bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Smartcards in libraries: A brave new world
Authors: Myhill Martin
Published: February 2008

The University of Exeter Library, in conjunction with NatWest UK and Mondex, commenced a pilot smartcard project in October 1996. The smartcard functions as a campus card, combining many different features such as identification, student voting, building access, registration, electronic payment — and a library card. Of all these applications, the library card is compulsory. The pilot project concentrates on identification features of current smartcard technology but recent developments, especially an International standard multiple operating system (MULTOS), will increase potential applications for libraries and other agencies. Despite encountering many operational and technical obstacles, the University of Exeter project is now in its second year of operation.
CAS‐IAS services: Where are we now?
Authors: Davies Mary , Boyle Frances , Osborne Susan
Published: February 2008

The growth of CAS‐IAS (current alerting service — individual article supply) services in the 1990s has not delivered the rapid benefits expected by information practitioners. This article focuses on the alerting aspects of CAS‐IAS services and documents the results of a series of surveys carried out at a UK cancer research institute over a four year period. By the first quarter of 1997, in over 50% of cases in a sample group of titles the shelf issue was more current, or as current, as the alerting services. The article also includes a mid‐1997 overview of the CAS‐IAS services available and lists factors to be considered by information practitioners in any evaluation of the document delivery aspect of CAS‐IAS services. The conclusion is that the monitoring of service developments and their performance will have to continue for the foreseeable future.
Building and using document databases
Authors: Falk Howard
Published: February 2008

It is reassuring to realise that electronic documents have a permanence which promises to outlive paper. Documents that have existed only as pasted scraps of newsprint, fading photographs, handwritten drafts and the like may now find new longevity as files in computer‐stored document databases.
Hello and goodbye to all that
Authors: Jeapes Ben
Published: February 2008

‘It [a Sinclair ZX81] was about as small as a computer could be without being a pocket calculator. But, if you bought enough wobbly additional bits, including a tiny little printer which printed on rolls of aluminiumised paper, and you plugged it into the TV, and you worked very slowly, and prayed a lot, and copied everything out on a real typewriter afterwards, you could word‐process. If you didn't mind working only in capital letters …
Information service, students and the Internet
Authors: Wanjun Wang
Published: February 2008

The Internet has exciting potential for information services and education, so must urgently be studied in information circles. We saw the potential of the Internet at Shanghai Second Polytechnic University and wanted to provide open access for staff and students. To speed access to useful information on the Internet, the department concerned must have a strategy for Internet use.
The Kulturarw Project — The Swedish Royal Web Archive
Authors: Arvidson Allan , Lettenström Frans
Published: February 2008

KB (Kungliga biblioteket, The Royal Library), The National Library of Sweden, was founded in the 1500s. Since 1661, when the first Legal Deposit Law was introduced, it has functioned as the kingdom's national memory. Today KB receives everything printed that is distributed to the public in the form of books, journals, posters, maps, advertisements, catalogues and so on. Since 1994, following the latest version of the Legal Deposit Law, KB has also stored electronic publications ‘in fixed form’, i.e. published on CD‐ROM, tape or diskette. The total growth at KB is about 1.5 shelf‐kilometres per year. At that rate, KB's underground storage will be completely full by the year 2050.
System migration: Challenges for libraries in the Arabian Gulf region
Authors: Khurshid Zahiruddin
Published: February 2008

With the availability of some innovative second generation systems in the Arabian Gulf marketplace, several libraries in the region are considering system migration. However, they are faced with a number of challenges some of which have continued from the time of implementation of the first generation systems. The paper aims to highlight those challenges and emphasises the need to address them in the planning stage so that the process of changing systems does not turn into a futile exercise.
World Wide Web Community Networks and the Voluntary Sector
Authors: Hallam Emma , Murray I.R.
Published: February 2008

Voluntary sector information, presents particular challenges to information providers, in terms of networking across a diverse body of organisations. Opportunities offered by WWW community networks include information sharing through online databases, more efficiently updated than printed sources, and electronic networking, potentially easing communication between organisations and between sectors. This paper presents the results of both quantitative and qualitative surveys of the local voluntary sector in the Borough of Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire. The IT capabilities and information needs were measured and examined. The opinions of local practitioners in voluntary sector information were also sought. A range of different levels of IT skills and facilities was found amongst local voluntary sector organisations, and a reticence amongst some organisations to get involved in recent IT developments was also detected. Facilitation, in the form of training, IT support and facilities, was therefore identified as important to effective voluntary sector information provision. It was recommended that research should be carried out with regard to local information needs, and that an editorial board be established.
Documenting digital images: Textual meta‐data at the Blake Archive
Authors: Kirschenbaum Matthew
Published: February 2008

