bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The applicability of an operations management approach to councils' waste services
Authors: Walker Tim
Published: January 2008

Purpose

This paper arises from a study examining the causality of change by exploring whether best value and performance management had caused change within councils' waste services. The purpose of this paper is to represent one of the unforeseen findings arising from the research programme.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper was an exploratory, inductive theory‐building study using a practitioner‐researcher approach to develop a conceptual model based upon a literature review and a case study research methodology.

Findings

The paper finds that, despite much publicity, the cases studied did not use performance management frameworks to structure change and, in this regard, operations management may offer a better approach by which councils could include operational service delivery within the development of corporate strategy. Research limitations/implications – The practitioner‐researcher approach provided particular insights to this paper, which may not be apparent otherwise. One of the principal findings was that there appeared to be an absence of coordinated independent research relating to management theory and councils' service delivery, as opposed to private sector applications of theory and practice, which appears unbalanced, especially given that the public sector is one of the largest employers in the UK. Simply transferring private sector performance management approaches without scrutiny and amendment to the different cultural and structural working environment within councils would appear imperfect and likely to create ad hoc success. These findings relate specifically to councils' waste services but may have a relevance outwith these operations.

Practical implications

This paper recommended that further research should be conducted to develop a greater understanding of council management practice and how this could be positively affected. Simply recommending the transposition of private sector approaches was unlikely to work and, similarly, the current hands‐off approach adopted both between government and councils and between councils' corporate centres and their operational services suggested the emergence of strategic/operational divides. This could be overcome with a more balanced approach and secondments between the different tiers.

Originality/value

As practitioner‐research, this paper provides an insight into how councils' waste services are prioritizing change, which highlights the emergence of an apparent, growing dislocation between different government tiers. These findings emerge following case study research from a service whose perspectives on management theory rarely get expressed, due to the demands arising from daily operational delivery.
The information content of earnings announcements in Denmark
Authors: Sponholtz Carina
Published: January 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the reaction to earnings announcements in a small stock market.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses the traditional event study method to examine the information content of annual earnings announcements in the small Danish stock market from 1999‐2004.

Findings

The paper finds abnormal volatility in the days surrounding the announcements, indicating that they contain relevant information for the stock market. The abnormal volatility persists several days after the announcement, suggesting that the information environment of this small stock market works to decrease the speed of adjustment. In addition to this sign of inefficiency, the paper finds significant positive abnormal returns accompanying the announcements. These results are robust across various methodologies. Surprisingly, the paper finds a positive correlation between the information content and predisclosure information. This contradicts previous studies, and it is interpreted as evidence of a low level of pre‐announcement information. Confirming the results of similar studies, the paper finds that unexpected earnings are best proxied using a model based on consensus analyst forecasts.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the existing literature by analyzing the information content of earnings announcements in a small stock market with accounting standards that are congruent with the International Accounting Standards.
Stock market liquidity and information asymmetry around voluntary earnings disclosures
Authors: Lakhal Faten
Published: January 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether non‐mandated earnings disclosures include value‐relevant information and affect information asymmetry and stock market liquidity.

Design/methodology/approach

The event study methodology explores the informational content of good, bad and neutral voluntary earnings disclosures. The OLS panel regression framework is, then, used to analyze information asymmetry and stock market liquidity subsequent to both categories of voluntary earnings disclosures (i.e. earnings forecasts and quarterly earnings disclosures).

Findings

Empirical tests show that voluntary earnings disclosures include material information and that bad news is released in an untimely fashion leading to information leakage in the pre‐announcement period. The results also indicate that quarterly earnings enhance stock market liquidity by shrinking bid‐ask spreads. However, earnings forecasts exacerbate information asymmetry before and after the announcement date. This result confirms the existence of information leakage and suggests that managers have considerable discretion whether to make a forecast, and in deciding its timing, form, and specificity.

Research limitations/implications

This paper examines stock market liquidity around voluntary earnings disclosures using effective spreads. Future research should examine other proxies for market liquidity, i.e. market depth.

Practical implications

The results provide insights on the positive benefits of a disclosure policy. Companies have to provide investors with better and timely information in order to mitigate the information leakage risk and thus improve stock market liquidity.

Originality/value

This paper provides new evidence about information content, information asymmetry and stock market liquidity around voluntary earnings disclosures in France. Unlike financial statements disclosures, quarterly earnings and earnings forecasts are isolated events that can be evaluated by the market with less noise.
Building trust in project‐stakeholder relationships
Authors: Terje Karlsen Jan , Græe Ketil , Jensvold Massaoud Mona
Published: January 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate how trust can be built in a relationship between a project and its stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical data are based on a qualitative case study with in‐depth interviews following a semi‐structured approach. A Norwegian project, the new opera house, is studied. This is a large public construction project, with a great deal of media and public attention by Norwegian society.

