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The purpose of this paper is to improve educator knowledge of the antecedents and consequences of blended learning in higher education.

A longitudinal case study approach is adopted. Three case studies each involve tracking a student evaluations of teaching (SET) measure (willingness to recommend) and grade point average for three subjects from the same business discipline over six years. The cases involve comparison of: a business subject taught solely online; a business subject where experimentation in the blend of face‐to‐face teaching and learning is involved; and a business subject where face‐to‐face teaching is primarily used, and where in the most recent iteration online content supplements the learners' experiences.

The findings suggest that there are situations where integrated use of blended learning involving face‐to‐face teaching, digital media and digital communication with simple navigation between the content items leads to positive student perceptions. This is in contrast to negative student perceptions in the situation where learners must navigate in online learning, and where there is little or no face‐to‐face instruction. While not examined in detail, nor part of the research question, it is not surprising to find no relationship between learning mode and grade point averages is evidenced.

The effects of prior computer literacy and language proficiency across the students used in this study, and potential demographic and experiential differences between on‐campus and off‐campus students are not controlled for. Additionally, only three business subjects are investigated and it is recognised that there is a need for a broader study. Finally, with response levels to the university‐controlled SET that typically range between 20‐43 per cent for these large subjects, there is possible non‐response bias that it was not possible to counter over the six years involved.

The findings in this study suggest that while blended learning offers many benefits to higher education institutions and learners alike, care needs to be taken in the manner in which such approaches are implemented in light of possible negative learner perceptions where a less traditional approach is taken.

A major contribution of this study is the fact that experimentation has taken place in terms of the degree of face‐to‐face and online learning that have been blended in at least one subject (case study two), and the fact that the SET for this subject are compared, longitudinally, with two other subjects which lie on either side of this subject in terms of the extent of online and face‐to‐face teaching and learning employed – 100 per cent online in case study one and almost 100 per cent face‐to‐face in case study three.

Compares business use of the Internet (Net) and World Wide Web (Web) across Australia, New Zealand and the UK. The reported inter‐country comparison involves studies conducted by the authors in a similar timeframe and using similar methodologies. Finds both similarities and differences across the three countries in how business uses the Web with UK firms more likely to be seeking strategic advantage from use of the Internet. In all countries, business use of the Web involves marketing communication; however, use of the Internet as a marketing channel for transactions is much lower. UK firms are more likely to use the Internet in relationship management than are Australasian firms. Concludes that there is less sophisticated business use of the Internet by Australasian companies relative to UK companies. Further concludes that there is a need for further research to resolve the conundrum facing marketing organisations in all three countries.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the antecedents of organisational performance (OP), both financial and marketing, and the influence of holding a strategic market orientation (MO) where customer‐base volatility is taken into account.

A sample of 167 marketing organisations in Australia was surveyed to test the hypothesised model. Structural equation modelling was employed in the data analysis.

Use of the world wide web (Web) reported by organisations in this study indicates that there is still separate use of the Web and that it has yet to be fully integrated into the marketing strategy of many organisations. The study finds that traditional marketing effort mediates the relationship between holding a MO and OP in terms of financial indicators.

A major limitation of this study is that it surveys organisations from many industries rather than selected industries. This tends to mask some of the possible outcomes.

The findings in this study suggest that traditional and online elements of marketing effort each mediate the influence of holding a MO on OP, but differently. Innovation culture is found to influence both marketing practice and marketing performance, directly. A single measure of environmental turbulence – customer‐base turbulence or churn – negatively affects marketing performance, and ultimately financial performance.

A major contribution of this study is the examination of use of the Web in marketing effort and how this usage influences financial and marketing performance.

The widespread acceptance of the use of online techniques in market research necessitates appreciation of the relative advantages and disadvantages of these techniques over more traditional research methods. This paper reports on a study which directly compares online and postal data collection methods using the same survey instrument on two samples drawn from the same population of football club subscribers. The results confirm that the online and postal respondents are demographically different. Online data collection is shown to be less expensive per respondent and that data collection is faster, however, an overall lower response level is achieved relative to the postal data collection method. Of greater importance, though, are the findings that respondents seem to answer questions differently online than they do via postal methods. The conclusion here is that online data collection should not be treated as a direct substitute for postal data collection in every instance.

