









































Kamdjo, C.V. & Ngamaleu, HRN.  
Global Journal of  Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4 
DOI  10.14434/gjte.v4i1.36662

Open Access

Published by the Global Insitutute of Transformative Education (http://www.gite.education)
© Kamdjo & Ngamaleu, 2024. Open Access This journal is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 
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Market Orientation for a Contextualized Professionalization 
of Higher Education in Africa: State of Art

Carole Vanessa Kamdjo1 & Henri Rodrigue Njengoue Ngamaleu2

Abstract
Market Orientation is a managerial philosophy governing the behavior of all actors in an organization to 

create greater value for the benefit of all stakeholders. Considered in the field of education, this managerial 
culture presupposes questioning and involvement of the various stakeholders (students, companies, university 
competitors, etc.) allowing consideration of educational actions for the benefit of all these actors. The 
professionalization of teaching has been one of the major challenges of African educational systems for several 
decades. To meet this need, African governments have imported several education systems, the latest of which 
is the Bachelor-Master-Doctorate (BMD) system. We aim in our paper to posit that Africa was not ready for a 
world uniformization of diploma as BMD subsystem implemented. In this review of the literature, we compare 
publications to present the concept of Market Orientation, its conception in higher education and how it can be 
used to achieve goals of contextualized professionalization, using the Thirty Glorious Years and that of China’s 
period of industrialization to support understanding. This review finds that implementation of a market-
oriented culture can allow higher education to offer a response adapted to the expectations of society through 
five points summarized as 1) Orientation toward Policy-Makers; 2) Enterprises Orientation; 3) Competition 
Orientation; 4) Teachers and Students orientation; 5) Inter-functional coordination.

Keywords: Market orientation, Professionalization of teaching

Full listing of authors and contacts can be 
found at the end of this article.

Introduction
The professionalization of higher education is a 

need for Africa’s governments independence. It could 
help to link education to economic needs and reduce 
poverty. For education systems, professionalization 
will help to enhance external effectiveness of higher 
education. Professionalization of programs can improve 
the graduates’ outlook in the job market. To achieve 
the goal of professionalization, higher education has 
imported several educational systems, the latest and 
currently used being the Bachelor-Master-Doctorate 
system. This system aims to professionalize higher ed-
ucation and its effectiveness remains mixed, as demon-
strated by many authors. Indeed, the reforms have 
taken place, but do not achieve the expected results 
in terms of improving employability (Bouba, 2014), 
enhancing personal and professional qualities (Bomda, 
Fozing and Mgbwa, 2022) or even the overall situation

of unemployment and underemployment (Avom & 
Nguekeng, 2019). Criticisms against this system have 
been made in other countries on the continent, notably 
in Algeria (Ghouati, 2022) and Senegal where its can-
cellation is being considered. This inadequacy is seen in 
an increasing underemployment rate. Indeed, according 
to economists, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region 
of the world most dependent on its agricultural sector, 
but the low competitiveness of traditional agriculture 
and struggle for access to natural resources have con-
tributed to accelerating the massive continuous migra-
tion of peasants towards the cities (Nkuitchou, 2022). 
This is why African cities have seen their population 
multiply by more than ten times during the 20th centu-
ry (Banque Africaine de Développement [BAD], 2020). 
This strong mismatch between the need for skills and 
the quality/level of education has harmful effects on 
employment conditions (BAD, 2020) and consequently 
on economic growth.

The objective of this article is to propose some axes 
for building and implementing a higher education

14



15

system that meets the contextual needs of the econo-
mies of African countries. To achieve this, the author’s 
research group has developed a documentary analysis 
that allows them to specify the definition of the con-
cept of professionalization adapted to higher educa-
tion, return to the conceptualization of the concept of 
market orientation and subsequently detail the axes of 
structuring and implementing a system of professional-
ization of higher education in a market-oriented logic. 
Without the pretension of completeness, at different 
stages, they enlighten their objectives by using two 
examples: the Thirty Glorious Years and the China expe-
rience. 