Findings

The study results show that trust is built in a project‐stakeholder relationship by improving communication skills, behaving reliably, showing commitment, being sincere, benevolent and competent, obtaining and acting with integrity, working towards reaching project milestones and establishing common goals.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should investigate other scenarios, types of projects, cultures and countries, so that these findings may be generalized.

Practical implications

This research concludes that trust is important for building a well‐functioning business relationship. Trust can be seen as a result of good project‐stakeholder relations, and trust is reciprocal. Trust is something that must be earned, and it can be easily lost.

Originality/value

How to build trust in project‐stakeholder relationships is studied in this research paper.
Are pay satisfaction and pay fairness the same construct?
Authors: Scarpello Vida , Carraher Shawn M.
Published: January 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to test the extent to which pay satisfaction is equivalent to perceptions of pay fairness in order to call to attention the need for care in designing instruments in order to lessen the likelihood of the confounding of concepts within measures as has been in numerous previous studies.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaire data were collected as part of a larger project seeking to understand the customer service behaviors of business owners for four groups of self‐employed business owners from Latvia, Germany, the UK, and the USA.

Findings

It is found that while pay satisfaction and pay fairness are not the same construct, with the exception of internal pay comparisons, the self‐employed may not distinguish between pay fairness and pay satisfaction in a meaningful manner.

Research limitations/implications

All four of the samples included in the current study had limited control over their compensation as the economy and industry are the most powerful influences on the income of the self‐employed in small businesses. It might prove useful to examine whether these results hold true for individuals with highly variable compensation.

Practical implications

Organizations should not assume that individuals naturally differentiate between pay fairness and pay satisfaction. It also would appear that there are few differences in the perceptions between the self‐employed based upon country of origin.

Originality/value

While many studies have been performed on pay fairness and pay satisfaction that have assumed that they are distinct constructs, this is the first study to use a multi‐step process in order to systematically and empirically examine the degree to which they are similar. This is done across four countries and with a sample of self‐employed business people – a group rarely examined in human resource research.
Performance appraisal and the compensation of academic staff in the University of Tartu
Authors: Türk Kulno
Published: January 2008

Purpose

The present study aims to show the role of performance appraisal in the motivating and compensating of academic staff. The goal of the paper is achieved through comparing performance appraisal and compensation policies and systems in the University of Tartu. One of the aims is also to find out the level of satisfaction of the academic staff with the appraisal and compensation systems in two faculties of the University of Tartu.

Design/methodology/approach

Research was carried out on the academic staff at the faculty of Economics and Business Administration (hereafter FEBA) and the Faculty of Education (hereafter FE) at Tartu University. It is based on the analysis of quantitative and qualitative research methods. The author carried out document analysis and two original and anonymous questionnaires. In order to achieve this aim, 125 lecturers were questioned, from whom 52 percent returned their filled in questionnaires. In addition to that, qualitative data from five semi‐structured interviews with senior management and lecturers, incorporating individual interviews were analyzed.

Findings

Firstly, results showed that the performance appraisal and compensation system (pay‐for‐performance system) has guaranteed a highly motivated core of staff. Secondly, teaching loads and research activities of the academic staff have increased over the years. Faculties need to establish performance appraisal and compensation systems in order to show clearly defined causality between compensation and performance of academic staff. A good and well functioning performance appraisal system would help the educators to make their mark in the organizational setting of their faculty.

Research limitations/implications

In addition to suggestions for improvement, limitations of the results will be addressed. The survey was carried out in two faculties at the University of Tartu. Unfortunately, the survey yielded only 65 usable responses, thus it could be claimed that the dataset is too small for making any conclusive generalizations. However, when taking into consideration that the survey was anonymous, the author believes that a 52 per cent response rate can be considered a very good result. Another limitation involves the dynamic nature of appraisal systems. Since, the appraisal procedures are still being developed, the systems described might now be out of date.

Originality/value

The present paper is valuable as it is the first one to examine the role of performance appraisal and compensation (pay‐for‐performance) systems in Estonian and Baltic Universities.
Mechanisms of power and action for cause‐related marketing
Authors: Du Lanying , Hou Jundong , Huang Yupeng
Published: January 2008

Purpose

This study aims to examine why cause‐related marketing (CRM) can develop, and how can the social system and enterprise link with nonprofit organization (NPO) to form a closed path to prompt the maximization for three parties' benefits, in order to provide a general framework to explore the mechanisms of power and action for CRM.

