Call for Book Reviews and Review Essays

ABSTRACT

The Journal of Business to Business Marketing, an important thematic journal within the field of marketing, serves as a vital venue for both academicians and practitioners interested in business-to-business marketing phenomena. Articles cover a broad spectrum of topics related to business marketing management.

A subject-based listing classifies these articles into 16 categories according to their key research issues. Those categories are: Advertising and Communication, Brand Management, Buyer-Seller Dyad and Relationships, Channels, Customer Relationships, Education, International Issues, Literature Reviews, Methodology, Networks and Strategic Alliances, Organizational Buying Behavior, Pricing and Value, Product Development, Segmentation, Selling and Salesforce Management, Technology.

After the subject listing, titles and abstracts of all articles appearing in the first ten volumes of JBBM are listed in volume/issue order. We hope that this index will provide a useful tool for academicians and practitioners who are interested in business-to-business marketing research.     

Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing Part III: JBBM Book Reviews

A total of 143 books were reviewed over the period 1993–2008 in the Book Review section of the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing. The books encompassed a broad array of topics, including the basic marketing mix elements of business-to-business marketing, purchasing, buyer-seller relationships, global marketing, Internet and e-commerce, organization studies, research methodology, strategy and general management, and education. During this period, five review essays provided thematic and comparative evaluations of a set of books.

This cumulative index is divided into two sections. The first provides a subject listing of books reviewed and the second is a chronological listing. All book reviews are located at the end of each issue of the journal.     

Book Reviews

The history of music in the workplace is a neglected area of study. This article explores the policies towards music in the paternalist Rowntree and Cadbury confectionery factories from the late nineteenth to the late twentieth century. We argue that the two firms were pioneering in their early use of music before becoming key players in the industrial welfare movement following the First World War. The broadcasting of music by Rowntree and Cadbury in the mid to late twentieth century is then placed in the context of a widespread adoption of tannoyed music in factories. We argue that music was employed as a means of easing the monotony of factory work whilst simultaneously aiming to improve productivity levels. However, as we demonstrate through oral history, women workers experienced music in ways not always in tune with management objectives.     

Book Reviews

Rail privatisation was a controversial, widely unpopular policy whose implementation was not inevitable. This article employs counterfactual history methodology to examine whether the move to rail privatisation in Britain might have failed. It places the privatisation proposals in context by examining opposition within the Conservative Party and British Rail. The paper then focuses on three key counterfactual questions, including the significance of New Labour's reversal of its commitment to renationalise rail under its ‘third way’ policy and the possible consequences had the move to privatise rail failed. Based on the historical evidence available, it concludes that the move to rail privatisation could have failed, and that performance would have been better had rail remained an integrated, nationalised industry.     

Effects of ethnic advertising on consumers of minority and majority groups: the moderating effect of humor

The effects of portrayals of ethnic endorsers in advertising are ambiguous. These portrayals strengthen the ethnic identity of ethnic minority groups, thus leading to positive responses toward the ad. They can lead to negative responses, because these portrayals can be perceived as stereotyped. Humor is a tool that can increase positive effects of identity-building and reduce negative effects of stereotyping. In this study, we investigate how humor moderates the effects of ethnic advertising on consumers from ethnic minority and majority groups. We find that humor supports the effects of traditional portrayals for both groups. Moreover, the effect of traditional portrayals combined with humor is strongest for the minority group. These findings provide evidence for the positive effects of humor in ethnic advertising and thus provide new insights to the stereotyping, ethnic advertising, and humor literature. The findings have practical implications for advertising using ethnic endorsers, humor, or targeted at ethnic minority groups.     

“Going natural”: Black women’s identity project shifts in hair care practices

Hair care, a seemingly mundane consumption practice, is packed with sociocultural meanings and constitutes an important realm of identity work for consumers. Drawing upon existing literature on consumer identity projects, this paper investigates the experiences of urban, Black women in Kenya as they disengage from the normative practice of altering their natural hair texture using chemical straighteners (a practice that conforms to Eurocentric beauty ideals of straight, flowing hair), and adopt the non-normative hair care practice of “going natural,” in which they embrace their natural hair texture and hairstyles. This paper traces the historical, sociocultural, and political events that underpin the normative ideology associated with the identity marker of natural Black hair, and how this ideology influences the women’s “going natural” experience. Findings reveal tensions that emerge in the women’s identity project disengagement and reconstruction process, and how the women navigate their position as they reimagine their embodied identity quest.     

Am I an entrepreneur? How imposter fears hinder women entrepreneurs’ business growth

Although participation of women in entrepreneurship continues to grow, a gender-performance gap persists. While the differential inputs and values perspectives have investigated both external and internal forces that help explain this gap, neither perspective has considered an important cognitive mechanism that captures gender differences: identity. The purpose of this article is to examine the role of imposter fears in shaping entrepreneurial identity and the desire for business growth. Entrepreneurship has long been associated with masculine notions of success, which may lead women to discount themselves as ‘real’ entrepreneurs or successful in the context of these masculine norms. Our goal is to draw attention to women entrepreneurs’ imposter fears in order to understand how women think about and construct their identity as entrepreneurs and subsequently contemplate the success and growth of their ventures. We also propose mitigating factors that can disrupt gendered norms and facilitate self-efficacy for women entrepreneurs in the pursuit of business growth.     