Conceptual Framework
The meanings taken by the word “professionaliza-

tion” closely depend on the conditions of its appearance 
and its use (Wittorski, 2008; Boussard, 2014; Ghouati, 
2022). The authors retain three specific meanings. 
Firstly, it concerns the professionalization of an activity 
understood as “the process by which an activity be-
comes a liberal profession driven by an ideal of service” 
(Wittorski, 2014, p. 16). Secondly, comes the profes-
sionalization of training or employment, which con-
sists of promoting the development of knowledge and 
skills through processes of learning, acquisition and 
development of skills that transform a learner into a 
professional (Wittorski, 2012; Boussard, 2014). Finally, 
comes professionalization understood as the evolution 
of an organization or a function (functional service) of 
the organization towards the production of organized 
and efficient work through the development of the 
flexibility of people at work (Wittorski, 2012). This 
last typology is based on current developments within 
organizations which are: work planning; the transition 
to a logic of results; as well as the transition from a 
centrally controlled system to a certain decentralization 
of responsibilities. 

In higher education, the authors mostly retain two 
conceptions of the professionalization concept. Firstly, 
the professionalization of the teaching activity consists 
of giving the teaching activity the character of a profes-
sion. Secondly, the professionalization of training con-
sists of creating a link between training and the labor 
market (Abdourhaman, 2018, Ghouati, 2022).

Professionalization of Teaching Activity
The professionalization of teaching activity is 

inspired by the work of sociologists who were first 
functionalists, then interactionists and finally conflict-

ualists on the dynamics of professions (Abdourhaman, 
2018). According to the latter, “professions” present 
a certain number of criteria such as autonomy, peer 
control, the ideal of service and a higher degree of uni-
versity education. The contemporary issue of teacher 
professionalization arises from a manifest desire to 
recognize the long-scorned teaching body. But does the 
tribute to teaching activity really comes with the tem-
porary professionalization revolution?

The tribute to the teaching profession is very old. 
It goes back almost to the depths of human civilization. 
Historically justified initially in the satire of Khety’s Sat-
ire of the Trades written around 1940–1900 BCE. The 
teacher is described as an official and high dignitary of 
the Egyptian kingdom (Marshall, 2016). The aim of ed-
ucation was to train “scribes” who could subsequently 
specialize in various fields such as medicine, veterinary 
science, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, theol-
ogy, law, painting, diplomacy, or translation (Mouni-
er-Kuhn, 2020). 

However, the authors demonstrate that this pro-
fession subsequently deteriorated when it reappeared 
in Greece between the 16th and 18th centuries as part 
of Protestant reforms and Catholic counter-reforms. 
Mainly carried out by women, the teaching activity is 
then linked to a certain vocation, a subjective impulse 
through which we feel called to fulfill an essential 
mission: that of teaching. The lack of training for these 
candidates was justified by the promotion of feminine 
virtues such as love of children, devotion, obedience, 
and the spirit of service and sacrifice. The working con-
ditions of a profession were not there either. Women 
teachers were required to fulfill their mission regard-
less of their material condition, even in the most mis-
erable conditions. Developments in teaching activity in 
Western history will also be initially marked by the rise 
of the first public and secular school networks and the 
integration of teachers into the public service. normal 
schools are created and gradually become compulsory 
(Tardif, 2013).

The “Age of the Profession” corresponds to the 
constitution of a professional identity of the teaching 
body, perceptible by external signs such as the training, 
swearing-in, solemn presentations of diplomas, special 
outfits, etc. (Maingari, 1997; Abdourhaman, 2018); but 
also perceptible by internal methodological rigor such 
as the definition of a pedagogical profile of the teacher 
as well as the definition of a knowledge base for the 
teaching profession (Tardif, 2013). Thus, the meaning 
of the professionalization concept in the logic of the

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16

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

professionalization of teachers is mainly inspired by the 
definition of a professional group. It is indeed a ques-
tion of changing the status of teaching from a trade to a 
profession as in the Anglo-Saxon sense. This evolution 
implies a university education of high intellectual level, 
the definition of a scientific and specific knowledge 
base allowing teachers to be considered as pedagog-
ical specialists (Tardif 2022), as well as professional 
autonomy, or at least recognition, both legal and social, 
that the professional is best positioned to decide on 
the actions one must take in any professional situation 
(Wittorski, 2014).