Design/methodology/approach

The logic deduction approach was used for an overview and conceptual paper based on research experience.

Findings

The paper stresses CRM should be a good marriage between a nonprofit and its sponsorship firm both organizations stand to benefit. Its mechanism of power is the result of the combined effect by the enterprise's push, NPO's pull and social system's supervision, and mechanism of action is under the social system's supervision, enterprise linked with NPO to form a closed path.

Research limitations/implications

A major weakness is that the influences of CRM on the enterprise and the NPO are only explained qualitatively, there are short of some data to test the validity of theories above. Further, investigation into this construct in the context of CRM would be helpful in understanding what are the role and the impact of CRM on firm and NPO in this domain. The main implication is that, this study presents an example and direction of how the enterprise, NPO, and social system are able to maximize their economic and social benefits.

Originality/value

This study contributes to examine the inter mechanisms of CRM from the perspectives of enterprise and NPO. The findings of this study are useful to and provide managerial implications for administrators of enterprise, NPO and social system aiming to make optimal decisions under the dual driven of institutional rationality and economic rationality.
University business students' perceptions of retail shopping behaviour
Authors: McKenzie Brent
Published: January 2008

Purpose

Retail shopping behaviour is one of the major tenets of the retail marketing literature. The purpose of this research is to presents the empirical findings of two quantitative studies of Estonian and Canadian university students' interpretation and perceptions of retail shopping behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

Paper and pencil questionnaires administered in Estonia and Canada. The data was analysed from two perspectives. The first was to determine if the retail service quality construct differed between the two samples, and secondly to use using confirmatory factor analysis, and regression analysis to test a model of shopping behaviour and to make comparisons between the shopping behaviour of university students in the two countries.

Findings

The results indicate a level of commonality in retail shopping perceptions, as well as non‐trivial differences in how shopping practice in terms of the construct structure, and individual service drivers, should be theorized. The Canadian sample indicated a greater focus on retail service quality perception at the sub‐dimension level while the Estonian sample indicated a greater focus on retail service quality at an overall or integrated level.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are limited as to the consumer type (university students) selected. This limitation is lessened as the university age sector represents one of the most dynamic and growing segments of the Estonian retail market.

Practical implications

Retail sales per capita within Estonia, and the other Baltic states, represents the fastest growing region in the European Union. Thus, there is a need for empirical and academic research that attempts to highlight the transferable (i.e. western) and the solely domestic consumer knowledge that will allow this growth to continue. Caution needs to be taken when simply implementing best retail practices from the West as erroneous conclusions may be drawn. It may not be the practices from the West that are fuelling the retail success, and thus research such as this helps to draw attention to the need to understand the more sustainable localized nature of retail shopping behaviour.

Originality/value

This paper represents an initial focus on an unknown area of retailing research.
The future of Rhineland capitalism across the Polish‐German border
Authors: Bátiz‐Lazo Bernardo , Locke Robert R. , Müller Kristine
Published: January 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to look at the past development and potential of the Rhenish capitalist governance “model”. The paper aims to discuss the origins and nature of the model. The main focus is on the model's in crisis and its specific role within the transformation processes of Central‐Eastern European economies. East‐Central Europe is where, it is contended, Rhineland capitalism's future will be decided.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on archival research (including current writings) the paper draws out two salient features of the Rhenish capitalist model which would be relevant to explore bank customers perceptions of bank governance and practice in the Polish‐German city of Zgorzelec‐Görlitz. The experience of Dresdner Bank is stressed and the fact that the local people not long before lived under a Socialist regime.

Findings

The paper contends that the abandonment of the social harmony structured into the Rhineland model would be a great pity, since the 100 years of effort it took to create it would go down the drain.

Originality/value

The paper ascertains the presence of German management traditions as opposed to Anglo‐American approaches to management in the context of retail bank markets in a border region.
Visionary entrepreneurial leadership in the aircraft industry
Authors: D'Intino Robert S. , Boyles Trish , Neck Christopher P. , Hall John R.
Published: January 2008

Purpose

In the early twenty‐first century organization scholars and managers face an economic outlook full of daunting challenges. With investors, workers, and other stakeholders distressed and hostile toward corporate executives and boards due to recent corporate scandals, the future for many industries and firms appears grim. In what ways can business history help corporate managers and new venture entrepreneurs overcome these leadership challenges? This paper seeks to uncover practices throughout the Boeing Company's management history that offer today's executives and board members numerous examples of industry vision and leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

Visionary leadership theory is used to help understand Boeing's actions. A theory of visionary entrepreneurial leadership is proposed based on Boeing's history. Four specific cases of aircraft design and development decisions and actions are presented as examples of executive and board directors' vision and leadership.