When assessing the psychometric properties of measures and estimate relations among latent variables, many studies in the social sciences (including management and marketing) often fail to comprehensively appraise the directionality of indicants. Such failures can lead to model misspecification and inaccurate parameter estimates. The purpose of this paper is to apply a post hoc test called confirmatory vanishing tetrad analysis (CTA hereafter) to a single construct called mass media consumption information exposure, which antecedent studies conceptually posited to be a formative (causative) representation.

This paper analyses a consumer sample of 585 US respondents and applies the CTA test to a single construct by its inclusion in various matrices within a statistical analysis system‐macro that takes into account nonnormal data characteristics. The matrices are derived from Mplus 5 through the estimation of a single‐factor congeneric model. The CTA test calculates a test statistic similar to an asymptotic χ² distribution with degrees of freedom equal to the number of nonredundant tetrads tested.

The preliminary data analyses reveal that the data characteristics are nonnormal which is not uncommon in social research. The CTA results reveal that the reflective (emergent) item orientation cannot be fully ruled out as being the correct model representation. This is in contrast to prior theoretical conceptual work which would strongly support this construct being a formative representation.

Insofar as the authors are aware, there is no paper with a particular focus on how the CTA might not provide sound results with a demonstrated example. The paper makes a valuable contribution by discussing modelling philosophy and a procedure for directionality testing. The authors advocate the implementation of pre and post hoc tests as a key component of standard research practice.

Celebrex became the first of a new class of drugs known as COX‐2 selective non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs. It improves treatment for arthritis sufferers without compromising the protective lining of the stomach. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how direct‐to‐consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription medicines can be used to rebuild faith in the cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2) product category.

The case is developed using published sources and no input is required from company representatives. The presentation style follows the classic comprehensive case format used in postgraduate teaching programmes.

Business executives and strategic marketing students would benefit from a discussion on how external environmental factors can suddenly impose a review of marketing strategy. The reader learns how management addresses the business dilemma using DTCA.

A blockbuster rival drug Vioxx is withdrawn due to cardiovascular (CV) health safety concerns. A resulting dominant market situation soon becomes a business dilemma. The Federal Drug Administration calls for a “black box” warning label on Celebrex, the most serious type of warning.

The implications are that having a product in a class of its own is not enough. It highlights the need to communicate to different audiences, to both the medical profession and the end‐user. Getting doctors to recommend the medicine and pulling the product through the channel by stimulating patient demand after a health scare are paramount.

This is the first pharmaceutical business case where the withdrawal of a rival product leaves the dominant competitor in a monopoly situation. Contrary to expectation, market share plummets despite the absence of competition.

The inaugural meeting of the newly established National Party was held in the Queen's Hall, Langham Place, on Thursday, October 25th, under the presidency of Admiral Lord Beresford. There was a large and distinguished audience numbering about 3,000 persons, among those on the platform being Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, Brigadier‐General Page Croft, M.P., Mr. Havelock Wilson, Miss Constance Williams, the Hon. G. J. Jenkins (all of whom addressed the meeting), Earl Bathurst, Sir C. Allom, Major Alan Burgoyne, M.P., Colonel Cassal, Mr. G. K. Chesterton, Sir R. Cooper, M.P., Capt. Viscount Duncannon, M.P., Sir W. Earnshaw Cooper, Mr. H. A. Gwynne, Mr. Rowland Hunt, M.P., Lieut.‐Col. Lord Leconfield, Lord Leith of Fyvie, Admiral Sir H. Markham, The Earl of Northesk, Colonel R. H. Rawson, M.P., Lord Edward St. Maur, Admiral Sir Edward Seymour, Lord Stafford and others.

Considers the environmental differences that may need to be considered when marketers enter into a new country such as media restrictions. Cultural and legal factors. Observes a study of Malaysian media professionals’ perceptions towards various media and advertising restrictions in their country. Presents findings suggesting that advertising images, particularly nudity, indecent language, and sexist images were perceived as major reasons for advertising restrictions.