Beyond the world of packaged goods: assessing the relevance of integrated marketing communications for retail and consumer service marketing

Product and packaged goods marketers have responded to changing consumer and media environments by adopting integrated approaches to marketing communication. The value and utility of such approaches likely extend to a wide range of marketers, but there have been few published attempts to examine the viability of the integrated marketing communication concept in retail and service marketing. This study addresses this void by using a seven-stage model of integrated marketing communications to examine the media and message delivery practices of national and regional retailers and consumer service marketers. The results of a national mail survey found many of these marketers using such key integrated marketing communication elements as multiple media, databases, individual-level consumer information and behavioural response measures in their media and message delivery practices. Few, however, were using these elements in a strategic or coordinated fashion. Integrated approaches thus appear to have much value in retail and service marketing, particularly as a means for coordinating media and message delivery elements in a fashion that provides a way to link behavioural responses to media vehicles and advertising messages.     

A Picture of Brazil from the Viewpoint of Cultural Change and Business Exchange

Abstract

This paper argues that, with trade and business exchange, cultural change is introduced to business partners. After analyzing the impact of trade in societies, leading to the transformation of traditional holistic ideologies to individualistic ones, Brazilian society is appraised as a dual culture existing under a constant tension between the demands of social hierarchy and predatory individualism. The paper argues that Brazil's dual culture has been a deterrent to economic remedies that worked in societies that experienced industrialism. Finally, the possibility of cultural changes is assessed and considered as a condition for Brazil's partnership in today's global markets.

Este articulo argumenta que el intercambio de negocios y/o comercial introduce adicionalmente cambios culturales a las partes involucradas en las transacciones. Despues de analizar el impacto del comercio en las diferentes sociedades, en particular el cambio que transforma sociedades con ideologia holistica y tradicional a individualistas, la sociedad Brasilena es evaluada como una cultura dual con una lucha constante entre las demandas de una sociedad jerarquicatradicional y un individualismo depredador. Se argumenta en este articulo que la cultura dual del Brasil ha sido un impedimento para el buen funcionamiento de las estrategias economicas (remedios) que funcionaron en paises expermientaron una cultura de industrializacion. Finalmente, este escrito considera el cambio cultural en Brasil como una condicion para la incorporacion del mismo a los mercados globales.

Esse artigo defende a idéia de que as trocas comerciais geram transformaç[otilde]es culturais. Após analisar o impacto do comércio na vida social, o que gera a mutação de ideologias holisticas em práticas individualistas, a sociedade brasileira é avaliada como uma cultura dual que sofre a ação tensa e constante das exigências de hieraquização social e de um individualismo predatório. A cultural dual brasiliera é entendida como um impecilho para a ação dos remédios econômicos que funcionaram em sociedades industralizadas. E, finalmente, considera-se a possibilidade de mutaç[otilde]es culturais como fatores para a integração do pais nos merados globais contemporâneos.     

Unilever's Latin American Strategy in Yellow Fats,Ice Cream and Teas

Abstract

The article investigates the interplay between the changes in the large corporate strategy of a multinational and changes in the business environment in Latin America. In its international expansion, Unilever has traditionally used a decentralized national responsive strategy where local subsidiaries develop their markets with a great degree of autonomy. In response to globalization, Unilever moved towards greater business coordination and a more focused approach in the nineties. The article examines the impact of this reorganization on the firm's regional strategy in Latin America. We examine the firm's strategy in three food categories: fat oils, ice cream and tea-based products. We conclude that Unilever continues to use a strategy of national responsiveness with no attempt to coordinate its experiences across the region.     

Turning Good Citizens into Even Better Ones: The Impact of Program Characteristics and Motivations on Service Learning Outcomes

ABSTRACT

It has been suggested that motivations of an individual and the quality of a service-learning program can affect service-learning outcomes such as being a concerned citizen of the community. Previous studies have examined these issues using measures of actual behavior after the program and program characteristics. This article uses a longitudinal research design with measures of intended behavior and perceptions of the program to examine the relative effects of program characteristics and motivations to volunteer on participants' future intentions to be active citizens. The results indicate that motivations and program perceptions work in concert to influence the service-learning outcomes. Intrinsic motivation was found to be the strongest predictor of the outcomes.     

Digital Technology in Teaching International Business

Abstract

As we enter the brave new world of interactive digital technology, teachers of International Business are being confronted with the problems and opportunities associated with integrating the new medium with a subject area that is inherently geographically dispersed. This analysis extends the traditional marketing tradeoffs between richness (depth of knowledge) and reach (geographic area coverage) to the emerging technology-mediated education industry, and then specifically evaluates their effect on the teaching of International Business. We believe that interactive learning, particularly as it applies to team building and problem solving in a multicultural environment, will prove valuable as the next generation of business leaders begins to emerge from academic institutions.     