Findings

Boeing has served as the aircraft industry's innovator and leader for over nine decades by designing and building path‐breaking airplanes when no other aircraft manufacturer would venture similar risks to their reputation and capital. Furthermore, Boeing executives and board directors have repeatedly made risky decisions that – if the prototype literately crashed and burned – would probably bankrupt the company. Management's vision was always on the next great airplane, never on individual image or personal wealth.

Research limitations/implications

Future research directions are presented suggesting a focus on firm executives and boards of directors' decisions and how these decisions influence industry wide innovation and development.

Originality/value

The paper analyses the leadership attributes of Boeing executives over the last nine decades.
Ibn Khaldun of North Africa: an AD 1377 theory of leadership
Authors: Sidani Yusuf M.
Published: January 2008

Purpose

This paper's purpose is to present the works of a North African early contributor to sociological theory, Ibn Khaldun (1332‐1406), specifically pertaining to his conceptualization of leadership and the role of asabiya (group feeling) in leadership emergence.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews the Muqadimmah, (Prolegomena or the introduction), which contained his most important views of the issue.

Findings

The paper develops an early model of leadership as described by Ibn Khaldun. This research study presents a different understanding of leadership that has applicability in a different era and in a different culture. The paper summarizes Ibn Khaldun's views on human nature, how leadership emerges, and the role of group feeling or asabiya in leadership situations.

Practical implications

The paper presents some implications of Ibn Khaldun's work for understanding leadership dynamics in a non‐western cultural context. It is suggested here that many of Ibn Khaldun's leadership propositions have particular significance for several non‐Western societies especially in the Middle East and North Africa.

Originality/value

The paper argues, that leadership research could benefit from the contributions of Ibn Khaldun in developing models that take different cultures into perspective.
Selling Opportunities In Today's Automated Manufacturing Environment
Authors: Lindgren M.A.
Published: January 2008

There are many selling opportunities in automated manufacturing for both buyer and seller. You may have heard about all the doom and gloom in the machine tool industry—that it's going under. However, cells, manufacturing systems, automatic manufacturing, and automated assembly should rejuvenate the machine tool and capital goods sector of the economy. With automated manufacturing, there is reason to be optimistic about the future.
Enhancing Response Rates On Surveys Among Business Executives
Authors: Zdep Stanley M.
Published: January 2008

Extremely high response rates ranging from 75 to 86 percent were obtained in three surveys among executives. While great diligence was exercised in following up respondents, a very potent motivator for respondents appeared to be the initial letter from a prestigious source. The components of the letter and their generality to other surveys are discussed in detail.
PARTICIPATION IN THE BUYING PROCESS: A VENDOR'S PERSPECTIVE
Authors: Reese Richard M. , Stone Louis H.
Published: January 2008

The objective of this research was to explore the question, “Who is involved in the various phases of the organizational buying process?” To provide a framework for analysis, a BUYGRID model was modified so that the degree of participation of three levels of organizations could be examined in each buy phase for both a new‐task and a modified rebuy situation for the purchase of a computer software package. The BUYGRID model was modified to introduce a “negotiation loop,” a phase that has not traditionally been included as a buy phase. The results reveal that top management and middle management are significantly more involved than the operations group in six of the phases of the buying process, including the negotiation phase.
FINE‐TUNING THE CHANNELS
Authors: Combs Larry S.
Published: January 2008

The product life cycle has been a widely recognized tool for studying overall market behavior and estimating growth potential. Its most common application has been in the decision whether to expand manufacturing capacities. The product life cycle can also be used as a tool for evaluating and enhancing channels of distribution.
INSIGHTS INTO ORGANIZATIONAL BUYING
Authors: LeBlanc Ronald P.
Published: January 2008

This research project suggests that the decision‐making process in organizational buying may not be as much of a group process as is presently suggested by the literature. The job of organizational buyers is profiled and the decisions that are important to a seller — the buyer's choice of vendors to request bids from and the subsequent purchase choice of the buyer — is investigated. This research suggests that the decision rules used to select buyers for consideration are independent of the decision rules used to make the final purchase choice.
EXPLOITING YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE
Authors: Alberding Dick
Published: January 2008

