The purpose of this article is to describe the life and contributions to the marketing discipline of Theodore N. Beckman whose academic career at the Ohio State University spanned…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to describe the life and contributions to the marketing discipline of Theodore N. Beckman whose academic career at the Ohio State University spanned some 50 years.
Design/methodology/approach
This research used traditional historical interpretation of rare archival documents, depth interviews of two of Beckman's former students, and analysis of Beckman's published work.
Findings
The findings are reported as an intellectual biography. The paper reports on Beckman's life and career as an eminent marketing scholar.
Originality/value
Little biographical research has been published in the marketing discipline and to date only a brief sketch of Beckman was published in the Journal of Marketing in 1965.
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The purpose of this paper is to trace the historical development of gasoline service stations through to 1956, their quantitative importance, the principal types of stations in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to trace the historical development of gasoline service stations through to 1956, their quantitative importance, the principal types of stations in existence in 1956, and the nature of competition in the business.
Design/methodology/approach
A synthesis of historical work on the development of gasoline retailing to 1956 is combined with detailed analysis of US Census statistics covering the period from 1929 through the early 1950s. Beckman was in charge of the Census of Wholesale Distribution for the US Department of Commerce in 1930.
Findings
There was rapid and significant growth in the number of gasoline service stations from the early twentieth century through 1939. This, combined with the effects of the Depression and Second World War, led to intense competition, an increase in the lines of merchandise carried by service stations, and ultimately to a decline in the number of stations.
Originality/value
Beckman combined a fresh interpretation of earlier published research on the history of the oil industry with extensive original historical analysis of US Census data. The article's value is heightened in that it is excerpted from a rare unpublished archival document written by one of the eminent marketing scholars of the twentieth century. This article is a slightly edited version of the first of two sections of the original manuscript written by Beckman in 1956 but never published (Theodore Beckman Collection, RG 40/35/C, Ohio State University Archives). The second section of the original manuscript (not included in this article) deals with changes in merchandise lines and services as well as the factors leading to those changes. The article published here is done so with permission of the Ohio State University Archives.
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D.G. Brian Jones, Peggy Cunningham, Paula McLean and Stanley Shapiro
The purpose of this paper is to present a biographical sketch of David D. Monieson whose academic career in marketing included time spent at the Wharton School of Business at the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a biographical sketch of David D. Monieson whose academic career in marketing included time spent at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Toronto, and over 30 years at Queen's University. It is focussed on Monieson's contributions to the history and philosophy of marketing thought, especially with respect to what Monieson called “usable knowledge” in marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a traditional historical narrative based on extensive personal interviews with Monieson and with some of his students and colleagues as well as archival research including personal correspondence, course notes, research notes, and other unpublished documents.
Findings
Monieson made important contributions to the thinking about history and philosophy of marketing thought. Some of his ideas, such as the intellectualization and re‐enchantment of marketing, have found a following among marketing academics; others, such as complexity, have not.
Originality/value
There is no published biographical study of Monieson and no detailed analysis of his contributions to marketing thought. This biographical sketch provides insights into several significant marketing ideas and tells the life story of an important marketing scholar.
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This paper seeks to record the author's personal reflections on his career as a marketing scholar.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to record the author's personal reflections on his career as a marketing scholar.
Design/methodology/approach
Personal reflections are provided in an autobiographical approach.
Findings
The author's career as a student, teacher, and scholar are described in some detail.
Originality/value
This paper records events and memories that might otherwise be forgotten. No other such account has been published of William Lazer's career.
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Spotlights the principal emphasis of this study as descriptions of the present state and indicators of change in US channel structure. Follows this by speculating briefly about…
Abstract
Spotlights the principal emphasis of this study as descriptions of the present state and indicators of change in US channel structure. Follows this by speculating briefly about future trends in this structure and its relevance for UK business. Looks ahead to future developments and makes comparisons with the UK in regard to recent developments in US distribution patterns – particularly changing power relationships between institutions. States that though only UK sources have been available for use here, the trends in the US economy should be able to be described with sufficient detail. Concludes that there are lessons for the UK market in dealing with the USA and these should be used.
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The marketing field established important institutions – college courses, teachable texts, professional associations, and regular conferences – during the first three decades of…
Abstract
Purpose
The marketing field established important institutions – college courses, teachable texts, professional associations, and regular conferences – during the first three decades of the twentieth century, but did not fully mature as a scholarly discipline until the first specialized journals were launched in the mid‐1930s. The aim of this paper is to better understand the marketing discipline during this crucial formative period, especially the structure, presentation, and content of marketing knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
The primary sources are The American Marketing Journal and the National Marketing Review, the two predecessor journals that combined to form Journal of Marketing in 1936. They are examined for publishing data and content areas, article format and authorship, and the topics and methods constituting marketing knowledge.
Findings
The scholarship published in the first marketing journals was written by single authors who only infrequently cited other works. A wide range of topics were explored with much attention given to issues of marketing and society. Marketing writers considered their field a science and showed confidence in it despite dire environmental conditions.
Originality/value
The primary sources examined have been all but forgotten and deserve to be revisited. The research investigates not only the texts themselves, but the people who wrote them, their professional biographies and associational activities, and the larger academic and social environments of their time.
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The purpose of this paper is to stimulate historical thinking in dealing with problems of marketing thought, by explaining the advantages of studying the history of a discipline's…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to stimulate historical thinking in dealing with problems of marketing thought, by explaining the advantages of studying the history of a discipline's ideas; examining what has been included in prior histories; and evaluating the completeness of coverage in Tadajewski and Jones' (2008) The History of Marketing Thought.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a comparative analysis based upon prior histories of marketing thought.
Findings
For teaching, with modest supplementation, The History of Marketing Thought provides a full appreciation of the intellectual heritage of marketing. For research purposes, The History of Marketing Thought does reasonably well in organizing concepts and theories into schools of marketing thought but less well in showing how these ideas can be organized across the readings to produce new knowledge.
Practical implications
There were some important omissions in the collection. Marketing's leading thinker was largely neglected and many significant problems for marketing thought are overlooked. There was no discussion of methodological issues and minimal editorial commentary connected the parts and sections to provide a research thrust to the work. Consequently, it is recommended that another volume or two be added to this set.
Originality/value
The educational value of this work is in transmitting the knowledge base of the discipline from one generation of marketing scholars to the next. It is only after the ideas developed by earlier marketing thinkers are fully understood that innovative theories can be constructed and new knowledge created.
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PHILIP B. SCHARY and BORIS W. BECKER
This monograph progresses from a consideration of definitional issues to the development of a conceptual model for marketing‐logistics interaction and finally to a discussion of…
Abstract
This monograph progresses from a consideration of definitional issues to the development of a conceptual model for marketing‐logistics interaction and finally to a discussion of the issues of implementation of the model within the context of marketing strategy. Thus, following an introduction, Part II begins with definition of the field and examines the position of physical distribution in relation to marketing. Part III discusses the relationship of physical distribution and macro‐marketing, and is thus concerned about the social, aggregative goals of logistics systems, including the costs of distribution. Part IV continues this argument, examining specifically the influence of physical distribution on channel structure. Part V then focuses on the assumptions underlying the customer service function, asking how physical distribution can influence final demand in the market place. Part VI presents a conceptual model of marketing‐logistics demand stimulation. The operational issues concerned with its implementation are shown in Part VII; and a summary of the relevant points is presented in Part VIII. The concern has been not with presenting either new computational models nor empirical data but with presenting a new perspective on the marketing‐logistics interface. There is a need to reduce the barriers between these fields and to present more useful ways for co‐operation.