Professionalization of Training
The conception of professionalism of training in 

higher education comes to complete the conception 
seen before. Indeed, among the criticisms made of 
higher education to demand its professionalization, its 
external effectiveness figures prominently. The current 
variation of professionalization suggests aligning traing 
training with employment. In a narrow vision, this con-
ception would reflect the idea of “professional training” 
(Boussard, 2014; Wittorski, 2014) and in this logic, 
professionalization would use teaching as it would 
have used other organizations involved in training. 
However, in a more globalizing vision, and especially 
in connection with the problem of external inefficiency 
of higher education, it is rather a system for promoting 
employment responding to the social quest of states to 
fight against unemployment, underemployment and, by 
extension, poverty (Abdourhaman, 2018) supposed to 
link training to a specific need of the labor market. 

In other words, professionalization conceived as a 
particular system for promoting employment, can be 
conceived on the one hand as the implementation and 
acquisition of a base of skills (knowledge, know-how 
and interpersonal skills) by learners (vocational train-
ing) or elsewhere in a more global way as a mechanism 
for regularizing education in order to produce gradu-
ates in quantities and numbers useful to the economy 
of a given region.

By summarizing, two complementary concepts 
emerge from what precedes the professionalization of 
teaching activity as a process of revalorization the pro-
fession of teaching and the training professionalization 
as a mechanism for improving the external efficiency 
of the higher education system. We use these concep-
tual bases to analyze articles and works relating to the 
implementation of the concept of market orientation in 
higher education. Our basic hypothesis is that the imp-

implementation of Market Orientation would indeed 
provide better operationality to the professionalization 
process.

Methodology
The context described above led us to under-

take qualitative review of the literature based on the 
analysis of a series of articles and books. The authors 
suggest that Africa was not ready for a world unifor-
mity of diploma as a BMD subsystem implemented. In 
professionalization of higher education, many African 
countries need to link higher training to political and 
economic needs. The authors also aim to support the 
professionalization goals of African countries. As a pro-
fession, educators need to construct a higher education 
subsystem that is Market Oriented. To verify this claim, 
the authors use a data collection and analysis strategy 
which is explained in this section.

Data Gathering
The authors have previously constituted a corpus of 

text to study relating to the synthesis of the concept of 
market orientation to provide a synthetic presentation. 
The authors then deepened the research by bringing 
together as many documents as possible relating to the 
adoption of market orientation in higher education. 
This research has mainly extended over the past ten 
years, providing the most updated information on the 
subject. But also, this choice is dictated by the relative 
recency of the use of the concept in higher education 
even if the literature reveals however that the imple-
mentation of the related techniques was introduced 
to higher education much earlier. As readers need to 
have more information about the educational subsys-
tem for economic growth, the authors end chose some 
documents relating to the economic growing in some 
other regions in the world especially during “the Thirty 
Glorious Years” and the China experience. 

Data Analysis
We submitted all the documents to a content 

analysis by proceeding to a complete reading of each 
document beforehand to determine the objectives and 
results obtained when it was a scientific study (article), 
but also, to determine the quintessence of the concep-
tual evolutions on the subject through the book chap-
ters. The researchers share their interpretation of the 
patterns in the literature as they relate to implementa-
tion of Market Orientation in higher education.

Kamdjo & Ngamaleu, Market Orientation for Professionalization of Higher Ed in Africa



17

Market Orientation and its Implementation into 
Higher Education

The concept of Market Orientation finds its foun-
dations in the work of Kohli and Jaworsky (1990) and 
Narver and Slater (1990). It is then considered as “the 
implementation of the marketing concept” (Kohli & 
Jaworsky, 1990, p. 5). The latter designates “a philoso-
phy which postulates that the long-term profitability of 
a company is better ensured by focusing its activities on 
satisfying the needs of the consumers who make up one 
or more target segments” (p. 5). Thus, its initial con-
ceptualization is based on three essential dimensions: 
customer orientation, competition orientation and 
inter-functional coordination (Narver and Slater, 1990). 