Exploiting a company's competitive advantage is a subject all marketing managers wrestle with daily, both strategically and tactically. Hewlett‐Packard will be used as a case study here. It has a unique competitive advantage in the industry — a blend of expertise in both electronic measurement and computational technologies. More relevant here, HP is managing change and exploiting its competitive advantage in the process. Some of the things it has learned along the way are quite generic.
STRATEGIC MARKETING THINKING: A GAME PERSPECTIVE
Authors: Kerin Roger A. , Harvey Michael G.
Published: January 2008

The term “strategic thinking” is a relatively recent addition to the lexicon of marketing concepts. Its popularity arises from increasing discontent with highly formalized marketing planning approaches that replace creativity with paperwork and Jock executives into a dangerously predictable repertoire of strategic options. Despite the frequent call for strategic thinking to augment the marketing planning process, there is woefully little written on the subject. It would seem that the admonition to THINK emphasized by the late Thomas Watson at IBM is not enough. Rather, strategic thinking requires a perspective on what to think about. The properties of games, which we will describe, provide a valuable insight into what an executive should consider when asked to think strategically regarding a marketing problem or opportunity. These properties form the basis for the game theory approaches in decision analysis where mathematics is the dominant feature. Unfortunately, the impenetrable language of mathematics has obscured the fundamental properties of games so that marketing executives cannot readily use them in a corporate setting. We will look here at these fundamental game properties and see what insights they offer for strategic marketing thinking and formulating competitive strategy.
THE INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTOR IS ALSO HUMAN
Authors: Fine Seymour H.
Published: January 2008

The long‐standing belief that industrial marketing is based primarily on price and technical specifications is becoming outmoded. Even product quality and supplier reputation are not sufficient criteria upon which purchasing decisions are made. This article describes a study that concludes that service factors and personal selling are of paramount importance in the marketing of industrial products. Like their counterparts in consumer marketing, producers of industrial goods are increasingly experiencing the need to develop stronger personal relation with their distributors.
SHARPENING THE CORPORATE IMAGE FOR A SERVICE COMPANY
Authors: Vos Thomas J.
Published: January 2008

For a company the size of GTE, the name itself carries an image that evokes fundamental promises to customer. It is important that this image be as clear and as positive as possible because all product benefits are ultimately evaluated in light of the expectations raised by the corporate image. Before GTE looks at how to convey specific product messages to customers, it is concerned about the image that it projects as a corporation. GTE's corporate ad campaign over the past ten years has been directed at improving the public's recognition of GTE. As its markets become more competitive, it is finding that the concept of corporate image — the concept of market positioning — is more important than ever.
CORPORATE CULTURE: A STRATEGY TO ENTER ENTRENCHED MARKETS
Authors: Pauline Olszewski Agnes , Hennessey Hubert D. , Harris Monchar Philip , Boudin Arthur
Published: January 2008

This research illustrates a methodology to segment industrial markets on the basis of corporate culture. The consumer marketing segmentation technique based on psychological profiles is adapted and applied to the corporate purchase of a financial service. The methodology provides industrial marketers with a new way to view major corporate purchases and to segment the entrenched marketplace for increased penetration.
USING INTERNAL MARKETING TO DEVELOP A NEW CULTURE—THE CASE OF ERICSSON QUALITY
Authors: Gummesson Evert
Published: January 2008

Can internal marketing be used in changing a corporate culture? Can approaches and know‐how developed in services marketing be of help to an industrial firm producing and marketing to business customers? This article is about an ongoing effort at Ericsson, a major international firm in telecommunications equipment, to change its “quality culture” by means of the Ericsson Quality (EQ) internal marketing program. The presentation stresses two particularly essential issues. The first issue is the actual implementation of the ideas supplied by the internal marketing program. The second is the broadening of the internal marketing concept to include the notion of the “internal customer.”
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT COUNTERFEITING: PROBLEMS AND PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
Authors: Harvey Michael G.
Published: January 2008

Background to International Counterfeiting It has been estimated that counterfeiting, the unauthorized imitation of goods or services with intent to deceive (6), was responsible for approximately $60 billion in lost sales of consumer and industrial products in the United States in 1985. In comparison, $3 billion in sales were lost in United States market in 1978 due to piracy of reputable merchandise. Currently, counterfeiting has been estimated as increasing at an incredible rate of thirty percent a year. One of the fastest growing product counterfeit segments is in industrial products. Close to five percent of the total world trade consumer industrial products is accounted for by the importation of fraudulent goods and services. The counterfeit market in the United States exists and continues to thrive due to the immense demand for copies of well‐known, reputable brands, but at a fraction of the cost of the real item. By forging goods, counterfeiters reduce their costs by denying the royalties that rightfully belong to the originator of the forged item. In another aspect, if existing technology is copied from another firm, the counterfeiting organization has virtually no research and development costs while the firm that produced the technology costs are significantly higher than those of the counterfeiter.
KODAK: BEYOND 1990
Authors: Strong Frank P.
Published: January 2008

