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"Today, more than ever before in human history, wealth of nations depends on quality of higher education."

- Malcom Gillis
President of Rice University, USA

Higher education, today, is undergoing a more radical transformation than perhaps any other aspect of our culture. Educational institutions world-wide are undergoing fundamental shifts in how they operate and interact with their "customers": students, alumni, faculty members, and staff members. The quality of knowledge generated with higher educational institutions and its availability to wider economy is becoming increasingly critical to national competitiveness. New technology-based tools for gathering and disseminating knowledge have become central element of today's education. Technological, economic, sociological, and governmental forces are altering education dramatically, impacting its institutions, teachers, students, funding sources, and basic function in society. To unlock potential and helping talented people to gain advanced training, whatever their background, requires customer-centric approach to education.

So, institutions need strategies that make them more receptive and responsive to their core constituencies - their students. Students increasingly see themselves as customers who purchase education services form competing providers. Kotler & Fox (1995) state, "The best organization in the world will be ineffective if the focus on 'customers' is lost. First and foremost is treatment of individual students, alumni, parents, friends, and each other (internal customers). Every contact counts!"

During the mid-1980s and late 1990s, over-crowded classes, inadequate library and laboratory facilities, and little student's services have been the norms in most of the institutions. Rarely has an institution responded by creating remedial program for inadequately prepared students. But now colleges and universities have initiated re-structuring and re-engineering their operating processes to cut costs and become more efficient while responding to increased competition. Higher education customers are demanding more attention and immediate service. Proactive institutes are now adjusting their practices by refocusing their efforts externally. Because of the need to concentrate more on customers, many institutions are tuning to customer relationship management.

CRM is important because of the changes occurring in the competitive environment. Globalization and the Internet mean that competition can now come as easily from around the world as from around the corner. Power and choice are moving to the customer as never before, and leading to the commoditization of products and services in most situations.

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Narinder Tanwar is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management Studies at B. S. Anangpuria Institute of Technology & Management (B.S.A.I.T.M.), Faridabad.