As libraries continue to acquire and develop collections based in digital media, they face a corresponding need to document the electronic data comprising such collections. By documentation I mean the provision of contextual information pertaining to the source, creation, processing, and current state of a digital object. When dealing with electronic text, documentation is often instinctive and unproblematic, at least in a technical sense, given that the data and its documentation (or meta‐data) both share the same medium: one documents textual data by supplementing it with more textual data (the header employed by the Text Encoding Initiative is exemplary in this regard). When libraries create digital image collections, however, documentation becomes more problematic. Even if an image is surrounded by a robust network of supporting materials, the functionality of client‐server networks such as the World‐Wide Web permits the image to become detached from its documentary apparatus. Every image encountered on the Web, is cached, at least temporarily, on the viewer's hard drive. Documentary information that is merely presented ‘alongside’ an image is left behind at that point, as it also is should the viewer choose to save a copy of the image for future reference. Given those circumstances — which are paralleled in such media as sound or video — the issue of providing reliable documentary meta‐data for non‐textual electronic files is a crucial one for digital library development. In what follows, I will present the solution adopted at the William Blake Archive, a large‐scale electronic editing project in which images — and not text — are the focal point.
Managing change to enhance technological orientation and knowledge among library staff
Authors: Cooper Eric A.
Published: February 2008

Librarians are constantly urged to gain technological knowledge or jeopardize their professional importance. This necessitates change for many librarians and often produces feelings of anxiety. Can librarianship overcome these feelings and gain the technological orientation and knowledge to safeguard the profession's future? One behavioral psychologist advocates change as a process consisting of several stages. Understanding this process will help library administrators create a positive environment for learning and change by allocating technological projects based on individual differences and honoring communication and technical needs. Such an environment will elevate the confidence and comfort of all library staff and help them gain, maintain, and develop technological orientation and knowledge.
Group Communications
Authors: Falk Howard
Published: February 2008

The idea that computer‐based activities and facilities might be usefully shared arises quite naturally once an organization has many computers in operation. The first step is to physically interconnect the computers with a local network. This allows shared use of common file storage, printers, modems and other equipment. The local network also opens the way to closer communication between network users.
The ‘Digital Divide’: Are we becoming a world of technological ‘haves’ and ‘have‐nots?’
Authors: Sidney Howland Joan
Published: February 2008

The printing press, steam engine, Winchester repeating rifle, automobile, and cable television are all technological advancements which commentators claimed would revolutionize society and dramatically alter the direction of civilization. The most recent technological development which has received similar adulation is known by a variety of labels including ‘Cyberspace,’ ‘the Information Superhighway, or simply ‘the Net.’ Increasingly, one hears that this latest innovation, heralded as the ‘Great Equalizer,’ will be the remedy for the world's social ills; especially those associated with the need for universal access to information and educational opportunities. However, like its predecessors, information technology is neither magic dust nor some kinetic elixir. Information technology is merely a tool, like so many others, that can be used at society's pleasure, in any number of ways, with no assurance that the outcome will be positive. In the 1990s, we are yet again confronted with what United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower referred to as ‘the recurring temptation’ to assume that ‘some spectacular and costly action will become the miraculous solution to all current social and economic difficulties.’
Application and implications of agent technology for libraries
Authors: Nardi Bonnie A. , O'Day Vicki L.
Published: February 2008

In a previous paper (Nardi & O'Day 1996), we chose to begin thinking about intelligent software agents with a detailed look at what human agents do. Our interest is in agents that provide expert services to end users. We analysed data from two studies of reference librarians to see how they provide value to their clients, considering the librarians as exemplary human agents. Shneiderman (1995) observes that claims about intelligent software agents are vague, dreamy and unrealised: we wanted to bring some precision and optimistic realism to the discussion.
Huge hard disks
Authors: Falk Howard
Published: February 2008

Virtually any personal computer user who uses contemporary software probably needs a huge hard disk storage drive that holds 6, or 10 or more gigabytes (remember, a gigabyte is 1000 million bytes). For example, if you store the popular Microsoft Office ‘97 software package in your computer, you'll need about 100 megabytes for that package alone. If you want a computer that uses Windows '98, you will have to provide over 500 megabytes just for the Windows software. By the time you have installed a few standard packages, plus some software for applications like library operations and database access, the first gigabyte of hard disk space has probably been filled. If the computer is used for Internet access, additional large blocks of storage will soon be filled with pages downloaded from the World Wide Web. A huge disk drive can be a wonderful asset if you use your computer to manipulate very large database files, or large graphics/picture files, or if you want to store historical files that can be expected to continue to grow in the future.
Information literacy — The final key to an information society
Authors: Oxbrow Nigel
Published: February 2008

