Multi-dimensional examination of marketing journal rankings by North American academics

This paper extends the journal ranking debate by developing weighted multi-dimensional perceptual rankings based on respondents' evaluation of a journals' prestige, contribution to theory, contribution to practice and contribution to teaching. Spearman correlations indicate that journal rankings based on each of the evaluative criteria are statistically significantly correlated for all pairs of criteria, other than teaching and theory. The multi-dimensional evaluation is also statistically significantly correlated to all individual criteria, other than the teaching dimension. A cluster analysis of the journals using the four evaluative criteria identified that there are three groupings of journals: A, B, and C. In most cases, A journals are evaluated as performing better than B journals on each of evaluative criteria other than for the contribution to teaching where there are no difference in perceptions between groups. B journals are viewed to perform better than C journals on prestige, contribution to practice and contribution to teaching, but not based on their prestige of weighted evaluation. This suggests that there are differences in how academics view each group of journals, although these differences do seem to vary based on the grouping being considered (i.e., A, B, or C).

Publishing in 20 leading marketing journals – an examination of global performance

Purpose of this paper was to examine the global contribution of academics to marketing literature between 1999 and 2003. This was done based on an examination of the location of academics institution of employment, as reported in published works within the targeted journals. This was then used to examine the globally dispersion of publishing by institutions.

Design/approach. The paper used a content analysis. The authorship of all articles in 20 leading journals was examined between 1999 and 2003. Empirical examination of institutions performance was undertaken across geographic regions. There was also an examination of whether the type of journal impacted on regional performance, using Polonsky and Whitelaw’s (2006) A, B and C journal groupings.

Findings. The research found that there is a significant “bias” of authorship within the 20 journals examined, with the majority of works published by academics at institutions in North America. There is some variation in regional performance based on the type of journal examined. However, when one considers the number of universities within each country/region, it is identified that the proportion of institutions within a country/region publishing within the targeted journals is in fact hight outside North America.

Limitations. There was no attempt to examine why any differences exist. The study also only focused on a sample of 20 English language journals over 5 years, although these journals have been ‘defined’ as a leading marketing journal for European marketing academics.

Practical Implications. The research suggests that there may in fact be a range of differences in publishing behaviour. It is unclear if these differences relate to variations in the “objectives” of institutions within each country or other factors. The research posits that a marketing knowledge may be unnecessarily restricted, if there is a bias against non-north American perspectives.

Originality. While there have been other works examining research performance of institutions, there have not been any marketing-related works that focused on the nation in which authors work. This work therefore takes a global “snapshot” of national research performance within marketing.

A preliminary examination of Berry, Seiders and Grewal’s (2002) five dimensional measure of convenience in a service setting

Convenience - the ability to reduce consumer’s time and energy costs in purchasing or using goods and services - has become an important attribute for time poor consumers. Berry, Seiders and Grewal (2002) proposed that convenience can be measured as a five dimensional construct comprising decision, access, transaction, benefit, and post-benefit. This paper examines the empirical reliability and validity of Berry et al’s five dimensions within one service setting. The results of a survey with 443 service consumers found that the five measures were all reliable (i.e. an alpha of above .60) and discriminate validity held (correlations below .85). These items warrant additional empirical evaluation in other settings to determine their generalisabiliy.

International marketing journals : a preliminary regional and institutional examination of research productivity

Contributions to marketing knowledge are becoming more global (Stremersch and Verhoef, 2005). This paper explores the issue of regional contribution to the international marketing area, which could be expected to be more global than other areas. Publications within four leading international marketing journals were reviewed over a five-year period (1999-2003). Findings suggested that approximately 50 percent of the works were authored by academics outside North America.

An examination of the globalisation of authorship in publishing in 20 leading marketing journals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the global contribution of academics to marketing literature between 1999 and 2003, based on an examination of the location of academics institution of employment, as reported in published works. The data is used to evaluate the global dispersion of publishing.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses the method of content analysis where the authorship of all articles in 20 leading marketing journals between 1999 and 2003 is examined. An empirical examination of performance was undertaken across geographic regions. There was also an examination of whether the quality of journal affected regional performance.

Findings – The research found that there is a significant “bias” of authorship within the 20 journals examined, with the majority of works published by academics at institutions in North America. There is some variation in regional performance based on the type of journal examined.

Research limitations/implications – There was no attempt to empirically examine why differences might exist. The study only focused on a sample of 20 English language journals over five years. These journals have been included in studies that list the leading marketing journal for US and European academics.

Practical implications – The research suggests that there may in fact be regional differences in publishing behaviour. It is unclear if these differences relate to variations in the “objectives” of institutions within each country or other factors, such as the North American publish-or-perish mentality. The research posits that a marketing knowledge may be unnecessarily restricted, if there is a bias against non-North American perspectives.

Originality/value – While there have been other works examining research performance of institutions, there has been limited examination in marketing on the nation in which authors work and none have used a broad cross-section of journals. This work takes a global “snapshot” of national research performance within marketing.

Empirical examination of the stakeholder strategy matrix

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine whether the stakeholder strategy matrix provides useful guidance for managers in dealing with stakeholders. The matrix suggests that strategies for dealing with stakeholders can be determined based on stakeholder ability to cooperate and threaten organisational outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a hypothetical scenario looking at the development of a new environmentally friendly product, where eight stakeholder groups and their influencing abilities are manipulated. Marketers reviewed one version of the scenario and were then asked the applicability of 13 strategies for each stakeholder group described. Mixed design analysis is then undertaken to examine the direct effects and interactions between the four combinations of influencing abilities, the stakeholder group examined or how the strategy suggested impacted on managers' views.