黑龙江商务事业回眸与展望

黑龙江省商业是全国最早的商业。从解放战争初期到现在,为全省经济社会发展、为全国经济建设做出了世人瞩目的贡献。改革开放以来,特别是在2004年组建商务厅以后的＂十一五＂期间,全省的商务事业步入了高速、良性发展轨道,取得了历史性的辉煌业绩。这期间是黑龙江内贸流通发展最快、对外贸易发展最好、招商引资规模和质量全面提升、工商业＂走出去＂步伐明显加快、全省园区建设和口岸功能发挥作用最凸显的时期。2011年是＂十二五＂规划的开局之年,也是创造＂十二五＂更加辉煌业绩必须打好坚实基础的关键之年。其主要任务是：在内贸流通领域,加速构建现代流通体系,大力培育消费热点,努力实现市场繁荣与社会稳定的协调统一。在对外贸易领域,充分发挥外贸资源优势,加快对外贸易转型升级,努力实现规模与效益的协调统一。在招商引资领域,创新招商引资方式,拓宽利用域外资金渠道,努力实现总量与质量协调统一。全力构建大市场、大开放、大流通新格局,促进全省经济社会好发展、快发展。     

基于国家人口信息库的政府部门间人口信息交互架构研究

人口信息在国家发展中发挥不可替代的作用。国家人口信息库是人口信息的国家级信息库,在构建信息化与服务型政府历史进程中意义重大。但人口信息的采集、交换、管理则分散在政府多个部门中,并且由于制度因素、部门职能差别等诸多原因,协同程度差的现状对部门闻人口信息整合产生较大的困难。文章设想构建多部门人口信息整合制度,设计部门间人口信息系统整合架构,为政府人口信息资源的协同配置提供思路和方法。     

上海社区商业的现状分析和发展对策研究

中国顺利加入世界贸易组织,上海的商业发展面临极大的挑战,同时也存在巨大的发展空间和机遇。上海商业要在10年前建成的“四街四城”市级商业中心的基础上,让未来5年上海商业发展、建设的重点将转移到社区商业,使上海的市级商业中心和社区商业共同构成上海国际化、现代化、时代化的商业主体。通过在上海社区商业进行实地调研的基础上对上海社区商业的进行分类,根据上海社区商业的现状,对今后上海社区商业的发展提出可操作性和可实现性的具体措施。     

物联网产业商业模式的本质与分析框架

物联网是实现物体智能化识别、定位、跟踪、监控和管理的一种网络。随着物联网新技术、新产品和新服务的普及,物联网产业正在形成。物联网产业的发展离不开商业模式的支撑,在回顾国内外有关商业模式、物联网产业商业模式研究的基础上,根据实际情况、全方位考察和抽象总结,文章提出由业务运营模式、技术服务模式和资本投资模式三大模块构成的物联网产业商业模式分析框架,进而探讨不同模块的运营内容。     

城市商业结构的郊区化、社区化研究——以上海市为例

随着我国城市郊区化的发展,大城市的商业郊区化特征明显,社区商业成为城市商业中非常重要的环节。商业作为城市居民购物、娱乐、休闲的场所,其空间结构随着城市郊区化的出现也呈现新的特征。研究大城市商业结构的郊区化和社区化,对于城市商业设施的合理规划及商业空间结构的优化具有一定的指导意义。     

跨国公司在华业务整合研究

近年来，较早进入中国的一批跨国公司开始对其在华业务进行全面整合。本文首先提出了跨国公司在华业务整合的现象和问题，随之介绍了跨国公司在华业务整合的主要方式，最后对跨国公司在华业务整合的内涵进行了分析。     

Unhealthy and unsafe practices associated with symptoms of depression among injured patients

This study describes a process to explore factors which contribute to child-drowning deaths and allows the development of appropriate strategies to prevent similar deaths in a selected site in the Northern Philippines. Data collection techniques used in obtaining baseline data include: review of drowning mortality records; key informant interviews; focus group discussions; and community walk-throughs. Risk factors identified which could or did contribute to drowning events were: proximity to bodies of water; inadequate child supervision; lack of information/awareness of prevention strategies; and lack of drowning prevention programme(s). Measures on how to prevent drowning deaths were explored and initial interventions were implemented through a committee convened by the community. These interventions include: community education sessions; capability building measures; redesigning of community wells; development of playpens; and use of barriers. Community engagement is a crucial element in the development and implementation of any health programme. This study demonstrates that by engaging and working with the community action occurs, however, there is a need to conduct further evaluation activities to determine if the actions by the community continued beyond the project and have resulted in a decrease in drowning. One of the strengths of the process described is that it is culturally appropriate and site-specific and allows the community to find the solutions itself. Exploration and delivery of further projects in larger areas is required to reduce drowning in the Philippines. An imperative is the evaluation which will provide valuable information on whether barriers are a sustainable and acceptable means of prevention to the community in the long term.