The personal selling and sales management ethics research : managerial implications and research directions from a comprehensive review of the empirical literature

Research into ethics in personal selling and sales management has increased substantially over the preceding decade by investigating complex dimensions of ethical decision-making in greater depth and with more analytical sophistication. This review of the recent conceptual and empirical literature provides insight into the extent and the direction of this knowledge, recommends managerial action, and discusses areas for future exploration. Future direction is also provided through research propositions. The type of sales practitioner investigated, the main variables examined, and the key findings are summarized in an Appendix.

University entrepreneurship : context, process and performance

This project embraced empirical work that studied existing research commercialization systems (RCS) at both first tier and second tier universities, found them flawed and produced an enhanced framework that is definitely applicable to second tier universities (the vast majority) and possibly applicable to first tier universities as well.

Critical success factors for the requirements engineering process, with reference to quality management of information systems development

Preliminary research into the critical factors associated with software development/implementation identified three dimensions for successful implementation based on alignment of the requirements engineering process with business needs, change management process and quality of the implementation process. Research results demonstrate the link between the conceptual model for process quality and the process management attributes determined during the research.

The methodology in empirical sales ethics research: 1980-2010

The study examines the research methodology of more than 200 empirical investigations of ethics in personal selling and sales management between 1980 and 2010. The review discusses the sources and authorship of the sales ethics research. To better understand the drivers of empirical sales ethics research, the foundations used in business, marketing, and sales ethics are compared. The use of hypotheses, operationalization, measurement, population and sampling decisions, research design, and statistical analysis techniques were examined as part of theory development and testing. The review establishes a benchmark, assesses the status and direction of the sales ethics research methodology, and helps inform researchers who need to deal with increasing amounts of empirical research. The investigation identified changing sources of publication with the Journal of Business Ethics and the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management maintaining their position as the main conduit of high quality empirical sales ethics research. The results suggest that despite the use of theoretical models for empirical testing, a greater variety of moral frameworks and wider use of marketing exchange theory is needed. The review highlights many sound aspects about the empirical sales ethics research statistical methodology but also raises concerns about several areas. Ways in which these concerns might be addressed and recommendations for researchers are provided. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Pragmatic dramaturgy: the creative management of limits in performance-making processes.

This thesis proposes the lens of pragmatic dramaturgy as a way of understanding the complex interactions between process and performance that define theatre practice, and investigates the ways in which performance making practice is shaped by encounters with a range of limits that impact the creative process.

The role of trading partner relationships in determining innovation performance: an empirical examination

This paper examines the respective roles of trading partner relationships and innovation management practices in predicting product and process related innovation performance. The empirical data were drawn from 194 Australian managers. Data analysis using structural equation modelling indicates that supplier relationships and customer relationships have less impact on product and process innovation performance than do knowledge and creativity management. However, the results also indicate that trading partner relationships have a strong and positive association with innovation management practices, meaning that organisations commonly implement both in a synchronous manner.

In the service of the society: the labour management practices of an Australian life Insurer to 1940

This article considers the labour management practices in use in the Australian life insurance industry during the inter-war period. Using the Australian Mutual Provident as a case study, it is argued that the specific human resource management practices evolved to deal with separate sets of problems arising from the functions of the life insurance business and the manner in which the principal/agent problem was manifested. The differing nature of work associated with the sales and management of life insurance fostered the development of primary and secondary labour markets in which the benefits flowing to one were superior to those accruing to the other.

The mental health Risk Assessment and Management Process (RAMP) for schools: II. Process evaluation

The Risk Assessment and Management Process (RAMP) is a whole-school process for the assessment and management of student’s mental health and wellbeing in primary and secondary schools. A process evaluation revealed that RAMP was implemented as intended across six primary and three secondary schools in Melbourne, Australia. Using the RAMP risk and protective factors monitoring form and screening processes, each school identified ‘at-risk’ students who had not previously been identified or received assistance from welfare staff at the school. School staff and mental health workers from local agencies reported improvements in their knowledge of risk and protective factors, and their ability to identify at-risk students following RAMP. They also reported satisfaction in outcomes for at-risk students managed within the school using RAMP. All the primary schools and one of the
secondary schools continued to use some RAMP processes in their school up to 6 months after the initial implementation of the program.

Advocating avatars: the salesperson in second life

Interactive digital media are revolutionizing the marketing landscape. The virtual world is a dominant player in this new panorama, with exchanges in the virtual marketplace approaching $2 billion annually. While virtual, like real world, exchanges require buyers and sellers, there is little or no understanding of this disembodied sales process. The current study seeks to address this gap in knowledge by employing an ethnographic methodology in which researchers incarnate in Second Life to explore the personal selling process. Specifically, the various notions of the "self" that constitute the avatar salesperson are explored. Findings from this exploratory study suggest a relationship between the nature of the self and the type of exchange. From this, a conceptual model for the study of the virtual selling self is presented, propositions developed, and managerial implications for the virtual sales force suggested.

