A cross-continental examination and comparison of descriptive criteria in marketing journals-AMJ, EJM and JM

The objective is to perform a cross-continental examination and comparison of non-traditional descriptive criteria in a selection of leading academic journals in marketing. The sample of journals is restricted to the examination and comparison of three academic journals in marketing. The journal sample consists of the Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ), the European Journal of Marketing (EJM) and the Journal of Marketing (JM). Empirical research manuscripts dominate in the selected marketing journals. In addition, in the selected journals regular issues dominate in favour of special issues. The descriptive criteria examined and compared in AMJ, EJM and JM are based upon the content analysis of 811 manuscripts published during a six-year period, namely 2000-2005. Manuscripts of types other than empirical research, such as general reviews, literature reviews, conceptual papers, commentaries and book reviews are less likely to get published. Special issues or special sections are less frequent in these journals. This may lead to the situation that specialized journals in sub-areas of marketing may provide better and more comprehensive leading edge coverage and knowledge. The insights provided are in particular valuable for those scholars that do not usually get involved in academic publishing and consequently have a limited understanding and experience of the publication arena of manuscripts in leading academic journals. These insights also will be informative for more experienced academic publishers as they highlight certain characteristics of these journals that enlighten one as to the journals that one should target for publication and the difficulty, just on a numbers basis alone, of getting published in one of these three journals. The principal contribution of this research is the examination and comparison of descriptive criteria in AMJ, EJM and JM – a cross-continental sample of journals and criteria that have not been explored or reported previously in literature.

How architects incorporate ESD criteria into the design process

This paper will seek to answer; "How do architects in Victoria incorporate Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) criteria into the design process?" For the purpose of this paper, "Ecologically Sustainable Development" is defined in line with the judging criteria used by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects for the 'Sustainable Architecture Award'. The RAIA states that (Maddison, 2003 p.7), "the goal of sustainable architecture is to achieve development that improves the total quality of life, in a way that maintains the processes on which life depends. The project assessment covers ecologically sustainable development and energy efficient design:' By researching exemplary building projects that have been awarded a Victorian Sustainable Architecture Award, this paper will enlighten a design methodology for the pursuit of excellence in ecologically sustainable development. Key elements in the design process will be determined by comparing and analysing the processes of different architectural practices. This will be achieved through the study of published literature on the award winning designs, qualitative analysis of interviews with the architects who designed the selected projects and quantitative analysis of questionnaires completed by the architects.

Producing a GIS based multiple criteria analysis tool for regional sustainability assessment: the problem of weighting

Decision support tools will be useful in guiding regions to sustainability. These need to be simple but effective at identifying, for regional managers, areas most in need of initiatives to progress sustainability. Multiple criteria analysis (MCA) is often used as a decision support tool for a wide range of applications. This method allows many criteria to be considered at one time. It does this by giving a ranking of possible options based on how closely each option meets the criteria. Thus, it is suited to the assessment of regional sustainability as it can consider a number of indicators simultaneously and demonstrates how sustainability can vary at small scales across the region. Coupling MCA with GIS to produce maps, allows this analysis to become visual giving the manager a picture of sustainability across the region. To do this each indicator is standardised to a common scale so that it can be compared to other indicators. A weighting is then applied to each indicator to calculate weighted summation for each area in the region. This paper argues that this is the critical step in developing a useful decision support tool. A study being conducted in south west Victoria demonstrates that the weights chosen can have a dramatic impact on the results of the sustainability assessment. It is therefore imperative that careful consideration be given to determining indicator weights in a way that is objective and fully considers the impact of that indicator on regional sustainability.

Is privatisation good for investment in Australia?

Privatisation was expected to promote investment in the economy as part of improving dynamic efficiency. The relation between aggregate public and private investment in Australia is investigated in an endogeneous ECM framework. Model selection for a simple investment function allows restrictions for neoclassical crowding out or Keynesian crowding in (after Aschauer 1989) in a small open economy. An ECM is estimated including annual aggregate private investment, public investment, income, rate of return, average interest cost, exchange rate and inventories from 1960 to 2005. Public capital appears unresponsive to shocks and crowding out is not evident.

Multiple criteria sustainability modelling: case study on school buildings

This paper describes development of a computer-based tool for sustainability modelling using multiple criteria, and preliminary conclusions from doctoral research being undertaken into the relationship between key sustainability indicators. The model used in both cases produces a sustainability index with an accept/reject threshold of one that has the potential to completely replace traditional net present value methods. Minimum performance benchmarks are prescribed and must be observed - often by trading off performance across the full criteria set. Sustainability is shown to be capable of objective (numeric)· analysis for new projects, existing facilities, or indeed any product or asset. A combination of investor-centred and community-centred motivations can also be explored in the model. Known as SINDEX, the tool has industry-wide application, both locally and abroad, and represents a paradigm shift in project evaluation techniques. Furthermore, its multi-discipline considerations underscore the importance of a team approach to sustainability modelling and the need for people to work more closely together when dealing with complex problems. The results of twenty case studies of actual high schools constructed and operated in New South Wales (Australia) are also presented and the relationships between the key sustainability indicators are explored and interpreted.

