The results of a Delphi poll of Australian banking and finance industry experts, show that the banking industry is entering a period of greatly intensified competition…
Abstract
The results of a Delphi poll of Australian banking and finance industry experts, show that the banking industry is entering a period of greatly intensified competition, significantly reduced government regulation and the entry of foreign banks and rapid technological change. These changes represent a fundamental change in the operating environment. For some of the present financial institutions, such a future threatens their very existence. For all institutions, however, there is a manifest need to formulate adaptive strategies. In this article, the author explores some appropriate marketing strategies and the consequences of these strategies on the competitive environment.
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The marketing concept, as a cornerstone of contemporary marketing theory, stands as one of its most enduring tenets.
The banking/finance industry in Australia is on the verge of rapid and fundamental change in the areas of government regulation, industry structure, EFT technology and payment…
Abstract
The banking/finance industry in Australia is on the verge of rapid and fundamental change in the areas of government regulation, industry structure, EFT technology and payment systems, marketing innovation and merchant/wholesale banking. Such a changed environment will cause organisations to engage in continuous strategic planning and new adaptive strategies which focus on the changing relationships between the institution and its customers and competitors. The marketing function will assume new and increased responsibilities. Marketing management will require a far more strategic approach than before. The viability of some institutions may be threatened by these changes. These views are the result of a long‐range Delphi forecasting study conducted in 1982. Although rapid developments have invalidated some of the findings, the forecast of a less regulated, more competitive, open, dynamic and responsive industry remains valid.
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The contemporary relevance of thetraditional marketing concept is asource of continuing debate asmarketers question its universalapplication across all situations. In thepast, the…
Abstract
The contemporary relevance of the traditional marketing concept is a source of continuing debate as marketers question its universal application across all situations. In the past, the emergence of the societal marketing concept and the marketing warfare metaphor represent challenges to the veracity of the marketing concept. It is argued that the continuing relevance of the marketing concept and the emergence of alternative paradigms can be linked to changes in the operating environments of firms or industries. The traditional marketing concept finds application in relatively placid, benign environments which characterised post‐war economies and markets. The emergence of the “societal marketing concept” can be linked to the emergence of turbulent environments which found expression in the consumerist and ecological movements in the 1970s. More recently, a new emphasis has emerged with the growing recognition of the importance of competitive forces in imperfectly competitive markets and the inadequacy of the marketing concept in such environments. These changing operating environments are examined, arguing that the traditional marketing concept is applicable in “placid clustered” environments, as described by Emery and Trist. Finally, the examples of three contemporary Australian industries are discussed to illustrate the relevance of the argument.
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Gregory S. Jelf and James B. Dworkin
We present a comprehensive literature review and critique of union decertification research, and develop a theoretical framework that should prove useful for future research. The…
Abstract
We present a comprehensive literature review and critique of union decertification research, and develop a theoretical framework that should prove useful for future research. The framework incorporates three theoretical viewpoints from several research traditions: the expected utility, social‐political, and workplace voice perspectives. We provide suggestions for how each viewpoint can be modeled in future research. Additionally, although some previous decertification research was theoretically rich, the empirical findings across prior studies were ambiguous and inconsistent. We analyze the reasons for the ambiguous and inconsistent prior findings, and note how future research can avoid or minimize the empirical problems of the past.
Jashim Uddin, Gregory Elliott and Shehely Parvin
To date, country-of-origin research has commonly explored structural relationships among country image (CI) constructs, together with attitudinal constructs, using a variety of…
Abstract
Purpose
To date, country-of-origin research has commonly explored structural relationships among country image (CI) constructs, together with attitudinal constructs, using a variety of halo, summary construct and flexible models, drawing on consumer samples. There has been no previous attempt to examine or synthesize these three models with respect to business-to-business (B2B) buying behavior. To fill this gap, this study reconceptualized these three models with B2B constructs using multi-cue settings and tested on B2B samples. This study aims to examine and estimate the relative impact of company- and country-specific images on B2B buyers’ evaluations of suppliers, and the direction of structural relationships with mediation among the constructs.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collection was administered through a web-based structured questionnaire. The final sample consisted of 276 purchasing managers. Structural equation modeling was used to test the study’s hypotheses.
Findings
Company image is significantly influenced by product country image (PCI) but not by overall CI. The existence of a significant relationship between PCI and perceived supplier performance in a multi-cue setting is an important new finding. In addition, company image significantly influences supplier performance and mediates the relationship between PCI and supplier performance. Among the three models that test structural relationships among CI and other constructs, the reconceptualized halo model fits the data best.
Practical implications
The study results revealed the contribution of company and country-related facets on B2B buyers’ perceptions of supplier performance while purchasing intermediate goods internationally. The significance of PCI on supplier performance emphasizes the strength of the industry sector within a country that may enable an industry to build a product-specific CI in international marketing.
Originality/value
This study advances the country-of-origin issue and debate concerning the strength of the country influence in the academic literature by addressing B2B buyers’ international purchasing behavior of intermediate goods. Additionally, the examination of multiple country facets, multi-cue settings and the CI influence structure in a single study, from a B2B perspective, offers a novel dimension to CI studies.
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Industry studies suggest that since 1945 there have been bothcontractions and expansions in the earnings differentials of skilled andsemi‐skilled workers. Unpublished data from…
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Industry studies suggest that since 1945 there have been both contractions and expansions in the earnings differentials of skilled and semi‐skilled workers. Unpublished data from the New Earnings Survey for Britain enables further detailed study of these differentials to be made. Changes in the distribution of employment were a less significant contributor to changes in male earnings differentials than were changes in differentials which took place within each industry. For females it is shown that similar differential narrowing took place but changes in the rankings of industries by pay level were also influential.
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Accounting’s definition of accountability should include attributes of socioenvironmental degradation manufactured by unsustainable technologies. Beck argues that emergent…
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Accounting’s definition of accountability should include attributes of socioenvironmental degradation manufactured by unsustainable technologies. Beck argues that emergent accounts should reflect the following primary characteristics of technological degradation: complexity, uncertainty, and diffused responsibility. Financial stewardship accounts and probabilistic assessments of risk, which are traditionally employed to allay the public’s fear of uncontrollable technological hazards, cannot reflect these characteristics because they are constructed to perpetuate the status quo by fabricating certainty and security. The process through which safety thresholds are constructed and contested represents the ultimate form of socialized accountability because these thresholds shape how much risk people consent to be exposed to. Beck’s socialized total accountability is suggested as a way forward: It has two dimensions, extended spatiotemporal responsibility and the psychology of decision-making. These dimensions are teased out from the following constructs of Beck’s Risk Society thesis: manufactured risks and hazards, organized irresponsibility, politics of risk, radical individualization and social learning. These dimensions are then used to critically evaluate the capacity of full cost accounting (FCA), and two emergent socialized risk accounts, to integrate the multiple attributes of sustainability. This critique should inform the journey of constructing more representative accounts of technological degradation.