However, the concept of Market Orientation differs 
from that of Traditional Marketing in the sense that 
the concept of Traditional Marketing is solely custom-
er-oriented and is generally confined to the marketing 
department, while the concept of Market Orientation is 
oriented towards the key players in the market and is 
seen as a cross-cutting culture that challenges all com-
pany functions at all hierarchical levels (Khan, Khan & 
Rafique, 2023). Initially made up of the components of 
customer orientation and competition orientation in its 
founding definitions, reflections on Market Orientation 
will be based on fundamental theories of organizations 
such as stakeholder theory and agency theory in order 
to evolve towards the birth of two new theoretical 
propositions.

Firstly, the question of the consideration of dimen-
sions of market orientation was reconsidered by the 
progressive integration of all the stakeholders of the 
organization (Bugandwa, 2013), secondly, the Market 
Orientation has been understood from its foundation as 
an organizational culture solely guided by a principle of 
defensive management (Ngatno, 2019). This translates 
into a reaction to the non-completely satisfied needs of 
customers. However, organizational performance strat-
egies will also translate into anticipating competitive 
decisions and forecasting markets (Schulze, Townsend 
& Talay, 2022). The integration of a proactive logic and 
by extension of an offensive management, thus makes it 
possible to define the concept of Market Orientation in 
a more complete and more structured way. This is why 
the concept of Market Orientation will be defined more 
globally like a managerial philosophy governing the be-
havior of all actors in an organization for the creation of 
greater value for the benefit of all stakeholders (Khan, 
Khan & Rafique, 2023).

A pure transposition of the Market Orientation 
model from the for-profit field (customer orientation, 
competition orientation, inter-functional coordination) 
to higher education raises great controversy. However, 
several studies have simply limited themselves to it 
(Hammond, Webster, & Hammond, 2020), while others 
have still made a real adjustment to take into consid-
eration the specificities of the education markets in 
general and especially in the higher education field. 
The authors will first proceed with a presentation of 
the criticisms brought to a pure transposition of Market 
Orientation in higher education to better support the 
concept, before succinctly presenting the implementa-
tion model they support for Market Orientation adapt-
ed to higher education.

Criticisms of Pure Transpositions of Market  
Orientation to Higher Education

The criticisms made of the transposition of Mar-
ket Orientation into an educational context are of two 
complementary orders and stipulate that teaching has 
no commercial scope; therefore, the student cannot be 
considered a customer.

The first criticisms of the importation of techniques 
and tools from commercial companies to educational 
institutions consist of the consideration that education-
al institutions would be considered more as non-profit 
institutions and therefore non-market (Dwyer, 2022). 
A non-profit organization can be defined as an orga-
nization established for altruistic, moral, social, edu-
cational, religious, philanthropic, health, etc. purposes 
and whose activities must not provide any economic 
advantage to its members and donors. It can be safely 
said that HEIs falls under the non-profit sector since ed-
ucational institutions in general and especially higher 
education institutions (HEIs) serve the public good.

The second criticism arises from the fact that in 
Market Orientation considerations, the students are 
generally assimilated to the customer. This consider-
ation is recurrent in Anglo-Saxon works due to the high 
tuition fees that completely cover the cost of education 
(e.g.: Webster, Hammond and Rothwell, 2017). Howev-
er, most students and practitioners in French-speaking 
countries reject this consideration for two reasons. The 
first is conceptual and clearly poses the question: “Is 
the ‘customer’ concept semantically the right one to 
design students?” (Bugandwa, 2013, p. 70).

Drawing on stakeholder theory, supporters of Mar-
ket Orientation in higher education will conceptualize a 
more digestible model adapted to higher education.

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This managerial culture presupposes the question-
ing and involvement of various stakeholders (students, 
companies, universities competitors, public policy 
etc.) (Dwyer, 2022), allowing planners to think about 
educational actions for the benefit of all these actors 
(Bugwanda, 2013; Hammond, Webster, & Hammond, 
2020). Actions can follow by cross-functional coordi-
nation which ensures the dissemination of resolutions 
and the creation of synergies within educational insti-
tutions (Mokoena, 2019). These practices are described 
by the expressions such as student-driven, competition 
orientation, enterprises and investors orientation, 
Orientation towards policymakers, cross-functional 
coordination and responsiveness (Bugwanda, 2013; 
Dollinger & Vanderlelie, 2020). Thus, a good implemen-
tation of a market-oriented culture makes it possible to 
generate an educational system that meets the envis-
aged contextual need. In this part we briefly present 
what each of the approaches to market orientation re-
fers to according to the current literature and for each 
we have taken care to verify its application in the two 
economic growth models chosen as examples. Namely 
in particular the period of the Thirty Glorious Years and 
the Chinese growth experience. 

