Maria Soledad Parra

How to advance in teaching from

"marketing" toward "sustainable

marketing", through the service-learning

methodology

IAU 2014 International Conference

19-21 March 2014

Universidad Científica del Perú (UCP)

Iquitos, Peru

María Soledad Parra, Academic,

Universidad Alberto Hurtado

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Introduction Worldwide Education System

Has to promote the development of values and skills to improve the quality of life of individuals and societies

UNESCO Higher education should reinforce its role of service to

society to eliminate environmental and social problems

Business Education in XXI centuryo Should be reformulated in the light of the new

paradigms emerging, for preserving mankind and planet

Critics to Discipline of Marketing Deceptive practices; products or services of poor quality,

harmful or unsafe; planned obsolescence; etc. False desires, excessive materialism, insufficient social

goods, equipment and cultural pollution, etc.

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Introduction Kotler’s XX century Marketing Definition

Social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others. "Meeting needs profitably“

Marketing Course 2013, Commercial Engineering, UAH in Santiago, Chile Service-learning methodology applied for first time

Obsolescence of Business Education Encourage unlimited production, sale and consumption

of goods and services harmful, unnecessary and pollutants

Sustainable Marketing (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012) Responsible marketing to social and environmental level

that meets the needs of consumers and businesses, and at the same time preserves or enhances the ability of future generations to meet their needs

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Changing theMarketing Course

Kotler… (2012) and Lambin… (2009) Standard of teaching of marketing during last 25 years Both have small reference of sustainability and ethics inside Both books explain marketing mainly as the traditional way Both include study cases about non sustainable businesses

Service-learning Methodology Experiential partnership between an institution of higher

education and community groups

Two Parallel Marketing Plans 38 students (2nd to 4th year), 10 groups of about 4

people 20 micro-entrepreneurs of various craft sectors

Two Support Organizations CREAS-Centre for Reflection and Social Action, UAH Fair Trade Node: promotes it through public policy

advocacy, sensitization and mobilization of society

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Changing theMarketing Course

Previous Research and Exercise Harmful or Deceptive Practices in Marketing (3 P’s) Bad quality, harmful or unsafe products/services (P =

product) Obj.: Show with clarity what should not be done in

marketing Focus Group: compare two food products (organic-industrial)

Obj.: evaluate social and environmental impact of each one

Service-learning Methodology Presentation on the Service-Learning methodology as well as

Fair Trade to 10 students teams and 20 micro-entrepreneurs

Each group was related to two micro-entrepreneurs who were in different sectors: production queen bee and tourist emporium

Two Parallel Marketing Plans Professor and students were interactively solving

doubts and applying the content to real-world examples In mid-semester, it was corrected part of the items of

the final project and the necessary observations were made

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Changing theMarketing Course

Some debates about challenges are facing actual businesses and marketing for being more sustainable

Advantages of real economy versus financial economy for sustainability

To what extend is good the growth in a sustainable business What it means to succeed in a sustainable business How ethical is promoting products or services sales, only for

satisfying any desire of rich consumers How to apply the 7 R's in current businesses: reducing,

reusing, recycling, respecting, repairing, reflecting and refusing

How avoid the impact of a business on an ecosystem for not destroying it

… and so on…

Issues could not be deeply researched by students, but at least they were putting into question in classes Result was a good starting point for future “sustainable

marketing courses”

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Evolution ofMarketing Concept

Alternatives or complements to the traditional definition Expansion of entrepreneurial activity and it was mainly based

upon product sale Marketing should be matched by strong sense of ethics,

values and social responsibility

Social Marketing (Kotler, Roberto & Lee, 2002) Use of marketing principles and techniques to influence

a target audience to voluntary accept, reject, modify or abandon a behavior, for the benefit of individuals, groups or society as a whole

Green Marketing (Hunt, 2011) 1st age was "ecological marketing", in the 1970s’ 2nd age was "environmental marketing", in the 1980s’ 3rd age is "sustainable marketing“, at present

o Goal of creating sustainable developmento Environmental, social and economic sustainability

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Evolution ofMarketing Concept

Sustainable Marketing Triple Bottom Line (3E’s: environment, equity and economic)

Marketing should be matched by strong sense of ethics, values and social responsibility

Challenges for marketing are concerns about: Futurity: delivering satisfaction to customers and profits

to investors in the current and future generations

Equity: fair distribution across people of the costs and benefits of economic development

