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Using grounded theory, the authors present an inductive model of strategic marketing planning (SMP) which extends the domain of the marketing planning literature. Based on a field investigation of four large organisations drawn from a single industry using a multiple‐case design, the authors present findings using the views and perspectives of those involved in SMP development and implementation, and identify and group relevant variables into seven major themes or “core categories” that characterise the SMP process. The authors integrate a broad literature search, both within and without of marketing, with the exploratory research results, to develop a grounded theoretical description of multiple layered factors that characterise a SMP process. This grounded “picture” supports the innovative work of Piercy and Morgan, and Greenley and Oktemgil who advocate a broader domain of SMP. We suggest that extending practitioners’ understanding of the nature of these inter‐related factors may lead to better insights of how a SMP process can be managed more effectively.

This study seeks to measure the public knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to eye health and disease in New Zealand (NZ).

A 22‐item survey of 507 adults in NZ was conducted. The survey was developed using interviews and focus groups, as well as comparisons with other benchmark international studies.

Overall awareness about the importance of eye health is high in NZ, although knowledge about associated diseases (e.g. macular degeneration) is low – this is particularly important, given the risk and cost of preventable vision impairment.

This consumer survey of eye health in NZ, which assessed awareness and access to eye care, provides a foundation for those involved in the provision of eye care health. It is also a first step to further exploring key issues and identifying longitudinal patterns for consumer, provider, and public health dialogue, as well as a baseline for public health campaigns.

Analysing organisations in terms of political behaviour is nothing new in the field of organisational psychology. Such well known behavioural scientists as French, Burns and March indicated more than 20 years ago that the political aspects of life in organisations require substantial exploration. It is only recently that the challenge has been accepted but, as shown in this monograph, it has had little impact in the areas of management and organisation development.

The purpose of this paper is to examine interruption patterns between residents and patients as well as the correlations between three categories of interruptions and patient satisfaction.

A total of 40 resident/patient consultations in a Canadian clinic were audiotaped, transcribed and analyzed for intrusive, cooperative and unsuccessful interruptions.

Residents made significantly more interruptions than patients, especially in the categories of intrusive interruptions. These findings provide support for situated identity theory. High correlations were found between residents and patients on all three categories of interruptions, providing unequivocal support for communication accommodation theory. Patient satisfaction was negatively correlated with residents' intrusive interruptions and positively correlated with residents' cooperative interruptions. Patient satisfaction was higher among patients those who inserted more cooperative interruptions; to increase patient satisfaction, it is necessary to raise patient participation in the medical consultation. In comparison with healthier patients, sicker patients were interrupted more frequently and were less satisfied with the way they were treated.

The negative correlations between residents' intrusive interruption and patient satisfaction, as well as the positive correlation between patient satisfaction and residents' cooperative interruption provides evidence that patients' perception of the medical consultation is shaped by the nature of interruptions.

This paper brings together evidence and theories from a number of disciplines and thinkers that highlight multiple, sometimes incommensurable understandings about well‐being. We identify three broad strands or themes within the literature(s) that frame both the nature of the problem and its potential solutions in different ways. The first strand can be categorised as the ‘hard’ science of wellbeing and its stagnation or decline in modern western society. In a second strand, social and political theory suggests that conceptualisations of well‐being are shaped by aspects of western culture, often in line with the demands of a capitalist economic system. A third theme pursues the critique of consumer culture's influence on well‐being but in the context of broader human problems. This approach draws on ecology, ethics, philosophy and much else to suggest that we urgently need to reconsider what it means to be human, if we are to survive and thrive. Although no uncontroversial solutions are found within any of these themes, all play a necessary part in contributing to knowledge of this complex territory, where assumptions about the nature of the human condition come into question.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of offering customer decision authority on customer satisfaction in credence services, and the moderating effects of customer persuasion knowledge and service provider credibility.

A video-based experiment is conducted to achieve high similarity to real service encounters. The video comprises three levels of customer authority while service provider credibility is manipulated. In a subsequent questionnaire, customer response and customer persuasion knowledge are measured.