The information society, the information age, the knowledge based society, the knowledge driven economy are all now familiar terms. Governments have been promoting them, the media has been reporting on them, and our leaders use them to indicate progress and advancement. But just how far are we along the transition line from the industrial age towards the information age?
The management of digital data: A metadata approach
Authors: Chilvers Alison , Feather John
Published: February 2008

We are increasingly reliant on information technology for data exchange and long‐term data storage. For this global environment, we need a universal data management system. The use of metadata to manage data is key to this objective. The research of which this paper is a preliminary description and analysis, conducted in the Department of Information and Library Studies at Loughborough University, is investigating the potential of the metadata concept as the key to universal data management. The research specifically explores the attitudes of information professionals in the United Kingdom to these issues. The paper considers the reasons for preserving digital data, the role of metadata in this preservation, and the attitudes of, and challenges facing, a diversity of organisations in which digital data has to be preserved. The preliminary findings suggest the need for a unified yet flexible system which will allow interoperability between existing and future metadata formats. A system of super‐metadata would draw on the strengths of expertise across the width of the information community.
The role of the information professional in the ‘Knowledge Economy’
Authors: Barker Philip , van Brakel Pieter A.
Published: February 2008

We have taken as the theme of the interview section of this issue's Focus (‘The Changing Face of Information’) the question of the role of the information professional in the epoch of the so‐called ‘Knowledge Economy’. The following question was put to members of the Editorial Board of The Electronic Library.
Consumer Pre‐purchase Information Seeking: A Comparison of Methodologies
Authors: McLelland C. , Turner J.
Published: February 2008

The extent and nature of pre‐purchase information seeking behaviour is a topic of some importance in a market economy. A knowledge of it is clearly a fundamental requirement for successful marketing planning. Despite the development of a considerable research literature, our knowledge of such behaviour is still largely incomplete.
Retailer Information Power — The Channel Marketing Information System
Authors: Piercy Nigel
Published: February 2008

One lesson of the 1970s was that the power and influence of retailers and distributors is a highly significant factor in many practical marketing situations. Currently, however, the nature of retailer power is in the process of changing as a result of new information technology, which has the effect of increasing dramatically the existing structural advantages of retailers in access to marketing information. This article considers the sources of informational power for retailers, predicts the nature of retailer information strategies and develops a model of the marketing information system which transcends the organisational boundaries of a single firm — the channel marketing information system. The objective of this discussion is to attempt to clarify the possible responses to retailer information advantage, both tactically in the short term, but also rather more importantly at a strategic level in the longer term.
Using and Buying Research by Advertising Agencies
Authors: Fraser Alison , van Staveren Martin
Published: February 2008

This article presents the findings of a study which investigated the role of account planners and researchers and, in particular, the interface between the advertising and market research industries. The broad objective of the study was to understand more fully the role which planners and researchers in advertising play in the research‐buying process and the ways in which they perceive their role.
Applying Research to Decision Making
Authors: King Stephen
Published: February 2008

The author states that the Market Research Society may have to take on the job of making it clearer what the role of researchers is, since the individual may be in no position to do so. Researchers must be seen as experts on what is not on what to do about it. Despite the demand for them to produce results that in effect take decisions, we should insist that their real role is to interpret and bring to life what goes on in the world.
A Response Model to Market Adversity
Authors: Barrett Timothy F.
Published: February 2008

The process by which organisations respond to changes in their environment is a particularly complex one, involving considerations of resource availability, strategy formulation, organisational structure and culture, power and information availability. In considering the interdependencies between these variables, it is suggested that interactions between environment, strategy and structure affect the distribution of power within the organisation, and that power is used to affect the distribution of resources. The advent of a market intelligence report which forecasts market adversity provides an occasion when the organisation can select from among a number of possible responses. A model of the selection process by which responses to market adversity are chosen is developed, in which it is suggested that the distribution of resources within the organisation plays a critical role. The model is a dynamic one, since the response selected is likely to re‐distribute resources within the organisation. If executives are viewed as competing against each other for access to resources, the possibility arises that an executive may deliberately bias the market signal to promote a response more favourable to his/her own relative position. Other sources of bias may also exist, all of which complicate the process of response selection. It is however argued that in the longer term a learning process may be expected to take place which effectively de‐biases the market signal. It is therefore suggested that it is the distribution of resources within the organisation which dominates the choice of response to forecast market adversity.
Market Segmentation — A Strategic Necessity?
Authors: Morden A.R.
Published: February 2008

