Image analysis as a tool for competitiveness of universities

Abstract

Czech higher education currently enters into a period of preparation for the autonomous management of universities. This situation brings not only changes in the accreditation process of study programs but especially higher pressure on marketing management of universities. The purpose of this paper is to present a model of implementing the tools of marketing research in the management of selected universities and based on this model, the importance of analyzing the image of the school in developing communication strategies for addressing potential applicants will be presented too. Interpretation of results also talks about the importance of innovating curricula in accordance with the requirements of both applicants and practice. It is based on the results of long-term monitoring of this issue, secondary analyzes, including international comparison, of qualitative and quantitative surveys (conducted on a sample of 496 respondents at the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015) carried out with the applicants of selected universities.