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The effectiveness of strategic planning has been subject to much criticism lately. But R.J. Reynolds Industries is one successful company that attributes its substantial profits to careful planning. With the merger of Nabisco Brands into RJR, the company will become the largest consumer products company in the United States.

Planning was not always a major consideration at R. J. Reynolds. Ten years ago RJR, like most companies, had very little formal planning. However, since we first opened our doors as a small tobacco business in 1875, we've grown dramatically, becoming a somewhat curious assortment of related and unrelated businesses.

The buzz phrase heard most frequently throughout the corporate world is “strategic alliance.” Every management guru is espousing the need to form strategic alliances to survive and prosper in the future. The concept is simple enough—if you can't fight them, join them. It's easier to form an alliance with a competitor than to fight that competitor.

Management is one of the most challenging tasks of everyday life. It can be defined most simply as getting things done through people. But dealing with people presents many complexities due to differences in personalities, attitudes or motivational levels, learning styles, communication skills and technical competencies. Despite these differences, the mission of managers is to get the task accomplished. Additionally, managers are supposed to motivate employees to perform better. Managing an organisation is a demanding job. The question, then, is what constitutes effective management? And what are current themes of, and approaches to, management? This article seeks to answer these questions, first, by examining popular management books published in the US in the last decade, and then, in light of environmental changes, by discussing emerging leadership styles and human resource management implications.

Popular management writings are examined in an attempt to answer the following questions: What constitutes effective management? What are the current themes of, and approaches to, management? Emerging leadership styles and human resource management implications are discussed.

A slowed rate of market growth, industrial over‐capacity, increased competition: these are just three “trend drivers” towards relationship marketing. Philip Kotler, one of the world’s leading marketing thinkers, has brought the philosophy of relationship marketing to bear on a key issue for marketing strategies, that of customer retention.

As with post‐World War II economic policies, boom or bust are terms which can be applied to the birth rate. For those of us who are baby boomers, used to our place in the demographic spotlight as a focus for endless “what do young people want?” media features, the realization that marketing attention is switching to a new baby bust generation comes as something of a shock. After record births between 1946 and 1964, the rate decreased dramatically between the years 1965 and 1980. This new generation is entering the workforce en masse (albeit a smaller mass than in previous years) about now. Their new‐found spending power is having an impact in consumer markets causing marketers to ask the question “what do young people want?” and causing baby boomers everywhere to realize that, once again, a generation gap has opened up.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the Marketing Intelligence & Planning is split into seven sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Marketing Strategy; Customer Service; Sales Management; Promotion; Marketing Research/Customer Behaviour; Product Management; Logistics and Distribution and Sundry.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the Marketing Intelligence & Planning is split into nine sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Business Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Customer Service; Sales Management; Promotion; Marketing Research/Customer Behaviour; Product Management; Logistics and Distribution; Sundry.