Not least amongst the emerging consequences of the sustained recession that has affected European economic life is an increasing willingness to make significant organisational changes. Such changes are often the most difficult to make, and may have long‐term as well as immediate implications for the whole nature of a business activity. Heller comments of ICI's recent reorganisation that “the retreat of ICI from its Millbank fortress to a far smaller London head office is…a landmark in the history of British Big Business”. Heller sums up the changes brought about by recession, that “small has become fashionably beautiful”, reasoning that large “size has been no protection against the intensified segmented competition which now… rules, and which demands companies organised round the sharp, marketing end”. What is wanted, he suggests, is a more responsive approach to organisation with small centres “exacting and monitoring results from separate, marketing‐oriented operations headed by individual chief executives, and with the growth markets separated out and properly, profitably exploited”. This article argues that the key to this changing view of what is effective organisation lies in Market Segmentation. This must be looked at from two viewpoints. To be effective as a policy concept, market segmentation must be both of functional use in determining product‐market scope (and hence in marketing planning), and contribute to the achievement of congruency between marketing strategy and other strategies, particularly for financial performance and operations management. Each of these requirements will be examined.
Is It Time for Marketers to Ditch Significance Tests?
Authors: Robinson Harry
Published: February 2008

Generations of students have struggled with the mechanics of statistical significance tests. Having done that, they then have to try to learn to use the correct test for a particular situation and decide what the result means. This can become quite involved! Market Research practitioners, on the other hand, are likely to be confronted with familiar research designs and, if they choose to apply tests, will know the appropriate ones to use. This article seeks to make the point that “the correct test properly applied” may nevertheless in some instances assist the manager to reach a wrong decision, and that it is time to consider alternative approaches in order to create a more effective liaison between researcher and decision maker.
Consumer Purchasing of Low‐involvement Goods: Routine or Impulse?
Authors: Watkins Trevor
Published: February 2008

This article investigates the pre‐planning of consumer purchasing for a low‐involvement product group. Evidence is presented from the field of chocolate confectionery on consumer intentions to purchase two new brands and on their actual reported purchases. Previously a very high level of impulse purchasing had been assumed to occur in this market but this evidence suggests more routinised behaviour which implies pre‐planning. Suggestions are made for forecasting the sales of new brands from consumer intention to purchase data on the basis of the relationships presented here. Implications for management decision making are summarised and the need for further research investigation is stressed.
An Interaction Approach to the Management of a Portfolio of Customer Opportunities
Authors: Yorke David A.
Published: February 2008

Portfolio theory has its roots in financial investment and in the desire to balance the often conflicting objectives of high yield and low risk. It has also found applications in product management, corporate strategy and more recently in attempting to develop a range of customer opportunities. It is possible that, in all the applications except the last‐named, the control of the portfolio rests principally with the “portfolio manager”. In the case of customers, recent work in demonstrating the interactive nature of supplier/customer relationships, particularly in industrial markets, may mean that the portfolio concept has to be modified if it is to find application there. The challenge to marketing management is the planned deployment of resources between different customer opportunities and the adoption of a portfolio approach implies that a company is seeking a balance of customers in an attempt to achieve its objectives, both in the short and longer term. It is the question of how this should be achieved to which this article is addressed, firstly, by tracing the development and application of portfolio theory, secondly by applying it to the industrial market using a three‐dimensional approach to identifying customer groups and, finally, by presenting the data obtained from an empirical study of a supplier and a range of customers in the telecommunications industry, demonstrating that the supplier should adopt an interaction approach to the selection of target customer opportunities.
Modelling: A Non‐technical Guide to its Role in Market Research
Authors: Blamires Chris
Published: February 2008

This article seeks to present an overall framework within which the various major modelling techniques may be judged, in a non‐technical way, in contrast with the more usual isolated descriptions and discussions of individual techniques.
Practical Pricing Research
Authors: Clarke Julia
Published: February 2008

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how useful information about the structure of markets, and in particular the pricing of products, can be achieved by simple and economical research techniques. Two fields of pricing research are covered: simple pricing questions which can be added to research designed primarily for other purposes and custom‐built pricing studies. The work is derived entirely from actual pricing and other research conducted for a number of clients by the Oxford Research Agency.
Marketing Rights: Some Planning Implications of EEC Decisions
Authors: Driver John C.
Published: February 2008

