some parallels with societal expectations for American corporations as they expand globally. Interestingly, the most recent McKinsey Quarterly (unfortunately subscription only) has an extended look at societal expectations regarding corporations. Insofar as these expectations may be pertinent in understanding the societal expectations for universities as they expand, it is useful to review some aspects of what they found.
Interestingly, globally, 84% of executives of large corporations and 89% of consumers believe that corporate obligations to shareholders must be balanced by contributions to the broader public good. However, when executives grade themselves in their performance on this scale, only 68% of them say that corporations make a “generally”or “somewhat” positive contribution to the public good. The consumer’s view of the success rate of corporations is much less positive: 48% believe that corporation are making a “somewhat” or “generally” positive contribution to the public good. However, although the executives grade themselves on this measure with some consistency around the world, the consumer’s viewpoint varies radically according to geographic location. Only 35%-40% of consumers in Europe, Japan, and the US say that large business makes a generally or somewhat positive contribution to social issues, while consumers in China (76%) and India (78%) view large corporations as positive on these measures.
The surveys also looked at consumer perceptions of several industries on a country-by- country basis. The analysis points out ways in which the generally negative perceptions are leading to pressures for legislation or other constraints on corporate actions.
Given that executives and consumers agree on corporate obligations to the public good, and that the executives grade themselves at least moderately well on this issue, what contributes to this imbalance in perspective? The survey pinpointed one very important contributor to the negative image consumers have of corporations: the executives have only a limited understanding of what issues are on the minds of consumers. There was little overlap between the issue consumers said were of major importance, and those the executives thought would attract public and political attention. As a consequence, the executives’ ranking of actions that would increase public reputation was very different from that of the consumers.
It is this disconnect in understanding that seems to me to be most pertinent for higher education as we try to explore what growth and globalization means for us. We in higher education need to have a much better understanding of the public’s expectations about higher education’s contribution to the public good if we are to maintain the generally positive view that the public has about us. That sounds simple and straightforward, but as an industry we have shown remarkably little interest in listening to the public - our focus is primarily on us. We know what is right, we know what education should be, and how to do it best. Our organizations fight hard to maintain the status quo. But does our understanding of the public’s expectations concerning our contributions to the public good coincide with that of the public, or are we as confused as are the corporate executives? If it is the latter, look out for negative consequences!
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