Orientation Towards Policymakers
Orientation towards policymakers is supposed a 

perfect correlation between the needs of economic 
growth plans and educational goals (Dwyer, 2022). 
Firstly, the literature generally gives fundamental im-
portance to the donors of non-profit organizations such 
as the government and government agencies, volun-
teers, etc. The public authorities, as the main financial 
provider of HEIs, it is important presumably to consider 
their interests which are generally of a societal nature.

In the medium term, the objective of higher edu-
cation must be centered on the production in number 
and quality of graduate profiles corresponding to the 
planned needs of the economy. Indeed, according to the 
authors of the theory of human capital, we must invest 
more in education to stimulate and converge toward 
long-term growth (Moulin, 2022). In addition, public in-
vestment in education is accompanied by other positive 
effects since more educated people are healthier and 
have a longer life expectancy.

The French and Canadian experience of the Thirty 
Glorious Years Period (1945-1975) shows an “econ-
omization of higher education.” A “welfare state” was 
quickly formed in both countries (Doret & Manifet, 
2017; Bongrand, 2021). Indeed, according to the

authors, it is a matter of “promoting education as a 
lever for economic policy.” In France, we are witnessing 
vast transformations in higher education, marked first 
by the democratization of higher education, which was 
once elitist. This “democratization” is thus inseparable 
from the economization of the educational institution. 
In fact, the reform attempts to adjust the structures and 
operating methods of the public education service to 
the anticipated evolution of needs for qualified person-
nel. It is in this perspective that the Berthoin decree of 
January 6, 1959, the official kick-off of the reform, urges 
“investment to full benefit” in school, presented as an 
instrument capable of converting “human expansion” of 
the baby boom in “economic expansion 21” (Bongrand, 
2021). This movement led at the end of the 1960s to 
the equating of training with employment in adminis-
trative nomenclatures.

The more recent Chinese experience (1980 to the 
present) is not an exception, in fact professional higher 
education has become “a pragmatic strategic choice 
which aims to take into account the main national 
characteristics”. The government ensures its manage-
ment and promotion. To this end, we note the launch of 
the construction of 100 professional higher education 
establishments in 2006 following a decision by the 
state council. Training is therefore oriented by the plan-
ning of the economy, and its design with industrial and 
commercial players as co-actors. (Yang and Lin, 2016). 
Indeed, professional higher education constitutes an 
exceptional alternative to higher education. It even 
tends to replace the latter by displaying an access rate 
of more than 50% of all national students in 2020 and 
constantly increasing. 

Student-Driven or Student Orientation
Students’ orientation will be defined as the degree 

to which universities try to consider the current and 
latent needs of their students (current and potential, 
and in a more extensive sense, their parents). Consis-
tent with the Malcolm Baldridge Criteria for Education 
and based on the roles stated above, this orientation 
implies both the learning process and students’ satis-
faction. Students are the most cited stakeholders in the 
literature (eg: Bugandwa, 2013; Hammond, Webster, & 
Hammond, 2020; Dollinger & Vanderlelie, 2020; Muya, 
& Tundui, 2023). They play a vital and complex role in 
the existence and functioning of higher education insti-
tutions (Hammond, Webster, & Hammond, 2020). First, 
students constitute the raw material when they are 
admitted to higher education. Educators should then

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19

use training and practice to produce well-trained and 
virtuous citizens. At this level, students’ satisfaction 
is not a valid measure, because the end customer is 
society (public and private companies, educational 
institutes, hospitals, etc.). Thus, customer orientation 
applies here is not for the student but to other stake-
holders who intend to use the students’ skills (Aghajari, 
& Varij, 2023). Furthermore, students are actors in 
learning and co-producers of knowledge because they 
combine their efforts with those of the institution and 
those of the trainers to produce a particular finished 
product - themselves (Dollinger & Vanderlelie, 2020). 
In addition, they participate in the training process 
through their skills, and through the training previously 
acquired, and through their diligence.