Marketing practice in the EEC is subject to the Articles of the Treaty of Rome relating to free movement of goods and competition. Judgments concerning these Articles and accumulating case law have implications for the planning of marketing strategy and the determination of many marketing mix decisions. Examples to demonstrate the scope and basis of these judgments are considered and some implications discussed. Greater cognisance by marketers of the legal dimension is suggested for fundamental reassessment of competitive behaviour.
The Role of Research in the Revitalisation of an Advertising Medium
Authors: Jenkins Derek , Welch Gill
Published: February 2008

Bus‐side advertising is highly effective, the medium reaching significant numbers of the general population and providing levels of opportunities‐to‐see (or “repetitions”) surpassing those of virtually all other media, at a relatively low cost. Research conducted around five advertisements (each different) in four cities (Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow and Newcastle‐upon‐Tyne) indicates that a minimum campaign weight of 15 per cent is necessary to ensure adequate repetition across all population sectors for an eight‐week duration. Bus sides require their own creative treatment, the characteristics of the medium (moving display, size limitations and, possibly, bus colour) must be considered. No definitive conclusions can be drawn regarding effectiveness of the three different types of bus‐side advertising (side, superside and T‐shape) but advertisers should beware of “losing” elements presented on the stalk of the T. Buses are effective as a solus medium and as part of a multi‐media campaign; they can act as “reminder” advertising, carry emotive messages, link product and retail outlets in the city in which they operate, and they can also brand.
Relating Buyer/Seller Power to Market Structure
Authors: Cowley P.R.
Published: February 2008

Some capital‐intensive manufacturing businesses pose particular problems to market planners because the profit margins are often highly cyclical as seller capacity utilisation changes through the four‐year business cycle and may also be heavily affected by new entrants on the seller side or the emergence of strong buyers. This article examines how margins are related to market structure for Strategic Business Units in the PIMS database. Having identified that margins are related to some descriptions of market structure, it explores how the margin behaviour of capital‐intensive businesses can be modelled as changes in the relative power of buyers and sellers as the capacity utilisation of the sellers changes.
Cognitive Style and Consumer Innovativeness: An Empirical Test of Kirton's Adaption‐Innovation Theory in Food Purchasing
Authors: Foxall Gordon R. , Haskins Christopher G.
Published: February 2008

The identification of consumer innovators offers marketing managers the opportunity to tailor new products to the buyers who initiate the diffusion of innovations. Progress has been made in identifying such consumers in economic and social terms, but there are advantages of cost and convenience in isolating the personality profiles of innovators, especially during pre‐launch product testing. But innovative consumers' distinctive personality traits have proved elusive. This article reports an investigation of innovative brand choice in the context of new food product purchasing which employed the Kirton Adaption‐Innovation Inventory (KAI). This highly reliable test of cognitive style correlates with several personality traits known to be associated with innovativeness; it also has high validity in the prediction of behaviour over a wide range of contexts. The research reported went beyond the common expectation of a simple, direct relationship between personality and brand choice to investigate the predictive validity of the KAI over a range of product continuity/discontinuity. The results are considerably more encouraging than those of earlier research for the identification of personality/consumer choice links. They suggest an operational measure of product continuity/ discontinuity and support the use of the KAI as a viable marketing tool.
Marketing: Is It Leading or is It Following Consumers?
Authors: Jenkins Roy
Published: February 2008

Roy Jenkins parallels the sphere of marketing with that of politics. A correct strategy, market research to enhance presentation and keep the company in the public's eye, and a limited number of major objectives are his ideas for running a successful business, but as in politics the “hunch” is just as important in marketing.
Is Marketing Fiddling whilst Business Burns?
Authors: Smith Roland
Published: February 2008

Business is essentially about the management and marketing of innovation and risk. Business life in the 1980s has seen a fundamental shift in the balance of manufacturing industry away from Europe and America to Pacific Basin communities. Those technologies, products and services which provided profits for European and American businesses in the 1960s and 1970s are now mature or declining. The challenge is to innovate either new technologies or redesign or reposition mature products. This requires a sophisticated appreciation of entrepreneurial marketing, a willingness to take significant business risks and a steady supply of graduates trained in the new technologies. Marketing management has identified five major international markets which are discussed. Only the most efficient market‐oriented firms will take the business and make profit from it. It is part of the marketer's responsibility to challenge a company's conventional ideas and spot gaps in the markets for new products or services based on developing technology.
Management Implications of the Politics of Marketing
Authors: Piercy Nigel
Published: February 2008

