Higher education: marketing in a quasi‐commercial service industry

The UK Government is promoting widening participation and asking universities to develop their student intake of 18–30 year‐olds by 50 per cent by 2010. The financing of these changes is encouraging a marketing emphasis shift, as funding is reduced and alternative revenue methods sought. Traditional marketing of charitable educational institutions sought to ensure sufficient student enrolments for solely government‐funded core activities. Further marketing is now seen in quasi‐commercial activities. This paper investigates the need for a further marketing approach to satisfy these government policy changes. Using the comparative method, the paper looks at the complexity of the issues around US and UK higher education and their revenue value conflicts, marketing perspectives and, finally, the differences in perspectives and expectations between commerce and education. As the matter is current and ongoing, the main form of collecting evidence is through personal interview and recent media releases. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications     

Understanding Urban Inequality: A Model Based on Existing Theories and an Empirical Illustration

In the debate on urban inequality, Sassen’s theory on social polarization and Wilson’s theory on spatial mismatch have received much attention. Where Sassen highlights the decline of the middle classes, Wilson focuses on the upgrading of urban labour markets. In this article we argue that both theories may be valid, but that they have to be put in a more extended theoretical framework. Of central importance are national institutional arrangements, membership of different ethnic groups and networks, and place–specific characteristics rooted in local socio–economic histories. As a first empirical illustration of our model, we use data on the labour markets of Amsterdam and Rotterdam and show that different forms of inequality can be found both in economic sectors and within ethnic groups. The model we present could be used both to reinterébatpret existing data and as an analytical framework for the analysis of different forms of urban inequality. Dans le d& sur l’inégalitéurbaine, la théorie de la polarisation sociale de Sassen et celle de la disparité spatiale de Wilson ont retenu l’attention. Alors que Sassen souligne le déclin des classes moyennes, Wilson s’attache à la revalorisation des marchés du travail urbains. Cet article soutient que, si ces deux théories sont admissibles, elles doivent étre placées dans un cadre théorique plus large. En effet, sont essentielles les dispositions institutionnelles nationales, l’adhésion de différents réseaux et groupes ethniques, et les spécificités du lieu enracinées dans les histoires socio–économiques locales. Comme première illustration empirique de notre modèle, nous utilisons des données relatives aux marchés du travail d’Amsterdam et de Rotterdam pour montrer qu’il y existe différentes formes d’inégalitéà la fois dans les secteurs économiques et les groupes ethniques. Le modèle présenté pourrait servir à réinterpréter les données existantes et fournir un cadre à l’analyse des diverses formes d’inégalité urbaine.     

Does the Ethical Culture of Organisations Promote Managers’ Occupational Well-Being? Investigating Indirect Links via Ethical Strain

The present study had two major aims: first, to examine the construct validity of the Finnish 58-item Corporate Ethical Virtues scale (CEV; Kaptein in J Org Behav 29:923–947, 2008) and second, to examine whether the associations between managers’ perceptions of ethical organisational culture and their occupational well-being (emotional exhaustion and work engagement) are indirectly linked by ethical strain, i.e. the tension which arises from the difference in the ethical values of the individual and the organisation he or she works for. The sample consisted of 902 managers from different organisations, in middle and upper management levels, aged 25–68 years. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) provided support to the hypothesised eight-factor structure of the CEV scale; i.e. the scale contained the factors of clarity, congruency of supervisors, congruency of senior management, feasibility, supportability, transparency, discussability and sanctionability. In addition, it emerged from the CFAs that the high intercorrelations of these factors can be explained by the second-order factor of ethical culture. The managers’ perceptions of the ethical culture prevailing in their organisations were associated with their occupational well-being both directly (high-work engagement) and indirectly via a low level of ethical strain (low-emotional exhaustion). Thus, the findings indicated that the ethical culture of organisations plays a major role in managers’ occupational well-being.     

M. Hadi Soesastro: Indonesian public intellectual,Asia Pacific visionary

This note commemorates and celebrates the life and contribution of M. Hadi Soesastro, a Bulletin board member who passed away on 4 May 2010. Hadi was arguably Indonesia's leading public intellectual in the fields of international economic policy and political economy, ASEAN economic cooperation, and East Asian economic integration. He made seminal contributions in these fields, and on the political economy of reform in Indonesia, the economic development of East Timor, and energy economics. He also played a major role in institutional development, most notably at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, and in many other official, academic and research endeavours in Indonesia and East Asia.     