When your eye spots one of the myriad of green or amber bottles on grocery store shelves, what company produced that bottle polymer?
PERCEPTIONS OF THE SPECIALTY ADVERTISING INDUSTRY: IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS MARKETERS
Authors: Madden Charles S. , Caballero Marjorie J.
Published: January 2008

From a series of more than 70 depth interviews with constituencies inside and outside the specialty advertising industry, a profile of perceptions concerning the industry has emerged. Specialty distributors, suppliers, and users as well as media representatives, ad agency personnel, and advertising educators contributed valuable insights into specialty advertising's strengths and weaknesses. This article summarizes the prevailing perceptions concerning the industry and discusses ways in which businesses that use specialty advertising could sort through these perceptions and make effective use of this business‐to‐business form of promotion.
IMPROVING THE NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS — MAKING TECHNOLOGY PUSH WORK!
Authors: Paul Ronald N.
Published: January 2008

Technology Push Defined What do we mean by “technology push?” Let's first go to Webster for some assistance. Two of the formal definitions that apply to the word push are “to shove” and “to give impetus.” These definitions seem relevant, for what we are dealing with when we talk about technology push is frequently a situation where an organization finds itself with technology that has not been “demanded” by the potential market and therefore, it literally has to push that technology toward its potential markets.
ISSUES TO CONSIDER WHEN CREATING OR JOINING AN EXPORT TRADING COMPANY
Authors: Amine Lyn S.
Published: January 2008

This paper is positioned as a manager's guide to the new export opportunity, the export trading company (ETC). ETCs are defined in terms of both the legislative provisions and practical managerial opportunities. A number of different ETC models are presented, both hypothetical and real. Guidelines for creating or joining an ETC are offered, and expectations for short‐term performance are assessed by reference to practical examples of new ETCs. Perspectives for future development of U.S. ETCs are also presented.
HOW TO GET MORE FOR YOUR MONEY IN MAIL SURVEYS
Authors: Clark Gary L. , Kaminski Peter F.
Published: January 2008

The question of whether personalization increases or decreases mail survey response rates has not been completely resolved in the marketing literature. Also, few studies address the issue of whether the results of the personalization are worth the added cost. This study shows that different postage treatments in combination with different levels of cover letter personalization result in a significant difference in response rates to mail questionnaires. A cost/benefit analysis of the effectiveness of increased personalization is also presented.
SALES FORECASTING USING CYCLICAL ANALYSIS
Authors: Lauer Joachim , O'Brien Terrence
Published: January 2008

A forecasting method involving construction and interpretation of the business cycle is presented. Definition and development of lead indicators are discussed. These tools provide management with short‐ to medium‐term forecasts of sales activity. Insights into the reasonableness of the forecasts and guidance for appropriate management actions are discussed. Data from an actual company are used to illustrate computation and interpretation procedures.
GUIDELINES FOR COMPARATIVE ADVERTISING IN INDUSTRIAL TRADE PUBLICATIONS
Authors: Stevenson Thomas H. , Swayne Linda E.
Published: January 2008

Comparative advertising has been viewed as an aggressive advertising tactic that is useful in selected situations. However, because of the risks involved, many advertisers are skeptical of using comparative advertising as a long‐term strategy.
TWO FACES OF THE INDUSTRIAL MARKETING TRANSACTION: A BUYER AND SELLER FRAMEWORK FOR GOODS AND SERVICES
Authors: Nicholls J.A.F. , Roslow Sydney
Published: January 2008

Recent studies have conceptually explored the interrelation of buying and selling in commercial transactions. This article is an empirical probing of these theoretical constructs. The cruise line industry is the chosen forum to illustrate the interactive nature of industrial buying and selling: on the one hand, how customers' needs affect their purchasing decisions and, on the other hand, how suppliers' selling strategies must complement these needs. Buying and selling are presented in parallel in the discussion and schematically summarized in a ten‐construct framework which is both specific and general. Awareness and application of the principles in the framework enable buyers and/or sellers to achieve maximum potential effectiveness.
APPLYING A SERVICES MARKETING ORIENTATION TO THE INDUSTRIAL SERVICES SECTOR
Authors: Cooper Philip D. , Jackson Ralph W.
Published: January 2008