Needs/wants: meet the basic survival needs of poor people instead of the wants of wealthy people

o Within of business: development that meets the needs of business organizations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

o (4P – Product, Price, Place, Promotion) + (3P – People, Planet, Profit)

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Teaching/Learning ofMarketing trough the time

Origins Marketing Courses (1902 USA) Knowledge had to be acquired in field of business, not in

class Schools of business should foster that more experienced

marketing men pass on their rich knowledge and experience Ideal way to bring students in direct contact with the realities

of business was, of course, an internship or work

In business education, 4 solutions are available: 1) Business Case Studies 2) A Practical Internship within a Company 3) Business Simulation Games 4) A Combination of these Methods

Service-learning methodology seems the optimal combination of those methods Learning can best be internalized incorporating

feedback Students learn more when they take an active role in

the learning process, is a transformation of experience

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Teaching/Learning ofMarketing trough the time

Experiential Learning Ideas are not fixed or unchangeable elements of thought, but

are re-formed through ‘experience’, in a continuous process Encourage participants to be involved with the content of

real life situations involving ambiguity, change, and risk Students believe that real-world scenarios are more

challenging, enjoyable and a more effective learning tool

Live Cases Involve information available in “real time” Deal with ambiguity and conflicting data Keep students upgraded with business environments Instill a sense of immediacy to the situation

Live case participants Free to make good and bad decisions in the process Viability of recommendations depends upon the quality

and accuracy of research, analyses, and decision-making

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Critical Approach inMarketing Education

Viewpoint of Critical Marketing Doubts about contribution of marketing to the social good

and debates about its credibility It neglects to discuss how structures of domination and

exploitation mediate the relationships Individuals are encouraged to represent, and relate to each

other, as commodities in a marketplace Social interactions are portrayed as processes of reciprocal

manipulation, between egoistic parties, who individually benefit

Theories and methods that claim to weaken or circumvent the will of consumers by inducing them to act in a way

Reinforces infantile fantasies and various problems: a) consumption brings to happiness and solution

problems b) displacement from the valuing of people to objects c) consumer identities lead to a precarious self-sense d) over-stressing economic goals and to minimize

others e) ecological wastefulness and damage

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Critical Approach inMarketing Education

Uses of critical approach in business and marketing education

Develop improved thinking, reasoning and analytical skills, via questioning and skeptical stance towards the material

Appreciation of the macro-level ambiguities of business phenomena, via exposure to alternatives to the managerialist

Develop improved learning skills in students, via experiential and reflexive learning techniques

Curricula is technocratic and managerialist, ignoring the political and moral dimensions

Presentation and self-learning components of marketing texts are simplistic and formulaic

Critical pedagogy centers on challenging the status quo Continuous transformation through which learners

and teacher become authentic subjects of the construction and reconstruction of what is being taught

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Service-LearningMethodology

Service-learning is rooted in the theories of constructivism

Teaching strategy that enhances students’ learning of academic content by engaging them in authentic activities

They apply the content of the course to address identified needs in the community

Form of experiential learning that involves reflection, which helps connect theoretical with practical experience

Service-learning is a teaching mechanism which

Balance traditional business education with outcomes such as civic responsibility, respect for others, and commitment to the common good

Is based on the values of altruism, empathy, social responsibility, and concern for others

Enhance students’ vision to the greater good of society

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Service-LearningMethodology

Service-learning is used in various marketing courses:

Consumer behavior, personal selling, principles of marketing, and advertising courses

Has outcomes, such as: increased volunteerism, social awareness, civic engagement, social responsibility, personal transformation and appreciation of social justice

Serve as a model and guide university education to engage and emphasize ethical principles, and promote social responsibility

Service-learning principles are:

Democratic, participatory and interactive teaching

Has found positive impacts on participating students’ academic, civic, personal, social, ethical, and vocational development

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Conclusions Students of marketing should be aware of the impact

and responsibility that will have their decision-making in the future, for the society and the planet

Marketing courses should not continue to promote unsustainable business obsolete

It is possible to migrate from traditional to sustainable marketing through the service-learning methodology, where students can make contact with real business

Students can for example experience today a future decision-making, acting as advisers to micro-entrepreneurs and receive feedback of their performance

It is necessary to dispose the obsolete knowledge and unsustainable ideas of traditional marketing and replace them with respect for people and the environment

Students are able to transform their values in the process, to assume the importance of sustainability and ethics

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Conclusions

Thank you very muchM. Soledad Parra

Universidad Alberto Hurtado

[email protected]