ABSTRACT
The article reports on research conducted in Zimbabwe's 11 universities between 2001 and 2003. The research was aimed at finding how vice chancellors and internal marketers perceived the marketing concept and its organization within the universities including the extent to which prospective university customers considered the arrangements for marketing as meeting their expectations for choice and decision making. It is argued that the new university environment in the developing world replicates that which has driven Higher Education institutions in the developed world to embrace marketing as a key strategic option. However, even in the developed world, marketing in Higher Education continues to be based on imported wisdom from the business sector. The article argues that for marketing to occupy its rightful place in Higher Education, it has to be based on a new axis which reflects the core business of universities. It proposes a theoretical basis for considering a curriculum-focused marketing orientation for Higher Education.