Title: Historical perspectives on US business organisations, strategy, and higher education institutions

Authors: Sam J. Fugazzotto

Addresses: Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 W. 120th St. Box 311, New York, NY 10027, USA

Abstract: Strategy has guided business management for years but has not fully taken root in colleges and universities. This paper examines the evolution of US business and postsecondary institutions to explain the discrepancy in strategy adoption. While firms have developed to maintain internal effectiveness and to meet external needs, US colleges and universities have focused more consistently on societal needs. The final section of the paper posits Operational Effectiveness (OE) (Porter, 1996) as a theoretical starting point for practice-oriented research on using strategy in higher education.

Keywords: business history; business organisations; USA; United States; education history; long-range planning; operational effectiveness; historical perspectives; colleges; post-secondary institutions; strategy adoption; internal effectiveness; external needs; societal needs; practice-oriented research; Michael Porter; education management; higher education; universities; competitive edge; competitiveness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMIE.2011.039481

International Journal of Management in Education, 2011 Vol.5 No.2/3, pp.129 - 144

Published online: 12 Feb 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article