The Domains of Undergraduate International Business and International Management Courses in Accredited Schools of Business

ABSTRACT

This study compared undergraduate international business and international management course syllabi from 190 management departments at accredited U.S. business schools. Comparisons revealed considerable overlap in topic areas in the two courses. The findings indicate the need for greater domain clarity and differentiation in objectives, topic areas covered, and textbooks used. Domain clarification could lead to more truthful representation of the two courses, better training and disciplinary grounding of course instructors, more appropriate hosting of the courses in business school departments, and enhanced skill-sets among students in these courses. Finally, clear domain definitions are necessary for reliability and validity in international business research.     

Family Business Succession in Hong Kong: The Case of Yung Kee

This case study examines the succession of Chinese family business in Hong Kong, drawing upon theories of the firm. More specifically, it utilizes capabilities theories, property rights economics and Neo-Confucianism to understand management disputes and infighting among the members in a Chinese family business in Hong Kong. This paper will argue that the founder of a Chinese business firm in Hong Kong is able to lead his or her offspring to create a dynamic enterprise via charismatic leadership and family rules embedded in traditional Chinese values. However, these two strategic assets disappear following the passing away of the founder as well as the emergence of new social values. When the founder passes on the enterprise to his or her offspring using more or less the equal inheritance system, the traditional Chinese value is unable to enforce the leader’s will to consolidate the strengths of the second generation family members to maintain the founder’s business. Furthermore, when the business is owned by all family members, property rights of the firm become unclear. Without effective enforcement of traditional Chinese values and with collective ownership rights, some family members will have the incentive to capture the economic rent that is shared by all members. In other words, some family members behave opportunistically or even cheat in order to capture economic gains in the public domain. High monitoring and enforcement costs in the form of court battle and endless disputes will occur. Rent dissipation occurs in the form of deterioration of the quality of the family business. This case study is based on Yung Kee, an internationally well-known roast goose restaurant in Hong Kong as an illustration.     

BOOK REVIEWS

ABSTRACT

The paper examines Africa's progress towards AACSB accreditation, especially to satisfy the 5 strategic management standards. Sadly, although there are 515 accredited business schools (as of January 2006) in 28 countries, Africa-with 54 nations-does not have a single AACSB accredited school. Many African business schools (ABSs) have the capacity to meet Standard 1 (mission statement), Standard 3 (student mission), and Standard 4 (continuous improvement objectives). But they have limited capacity to meet Standard 2 (mission appropriateness) and Standard 5 (financial strategies). Therefore, if AACSB-International wishes to truly become the accrediting agency for business schools worldwide, the agency and its members will need to play a more proactive, facilitative and enabling role in assisting business schools in Africa tackle these significant obstacles to accreditation.     

A Case Study on the Dual Effect of External Support and Implications on Small Business Growth,Entrepreneurial Creativity and Performance

ABSTRACT

Using a case study approach, this article investigates a Small Plastic Manufacturing Firm (SPMF) and Entrepreneur in Nigeria. The firm represents an example of a firm that has received external support. Very few firms are able to acquire adequate SME grants in Nigeria. Findings from the study revealed that most Small Plastic Manufacturing Entrepreneurs in Nigeria constrained by certain external and internal factors ironically, seem to be challenged to invent original strategies on their own, to cope, survive and to remain in business. Lack of financial capital, especially foreign exchange needed to import vital operating inputs from abroad has been the most serious constraint. Other serious external constraints identified are inadequate infrastructure facilities, competition from large firms, unfavorable government policies, dearth of machines and spare parts and paucity of raw materials. Internal obstacles like incompetent planning, poor organizational skills, and limited knowledge, among others, are common obstacles faced by most Nigerian entrepreneurs. It is also discovered that, in Nigeria, funding assis tance to entrepreneurs by relevant institutions concerned are not based on merit but rather biased on the basis of favoritism.     

Ownership Sentiments Towards the Customer Care Function in E-Business Situations

ABSTRACT

Effective management of customer care is critically important for successful electronic commerce. The executive in charge of the customer care function in a business based on e-commerce might have a technical IT background, a marketing background, or be from general management. This empirical study examined the degrees to which a sample of 86 marketing and IT managers responsible for customer care in e-commerce environments felt they “owned” the customer care function, and the antecedents and consequences of powerful ownership sentiments. It emerged that heads of department with marketing backgrounds reported significantly stronger feelings of ownership of customer care than heads with IT backgrounds. The level of ownership sentiment varied with respect to the extent of the personal investment a manager had devoted to developing the customer care function, the belief that he or she was an expert in customer care, the person's commitment to the organisation as a whole (rather than to a specific function within it), and the degree of centralisation of the firm's decision making. People who felt strongly that they owned their company's customer care function experienced a heavy sense of responsibility for its effective management. However, the same individuals were more likely to be in conflict with managers of other departments and to resist change.