Identifying supply chain management and e-commerce opportunities at PaperCo Australia

Established supply chain management techniques such as Quick Response (QR) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) have proven the potential benefits of reorganizing an organization’s processes to take advantage of the characteristics of electronic information exchange. As the Internet and other proprietary networks expand, however, organizations have the opportunity to use this enabling infrastructure to exchange other, more varied types of information than traditional electronic data interchange (EDI) messages. This is especially true of companies with global operations and interests, which lead to a more diverse set of trading activities. This case presents the experiences of a large Australian paper products manufacturer in implementing an electronic document exchange strategy for supply chain management, including the drivers for change which spurred their actions, and describes the issues associated with trying to support existing and future requirements for document exchange across a wide variety of trading partners. The experiences of PaperCo will be relevant to organizations with diverse trading partners, especially small to medium enterprises (SMEs).

Cooperative inquiry in a business school : scope, process and dimensions

The presentation will describe a cooperative inquiry project being undertaken within the School of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business and Law. This project involves both HRM and Management academics and was commenced in February 2008 with the broad aim of developing an ongoing teaching and learning dialogue within these discipline areas to enhance teaching and learning.
The project is also aimed at enabling individuals and unit teams to develop and pursue their own priorities in teaching and learning and align these with the goals and objectives of the Faculty and University.
In the presentation we will describe the scope, nature and methods of the inquiry and the outcomes of the project to date. One major outcome to date has been a comprehensive review of all the units within the HRM and Management majors. This review has, in turn, lead to the initiation of four further projects.
These include an activity to benchmark the School’s HRM and Management units against universities in Australia and overseas; a literature review entitled ‘Linking practice, research and the scholarship of teaching’; a project that seeks to integrate individual and institutional needs; and an action research project to capture the process of change within the Management and HRM team. These four projects will be described briefly in the presentation.

Design management methodology to strengthen firm and industry competitiveness in the construction design services export sector

The aim of this research was to investigate strategies deployed by successful construction design-related firms towards achieving high levels of firm competitiveness in international markets. A reflexive capability model, developed through a critical analysis of related internationalisation literature, is composed of three key areas; internationalisation process, market knowledge and design management. Firm reflexive capability is explored through the management of social, cultural and intellectual capital. The concept of reflexivity is borrowed from sociology. Reflexivity is reinterpreted as the ‘firm’s’ ability to be aware, responsive and adaptable to self, market and project needs assessment. A cross case analysis explored the barriers and success factors through three constructs; internationalisation process, design management and market knowledge of three firms. This paper demonstrates that international firm competitiveness is dependent upon the strategic inter-relational management of social, cultural and intellectual capital for maximum advantage of the utilisation and leverage of one form of capital to gain another. This leads to the development of increasing reflexive capability to support internationalisation. An outcome of this research is the identification of the central relation between a level of reflexive capability within the firm and the firm’s level of success in international markets. This research is part of an ongoing program of research on international collaborative practice. A Reflexive Capability Matrix was developed from the findings of one research project and then validated through a second research project (only the capability matrix is presented in this paper though). The reflexive capability approach is appropriate to all firms but what is speculated upon is that the reflexive capability is particularly intrinsic to small to medium sized construction design firms who work globally. A reflexive capability is a characteristic of successful and innovative firms internationalising and working within global models of practice.

The development of a theoretical model for firm design management to support internationalisation processes

The aim of this research was to investigate strategies deployed by successful construction design related firms towards achieving high levels of firm competitiveness in international markets. A reflexive capability model, developed through a critical analysis of related internationalisation literature, is composed of three key areas; internationalisation process, market knowledge and design management. Firm reflexive capability is explored through the management of social, cultural and intellectual capital. The concept of reflexivity is borrowed from sociology the philosophers, Bourdieu and Giddens. Reflexivity is reinterpreted as the ‘firm’s’ ability to be aware, responsive and adaptable to self, market and project needs assessment. This research is part of an ongoing program of research on international collaborative practice. A Reflexive Capability Matrix is proposed. The reflexive capability approach is appropriate to all firms but what is speculated upon is that the reflexive capability is particularly applicable to small to medium sized construction design firms who work globally. A reflexive capability is a characteristic of successful and innovative firms internationalising and working within global models of practice. This paper is the theoretical development to support the paper in this congress “Design Management Methodology to Strengthen Firm and Industry Competitiveness in the Construction Design Services Export sector” where the methodology and results of a cross case analysis of three construction design firms are presented.

Determinants of native avian richness in suburban remnant vegetation : implications for conservation planning

While urban areas are increasingly recognized as having potential value for biodiversity conservation, the relationship between biodiversity and the structure and configuration of the urban landscape is poorly understood. In this study we surveyed birds in 39 remnant patches of native vegetation of various sizes (range 1–107 ha) embedded in the suburban matrix in Melbourne, Australia. The total richness of species within remnants was strongly associated with the size of remnants. Remnant-reliant species displayed a much stronger response to remnant area than matrix-tolerant species indicating the importance of large remnants in maintaining representative bird assemblages. Large remnants are important for other ecological groups of species including migratory species, ground foraging birds and canopy foraging birds. Other landscape (e.g. amount of riparian vegetation) and structural components (e.g. shrub cover) of remnants have a lesser role in determining the richness of individual remnants. This research provides conservation managers and planners with a hierarchical process to reserve design and management in order to conserve the highest richness of native species within urban areas. First of all, conservation efforts should preferentially focus on the retention of larger remnants of native vegetation. Second, where possible, riparian vegetation should be included within reserves or, where it is already present, should be carefully managed to ensure its integrity. Third, efforts should be focused at maintaining appropriate habitat and vegetation structure and complexity.