Book Reviews

Ian Chalmers and Vedi R. Hadiz (eds) (1997), The Politics of Economic Development in Indonesia, Routledge, London, pp. xxx + 269. A$155.00.

Geoff Forrester (ed.) (1999), Post-Soeharto Indonesia: Renewal or Chaos? Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, and KITLV Press, Leiden, pp. 373. Cloth: S$49.90/US$32.90; paper: S$29.95/US$19.95/A$29.95.

Corden, Max (1999), The Asian Crisis: Is There a Way Out?, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, pp. 82. S$19.90/US$12.90.

Karl D. Jackson (ed.) (1999), Asian Contagion: The Causes and Consequences of a Financial Crisis, Westview Press, Boulder CO, pp. xvi + 312. Cloth: US$75.00; Paper: US$30.00.

H.W. Arndt and Hal Hill (1999), Southeast Asia's Economic Crisis: Origins, Lessons and the Way Forward, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, pp. 192. Cloth: S$66.90/US$44.90; paper: S$28.00/US$17.90/A$29.95.

Manuel F. Montes (1998), The Currency Crisis in Southeast Asia: Update, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, pp. xl + 62. Cloth: S$36.00 /US$24.00; paper: S$25.90/US$17.90.     

The Fear of Exclusion: Individual Effort when Group Formation is Endogenous*

To secure their membership in a popular group, individuals may contribute more to the group's local public good than they would if group formation were exogenous. Those in the most unpopular group do not have this incentive to contribute. This may result in substantial differences in individual effort level between groups. Our model thus provides one explanation for the existence of group‐specific behavioral norms. A principal will prefer exogenous or endogenous group formation depending on whether he prefers high or low levels of the local public good. We analyze two stylized examples: social interaction in schools, and multiple‐task teamwork.     

The role of consumers in product‐oriented environmental policy: can the consumer be the driving force for environmental improvements?

In environmental policy, it is increasingly accepted that more emphasis should be placed on consumption and its implications from the point of view of the environment. Another relatively new feature is the focus on products. At the policy level, this perspective is known as product‐oriented environmental policy or, in brief, product policy. This approach is closely related to the idea of product chain thinking, which means recognizing the fact that environmentally relevant decisions are made at all stages during the products’ life cycle, from raw material extraction to consumption and beyond. Based on a Finnish study on product chain actors and environmental improvements, this article discusses the role of consumers in product policy (i) with respect to theories on consumer mecision‐making and (ii) in the light of product chain thinking. As consumers’ decision‐making models with respect to consumer products are most often based on heuristics simplifying the decision process, incorporating environmental considerations into these models is a challenging task for environmental policy.     

Finns and functional foods: socio‐demographics,health efforts,notions of technology and the acceptability of health‐promoting foods

Eating is increasingly characterized by concerns over health and well‐being. New types of foods designed to promote health or to reduce the risk of diseases, known as functional foods, have been entering the market since the 1990s. This article focuses on the appropriation of functional foods among Finnish consumers from the perspective of acceptability. We analyse the relationship between consumers’ views of functional foods and their socio‐demographic backgrounds, health efforts and notions of food, health and technology. The article is based on a survey of a representative sample of Finnish consumers (n = 1210). The data were collected by using computer‐assisted telephone interviews and analysed by factor analysis and analysis of variance. The factor analysis resulted in four dimensions of acceptability: (1) experiences of functional foods; (2) views on product quality and safety; (3) societal concerns over current developments; and (4) views on regulation and research. According to the results, the differences in consumer views of functional foods were to some extent linked with age and education but better explained by the differing roles of food and health in people’s lives and the acceptability of modern food technologies. Efforts to lower blood cholesterol and/or blood pressure, the use of dietary supplements, regarding healthy eating as very important and having an optimistic outlook on the use of technology in food production were all related to more optimistic views of functional foods. Finns seem to have a relatively trusting position on functional foods. Familiarity of functional foods in Finland, absence of serious food scandals, the health‐oriented Finnish culture and the generally high level of societal trust may account for this optimism.