A number of recent research papers have suggested that the contingencies surrounding marketing decision making in organisations are such that marketing management may usefully be analysed as a political process. In this, the key to evaluating the power and politics of marketing is marketing information — as a source of formal organisational power and as a resource which can be manipulated politically to gain desired outcomes. This article examines briefly the basis for this style of analysis, but focuses mainly on the implications for the management of marketing in organisations, where a political analysis suggests that the management of marketing should concentrate not on techniques — of marketing research, or of rational, scientific decision making — but on structure and process, i.e. on power and political systems, to influence and control outcomes. To the familiar risks of “marketing myopia” may be added the danger of “political myopia”.
The Role of Marketing in the Small Firm: Evidence from a Regional Survey
Authors: Watkins Trevor , Blackburn Robert
Published: February 2008

When small manufacturing businesses are formed, they are often based on a particular skill of the founder. This is often craft based. The need for a wide range of business skills is usually essential to the success of the small business. This article quantifies the types of marketing skills which are available in small businesses in the electrical engineering industry in Dorset. These marketing skills are then used as independent variables in an attempt to discriminate between successful and unsuccessful firms measured in a variety of ways. This is an attempt to measure the importance of marketing skills to small businesses.
Can You Really Account for Marketing?
Authors: Meldrum Michael , Ward Keith , Srikanthan Sri
Published: February 2008

Firms which evolve good marketing accountancy information systems will have an additional and vital tool with which to manage marketing. It is a developing section concerning the information needed by marketing managers to optimise planning and decision making and to achieve adequate control measures. Marketing accountancy has developed from strategic planning (which caused businesses to review their practices), and pressure from marketing managers who have felt poorly serviced by accountants and who need to defend the small proportion of total expenditure which marketing often represents. New cost classification and better presentation of information will improve the standard of marketing accountancy, as will new information technology.
Motivation Research
Authors: Henry Harry
Published: February 2008

Properly conceived, conducted and interpreted, motivation research can be an extremely powerful management tool, designed to help the manufacturer or advertiser to sell more goods. Its aim is to expose the market situation, explain it and suggest courses of action which will lead to desired changes. It is a way of looking at a problem rather than a collection of specialist techniques and is strictly practical. Hence it can be used alongside other market research tools for the solution of marketing problems and can be applied to a wide range of business activities. Much of its development has been in the advertising field but it can also help in the formulation of production policy, solving packaging problems and marketing operations. It is examined here in all these contexts. The idea of motivation research, the reasons for its use and the techniques by which to apply it are discussed, as well as the pitfalls that are likely to occur. New and imaginary case studies are used throughout to illustrate points. A review of the subject literature is included.
Research is Good for You
Authors: Broadbent Kay , Cooper Peter
Published: February 2008

Research, like Guinness, is good for you. “Pure Genius”, Guinness's latest advertising campaign, appears set to become another famous phrase in Guinness advertising. The research involved has pointed up a useful model of the branding process — the methods and analyses of which (including “yolk” and “shell” values) may be helpful to the wider theory and practice in future.
Consumer Perceptions of Generic Grocery Products: Users vs. Non‐users
Authors: Yucelt Ugur
Published: February 2008

Generic products are purchased by price‐conscious, careful shoppers, who are not, however, willing to accept a lower quality and limited selection of non‐brand names in supermarkets. The behavioural differences between generic product users vs. non‐users are compared in the New England region, using hand‐distributed questionnaires to a convenient sample of 150 respondents.
Towards Informed Marketing
Authors: Payton Tom
Published: February 2008

Activities are classified with the aim of helping the non‐specialist analyst (i.e. the manager acting as analyst) to define and describe the objective setting and directed streams of activity which constitute business systems. The aim is to help managers understand better the structure of the systems they manage and to provide them with a framework for developing effective information systems.
Forecasting Applications in Marketing and Small Business
Authors: Frontistis Thanassis , Apostolidis Panos
Published: February 2008

Forecasting is part of the decision‐making process and has become an important component in all marketing activities. Methods of forecasting range from simple moving averages to sophisticated input‐output models. Forecasting, as a tool, provides marketing managers with data and information regarding projected sales volume, sales costs, market shares, magnitude of target markets, and other areas of marketing planning and control. The role of forecasting in marketing is emphasised, a few popular forecasting techniques which can be used by small firms are described, the major criteria which are considered when applying forecasting to marketing are discussed, and some implications which may concern the entrepreneur are explored.
Management Of Change In Company Strategy
Authors: Angel D.
Published: February 2008

