Leanne Carter

Improving marketing intelligence through learning systems and knowledge communities in not‐for‐profit workplaces

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to illustrate how marketing intelligence might be improved when an organisations learning capacity is integrated and incorporated in well‐defined organisational subsystems in a not‐for‐profit context.Design/methodology/approach – First, given that market orientation is primarily concerned with gathering and desseminating marketing intelligence, the paper discusses the theoretical contributions from the learning literature related to interpreting the environment. Second, while many good ideas exist in not‐for‐profit firms, ideas are seldom linked to competencies that must be tracked and developed in the workplace. A more systematic view towards competency creation will increase the unique skills of not‐for‐profits and most likely improve their performance. Third, communities of practice are introduced as a way for not‐for‐profit firms to maximise dramatically the complex relationships that exist between various stakeholders and possible institutional investors. A numb...

The market performance indicator: a macro understanding of service provider switching

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to adapt the market performance indicator (MPI), used by the European Commission to evaluate market conditions, over time, to show that the MPI explains actual switching behavior better than stated intent and satisfaction. While research on service provider switching has focused on the outcomes of service transactions and the benefits of switching, there is little research on how consumers view market conditions as being favorable or not for switching. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used a mixed methodology of focus groups and longitudinal survey research of cell phone consumers to evaluate the effect of the MPI on satisfaction, perceptions of value, switching intentions and behavior. Findings – The MPI was found to influence perceptions of satisfaction and value, and was found to contribute strongly to actual switching behavior. The results also showed that an improvement in the MPI or market conditions lead to a much greater relationship between it and a...

Inertia in services: causes and consequences for switching

Purpose This paper aims to examine the antecedents of customer inertia (i.e. knowledge, confusion, perceptions of competitor similarity and switching costs) and their relationship to customer satisfaction, service providers’ switching intentions and actual switching behavior. Customer inertia is said to reduce the incidence of service provider switching; however, little is known about the antecedent drivers of inertia. Design/methodology/approach The conceptual model was tested by a longitudinal/discontinuous panel design using an online survey research of 1055 adult (i.e. +18 years old) subscribers to cell phone services. Partial least squares (PLS) path modeling was used to simultaneously estimate both the measurement and structural components of the model to determine the nature of the relationships between the variables. Findings Findings of the PLS structural model provide support for the direct relationship between customer inertia and its antecedents (i.e. knowledge, confusion, perceptions of competitor similarity and switching costs). The results show that customer inertia has a moderate negative effect on the intention to change service providers but had no measurable effect on the actual behavior of changing service providers, other than indirectly, by influencing the perception of difficulty in switching some 11 months later. Further results from an analysis of indirect pathways of the antecedents to inertia show that switching costs are the only variable which indirectly reduce intentions to change service providers. The results also show that the effect of satisfaction on switching service providers is partially moderated by inertia. Importantly, these relationships are reasonably robust given past switching behavior and contract status of consumers. Research limitations/implications The authors find evidence which explains some of the causes of inertia, and show that it has both direct and moderating effects on service provider switching intentions, though not necessarily the behavior of changing service providers. However, support was found for its indirect role through intent as an influence on switching behavior. Importantly, the authors find that inertia has lingering effects, in that it influences the perception of switching difficulties and, hence, behavior up to 11 months in the future. Practical implications Managerial implications are that service firms can profit from customer inertia through a reduction in churn. However, high levels of customer inertia over the longer term may increase the level of customer vulnerability to competitor offers and marketing activities, as satisfaction with the provider does not in itself explain switching intentions or behavior. Originality/value This study is the first study to contribute to an understanding of the antecedent drivers of customer inertia with respect to service provider switching and to empirically evaluate a variety of antecedent factors that potentially affect switching intentions. Importantly, the long lasting latent effect of inertia in indirectly influencing service switching behavior was found to persist some 11 months later.

Inclusive PACE: An Experience for All Students

The focus of this chapter is on issues of equity, diversity and inclusion as they relate to PACE. The term ‘inclusive PACE’ is used here as a metaconcept to include three aspects of PACE, namely, curriculum, pedagogy and student support, which need to be considered when addressing issues of equality of student access and participation in PACE. While the chapter refers to the broader work-integrated learning literature, it draws heavily on findings from two PACE research projects conducted at the Macquarie University. The perspectives and experiences of students, academics and workplace (host) supervisors are included in relation to the barriers, enablers and challenges of inclusive PACE. The chapter concludes with a summary of the lessons Macquarie University has learnt in relation to access and equity in PACE, and highlights those factors considered critical to an inclusive approach to this type of learning.

The “I Love To Hate Them” Relationship with Cell Phone Service Providers: The Role of Customer Inertia and Anger

ABSTRACT This qualitative study of both switchers and nonswitchers in the telecommunication service provider industry affords new insights into consumers’ switching behaviors and the role of inertia in the context of the telecommunications industry, and why people may avoid switching even when their circumstances allow them this option. What also emerges from this research is not only the effect of consumer perceptions of particular transactions, but also that the perception of the overall market conditions in terms of fairness and trust of all providers is an important basis for the consideration of switching.

