Discourses of antagonism and desire : marketing for international students in neighbourhood schools

This paper explores the consequences of these discourses for the ways that international students are identified and positioned within school communities. My argument is developed in four sections. The first describes my ongoing exploration into the impact of international student programmes in Australia. The second exemplifies my argument: exploring the day-to-day experiences of vice principals in two Victorian government state secondary schools as they market their schools, and examining the systemic and ontological discourses played out within those conversations. The third interrogates discourses of identity and difference, neo-liberalism and nave cosmopolitanism which I find shape teacher conversations about international student programmes. In the final section, I argue that the impact of the discourse formations implicit in teacher talk about international student programmes has been the objectification of international students and their ambivalent inclusion within the school community.

Marketing across cultures : an investigation into place specific dimensions of service quality in sport

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify place-specific dimensions of service quality in spectator sport settings and determine if the importance of these dimensions differed across cultures. The study was limited to the soccer industry and involved the collection of responses from identified soccer spectators to a range of items presented in a survey instrument. The survey was distributed to respondents face-to-face on a match day of the club they supported, or mailed to their home address. Responses were obtained from spectators from two clubs from Australia (n=277), one club from the USA (n=199), one club from the Netherlands (n=245) and one federation from Malaysia (n= 100). Based on the findings of a number of authors, six categories of potential place-specific dimensions of service quality in spectator sport settings were created and the research instrument contained a number of items that could be categorised under one of these headings. These categories were Home, Religion, Social facilitation, Sensory, Uncertainty of outcome, and Personal attention. In this thesis it was assumed that place-specific service quality issues are similar for sport spectators of different cultures, although differences in degree of importance of these dimensions (etic approach) were likely to emerge. In other words, although it was expected dimensions per country to be similar, differences in degree of importance of these dimensions were expected. Given the lack of confirmatory statistical evidence pertaining to the specific country samples, it was concluded that differences per country are likely to be more than just differences in degree. Both the overall structure and structures per country could not be confirmed, and hence the conclusion was drawn that differences in nature between the countries were present. In other words, what is a dimension of place-specific service quality in one country is not necessarily a dimension in another country. The results of a content analysis of ‘core component’ structures per country compared with a (full sample) core component structure delivered six components (referred to as place-specific dimensions of service quality) that were defined as Home, Hedonist, Religious follower, Safe atmosphere, Hospitality and Personal Attention. It was found that in most cases the cultural orientation of soccer spectators reflects the cultural orientation of the country as a whole as proposed by Hofstede (1991). However, in line with Huntington (1997), it was also argued that grouping people based on their country of origin as a proxy for their cultural orientation, will increasingly lead to flawed and incomplete research findings. As noted by Yoo etal. (1999), the identification of a person's cultural orientation is likely to deliver more direct results when measured at the individual level In that regard it is concluded that it may seem prudent to view Hofstede's dimensions of culture with increased conceptual scrutiny. Although having been replicated in multiple studies, it becomes increasingly unlikely that Hofstede's dimensions cover the complete spectrum of an individual person's cultural orientation. In conclusion, this study identified that soccer spectators (from a number of clubs) from Australia, the USA, the Netherlands and to a lesser extent Malaysia, perceive a range of place-specific service quality dimensions in spectator spoil settings to be important when visiting a soccer match. Before research into satisfaction with and value of place-specific dimensions of the spectator sport service product is initiated, it is pertinent the identified dimensions are further explored and confirmed in different country (culture) settings. The confusion that still exists about the place of the value concept (in relation to quality and satisfaction), where Holbrook (1994) defines quality as a type of value and Chelladurai and Chang (2000) argue that value is a type of quality, further underpins this necessity. It needs to be clear what are the targets of service quality before this information is integrated in larger holistic research frameworks. In the final section of the thesis a conceptual model for international services marketing research in the sport industry was presented as a first attempt to integrate the findings of this research and other researchers.

Global text project : new horizons in textbook marketing

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce the global text project (GTP) case. The unique developments of the case provide insight of the many challenges and opportunities created within the open source movement.

Design/methodology/approach: A case study was used to illustrate some of the most pertinent and interesting developments in the field of marketing, alluding to the open source environment. A Wikibook was created in collaboration with all the participants of a graduate course and the development of this offering initiated a project called the GTP.

Findings: The open source movement has created new ways of thinking and acting. The contributions, modifications and improvements by all users to the original product provide a platform of continuous improvement and development.

Originality/value: The value of the paper lies in the lessons and challenges learnt from the case especially by those managing the GTP.

Marketing strategy for small application service providers in a new market

Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) including small application service providers (ASPs) are playing an increasingly important role in the development of global economies particularly in developing countries like China. This paper studies marketing strategies of small application service providers (ASP) with a focus on what the important factors are to establish a new ASP business in China. An analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method is used to analyse critical factors of the ASP industry. The research surveyed CEOs or senior managers who are working in ASP firms, to identify how a marketing strategy can be developed for an ASP firm to start business in China. It is found that the localisation of middle level managers, the localisation of products and services, the protection of intellectual property (IP), and infrastructure and transportation system are the most important factors for small ASP firms to do business in China.

Model of behavioural response in social marketing

This thesis contributes to the expanding area of non-profit and social marketing research. The research developed a new conceptual model that was applied to environmental management and provides an understanding of the components that contribute to durable behaviour change in social marketing applications.

Integrated advertising and sponsorship in corporate marketing through televised sport

To determine how integrated TV advertising and event sponsorship should be managed, a theoretical framework derived from exploratory research was validated by 16 experts and used in 12 case studies. The research identified the key techniques that led to increased corporate sales - 4 key campaign steps and four key objectives with necessary performance measures,

Role of the web in marketing and organisational performance

This doctoral study makes a unique contribution by examining both the integration of the Web in marketing, and the influence of this integration on organisational performance. The findings support the view that the marketing function adds value to organisations, but that the Web is not as fully utilised as it might be in Australasia.

Paradigmatic approach to managing complexity in knowledge-driven marketing

This research develops a measure of Customer Lifetime Value, extending existing measures, that provides organisations having large customer databases the means to place a financial value on customers. Using this measure, new models are developed that provide a framework to use knowledge to drive marketing decisions.