From the previous analysis, the complexity of the 
role of students in their relationship with higher edu-
cation institutions clearly emerges. However, it has the 
advantage of showing us that student orientation takes 
on meaning in higher education and can be conceptual-
ized both in terms of students’ satisfaction and in terms 
of improvement of learning (Meia, Stumpf, & Garessus, 
2021). Little attention paid to students’ requests re-
flects an asymmetry between training staff and learners 
(Serres, Escalié and Magendie, 2019).

According to the literature, everything suggests 
that student orientation was not a priority for higher 
education systems during the “Thirty Glorious Years” 
period. One of the justifying reasons can be found in the 
fact that the revolution in professional training was first 
carried out by young people, particularly in the depart-
mental circles of young farmers aged 15 to 30 for whom 
young people must become apostles of knowledge, that 
is to say, “make training desirable” (Bongrand, 2020, p 
40). Knowledge is then considered by the latter as the 
pivot of tomorrow’s agriculture. 

Indeed, according to the Chinese vocational training 
system, a modern vocational training system is not only 
one aligned with economic development but also one 
that “prioritizes student-centered development” (Yang 
and Lin, 2016, p. 148). However, this trend is quite 
recent, since around 2016, the training system was pre-
viously centered on the national strategy for balanced 
development. It therefore initially relied on the region-
al growth policy, the industrialization plan as well as 
small and medium-sized businesses in rural areas or 
booming activities in third- and fourth-tier cities (Jiang, 
2015).

Enterprise Orientation
The role of companies in HEIs is perceived accord-

ing to the literature in three main points: they are the 
first users of higher education products (training and 
research). They can be considered clients of these 
institutions through research contracts and lifelong 
training (Aghajari, & Varij, 2023). They are players in 
training thanks to internships in companies and the 
growing development of professional sectors which 
require their expertise. Thus, relations between higher 
education establishments and businesses go beyond 
simple financial relations, which means that companies 
are considered undeniably important stakeholders 
(Bugwanda, 2013).

For the two examples of development illustrated in 
this work, business orientation is an important dimen-
sion of professionalization in higher education. During 
the “Thirty Glorious Years,” the transformation of the 
social role of school and the functionalization of the 
latter resulted firstly from increased investment on the 
part of industrial and agricultural circles (Bongrand, 
2020). For companies in the 1950s, it was then a matter 
of integrating the “Training Within Industry” principle 
from the American economy. This principle is the basis 
of current life-long training. In China, businesses are 
the second pillar of vocational training after national 
development policy (Jiang, 2015). In 2014, President Xi 
Jinping reiterated this again in these terms: “We must 
continue the integration of production and education, 
cooperation between enterprises and establishments, 
the combination of work and study and the unity be-
tween knowledge and action, but also lead the commu-
nity, especially industries and enterprises, to actively 
support vocational training and strive to build a voca-
tional training system with Chinese characteristics.” 
(Yang and Lin, 2016, p. 149).

Competition Orientation
The opening of education to the private sector as 

well as the globalization of education have brought with 
them the birth and growth of the concept of competi-
tion within higher education. Educational paths for an 
increasingly large proportion of students include an 
experience abroad (Moulin, 2022). These recent and 
profound transformations in higher education have the 
effect of fueling increased competition between stu-
dents, between establishments and between national 
higher education systems. This competition, according 
to the authors, can be identified along three axes.

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20

First, competition between higher education insti-
tutions in the same geographical area mainly linked to 
the democratization of higher education (Bongrand, 
2021). Second, competition between national higher 
education systems and between institutions on an 
international scale. Indeed, with the globalization of 
higher education and especially the harmonization on 
an almost planetary scale of educational systems as 
promoted by the LMD system, educational paths are 
marked, for an increasingly significant part of stu-
dents, by an experience abroad. Universities must now 
demonstrate their performance (university ranking) 
to attract the best minds or recruit internationally. 
Competition on an international scale therefore takes 
the form of rivalry sometimes in terms of performance 
(best rankings on a regional or international scale), 
sometimes in terms of marketing tactics to attract 
new recruits (awareness raising, promotional recruit-
ment policies, etc.) (Bugandwa, 2013). The final form 
of competition is competition in the virtual market. 
It takes shape with the evolution of Information and 
Communication Technologies (ICT). It mainly targets 
the continuing education market. Competition orien-
tation therefore requires full awareness of this state of 
competition between universities and between national 
higher education systems.

