Ivory Tower or Real World: Do Educators and Practitioners See the Same World?

Much research has been conducted regarding how to make marketing education more “relevant. “ This study addresses the fundamental question of the “ivory tower” premise. That is, to what extent do marketing educators fail to understand the “real” business world? In particular, the study compares the perceptions of educators and executives to ascertain if the two groups hold similar or divergent perceptions of the marketplace. Some gaps in perceptions were evident in areas of marketing, while on other areas the two groups agreed fully. Generally, educators and executives see issues in the same basic light, with only gradations in the strength of their positions on the various issues.