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Business schools are increasingly emphasizing diversity in their courses as well as in their student populations. Additionally, most schools pay lip‐service to increasing diversity in their faculty compositions. But how well are business schools meeting the goal of a diverse faculty? The purpose of this research was to examine this issue through the analyses of the results of a survey sent to 71 schools of business across the USA. The survey examined ethnic backgrounds, asking for the number of Caucasians, Blacks, Hispanics, Asian‐Pacific peoples, and American‐Indians on faculties. Gender and the position in the school, i.e. dean, associate dean, director, professional, were also collected. Diversity varied between the positions held by faculty but not by the number of years in administrative positions. Significant differences between public and private schools were not evident based on these variables.

Although there are at least two important characteristics of targeted promotions—promotion individualization (i.e. whether the offer is personalized for the recipient) and notification exclusivity (i.e. how small the number of recipients is)—most previous studies on targeted promotion have conceptualized them synonymously. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of targeted promotion on consumer purchases by conceptualizing these separately and incorporating them in a single model. Also, this study explores how the effects of these differ depending on customer loyalty. We particularly examine the promotional responses of extremely loyal customers, distinguishing them from other loyal customers.

Using actual customer purchase data, we develop a two-stage model of the consumer decision-making process involving decisions of whether and how much to purchase. The two characteristics of targeted promotions—promotion individualization and notification exclusivity—first influence the probability of purchase and then the purchase amount given purchase.

The results show that customers respond positively to individualization and exclusivity. The effect of individualization is reduced as customer loyalty increases from loyal customers to extremely loyal customers while that of exclusivity remains the same.

By clearly identifying the two characteristics of targeted promotions and developing an empirical model that captures the effects of these separately, this paper provides new academic and managerial insights that were not clearly identified in the current literature.

Nowadays companies are constantly changing their retail settings and strategies to keep up with technological developments and consumer needs. Digital transformation enabled one’s shopping experience to be more efficient in terms of money, time, physical effort and other elements that determine the price a consumer has to pay. Channels of communication and distribution have evolved, increased in number and also became integrated. Mobile devices, mobile applications and location services help consumers in their shopping journey. These developments have led us to a new concept called omni-channel management. In theory, the omni-channel refers to a single and unified channel experience with multiple touchpoints, which include physical stores, online stores and direct marketing; mass communication channels (television, radio, print media, C2C, etc.), online channels (social media, search engines, comparison sites, e-mail, display etc.) and mobile channels (SMS, branded apps, etc.). Some examples of omni-channel practices are click-reserve, click-collect, tablets as in-store sales tools, in-store product order through mobile apps, etc.

In this chapter, the latest trends in marketing channels are discussed with enabling digital technologies and relevant success factors. Challenges and opportunities in implementing omni-channel strategies and several omni-channel initiatives from Turkey are reported.

A research was employed to present consumers’ preferences of touchpoints/channels for search, payment and delivery, and to find out the drivers that lead consumers to use more than one channel simultaneously and/or interchangeably in a buying process. The results will guide the readers to understand consumer behaviour in the new omni-channel world.

The goal of this study was to gauge brand loyalty. To do this, a brand loyalty acid test was used, which involved an out‐of‐stock (OOS) experiment where the complete product line of a brand was removed from several stores in order to estimate the OOS responses of consumers. Three types of OOS responses were identified: switching brands; switching stores to get one’s favorite brand; and postponing purchase of a specific brand. The present study revealed that the brand loyalty of the consumers participating in the OOS experiment was substantial, as a large percentage of them switched stores or postponed purchase. The study also showed that neither competitive conditions of the retailer nor assortment change had any effect on consumers’ OOS responses. The most potent variables that affected OOS responses were the way consumers organized their shopping trips: store loyals more than others switched stores by OOS; and consumers with a small purchase amount per shopping trip were less likely to switch stores and more likely to postpone purchase. There also was a slight tendency for the consumer to spend less in the store during the OOS period. This paper suggests the implications of these findings for retailers and manufacturers.

This paper intends to explore and appraise the humanitarian supply chain management enablers (HSCMEs) for efficient and effective humanitarian operations. This research aims to analyze the interaction of enablers for humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM) using a proposed hybrid framework consists of fuzzy Delphi (FD), interpretive structural modeling (ISM)–matriced impacts croises multiplication appliquee a un classement (MICMAC) and revised Simos approach.

This research is deliberate to identify 28 HSCMEs through a literature review and experts' opinions; out of which 20 HSCMEs are selected using FD. ISM is applied to know contextual relationship among the selected HSCMEs for developing a hierarchical model. The MICMAC analysis classifies the HSCMEs based on driving power and dependence power to validate the developed hierarchical ISM structure. The revised Simos technique is used to prioritize the HSCMEs to access its relative significance in humanitarian operations.

The finding of the analysis suggests that government policy and leadership support obtained the highest priority, having high driving power and low dependence power is significantly strategic and emerged as the leading driver for the HSCM implementation.

ISM model presents an insight into interrelationship among HSCMEs, but this cannot quantify the impact of each HSCMEs.

Disaster relief aid agencies and stakeholders may focus on the enablers having high driving power and higher weight in designing and executing an effective and efficient humanitarian supply chain and to improve their activities and strategies of HSCM.