Findings – The research found that there was an interaction effect suggesting that some strategies were more applicable to stakeholders with certain sets of influencing abilities, as the stakeholder strategy matrix suggested. The specific stakeholder group examined also appeared to impact on managers' views, which is inconsistent with the theory.

Research limitations/implications – The limitations are that the research focused on managers' perceptions of the applicability of strategies, rather than the actual success of strategies examined. Research into the effectiveness of actual behaviours would possibly require more in-depth examination of case studies.

Practical implications – The research suggests that the stakeholder strategy matrix may provide some guidance as to how managers deal with stakeholders. However, it also suggests that managers may be implicitly applying influencing abilities to groups irrespective of their “true” influencing ability. In this case managers are in fact ignoring valuable information when deciding how to interact with stakeholders and therefore possibly using less effective strategies to interact with stakeholders.

Originality/value – The research is unique as it looks at determining whether different types of strategies for dealing with stakeholders are perceived to be more or less effective. This therefore seeks to make stakeholder theory more strategic and applicable in a broader set of contexts. As such the paper would be of interest to managers seeking to understand better how to deal with stakeholders and to theorists seeking to understand better how stakeholder theory impacts on organisational outcomes.

Comprehensive look at the re-examination of the re-valuation effect of auditor switch and its determinants in Malaysia : a post crises analysis from Bursa Malaysia

This study examines economic rational for auditor switch and its impact on share revaluation of 51 switched firms main board of Bursa Malaysia for the post crisis period (1997-2002). This study adopted both logistic regression model and event study methodology to examine the determinants of auditor switches and its impact to share price. Findings show that the auditor switch decision of Malaysian listed finns for post crisis period has been partly explained by audit report, turnover growth and firm's performance. While, findings suggest no significant evidence of wealth effect from auditor switch announcements once switches were divided along the line of auditor switch type, different findings emerged.

Examination of the codes of ethics artefacts in top Taiwanese companies

This study examines the use of codes of ethics artefacts among top companies in Taiwan. This research reports on the responses of those top Taiwanese companies that possessed a code of ethics. The empirical findings are compared to the findings of previous research. Top Taiwanese companies appear not to be drastically different from top companies in other countries in terms of the areas examined. Several similarities have been revealed. This study provides valuable insights into a previously unexplored corporate territory in terms of codes of ethics artefacts. Furthermore, it provides a seed and guidance for further research in other corporate cultures worldwide. Two parts of interest to business practices may be distinguished in terms of corporate codes of ethics artefacts, namely a regulatory one and one that supports staff. It also provides a valuable point of reference to previous research of corporate codes of ethics artefacts.

A qualitative examination of police officers' questioning of children about repeated events

For an offender to be convicted in relation to repeated child abuse, most jurisdictions require that each separate act be identified with reasonable precision with reference to time, place, or some other unique contextual detail (S v. R, 1989). The current study provided a qualitative examination of the way in which police officers assist children to identify and distinguish between occurrences of a repeated event. Field, as well as mock interviews (about an innocuous staged event) were examined, with child witnesses' ages ranging from 3 to 16 years. Overall, several problems in the questioning were highlighted. These included: over-reliance on specific questions, use of 'labels' for occurrences without inquiring as to whether these were unique, and frequent shifting of the focus between occurrences. The implications of these findings are discussed.

An examination of the types of leading questions used by investigative interviewers of children

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of leading questions used by a representative sample of investigative interviewers of children. In particular, it examined whether these interviewers use the type of questions that are known to elicit reports of false activities or events among child samples.
Design/methodology/approach – A total of 82 police officers who were authorized to conduct interviews with alleged child abuse victims conducted individual mock interviews with children aged 5-7 years. The focus of the interviews was an event that was staged in the children's school a week earlier. Prior to the interview, each officer was provided with accurate and inaccurate information about the event, including details about an activity that did not occur. The officers' task was to elicit as detailed and accurate account of the event as possible using the techniques they would “normally” use in the field.
Findings – Although the officers refrained from using coercive interview techniques, two problematic types of questions were relatively common. These include: questions that presumed that an activity/detail occurred that had not been previously mentioned by the child; and questions that included highly specific details about an activity. Both of these techniques had featured in prior laboratory research on children's false event narratives.
Research limitations/implications – These results support the need for better training techniques for assisting officers to avoid the use of leading questions.
Originality/value – While it is well established that investigative interviewers do sometimes use leading questions when interviewing children, this is the first study to specify the incidence of various types of leading questions.of leading questions.

An examination of the limitations in investigative interviewer's use of open-ended questions

Best-practice guidelines in the area of investigative interviewing of children specify the importance of using open-ended questions. However, use of open-ended questions per se does not maximise interview outcome; open-ended questions can vary markedly in quality. The aim of this study was to identify the nature of investigative interviewers' limitations when using open-ended questions, and to compare how representative these limitations are in three distinct interview paradigms. These interview paradigms include: (a) interviews in which trained actors played the role of a 5-6-year-old child; (b) interviews where 5-6-year-old children recalled an innocuous event that was staged in their school; and (c) actual field interviews where child witnesses aged 5 to 7 years recalled an abusive event. Overall, several common problems that would restrict children's opportunity to provide elaborate and accurate narrative accounts of events were identified and described. Our identification of these problems (using a dichotomous rating scale) was found to be consistent with an independent expert, and their presence was not limited to those interviewers who used a low frequency of open-ended questions. The implications of the findings for researchers and trainers in the area of investigative interviewing of children are discussed.