The value that small business community partners place on a marketing-oriented service learning project

Abstract

A majority of service learning (SL) studies focus on the student benefits and challenges, whereas few consider the organization (community partner) viewpoint. This study examines the value that small businesses place on a marketing-oriented SL project run by the academic Marketing Department at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa. A client programme evaluation was administered via a structured questionnaire and a survey in order to discern the perceptions of 107 small business community partners. Perceived value was cross-tabulated with the performance benefits, lack of value reasons, satisfaction, lasting value, future participation, and student group variables (registration and grades). Small businesses generally found that the SL project added value to their organizations. Those small business community partners who found the SL project less valuable noted reasons such as lack of project coordinator involvement, ineffective communication, and the SL project was not apt for their business.