Birds Eye has successfully managed its company marketing strategy over the past 20 years. Social changes, increased competition and technological changes have all prompted Birds Eye to respond. Its main moves have been to reduce the number of distribution centres; withdraw from its involvement in primary processing; increase mechanisation; move from being a generalist to a more specialist producer by concentrating its energies into five carefully chosen key areas, and evolving a more appropriate personnel strategy.
Marketing: The Consumers' View
Authors: Dunn Marie G. , Norburn David , Wahlers Russell G.
Published: February 2008

The perceptions of 497 consumers of the various philosophies involved in the evolution of marketing thought — product, selling, marketing and societal marketing concepts are examined. Results show that the sample fails to delineate the subtle distinctions between the product, marketing and societal marketing concepts, and support is lent to the view that if the marketing concept is to be more broadly implemented, product and social dimensions found within the definitional domain of the product and societal marketing concepts should be encompassed to establish a wider marketing‐oriented philosophy.
CONDUCTING FOCUS GROUPS — A GUIDE FOR FIRST‐TIME USERS
Authors: Caroline Tynan A. , Drayton Jennifer L.
Published: February 2008

It is contended that the theory and practice of qualitative research is an integral part of a comprehensive marketing course. Both postgraduate and undergraduate students of marketing may be expected to be familiar with, and have experience of, qualitative techniques. Focus groups are arguably the most frequently employed qualitative technique, and as such are used as a starting point for the study of qualitative research. Their accepted advantages of speed, flexibility and economy, together with the rich data generated, make qualitative methods eminently suitable for student research, with its attendant limitations on time and money. A detailed practical guide to the procedures for planning, conducting and analysing focus groups is presented.
THE USE OF HOUSING TYPE AREAS IN CONSUMER SURVEYS
Authors: Bates J.M. , Gabor A.
Published: February 2008

The data of a recent consumer survey for the examination of the relationship between the classification characteristics of the subjects, the type of areas of their domicile and their answers to certain questions were used to reveal, following a preliminary test by the application of principal components analysis, that the results could not adequately be described by just a few factors. However, it is shown that selection of the sample with reference to the predominant type of housing in which the subjects live, can effectively enhance the representation of the results.
TEAM MANAGEMENT
Authors: Davies Rod , Margerison Charles , McCann Dick
Published: February 2008

Effective team management can be the difference between success and failure in business. The article describes the authors' work in various wealth‐producing organisations which led them to produce a new approach to bring about more effective teamwork. The authors developed a type of work model to enable team leaders to draw a profile of how they see their team and its members in terms of the work they like to do. People have different work preferences which can be determined accurately by the Team Management Index (TMI). The TMI has been found to be a valid and useful measure of team preferences — hence an aid to improved team management.
MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
Authors: Majaro Simon
Published: February 2008

Morphological analysis presents a structured framework designed to stimulate new ideas and generate a more “creative” working environment. It is a more reliable method than brainstorming but needs an able leader to manage what can become a complex way to generate new directions of thought.
WHAT'S NEW? OPPORTUNITIES AND STRATEGIES FOR BUSINESSES
Authors: Barker Tansu , Gimpl Martin L.
Published: February 2008

Strategy is examined, using newness of products, markets and technology as the variables. An understanding of newness with reference to the concept of continuous vs. discontinuous innovation along these three dimensions could facilitate evaluation of market and profit potential and the risk factor. Furthermore, this classification system may suggest new business opportunities by indicating gaps in the market and pointing out the critical factor(s) associated with those gaps.
MARKETING INTELLIGENCE: SCANNING THE MARKETING ENVIRONMENT
Authors: Evans Martin
Published: February 2008

A differentiation between environmental scanning and other elements of marketing information systems is provided. The main environments (market, social, economic, technological, legal, etc) are overviewed with examples of the dynamic nature of marketing's environment being provided. The implications for marketing management of such changes are discussed, namely, that depending on the specific influence, marketing activities might be directly affected (new technology providing alternative methods of conducting the same activities, or legislation governing these) or, market behaviour might change due to changes in social structure, social attitudes or changed lifestyles resulting from technological and/or economic change, with the indirect implications of these for marketing response. Approaches to scanning and predicting implications for marketing are discussed.
THE BETTING MAN'S GUIDE TO FORECASTING
Authors: Morris Terry
Published: February 2008

