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As US business organizations continue to use more expatriates in international locations, the reasons for high failure rates of these assignments need to be examined. Selection and training may be the key inadequacies. Intercultural anxiety plays an important role in productive expatriate assignments. By determining personnel with lower intercultural anxiety levels, successful assignment completions should increase. Examines attributional complexity, stereotyping, ethnocentrism and acquaintance with host‐country nationals to determine the relationship of these variables to reduced intercultural anxiety. A group considering assignments to Japan, consisting of business and education executives and their families, were surveyed before and after an intensive study visit. Findings indicate that stereotyping and ethnocentrism have a negative association with decreased intercultural anxiety. Attributional complexity and acquaintances have a positive effect on reduced anxiety levels. Suggestions for organizations making expatriate selection decisions include screening potential candidates for these traits. Also provides areas for further research.

Marketing orientation refers to a culture in which organizations strive to create superior value for their customers (and superior performance for the business) by focusing on customer needs and long-term profitability. Some studies have found that firms with a high degree of marketing orientation experience improved performance; others have found mixed or nonsignificant results. The marketing orientation of small businesses has not been thoroughly investigated, however. This study of more than 200 small business CEOs examines the marketing orientation levels of small to medium-sized firms (SMEs) as well as the impact of various internal variables (sales/profit performance, company characteristics, and CEO characteristics) on marketing orientation levels. The results confirm some earlier research on marketing orientation and provide new insights into this important strategic dimension.

Draws attention to the importance of listening skills. Approximately three fourths of the business day is spent engaged in some form of communication. Effective listening is central to enhanced communication but managers do not always listen because active listening is not a natural process. It requires both mental and physical effort on the part of the listener. Intra‐organizational listening can become a powerful competitive tool. Suggestions for improving listening skills on an organizational and an individual level are provided.

Advertising effectiveness depends on good media selection. Media decisions are typically based upon consummatory, or usage, measures. Though perceived usefulness (instrumental media behaviour) is generally not a consideration, consumers′ perceptions of media types as useful have definite implications for advertising and promotional decisions. Moreover, perceived usefulness of a media type cannot simply be inferred from usage data. This study examines both the reported use of and perceived usefulness of media categories. Though newspapers were reported by respondents to be the most useful media type, the relationship between amount of use (consummatory) and perceived usefulness (instrumental) was strongest for magazines and radio. Findings suggest that television advertising may have less impact, and radio advertising greater impact than often assumed. Findings also suggest a segment of instrumentally prone media users.

As the importance of the purchasing function in corporations increases, there has been a concurrent increase in the importance of ethics in the purchasing environment. The purchasing linkage is critical to effective operation of corporations as high‐quality raw materials and supplies available on a timely basis are required for global competitive success. Bottom‐line productivity and profitability, as well as long‐term viability, are directly dependent on effective functioning in the purchasing arena. The traditional organisational structure of the purchasing function has the potential to encourage unethical employee practices. Viewing the relationship between an organisation and its suppliers as adversarial creates conflict as well as inherent ethical dilemmas in the purchasing function. This article discusses various categories of unethical purchasing situations and illustrates ways to lessen or avoid these dilemmas through the introduction of just‐in‐time (JIT) inventory control procedures. The internal co‐operation necessary in the purchasing/operations interface under JIT facilitates development of a corporate culture supportive of ethical behaviour. Moreover, since in JIT the supplier is considered part of the team – the “person at the previous work station” – these concepts can reinforce intraorganisational ethics as well.

One of the major issues confronting marketing decision makers is how to deal with the volume and complexity of customer information available. In addition to dealing with the volume of data issue, “relationship marketing” has also become an important focus, largely owing to the recognition that maintaining an existing customer base is far more cost‐effective than replacing disaffected customers with new users. As marketers refocus on customer‐centred relationships, however, efforts have come to rely extensively on the volume of customer information available from computer‐and scanner‐based data. Valuable as the information in these databases can be, the end result is often a distancing of the company from its customers.

Salesforce turnover rates are increasing dramatically. As a result, retention of good salespeople is a critical concern for sales managers. It is suggested that salesforce turnover can be reduced through the use of better selection criteria. To that end, a multiple criteria approach is outlined for organisations to use in the salesforce selection process. The use of this approach will result in a better, long‐run fit between the organisation and its salespeople, thereby reducing turnover and improving customer satisfaction.

Research has shown that the most important management training and development concerns from 1983 to 1986 were: (1) interpersonal skills, (2) communication skills, and (3) managing human performance. Furthermore, these same concerns were projected, in 1986, to be the most important development topics for the next three to five years (Bolt, 1986). Given that business is undergoing fundamental technical changes, one might think that these people‐related issues may not be as important as technical development concerns in the future.

Suggests that while businesses have made great efforts to reduce the length of time customers wait for service, little attention has been paid to the actual experience of waiting. Argues that the final service encounter is crucial for reinforcing customers′ performance expectations. Suggests that the expectations and perceptions of customers influence their actual experience of waiting at the point of sale. Offers hints on improving customers′ waiting experiences.

Companies cannot realize their growth and profit objectives if they fail to fine‐tune their offerings to the needs of neglected market segments. Because market penetration is the least expensive growth strategy, increased efforts directed towards existing customers are on target, but often key implementation activities have been amiss. Some companies have lost sight of the basic tenet of the marketing concept – failing to understand their customers′ unmet needs. Such firms may think they know their customers so well they can simply increase their offerings without examining the unique needs of various customer subsegments. In the retail financial service industry, providers have implemented growth strategies by focusing on their current customer base, which included women and customers over 50 years of age. However, providers failed to recognize the value of these subsegments and did not develop specific tactics to address their financial perceptions and needs. The increased importance of women as financial decision makers along with the proportion of financial assets controlled by consumers over 50 years of age are critical to future growth for the financial services industry. Outlines strategic guidelines for capitalizing on these profitable subsegments and examines implications for organizations which have failed to fine‐tune their strategies.