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European Journal of <strong>Educational</strong> Studies 2(2), 2010members or others see the organization or the general impression an organization forms in people‟sminds.Kazoleas, Kim and Moffit (2001) state that there are multiple changing images within each individual andthese images are affected by certain factors. The formation of corporate image is defined as acomprehensive and multi-stakeholder process (Gray & Balmer, 1998) and factors such as communicationsources, terminology, branding, logos and emblems, relations with media and customers, buildingarchitecture are effective in image formation. Besides, the relations with customers and the actions andstatements of top managers simultaneously affect organizational identity and image (Hatch & Schultz,1997).An organization‟s image is affected by this organization‟s accoutrements, attitudes and communicationstyle. An organization‟s future image is shaped by the communication between management, employeesand external audiences (Amon, 2004). Strong communicative facors such as the brand name, logo,advertisement and public relations can help create a good and strong image (Gray & Balmer, 1998).It has been observed that the organizations which are capable of attracting the talented to the organization,developing and keeping them have positive images. Additionally, variables such as social andenvironmental responsibility, financial credibility, innovativeness, marketing, communication,management, product and service quality are efective in image formation (Lemmink, Schuijf &Streukens, 2003).When education institutions are concerned, the experiences in application period, advertising, public andsocial relations, recruitment activities are highly effective in creating both a first impression and imageand this perception affects the decision-making process on which school to apply (Collins & Stevens,2001). Another factors that determine the image of education institutions are name awareness, academicproperties, sports and social facilities, physical environment (Arpan, Arthur & Zivnuska, 2003), personaland organizational environment, demographic features, environmental features, admission criteria, sportsfacilities, campus size, academic programmes, library facilities (Kazoleas, Kim & Moffit, 2001),academic staff and relations with students, stories about the school (Paden & Stell, 2006).In their study, Arpan, Arthur and Zivnuska (2003) researched the criteria used in image assessment andhow perceived image differs between different groups and they found that factors such as nameawareness, academic properties, sports and social facilities, physical environment are important forstudents when forming an image.Some researchers (Hatch & Schultz, 2002; Dutton, Dukerich & Harquail, 1994), consider corporate imageto have two dimensions. External image reflects how people outside the organization perceives theorganization. Internal image, on the other hand, reflects how organization members see the organization.External image is composed of impressions of, for example, suppliers. However, organization membersbelong to the external group at the same time, because they are also consumers of the products andoutcomes produced by the organization and they follow the news about the organization on the media.Corporate image has a united form. The interaction of organization members and external factors and theimpressions of other groups are effective in image formation (Hatch & Schultz, 2002).The factors that constitute external image are customer satisfaction, product quality, concrete image,advertising, sponsorship, relations with media, social responsibility. Customer satisfaction is aboutmeeting the demands and expectations of the consumers. When the demands of the consumers are met, apositive image about the organization is formed and the organization gains a competitive advantage. Theproduct quality, namely its features, its correspondence to standarts and its credibility are effective in theformation of an organization‟s external image. When consumer expectations about the product are met, asense of social responsibility is improved and the organizational continuity is maintaned. External imageis formed by sponsorship and media relations. Besides, caring about social demands from theorganization and carrying out social responsibilities are effective in creating a positive external image(Bolat, 2006).An organization‟s image can be positive, negative or neutral, varying in effect. A negative experiencewith a product or a bad advertisement about the organization can change the previously formed goodimage and create a negative image (Taslak & Akın, 2005 ). Oganizations strive for creating a positiveimage among its target audience (Gray & Balmer, 1998). Organizations may have an illusion that theyhave a positive image, however, organizations need to evaluate their image frequently. Because, corporateimage is essential for an organization‟s permanence (Peltekoğlu, 2004).66
European Journal of <strong>Educational</strong> Studies 2(2), 2010Image, whether it is taken as internal or external, is an important concept that has crucial outcomes fororganizations. First of all, for organizations to know what kind of image they have can be regarded as afeedback for its activities. Thanks to these feedbacks, the organization knows how it is perceived andprevents blindness (Gray & Balmer, 1998). Research on organizational image revealed that image affectshow people perceives the organization and their motivation. In the long term, these perceptions andmotivation affects organizational behavior (Dutton & Dukerich, 1991).The organizations with good images are known as prestigious, reliable, cooperative, promising andfinancially consistent. Moreover, these organizations survive in times of economic crisis with the leastloss. A good image is distinctive, therefore cannot be imitated easily (Cited in. Taşkın & Sönmez, 2005).O‟Neill and Gaither (2007), Dukerich, Golden and Shortell (2002) found that the employees with a morepositive image are likely to identify themselves with the organization more and there is a positive andsignificant relationship between organizational identification and cooperative behavior. Besides, theemployees with a higher perceived image are less likely to have turnover intentions.The importance of image perception comes from its power to influence both the performance oforganization employees and behaviors and attitudes of external stakeholders. The research on imagestates that the first impression that organizations make on consumers is highly effective in creating theimage perception and it is decisive in intentions to apply (Collins & Stevens, 2001). A positive imageperception positively effects students‟ loyalty and satisfaction level (Nguyen & LeBlanc, 2001; Palacio,Meneses & Perez: 2002).Organizational image is important for both internal and external stakeholders. Nevertheless, relatedresearch in Turkey is limited to a few studies which researched how some organizations are perceived andthe factors that determine this perception (Atalık, 2005; Erdoğan, Develioğlu, Gönüllüoğlu & Özkaya,2006; Gemlik & Sığrı, 2007; Taslak & Akın, 2005). Image research in our country focuses on noneducationalinstitutions. This research, therefore, is important with its focus on schools.In our country, public education is mainly provided by the state. However, the number of private schoolsare increasing rapidly. In this fiercely competitive environment, it is essential for private schools to meetthe demands of students and parents and maintain the quality. For this reason, image assessment providesimportant information for guiding organizational strategies (Köktürk, Yalçın & Çobanoğlu: 2008).The purpose of this research is to determine the perceived corporate image of private secondary schoolsby students‟ and parent‟ opinionsMETHODResearch DesignThis is a descriptive research for it measures the image perceptions of the participants at a single time.Population and SampleThe population of the research is private secondary schools in Kocaeli. There are thirteen privatesecondary schols in Kocaeli four of which refused to participate in the study. The formation of an overallimage requires quite a long time; therefore the deliberate sampling technique was used. 400 final gradestudents and their parents amounting to a number of 800 participants were the sample of the study.Data GatheringThe data gathering instrument was developed by researchers using the existing scale developed byKazoleas, Kim and Moffitt (2001) for higher education institutions. The items in the Likert type scalewere numbered as (1) Totally disagree, (2) Partially disagree, (3) Agree, (4) Partially agree, (5) Totallyagree67
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