A technique is described using probabilities and applicable where significant amounts of business are taken up by relatively few customers of quite variable size or needs themselves. The analysis is based on consumer products, but applies equally to any business fulfilling these criteria. It can also be used to measure the results of “risks/opportunities” calculations where some values would be negative.
CAN A BRAND BE CHEEKY?
Authors: Alt Michael , Griggs Steve
Published: February 2008

The majority of advertising agencies and brand managers of advertised brands believe their brands have human personalities. There are four areas where brand personality is important. You can ask whether or not people would like a brand for a friend, and what constitutes an attractive personality will differ between product fields. Understanding of a brand's personality will aid advertising professionals. Brand personality profile should help ailing brands if they are in need of personality modification.
PROTECTING MARKETING INTELLIGENCE: THE ROLE OF TRADEMARKS
Authors: Brownlie Douglas T.
Published: February 2008

An emerging gap in the coverage of marketing management texts is examined — the protection of marketing intelligence. The contribution that trademark agents can make to the success of marketing strategy by virtue of the advice they can offer on the protection of marketing intelligence is looked at, and several trends in the marketing environment are identified that may lead the issue of protecting all forms of marketing intelligence into the strategic arena.
Situation of Corporate Social Responsibility in Spain: An Empirical Analysis
Authors: Gallego Isabel
Published: February 2008

In recent years the concept of corporate social responsibility has gained prominence among academics from a wide range of disciplines. According to the Green Paper issued by the Commission of the European Communities in July 2001, corporate social responsibility is defined as a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. The problem is how firms have made known the information on corporate social responsibility. With this in mind, in the present work we were prompted to analyse the relevance of corporate social responsibility in Spanish firms. To perform this study we examined some Spanish firms that present information about corporate social responsibility according to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework. Certain relevant conclusions about corporate social responsibility indicate that the disclosure of information about corporate social responsibility and the elaboration of the Sustainability Report in Spanish firms has been increasing and improving in recent years, that some of the most relevant information is economic, social and environmental, the environmental aspect being the most outstanding, and that of the firms analysed, Inditex (manufacturing industries) and Telefonica (communications) are the ones reporting the best information.
An Exploratory Study of Social Responsibility Disclosure on the Internet by Portuguese Listed Companies
Authors: Castelo Branco Manuel , Lima Rodrigues Lucia
Published: February 2008

This study examines social responsibility information disclosure on the Internet by Portuguese listed companies in 2003 and also analyses annual reports as a disclosure medium for those companies which disclose such information on their web pages. The results are interpreted through the lens of legitimacy theory, according to which companies disclose social responsibility information to present a socially responsible image so that they can legitimise their behaviours to their stakeholder groups. Companies in sectors that have a larger potential impact on the environment or in industries with a high visibility among consumers seem to exhibit greater concern to improve the corporate image through social responsibility information disclosure. Results thus suggest that legitimacy theory may be an explanation of social responsibility disclosure by Portuguese listed companies.
Socially Responsible Investment, Information and the Myth of Underperformance
Authors: Mill Greig A. , Holland Leigh
Published: February 2008

Socially responsible investment (SRI): selection of investment portfolios with regard to ethical and social criteria in addition to conventional financial considerations, is often considered to bring reduced financial performance, although empirical evidence is inconclusive. Five possible sources of divergence in the performance of socially responsible and conventional investments have been proposed in the literature, and are further examined here. Two proposed mechanisms (the ‘anticipation effect’ and the ‘positive selection effect’) describe firms in which investment is potentially made. Since such opportunities are available to all investors, these are unlikely sources of systematic divergence. Concern (the ‘diversification effect’) that SRI constraints prevent adequate portfolio diversification is shown to be ill founded. The greater proportion of smaller companies in SRI portfolios links to an ongoing debate regarding the ‘small companies effect’, in which smaller companies have at times appeared to have superior (and more recently, inferior) performance, while other studies suggest that this is merely an artefact of the methodology used. It is argued that none of the above provides a basis for expectations of inferior SRI performance. Furthermore, SRI portfolio managers gather additional company information and also increasingly engage in dialogue with companies. It is argued that this ‘information effect’ is a possible source of superior SRI performance.
Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on organizational sustainability: A case study of the Sri Lankan Corporate Sector
Authors: Rajmanthri Senani
Published: February 2008

Sri Lankan corporate sector is now playing a pivotal role in the economy while earning the largest revenue of the country. However, the corporate sector is still identified by the public as a ruthless and unfeeling while motivating solely by profit. This is because some big companies over the years have no concern or desire to support the government of the day to enhance economic growth.