This monography explores the particular set of benefits accrued by institutions that do what is necessary to enjoy a strong set of institutional norms, values, and beliefs, which is how we define culture. It also examines how that culture helps to clarify the image of that institution in ways that bring what those in marketing would call "brand equity."

The authors explore institutional identification, brand equity, and institutional culture--and particularly the broad intersections among them--toward an appreciation of how institutions can use what they yield in strategy and management. Academic or administrative units are much better positioned to be effective when those within them have a concrete appreciate of the norms, values, and beliefs of the institution (culture), relate their own fortunes with those of the institution (identification), and can represent the image of the institution in ways that yield benefits for it (brand equity). The bottom line is that an institution benefits when constituents not only know but also associate it with positive attributes.

This is volume 31, number 2 of the Jossey-Bass monograph ASHE Higher Education Report.