The marketing of services presents special challenges. In the industrial setting, these challenges are complicated by the nature of the industrial marketplace. This article explores some of the major problems associated with the marketing of industrial services and provides some practical guidelines for dealing with these problems. It will apply the concepts which have been nurtured in services marketing in order to assist in the establishment of a framework which will foster the development and understanding of industrial services marketing.
IMPLEMENTING A NEW SELLING MIX
Authors: Shipp Shannon , Roering Kenneth J. , Cardozo Richard N.
Published: January 2008

Many industrial firms are adopting new selling methods such as telemarketing, national account management, and the like. Unfortunately, there are few guidelines for division managers who pioneer the use of these techniques in their firms, particularly in terms of changes in appraisal, coordination, and planning systems that accompany the adoption of new selling methods. This article details the development and implementation of new selling methods at an industrial firm, and provides guidelines to managers for using these techniques in their own firms.
The Presentation of Financial Information to Employees
Authors: Taylor A.H.
Published: January 2008

A growing practice in industry. It has been for many years the custom of a number of industrial companies to publish summaries of their financial results for the information of their employees. In some cases this information is presented in the form of a booklet or news sheet in which the salient features of the annual accounts are explained in simple terms. Other companies include such information in their house journals, alongside the ostensibly greater human interest of births, marriages and deaths. It is by no means unknown for companies to publish interim reports, especially of output and sales turnover, on works notice boards, interposed perhaps between announcements of the forthcoming staff dance and next Saturday's football match. In a praiseworthy effort to make the figures more comprehensible to those illiterate in numeracy, or merely more unindigestible, the financial data may be illustrated by pie charts in arresting colours or little men of various sizes.
Financial Reporting in the EEC
Authors: Lafferty Michael J.
Published: January 2008

Surprising though it may seem, British accountants paid little or no attention to developments in financial reporting on the continent of Europe until the British entry to the Common Market became a certainty early in the seventies.
What Management can Learn from Ratios
Authors: Wright M.G.
Published: January 2008

Why Ratios? The need for ratios rests upon the fact that absolute figures by themselves tell one very little about the performance of an organisation. The fact that a company made £1 million pre‐tax profit in its last financial year is no indication of its performance. If it had to deploy £1,000 millions of funds to achieve that profit then its performance was abysmally low. If it only employed £2 millions its performance was very good. In one sense then ratio analysis is concerned with expressing relationships between inputs and outputs, such as the capital required to support an activity and the profit earned from that activity; the sales achieved per square foot of sales space occupied; the cost per ton‐mile of delivering goods; and the way in which these different aspects relate to each other and to overall performance. In another sense they are concerned with relationships between aspects of a business which are crucial for its success, e.g. the relationship between short‐term assets and short term liabilities because it reflects the ability of the business to meet its obligations to creditors.
The Evaluation of Share Prices
Authors: Firth Michael
Published: January 2008

Since the early 1960s there has been a considerable increase in formalised investment analysis in the UK. This can partly be evidenced by the growth in the membership of the Society of Investment Analysts, the major professional body for practising analysts, whose numbers have grown from 100 in 1955 to 590 in 1962 and to 1,600 in July 1973. Prior to 1960 there were very few full time analysts in the employment of brokers and investment institutions.
Why Accounting Standards Matter to Management
Authors: Renshall J.M.
Published: January 2008

The new accounting standards promulgated by the major accountancy bodies under the aegis of the Accounting Standards Steering Committee have resulted in a remarkable advance in the standard of presentation of published annual accounts of United Kingdom companies. The work of the ASSC has commanded a wide measure of acceptance among public companies and has strengthened the case for a voluntary system of control at a time when pressures have been growing for a statutory regulatory body.
National Giro—A Better Deal in Business Banking
Authors: Singer Alfred
Published: January 2008

Alfred Singer, Managing Director of National Giro, the Post Office's money transfer and banking service, explains how this new public sector bank has confounded many of its critics and established itself as a viable financial institution in only seven years. An important factor contributing to the upturn in Giro's fortunes has been its success in capturing the business of commercial organisations and public authorities, areas in which Giro cash collection services have made particularly spectacular growth. Mr. Singer explains what Giro offers corporate customers—and looks forward to providing a fuller range of commercial and personal account facilities now that many of the handicaps preventing the service from competing effectively with other banks are being removed.
Going Public
Authors: Fitch Colin
Published: January 2008

