The anatomy of strategic marketing planning

Strategic planning provides the focus for this two‐part “state of the art” review, to be published in consecutive issues of the Journal. Part one gives an overview of strategic planning and the different environments in which theategic planning process occurs. In part two the author considers the benefits and pitfalls associated with the implementation of a variety of strategic planning frameworks. The product life cycle, growth vector concept and growth share matrix are discussed, amongst others.     

Regulating consumption with bite: Building a contemporary framework for urban dog management

Australian urban animal management legislation prescribes the conditions for owning and living with dogs. UAM follows from the perceived need to provide community members access to public places without dog aggression or other nuisance behaviors. The literature reveals substantial positive aspects related to dog-keeping (e.g., health, happiness, companionship, the pet economy) that are ignored in the traditional approach to urban animal management. Indeed, a paradox exists with the current approach to UAM, as rules that inhibit dogs exercising and socializing likely contribute to dog-problem behaviors. To resolve this paradox, this article proposes an alternative paradigm for the management of dogs. The paradigm suggests initiating social marketing programs to better manage all of the issues involving urban animal management.     

Community Social Responsibility and Its Consequences for Family Business Performance*

Family‐centered businesses may have unique perspectives of socially responsible behavior due to family involvement and ties to the community. This research explored the antecedents and consequences of community social responsibility (CSR) for family firms operating in small and rural markets. Using a national sample from the 2000 wave of the National Family Business Survey (NFBS), researchers profiled family business operators' (n = 221) to determine if their CSR orientation contributed to family business performance. Enlightened self interest and social capital perspectives provide a framework for elaborating the role of CSR in sustaining family businesses in changing small communities. Results indicate that three dimensions, commitment to the community, community support, and sense of community, account for 43 percent of the variation in family business operators' CSR. Size of the business was significantly related to family firms' ability to give and receive community support. Further, commitment to the community was found to significantly explain perceived family business performance while community support explained financial performance. Findings suggest that socially responsible business behaviors can indeed contribute to the sustainability of family businesses in small rural communities.     

Towards a brain-to-society systems model of individual choice

Canonical models of rational choice fail to account for many forms of motivated adaptive behaviors, specifically in domains such as food selections. To describe behavior in such emotion- and reward-laden scenarios, researchers have proposed dual-process models that posit competition between a slower, analytic faculty and a fast, impulsive, emotional faculty. In this paper, we examine the assumptions and limitations of these approaches to modeling motivated choice. We argue that models of this form, though intuitively attractive, are biologically implausible. We describe an approach to motivated choice based on sequential sampling process models that can form a solid theoretical bridge between what is known about brain function and environmental influences upon choice. We further suggest that the complex and dynamic relationships between biology, behavior, and environment affecting choice at the individual level must inform aggregate models of consumer choice. Models using agent-based complex systems may further provide a principled way to relate individual and aggregate consumer choices to the aggregate choices made by businesses and social institutions. We coin the term “brain-to-society systems” choice model for this broad integrative approach.     

Benefit imbalances among credit union member groups: evidence of borrower-dominated,saver-dominated and neutral behaviour?

Theoretical models of credit union (CU) behaviour suggest that CUs may be saver-dominated, borrower-dominated, or neutral. A CU is dominated if it is operated for the benefit of one member group at the expense of the other. Neutral behaviour occurs when a CU is managed so that both member groups are equally benefited. This empirical study develops a direct measure of the monetary benefits to each member group and tests for the existence of dominated behaviour among US CUs in 1984 and 1985. Evidence of dominated and neutral behaviour is found and the operating characteristics of these distinct organizational forms are generally consistent with theoretical expectations.     

Choosing strategic responses to address emerging environmental regulations: size,perceived influence and uncertainty

How companies respond to impending regulations is a significant aspect of corporate strategy. Regulations, especially environmental regulations, are expanding quickly and increasingly important to firm success. The threat of impending environmental regulation forces companies to choose levels of strategic responses on a continuum from passive to active. Using practitioner oriented research and existing theoretical models of corporate response, this study finds that the type of strategic response is negatively related to size, positively related to state uncertainty and negatively related to effect/response uncertainty. Based on existing literature and the results of this study, the paper suggests that simplifying the uncertainty construct could lead to more definitive findings in future research. The study results also suggest that a curvilinear relationship may exist between managerial perception of influence and level of strategic response. Most importantly, the findings could have a significant impact on firm decision making regarding environmental investments. For example, it is hoped that firms will be able to use the findings of this study to further understand and anticipate their competitors' decisions. Practitioners may also benefit from the conclusions on uncertainty in that they may be able to more cleanly parse the types of uncertainty immersed in impending environmental regulations. Finally, firms may be better able to understand decisions by their own managers and their competitors' managers in terms of their perceived influence over the regulatory process. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Our troubling fiscal situation

Business Economics - Federal debt is on an unsustainable path. Low interest rates mean that we do not need to reduce budget deficits immediately and that we should do more public investment....