Strategic marketing management of pre-schools

The purpose of this study was to explore how strategic marketing management concepts might be introduced to kindergartens and childcare centres. Fifty respondents that included parents, teachers, supervisors and experts (lecturers, pre-school franchise managers, childcare officers, and school inspectors) participated in a survey that examined three key areas, namely, the product mix, the strategic educational management mix, and the ethics of using business/marketing concepts in educational management. Causal comparative studies were carried out, using SPSS (Version 9) for data analyses. From amongst a list of 15 pre-school activities in the product mix, thinking skills, reading, moral education and outdoor play were the top four most important activities in the product mix rated and ranked by the respondents. Similarly, homework and computer lessons were rated and ranked as the least important. The concept of a strategic educational management mix comprising 14 strategies/objectives was proposed. Significant differences were found between how deeply respondents valued the strategies/objectives and the extent of their beliefs that pre-schools in Singapore have actually achieved in each. When faced with dichotomous decision making situations with respect to the ethical adoption of business/marketing concepts in educational management, the respondents' positions were found to be consistently in favor of not adopting business/marketing conceptsMaster of Arts (Educational Management