This research helps humanitarian logisticians and humanitarian organizations to make better decisions to improve their operational performance in pre and postdisaster phases.

This paper explores the application of proposed hybrid framework to analyze the HSCMEs that can be considered as the original contribution.

Students identify promotion, price, place, segment, targeting, and positioning for marketing “the world’s cheapest car.” This case is effective for MBA, undergraduate, and executive learners studying market segmentation, pricing, cannibalization risk, pricing, and break-even sales in the face of different price and cost scenarios. Has Tata chosen the right marketing strategy? Does the Nano represent an evolution or a revolution in automobile marketing?

The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of a major retailer’s transition to omnichannel retailing (OCR) from an existing multichannel retailing (MCR) base. Using the illustrative case of Seven & I (S&I) Holdings, the paper positions OCR in terms of its goal to provide added customer value through a seamless brand experience.

The research uses a case study methodology, based on a series of in-depth interviews. Executives at S&I were interviewed as the core of the case, and supporting interviews were carried out with executives at Yamato Transport, Inditex Japan and Rakuten. Data collected in interviews were cross-referenced to industry and trade press reports, providing an illustration of the motivation and strategic decisions behind the transition to OCR, and of factors that have direct impact on the implementation of the model.

The results illustrate the difficulty in achieving OCR in terms of unifying customer experience across multiple channels. The case demonstrates the potential for cross-channel integration through multiple, but integrated touchpoints, and the leveraging of existing multichannel retail infrastructure and systems. In addition to confirming previous conceptual understanding of the transition process, the core findings demonstrate the importance of the strategic implementation process, the importance of the retailer’s brand portfolio and brand management, and the need to adjust and leverage existing facilities and infrastructure.

The study is limited by the single case employed, although the complexity of OCR implementation does not take away from the practical implications in a broader sense. It could be argued that the Japanese retail industry has some differences to other markets, but the customer-orientated nature of S&I’s implementation, and its aim to leverage existing infrastructure, is illustrative for similar strategies of retailers elsewhere in the world.

The study has value to both researchers and practitioners as a structured synopsis of an actual case of transition, and adds to the literature that relates to OCR and to Japanese distribution. It demonstrates not only the need for robust supply chain, logistics, IT, marketing and retail infrastructure, and integration across distribution systems, but also the importance of the retailer’s brand portfolio, which may need significant adjustment to best promote added customer value. The success of S&I is predicated on both the high population densities, characteristic of the Japanese market, and a strong, longstanding MCR base. Similar systems and implementation issues apply to other markets that operate under similar conditions.

The social implications of the paper relate to the fact that, although the transition to OCR may be a difficult, costly, and time-consuming proposition for a retailer, increasingly consumers are coming to expect both informational and purchasing options for brands to be available as, when and where they want them. The 24-7 nature of omnichannel also generates significant challenges in terms of work volumes and environmental impact. These issues are touched upon this paper.

This paper provides a case of a major and well-known retailer and the transition process towards an OCR model, of which there are currently few case studies available. It also adds significantly to the body of literature relating to Japanese distribution and provides insights into strategy not generally known in the English-speaking world.

This paper aims to examine the effect of targeted promotions on perceptions of fairness from the perspective of consumers who are not targeted.

A scenario-based approach is used. Three studies manipulating promotion selectivity and various bases for promotion selection were conducted. A total of 403 people participated in the studies.

Results showed that these consumers consider targeted promotions unfair, and the primary reason is centered more on damage to relational identity than the economics of reduced perceived value. The effect is moderated by how the targeted promotion is delivered (buyer-discovered vs seller-delivered) and different basis for selection.

As companies adopting the practice of dynamic pricing such as targeted promotion, it is important to manage relationship with their consumers. Framing targeted promotions that reduce the salience of seller’s role and provide explanations that not attributed to buyer-seller relationship are important in reducing the potential damage of targeted promotion on relational identity.

Existing research on perceptions of price fairness has focused on the role of perceived value. This research tested the relative effect of perceived value, relational identity and personal identity in the context of targeted promotion and identified relational identity as the major mechanism.

This study aims to investigate the effect of perceived brand interactivity on customer purchases along with the mediating effect of perceived brand fairness. To increase the explanatory power of the model, this study also examines the moderating role of brand involvement.

An online survey was conducted to measure the constructs of interest. The direct, indirect (mediation) and conditional (moderation) effects were evaluated using linear regression, PROCESS Model 4 and PROCESS Model 59, respectively. Further, the Johnson Neyman (also called floodlight analysis) technique was used to probe the interaction terms.

The study results indicate that perceived brand interactivity directly and indirectly (via perceived brand fairness) impact customer purchases. The results also reveal that the positive impact of perceived brand interactivity on perceived brand fairness is greater when brand involvement is lower. In the same vein, the positive impact of perceived brand fairness on customer purchases is greater when brand involvement is lower. However, brand involvement does not moderate the impact of perceived brand involvement on customer purchases.

This study examines the effect of perceived brand interactivity on customer purchases (as a customer engagement behavior) while accounting for the mediating role of perceived brand fairness and the moderating role of brand involvement. The results provide noteworthy theoretical and managerial implications.