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Describes a study reviewing recent histories of new product ideas in order to devise a framework of their sources. Proposes a classification of sources for new product ideas through laboratory, management, company situation, distribution, supplier, consumer, marketplace, foreign products, and government regulations. Surmises that successful innovation requires an understanding of the sources of new ideas, and that the proposed framework is more effective than other paradigms.

The effectiveness of marketing activities in firms with product management is, in part, determined by the extent to which the organizational structure is aligned with the uncertainties in the marketplace. Investigates the relationship between various dimensions of firm′s marketing organizational structure (i.e. centralization, formalization and structural differentiation) and the degree to which the product manager confronts environmental uncertainty. Claims the empirical results indicate that the organizational structure which applies to the product manager is related to uncertainty in the market environment of the firm and that product managers′ authority is not matched to the degree of uncertainty in the environment. Discusses the implications of these results in terms of the product manager′s performance in varying organizational structures.

The purpose of this paper is to establish a measurement process for consumer perceptions and judgments of strategic importance to apparel retailers like hedonic and utilitarian shopping behavior, as well as internal process benchmarks such as apparel brands' names, store signage, and textile preferences. The paper aims to provide a simple, flexible and easy to use measurement technique that can be applied to small samples of respondents in order to capture their overall perceptions and judgments of key interest to management.

Magnitude estimation, along with a repeated measures design, was tested and evaluated based on the validation process put forth by Steven's power law. Data were collected from three focus groups whose respondents were selected based on their store loyalty and prior purchase of women's petit apparel in a discount outlet store. Their responses were benchmarked with those of other competitive discount retailers and with selected internal process measures.

All applications of the measurement technique were validated. Loyal shoppers for apparel purchased in a value store were found to have a preference to a competitive set of value stores but perceived all other discount stores as higher in store shopping experience. Findings were presented to articulate the resolution and clarity of the magnitude‐determined ratio scales versus those of typical interval scales and multi‐attribute measures.

The comparisons provided here are for illustrative purposes only and are based on a selected group of one company's loyal customers during a defined shopping season.

Consumer perceptions of key interest to retail management are shown to be measured and benchmarked in a practical setting using this technique.