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Thirteen years ago James Jefferys and his colleague Derek Knee published their book Retailing in Europe, which forecast trends between 1955 and 1970 in retail employment, the number of establishments and retail sales in absolute terms and per person. The estimates, most of which were completed in 1960, related to eighteen European countries as well as Western Europe as an entity. Now, fifteen years later, James Jefferys compares their forecasts (some of them made with the help of the back of an old envelope) with the reality of the current situation.

The Financial Times had a full house for their recent conference on Retailing in Europe. Chaired by Lady Hall, Fellow of Somerville College and an RDM Advisory Board member, and Mr. James Gulliver of Oriel Foods, the conference examined a number of issues of relevance to retailers with a European outlook. Some of the more recent newcomers on the retail scene will continue to develop: specialist discounters will expand fast in their own trades, and more conventional retailers will adopt forms of discount trading. Voluntary groups, already well‐established on the continent, will present UK voluntary groups with opportunities for international marketing. The march of the large‐scale units — hypermarkets or superstores, call them what you will — will certainly not be halted, but in Lady Hall's view it is probably the larger supermarket and multiple groups who will be directly affected by this development rather than the smaller independents. Finally Dr James Jefferys is of the opinion that the continent offers more opportunity for trying out new ideas than the UK. Prospects of further change, he thinks, are very strong indeed.

This case is designed to teach how to structure information technology (IT) infrastructure outsourcing deals from both the outsourcer and the client perspective. Office Supply Incorporated (OSI) is a company in crisis, with challenges in its cost structure and poor IT performance. Outsourcing to Technology Infrastructure Solutions is an opportunity to both reduce costs and complexity for the firm, but students first must consider whether outsourcing is a good strategic fit for OSI. Detailed spreadsheet templates are given that are based on a real outsourcing client engagement for a major infrastructure outsourcing company. The spreadsheets are complex but have been simplified so that they automatically calculate when populated, allowing the students to quickly move to answering the management challenge: how should TIS price and structure the outsourcing deal? Answering this question provides deep insights into the business case for IT outsourcing and how outsourcers financially engineer a deal structure to ensure a win-win outcome for both the client and outsource service provider.

Students will: Understand the strategic context of IT outsourcing and when it will benefit a firm; Understand IT infrastructure outsourcing and management issues such as personnel reductions and organizational change; Learn which outsourcing pricing model is the best fit for a project; Create a rigorous cost-benefit financial analysis and ROI model for IT infrastructure outsourcing; Analyze the model and learn how to financially engineer the deal to be a win-win for the outsourcer and client.

The long‐awaited NEDO report on the distributive trades in Europe is published this month. It sets out to draw the attention of British distributors to the opportunities resulting from UK membership of the European Economic Community. The booklet examines opportunities for direct expansion by British distributors into other member countries, and also outlines ways in which British distributors could form links with similar organisations in other countries to exchange information or to ensure effective representation of their joint interest within the EEC Commission. The report was initiated by the EDC for the Distributive Trades, who set up a Common Market Working Group to prepare it. Members of this Working Group are listed in the panel opposite; the Chairman was Dr. James Jefferys of the International Association of Department Stores. The bulk of the report consists of a detailed examination of the distributive trade structure in each of the nine member countries of the EEC; this adheres to a regular pattern of a brief description of the retail scene, statistics on manpower and sales, comparative share of sales by form of organisation, and lists of leading retail companies. This section is preceded by an overview of the retail trades and the wholesale trades in Europe, and a description of existing methods of collaboration in European distribution. The third part of the report consists of two case‐studies — a UK company which diversified into Europe, and a French company which expanded into Italy. Finally there are ‘Check lists for Action’ — a list of points for consideration by companies contemplating entry into the EEC; and a suggested method of assessment of how changes in prices of supplies may affect distributors' purchasing policy. In the following pages we confine ourselves to a summary of the first — and most significant — part of the report: present situation and future prospects, an examination of the comparative retail and wholesale structures in the EEC countries, and the opportunities for the UK distributor which are presented. The central section of the report — on ‘Country Studies’ — contains a mass of essential data and statistics, much of it not previously available, which does not easily lend itself to condensation.

Should B&K Distributors implement a Web-based customer portal with an integrated marketing campaign? Asks readers to assist Jim Anfield, business development director for JDA Consulting, and Nancy O'Neil, B&K Distributor's sales VP, in determining the feasibility of this project. They must build the final ROI projections and develop recommendations for B&K's senior management team. Emphasizes the importance of assumptions and the range of possible outcomes. Based on a real-life management decision for a mid-size firm.

To teach ROI analysis best practices for technology project investments, requiring the analysis of several factors to conduct a thorough review of the investment's feasibility.

From the mid‐nineteenth to the early twentieth century universities and colleges were founded throughout Australia and New Zealand in the context of the expanding British Empire. This article provides an analytical framework to understand the engagement between changing ideas of higher education at the centre of Empire and within the settler societies in the Antipodes. Imperial influences remained significant, but so was locality in association with the role of the emerging state, while the idea of the public purpose of higher education helped to widen social access forming and sustaining the basis of middle class professions.

The purpose of the current study is to advance understanding of sponsorship effectiveness by investigating the impact of the quality of the relationship between a consumer and a sport property on sponsorship effectiveness.

A model was developed to examine linkages among relationship quality, sincerity, attitude toward sponsor and intention to purchase a sponsor's product. The measurement model was tested using confirmatory factory analysis. The relationships in the hypothesized model were tested using simultaneous equations.

The results indicate that positive attitude toward a sponsor and intention to purchase said sponsor's product(s) are more likely to occur among the customers who perceive a higher degree of relationship quality with the sport property and believe the sponsor motives are sincere.

A conceptual model of sponsorship effectiveness was developed and empirically tested. The tested model provides an expanded view of relationship quality and its impact on key variables of sponsorship effectiveness.

Provided in this study is a framework for both sponsors and sport teams that can be used to understand some of the ways in which sponsorship works. The findings suggest that sponsors should leverage their activities to communicate sincere motives, not just “doing business”. For the sport property, the implication is developing quality relationships with consumers, and being able to promote such relationships to prospective sponsors.

Relationship quality has been previously shown to influence various behavioral aspects related to partners in business‐to‐business relationships. This study extends the literature by examining the effect of business‐to‐consumer relationship quality on the expected outcomes associated with a business‐to‐business relationship.

Examines a list of the 50 largest retail firms in Europe in terms of sales. Looks at their differences and similarities and also forecasts their future. Draws valuable lessons for other organizations in the sames marketing areas.

More than twenty British retailers are now proudly displaying their fascias on the other side of the Channel. Other companies certainly have the same idea in mind. What decisions have to be made before this adventurous step is taken? Which is the best country to break into, how should negotiations be conducted? Graham Jackson has undertaken some research and suggests certain guidelines for the European minded British retailer.

The motivations behind Multinational Retailing were probably a combination of the author’s wanderlust and his perception of a gap in the retailing textbook literature. Research support emanated from complex circumstances. Thirty years later, more personnel‐oriented research and more study of the global retailer in a world of changing nation‐states are still needed.