The competition orientation is perceived in terms 
of competition between national higher education sys-
tems. A large part of the literature on the Chinese high-
er education system reports that Chinese professional 
higher education constitutes a unique contribution to 
the global education system (Jiang Dayuan, 2015). This 
professional education then constitutes an “inimita-
ble source of vitality” for higher education (Yang and 
Lin, 2016). For the period of Thirty Glorious Years, the 
question of institutional competition resulted only in 
the concern for the various governments to keep their 
workers in regional growth zones (Bongrand, 2021).

Employees Orientation
The importance of employees in creating superior 

market values has been demonstrated in traditional 
Market Orientation literature (Khan, Khan & Rafique, 
2023). Employee satisfaction is defined as an organiza-
tion’s intention to serve the interests of its employees 
and meet their needs. (Yau et al., 2007 cited in Bu-
gandwa, 2013). In all organizations, especially service 
organizations, employees represent the cornerstone of 
the success of any strategy. To improve the quality of 
education, universities must encourage staff inter-

interactions with students. The satisfaction of the latter 
may also depend on the way in which non-academic 
staff organize their services in the different depart-
ments. The importance of teaching staff in higher edu-
cation has been demonstrated along at least two lines.

First, the quality of training depends mainly on the 
teachers and employees of an establishment. Indeed, 
several studies on student satisfaction and the quali-
tative perception of training have shown a correlation 
between the latter and the well-being of administrative 
staff and that of professors in an establishment (Serres, 
Escalié and Magendie, 2019). This result is, however, 
tempered because other studies affirm that students 
say they are satisfied with a teacher when the teacher 
pays attention to their difficulties and makes efforts to 
help them assimilate the course (Dollinger & Vanderle-
lie, 2020). 

Students’ perception of academic performance then 
depends on the relational climate with the teachers and 
staff of the establishment. Doctoral research carried 
out on students from 11 Tunisian universities demon-
strates that organizational commitment has a signif-
icant impact on perceived quality (Bugandwa, 2013). 
Indeed, according to these authors, organizational 
commitment is an antecedent of perceived quality in 
higher education.

Inter-Functional Coordination 
Cross-functional coordination involves a clear 

understanding and smooth flow of information about 
key stakeholders’ expectations and organizational 
beliefs, culminated by communicating these expecta-
tions through formal and informal means (meetings, 
brainstorming, etc.) to all members of the organization 
(Bughanda, 2013). This assumes that the process of 
creating stakeholder value is not the work of a single 
function, but rather the entire organization. This con-
sideration is very clearly in line with that of Kohli and 
Jaworski (1990). Ultimately, it is about improving the 
way in which the educational organization is supposed 
to respond to its market. It also refers to the sense 
of shared values and beliefs and their relationship to 
achieving organizational goals. Cross-functional coordi-
nation involves the degree to which information about 
stakeholders and the macro environment is shared 
across the organization.

Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

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Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

Responsiveness
This last dimension of market orientation in edu-

cation is not really a dimension. It corresponds to the 
culmination of the first six dimensions and consists 
of the response, in terms of training architecture and 
the higher education training system, to the needs of 
society represented by the main stakeholders (Dwyer, 
2022). As presented in the literature, this last point 
refers to the dimension of responsiveness as defined 
by Kohli and Jaworski (1990). Higher education can no 
longer evade its essential mission of responding to the 
needs of society (Bughanda, 2013). Furthermore, it is 
necessary to clarify that, more than any other organiza-
tion, higher education institutions should not limit their 
actions to responding to external pressures. Instead 
of being subjected to such pressures and suffering the 
consequences, they are encouraged to act proactively 
in their environment. This is particularly important for 
higher education institutions, as students and other 
stakeholders may misunderstand their needs (Aghajari 
& Varij, 2023). Higher education should strive to change 
the behaviors of stakeholders, such as explaining to 
students the quality requirements in higher education, 
helping them understand their role in the learning 
process, etc. They can then base their initiatives on 
the vision of overall national policies in terms of medi-
um-term needs of the national labor market.