Since Christies International came to the market in November 1973 London has seen no significant company flotation: the economic situation of the country as reflected in falling profitability of companies in real terms and in uncertain stock markets has made conditions virtually impossible for any further newcomers to make their appearance. However, the recovery, when it comes, will surely bring in its wake a series of companies seeking for the first time shareholders from amongst the investing public.
In Defence of Base Stock Valuation
Authors: Hardy D.W.
Published: January 2008

One of the most important principles that accountants apply when determining trading profit is the matching of costs against related revenues—a principle that in practical terms requires the identification of those costs incurred prior to and during the accounting period under review which have to be charged against the revenue brought into the profit and loss account and those which have to be carried forward as a charge against the revenues of future accounting periods. In the case of manufacturing and trading enterprises many of the problems associated with this matching process arise in relation to the valuation of stocks and work in progress. Expenditures incurred in bringing these stocks of raw materials, work in progress and finished goods to their present state at the balance sheet date, after taking into consideration the possibility of deterioration, pilferage, obsolescence and factors of a similar nature, are treated as a charge against the revenues of future accounting periods and are accordingly carried forward in the balance sheet under the classification of “current assets”. It is thus that the values ascribed to trading stocks become a key factor in determining the trading profit for the period. It is not surprising, therefore, that the methods of valuing stocks and work in progress should have formed the subject of one of the most significant of the Statements of Standard Accounting Practice that have been issued by the Accounting Standards Steering Committee under the sponsorship of the major accountancy bodies. Even less surprising is the strength of feeling that has been aroused by some of the views expressed by individuals and organisations in giving evidence to the ASSC and to the Sandilands Committee, which has also been considering the problems of stock valuation in relation to its inquiry into inflation accounting. In this article the finance director of Tate & Lyle Limited argues the case for the “base stock” method of stock valuation. Although this method has a limited range of applications and is not widely used, it has got valid arguments in its favour in certain circumstances—despite failing to find favour with the ASSC in its Statement of Standard Accounting Practice No. 9. He contends that for his company to use the “first in—first out” method that finds favour with many accountants as an “all purpose” basis, the outcome would be to produce trading results that bear little reality to the true position.
Investment Analysis in Current Market Conditions
Authors: Lipman H.
Published: January 2008

In the midst of the present uncertain investment scene, it is perhaps appropriate to take stock and ask whether the tools of the investment analyst are still able to assist in investment decisions. This article attempts to highlight a few of the important tools of investment analysis, and to indicate whether or not they still serve their purpose.
Financial Control at Cope Allman International Limited
Authors: Garner Bernard R.
Published: January 2008

The name of Cope Allman International may not mean anything to you but amongst other things the company is the world's largest lipstick container manufacturer, and manufactures engineering products ranging from high quality steel to do‐it‐yourself clamps; it sells fifty thousand dresses a week; is the largest manufacturer of amusement with prizes machines in the UK and has subsidiaries in a dozen overseas countries. How has this company, with sales of over £100 million, developed and how can effective financial planning and control be exercised in the light of such diversity ? Let us first look at the way the Group has evolved in order to appreciate the background to the present control system.
The Presentation of Financial Information in Company Annual Reports
Authors: Hall A.J.P.
Published: January 2008

Gone are the days when the preparation of the Annual Report was looked upon as a necessary evil and a chore by the officers of a company; it is realised now that the Annual Report is a vital source of information to the financial world and the one opportunity in the year to tell shareholders of their Company's record, activity and progress. Sir Alexander Ross said, when receiving The Accountant Award on behalf of United Dominions Trust in 1973, that a new approach had been adopted “with the object of both giving and receiving the maximum advantage from what is without doubt the most important document published by the company each year”. He added that they “set out to present the document in a form which would encourage people to read it, to understand it, and so to learn more about UDT and its activities and aspirations”. With these thoughts in mind the efforts of those involved with the publication of the Report can be directed towards an end product that will advance the standing of their company and bring credit to all concerned.
Accountancy in Central Government
Authors: Parfitt H.A.
Published: January 2008

The recently announced appointment of Mr. Kenneth Sharp as head of the Government Accountancy Service and Accountant Adviser to the Department of Industry may have brought to some people's notice a fact of which few in the accountancy profession seem to be aware, namely that there are in central government a not inconsiderable number of qualified accountants performing functions similar to those performed by practising accountants in the profession. Much of the work which they do brings them into contact with their professional colleagues outside the Civil Service and some description of the work of one of the larger groups of qualified accountants in central government may therefore be of some interest to industrialists and their financial advisers.