Sustainable business ethics education

Recent events, like the failure of Enron, the US financial crisis and closure of other United States-based finance companies, the European Union (EU) financial crisis, the Brexit and the campaign over high board room salaries, have focused attention on the ethics of managing business. This has provided added momentum to those in charge of management education, to integrate a critical perspective on business ethics.

Management students – expectations and perceptions on work readiness

The purpose of this paper is to explore the expectations and reality perspectives accrued in a preliminary management course and understand if they impart and embed real-world skills and develop work readiness.,Primary data collected for the research were qualitative. A total of six focus groups were conducted with a total of 52 students enrolled at a large metropolitan university in Australia. NViVO was used to code and analyse the data.,The study found that at the commencement of university studies, the expectations were simple like, making new friends, getting around the campus and settling well into the university culture, which over time extended to getting a part-time job, securing internships, memberships of associations, desire to participate in exchange programs and get work-ready by the close of the first year. The research outcomes show that those who held a part-time job while studying demonstrated a better understanding of the preliminary management subject matter taught in class and obtained better grades. Primarily, the preliminary management course did not specifically impart work-ready skills and it would be fitting to embed employability skills in the management curriculum from the commencement of their programs in the first year.,Qualitative research is used to comprehend a research problem from the outlook perspectives of the local population it involves. The limitations of this methodology includes no objectively verifiable result, adept interviewing skills for interviewers, slow and time consuming during interviewing process and intensive category process also as qualitative inquiry is normally open-ended, the participants have more control over the content of the data collected.,The lack of skill mismatch and graduates who are not work-ready incurs significant economic and social costs. A number of policy implications emerge due to university-labour market links and skills mismatches and the impact on students and the labour market. The rise in unemployment and the skills mismatch seen after the economic crisis requires immediate attention. Job creation is crucial but so is the need to develop graduate with appropriate matching skills and qualities to do the job. Mandatory internships, apprenticeships and on-the-job training for university students would help. Governments can provide financial incentives and subsidies to organisations providing the above services and working cooperatively with the universities to get students work-ready. Universities must raise the educational requirements over time as jobs become more complex. Universities can build communities of practice with the assistance of this scheme to enable students to interact with the industry professionals. An additional year of vocational training could be recommended for the graduating students. This would help the young graduates to get work-related skills. Wheelahan et al. (2015) state that building better links between education and work can help provide a more rational approach to vocational development. They propose the use of vocational streams and productive capabilities in the education system and labour market to achieve this.,This requires a combined effort from all stakeholders. A systematic approach needs to be adopted. First, the gap between the knowledge provided by the universities and the skills required by the employers need to be reduced. Second, the employers and the universities should keep a watch on the labour market and develop strategies to meet the dynamic requirements of the labour market collaboratively. Third, career guidance will help inform students make a career choice to match the labour market opportunities. This should be a part of the policy agenda for responding to the lack of work-ready graduates in the labour market.,Learning and teaching activities must include industry interface and engagement right from the first year at university. The main findings from this research indicated the need for better understanding of first-year students’ expectations. The two significant student expectations that emerged were “need for collaborations” and “industry interface”.

Three Modes of Work-Integrated Learning: Stories of Success

The interest in work-integrated learning (WIL) in higher education has grown in recent years. Employers are demanding that graduates be work ready so WIL has emerged as an important strategy to achieve this. This chapter considers a university-wide initiative that gives every student the opportunity to have an industry-based experience built into their program, with a view to developing the graduate capabilities that are being requested by industry. The initiative is called Professional and Community Engagement and has been implemented in a variety of formats at Macquarie University, to enhance the development of employability skills and at the same time increase student success at university. The chapter considers the traditional internship model, business mentoring, and on-campus business problems presented as living case studies.

The influence of inertia on brand switching behaviour

Understanding the process of switching providers is a topic of much debate and interest amongst market scholars and managers. What has not been studied in-depth until now, is the influence of inertia on customer advocacy, customer satisfaction and switching intentions. Results based on qualitative and quantitative research of 799 mobile phone service customers showed that customer inertial factors such as confusion; competitor attraction (i.e. the lack of perceived differentiation amongst alternative service providers); habit or passivity in continuing with the same product/service supplier; switching costs; customer ambivalence and time constraints can negatively impact customer advocacy, customer satisfaction and switching intentions. The implications for research and management are that customer inertia is a complex variable best uncovered in qualitative research. If used unwisely it has the capacity to allow a brand to temporarily get away with poor service in situations where their clients perceive that there are high costs of changing to an alternative supplier. The longer term costs however are diminished customer advocacy and customer satisfaction.