In summary, the response to the professionaliza-
tion of higher education in a logic of adequacy be-
tween training and employment is mainly driven by 
the national vision of the human capital needs of the 
various economic sectors. The two examples taken for 
this work confirm this reflection. Conceptually, this first 
position can be seen as an orientation towards political 
decision-makers. This initial orientation toward polit-
ical decision-makers makes it possible to specify the 
areas of activity to be prioritized in the professionaliza-
tion strategy as in the case of China (Yang & Lin, 2016). 
It will be followed by orientations towards the other 
stakeholders mentioned above (enterprises orientation, 
educational staff orientation, competition orientation, 
student orientation) in order to support and improve 
the content of the programs and use of appropriate 
pedagogy. Functional coordination will determine the 
capacity to distill the objectives pursued within all the 
actors and at all functional levels and to generate an 
adequate response at all levels of the overall training 
structure.

Are we ready for global harmonization of  
higher education?

We have theoretically analyzed what the profes-
sionalization of higher education refers to. In short, it is 
about adapting to one’s political and economic envi-
ronment. For some, it is about the economization and 
functionalization of higher education (Bongrand, 2021). 
For others, it is about preparing students by integrat-
ing production, teaching and research in the service 
of development and employment (Yang & Lin, 2016). 
Nkuitchou (2022, p.518) further demonstrated that we 
cannot talk about the same human capital in two envi-
ronments where the stages of economic development 
and the growth objectives are different. Ultimately, Af-
rican countries would benefit from working on defining 
a higher education system representative of its values, 
culture, and economy.

Conclusion
Since independence, the main mission of higher 

education for sub-Saharan African countries has been 
the response to personnel needs as determined by 
public policy. However, with a view to aligning with 
international developments, this primary vocation of 
African universities has been qualified by a certain 
number of logics which are however not necessary for 
the economic and social construction of our nations. 
Throughout this article we have argued that, in fact, 
in a logic of growth as expressed by most countries of 
sub-Saharan Africa, higher education has remained a 
tool for the construction of human capital necessary 
to achieve societal objectives. The ambition for profes-
sionalization, as stated by the educational authorities, 
finds its full meaning. However, it lacks implementation 
in the daily experience of higher education institutions. 
The concept of market orientation as stated above 
lays some foundations. Overall, the implementation of 
a market-oriented culture within professionalization 
objectives, involves: 
1.  Understanding national development objectives 

and their translation in terms of human capital 
needs; this first step is qualified as orientation to-
ward policy makers. 

2.  Selection and integration into the definition, im-
plementation, and monitoring of training content 
of companies whose activities are close to national 
priorities which can be call Enterprises Orientation. 

Kamdjo & Ngamaleu, Market Orientation for Professionalization of Higher Ed in Africa



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Global Journal of Transformative Education (2024) Vol 4

3. The popularization of the quality of training 
planned or implemented to captivate and retain 
students name Competitor Orientation.

4. The promotion of the teaching staff as well as the 
progressive and controlled integration of comments 
from students and their parents seen as Teacher 
and Student Orientation. 

5. All this is supported at each stage by excellent in-
ter-functional coordination. 

The examples used in this work without pretension 
of exhaustiveness contribute to demonstrating that a 
synergy of actions as defined above will allow higher 
education to offer a response adapted to the expecta-
tions of society. As economists point out, African econo-
mies, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa are mainly made up 
of informal businesses which create significant obsta-
cles to the continent’s development challenges (Nkui-
tchou, 2020). This dissonance is supported by chronic 
under-industrialization, a still rudimentary agricultural 
system. Faced with these economic issues, should 
the professionalization system adapt to its informal 
economic environment? or should it be aligned with 
growth planning which is sometimes limited to the sole 
description in documents?

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2Henri Rodrigue Njengoue Ngamaleu (rodrigue.
ngamaleu@univ-yaounde1.cm) is a Professor in the 
Faculty of Sciences and Education at the University of 
Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon.

Authors
1Carole Vanessa Kamdjo (carole.kamdjo@fse-uy1.cm) is a 
Doctoral Student in Educational Science at University of 
Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon.

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