CHAPTERIV
AcademicPrestigeandtheMaterialEquipmentInthecourseoftheprecedingchapterithasappearedthattheintroductionofbusinessprinciplesintouniversitypolicyhashadtheimmediateandubiquitouseffectofgreatlyheighteningthedirectorate’ssolicitudeforadueandcreditablepublicity，aconvincingvisiblesuccess，atactfulandeffectualshowingofefficiencyreflectedinanuninterruptedgrowthinsizeandothertangiblequantitativefeatures。Thisisgoodpolicyasseenfromthepointofviewofcompetitivebusinessenterprise。Incompetitivebusinessitisofthegravestimportancetokeepuptheconcern’sprestige，or\"goodwill。\"A
businessconcernsoplacedmustbepossessedofsuchprestigeaswilldrawandholdaprofitabletraffic;otherwisetheenterpriseisinaprecariouscase。Fortheobjectiveendandaimofbusinessenterpriseisprofitablesales，ortheequivalentofsuchsalesiftheconcernisnotoccupiedwithwhatwouldstrictlybecalledsales。Theendsoughtisanetgainovercosts;ineffect，tobuycheapandselldear。Thequalitiesthatcountasofprimeconsequenceinbusinessenterprise，therefore，particularlyinsuchbusinessenterpriseashastodowithmanyimpressionablecustomers，arethesalesmanlikevirtuesofeffronteryandtact。Thesearehighqualitiesinallbusiness，becausetheirdueexerciseisbelievedtobringanetreturnabovethecostofthegoodstotheseller，and，indeed，abovetheirvaluetothebuyer。Unlessthemanincompetitivebusinessisable，byforceofthesebusinesslikeaptitudes，togetsomethingmorethanhegives，itisfeltthathehasfallenshortofthehighestefficiency。Sotheefficientsalesman，andsimilarlytheefficientlymanagedbusinessconcern，areenabledtoaddtotheirmarketablegoodsanimmaterialincrementof\"prestigevalue，\"assomeoftheeconomistsarecallingit。A
marginofprepossessionsorillusionsastotheirsuperior，butintangibleandinexpensive，utilityattachestoagivenlineofgoodsbecauseoftheadvertiser’sorsalesman’swork，——workspentnotsomuchonthegoodsasonthecustomer’ssensibilities。
Incasetheseillusionsofsuperiorworthareofanenduringcharacter，theywilladdanincrementofsuchintangibleutilityalsotogoodsorothermarketableitemssubsequentlytobeofferedbythesameconcern;andtheycanbeaddedupasapresumptiveaggregateandcapitalizedasintangibleassetsofthebusinessconcerninquestion。Suchabodyofaccumulatedandmarketableillusionsconstitutewhatisknownas\"good—will，\"inthestrictersenseoftheterm。Theillusionsinquestionneed，ofcourse，notbedelusions;theymaybewellorillfounded;forthepurposeinhandthatisanidlequestion。