Results suggest that greater decision authority increases customer satisfaction. However, customer persuasion knowledge and provider credibility together were found to moderate these effects. Offering decision autonomy is most important when source credibility is low and persuasion knowledge is high.

The study setting is an initial healthcare encounter. Other service settings and service provider communication behaviors, such as empathy, responding to customer queries, and length of encounter are not considered in this study but should be further studied.

The study confirms that offering decision authority to customers increases satisfaction only under certain circumstances. Customers are willing to relinquish authority to credible service providers who then direct customer decisions in order to maintain service quality. Offering decision autonomy to customers is suggested when provider credibility is low and customer persuasion knowledge is high.

Analysis of credence service encounters is based on agency theory. Specifically, this study highlights the role of customer (principal) persuasion knowledge, which acts as a qualifier for the principal-agent problem because it alerts the customer to possible persuasion attempts by the service provider, whereas agent credibility eases customer suspicion.

The purpose of this paper is to capture historical data relating to the enactment of public relations work based on gender in post-war Britain. The paper contributes new insights on gender formations in public relations practice during that period in that cultural context, providing a point of contrast with present day practice.

Historical sociology.

The paper presents data drawn from interviews and document analysis that reveals the separation of male and female work in public relations.

The research provides contextual historical background to the burgeoning contemporary research that is focused on issues relating to gender and LGBTQ in public relations, and highlights historical features which may have shaped the contemporary occupational culture in the UK. The research may provide useful background context for comparable studies in adjacent disciplines.

This is a culture-specific study and cross-cultural comparisons would be useful in understanding the extent to which female work in public relations has been similarly framed historically.

There is historical residue in the popular representations of women in public relations in film and media in the UK, for example the notion of “PR girl”. Understanding the origin of such stereotypes and their persistence is important for professional bodies and practitioners.

The paper brings to light previously unpublished opinions and perspectives from the post-war era.

This paper aims to investigate the characteristics and parameters of salesperson learning within client relationships, thereby filling a noticeable gap in the knowledge of individual learning in a sales context. It also aims at advancing the discussion on the nature of learning and knowledge in sales and marketing.

A grounded theory approach is used to investigate salesperson learning in a relational context. Data collection methods include interviews with 36 business‐to‐business sales personnel, reflexive exercises and field observations.

The investigation shows that salesperson relational learning is personal, that it occurs in action, that it is contextual, natural, open‐ended, and often unconscious. Antecedents of learning are personal dispositions such as openness to changing contexts and situated learning mechanisms; consequences of relational learning are personal methods of knowledge transfer as well as the transformation of the learner and the client relationship. Thus, a framework of salesperson relational learning is proposed.

Sales managers should emphasise the continuity of learning, train people in situ and minimise turnover of sales personnel. They might also do well to acknowledge how these alternative modes can complement traditional, more formal sales management methods.

This paper presents a grounded model that aids both researchers and practitioners in understanding salesperson learning in client relationships, thus advancing a new theoretical perspective on learning in sales and marketing.

Sustainability communication is evolving as a new interdisciplinary field of research and professional practice. The purpose of this paper is to point out the advantage of applying theoretical frameworks and related research instruments for an adequate sustainability communication management on campus. It also aims to highlight the normative constraints and challenges (participation) that differentiate sustainability communication from public relations.

An interdisciplinary theoretical framework and empirical studies (quantitative/qualitative; audience research) were used for the design of a context‐sensitive sustainability communication management concept for the University of Lüneburg‐

Empirical data clearly showed that disciplinary cultures (including their gender specificity) are highly relevant for sustainability attitudes. Continuous visibility of sustainability efforts on campus is critical for people's attitudes and engagement. Campus community members can be characterized by degrees of “sustainability affinity” vs “sustainability distance”. Too much sustainability‐campaigning is counterproductive, whereas listening to campus community members' ideas and needs seems appropriate.

There is a need for qualitative data to assess “communication culture”

A balanced theoretically, empirically and normatively grounded communication management is recommended in order to establish a participatory communication culture.

The application of sustainability communication theory, including participation research, in the context of higher education for sustainable development is overdue; thesis: sustainability communication wants to initiate structural changes on campus, but is itself dependent on visible structural change in order to be effective.