Criteria for the systematic review of health promotion and public health interventions

Systematic reviews of public health interventions are fraught with challenges. Complexity is inherent; this may be due to multi-component interventions, diverse study populations, multiple outcomes measured, mixed study designs utilized and the effect of context on intervention design, implementation and effectiveness. For policy makers and practitioners to use systematic reviews to implement effective public health programmes, systematic reviews must include this information, which seeks to answer the questions posed by decision makers, including recipients of programmes. This necessitates expanding the traditional evaluation of evidence to incorporate the assessment of theory, integrity of interventions, context and sustainability of the interventions and outcomes. Unfortunately however, the critical information required for judging both the quality of a public health intervention and whether or not an intervention is worthwhile or replicable is missing from most public health intervention studies. When the raw material is not available in primary studies the systematic review process becomes even more challenging. Systematic reviews, which highlight these critical gaps, may act to encourage better reporting in primary studies. This paper provides recommendations to reviewers on the issues to address within a public health systematic review and, indirectly, provides advice to researchers on the reporting requirements of primary studies for the production of high quality systematic reviews.

The Pareto plus syndrome in top marketing journals: research and journal criteria

Purpose – Pareto’s Law often refers to the theory that a small percentage of a total is responsible for a large proportion of the total outcome. It is commonly known as the 80/20 law or principle. The objective is to review and debate whether there is a “Pareto syndrome” in the distribution of crucial research and journal criteria in top marketing journals.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors provide a review and a debate based upon previous research on top marketing journals. For this purpose, the Pareto syndrome concept is introduced, based upon a set of research and journal criteria. Their distribution is examined.

Findings – The review of research and journal criteria in top marketing journals generated an extremely skewed outcome. When it comes to the criteria, the top journals in marketing tend to be governed by narrow concerns of research rather than broad ones.

Research limitations/implications – The research and journal criteria that have a skewed outcome may reinforce the rigidity and the lack of innovativeness of the marketing discipline. The evolutionary speed of the discipline may at best be reduced or it may at worst grind to a halt. The authors argue that there are a number of serious concerns to be addressed in the future review and debate of top journals in marketing.

Practical implications – Editors and editorial boards need seriously to address the concerns reviewed and debated, namely the skewed distribution of criteria, such as affiliation, data and methodology.

Originality/value – The authors debate that there is evidence that confirms the existence of a Pareto plus syndrome in key research and journal criteria of top marketing journals.

Defining ethical investment and its demography in Australia

While ethical investment is relatively new in Australia, it is a well defined phenomenon in the United States and United Kingdom, subject to variations in interpretation in its practical implementation. Characteristics of ethical investment decision-making suggest ethical investors may be demographically different from "ordinary" investors. This descriptive paper reports on a survey of equity investors in Australia, comparing the average investor and an ethical investor. The main findings are that there is evidence of a strong gender effect, with females predominating among ethical investors, and that these investors are relatively young, highly educated and possessing small portfolios.

Electronic commerce strategic investment justification frameworks : an Australian perspective

Strategic use of information technology, especially electronic commerce, has been used by organisations throughout the world in a vast array of industries to gain a competitive industry. With growing interest in electronic commerce organisations are now developing a new range of electronic commerce applications. However, justification in allocating organisation resources does not always follow the more commonly accepted methods. This paper explores why organizations invest in electronic commerce applications and highlights several approaches to justification. Central to the work was to determine the underlying benefits of investing in Web applications. This paper examines various models and frameworks that can be used as a form of justification. A conclusion of this paper is a framework for the justification of web-based applications by utilizing the Delphi methodology.

Using multi-criteria decision analysis in natural resource management

The proposed volume aims to provide useful insights on the use of Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) in natural resource management by examining a number of empirical applications for several countries and natural resources. There is increasing interest among researchers and policy makers in using MCDA to evaluate complex management issues and problems. While several books with empirical applications have been published, these applications are very recent. Evidence from major studies suggests that MCDA approaches to the management of water, forestry, wetland and other natural resources have substantially improved the design and implementation of natural resource and environmental policies. Using innovative approaches, such as MCDA, to manage complex natural systems will enhance our understanding and management of those systems. Stakeholder involvement is an important determinant of successful resource management, and MCDA provides a useful and effective framework for getting stakeholders involved in resource management decisions. Despite the general acceptance of the role of MCDA in natural resource management, problems remain in applying these techniques. Problems include difficulties in applying the techniques, eliciting required information, lack of suitable measures for environmental variables, and development of innovative methods to simplify the use of MCDA. The proposed book examines several applications of MCDA for several countries (Australia, USA and Europe) and natural resources, including forestry, water resources and vegetation.