S Resnick

Making sense of higher education: students as consumers and the value of the university experience

In the global university sector competitive funding models are progressively becoming the norm, and institutions/courses are frequently now subject to the same kind of consumerist pressures typical of a highly marketised environment. In the United Kingdom, for example, students are increasingly demonstrating customer-like behaviour and are now demanding even more ‘value’ from institutions. Value, though, is a slippery concept, and has proven problematic both in terms of its conceptualisation and measurement. This article explores the relationship between student value and higher education, and, via study in one United Kingdom business school, suggests how this might be better understood and operationalised. Adopting a combined qualitative/quantitative approach, this article also looks to identify which of the key value drivers has most practical meaning and, coincidentally, identifies a value-related difference between home and international students.

Aligning teaching and practice: a study of SME marketing

Purpose – This study aims to explore the role of marketing in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and to consider how amendments can be made to the UK higher education (HE) teaching curriculum to inform marketing teaching and learning around a small business context.Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative, exploratory approach using semi‐structured in‐depth interviews amongst ten owners of SMEs in the East Midlands region of the UK was used.Findings – Marketing in SMEs is centred on customer engagement, networking and word of mouth communication. HE academic institutions should take account of these findings and work towards introducing SME‐specific marketing material in its teaching and learning curricula.Research limitations/implications – This study uses a small number of SME companies in one region and therefore the generalisability of the findings may be limited. Further research could extend the number of SME companies and to other regions of the UK.Practical implications – The findings ha...

Marketing in SMEs: a “4Ps” self-branding model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which traditional marketing theory and practice can be applied in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and consider how owner-managers perceive their own role in marketing within a small business setting. Design/methodology/approach –A qualitative exploratory approach using semi-structured in-depth interviews amongst owner-managers of SMEs in the UK. Findings – SME marketing is effective in that it embraces some relevant concepts of traditional marketing, tailors activities to match its customers and adds its own unique attribute of self-branding as bestowed by the SME owner-manager. Research limitations/implications – The study was limited to the UK and to a small sample of SMEs and as such the findings are not necessarily generalisable. Originality/value – A “4Ps” model for SME self-branding is proposed, which encompasses the attributes of personal branding, (co)production, perseverance and practice.

Service Quality in Alcohol Treatment: A Qualitative Study

The objective of the study was to qualitatively evaluate the managerial and organisational issues associated with service quality in a privately funded alcohol treatment centre in the UK. Two different groups of participants at a private treatment clinic were interviewed. The first group comprised 25 of its patients. The second group comprised 15 staff members of the same clinic. All 40 interviews were transcribed and a thematic analysis was performed on the data to reveal the key themes. Six themes emerged from the interviews amongst patients and staff of the treatment clinic. The six themes were: (1) the fellowship of patients, (2) professionalism, (3) process and measurement, (4) incarceration, (5) empathy gap, and (6) access to treatment. Findings suggested there was a strong emphasis on management of the service delivery with established quality systems and performance measurement systems in place. The two service quality gaps, suggested by the research, were the rigid delivery of service and a lack of empathetic relationships with patients. Furthermore, by evaluating the service quality delivery from the service user’s perspective, a voice was given to a group of patients, who in research terms have gone largely unheard.

Delivering Service Quality in Alcohol Treatment: A Qualitative Comparison of Public and Private Treatment Centres by Service Users and Service Providers

In the UK, quality of care has now been placed at the centre of the National Health Service (NHS) modernisation programme. To date, there has been little research on the service quality delivery of alcohol treatment services from the perspective of both the service user and service provider. Therefore, this qualitative study explored the perceptions of healthcare service delivery among problem drinkers and alcohol treatment service providers in both an NHS service and a private clinic (n = 70). The NHS sample comprised 17 patients and 13 members of the healthcare team. The private clinic sample comprised 25 patients and 15 members of staff. Thematic analysis revealed four key themes: (1) how service quality delivery is defined; (2) funding of services; (3) choice in alcohol treatment services; and (4) processes and measurements of service delivery. The main factors influencing the service expectations of problem drinkers were their personal need for treatment and past experience of services. An additional factor that emerged from the study was the range and level of services that problem drinker can access creating a ‘revolving door’ practice. Implications arising from this study are also discussed.

Improving UK retail academic-practitioner research: insights from relationship marketing

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the reasons for the continuing “gap” between UK retail academic research and practice. A relationship marketing (RM) lens, focussing on relationship antecedents, is used to develop a deeper understanding of the barriers to collaboration and propose new solutions to close the gap. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a qualitative methodology to compile the evidence, using multiple data sources to identify the dynamics of the retail academic-practitioner divide. Findings The research illustrates a marked absence of the majority of the customer focussed, seller focussed and dyadic antecedents, essential for effective relational exchanges, and highlights that at the heart of the problem lies a lack of shared understanding of mutual relationship benefits with academics currently neither motivated nor incentivised to develop such relationships. Research limitations/implications Further research is needed to explore what characterises a successful sustainable research relationship. There is also a pressing need to understand the experience, skills and knowledge of “boundary spanners” who operate successfully in both academic and business cultures. Practical implications Universities should adopt a strategic approach towards building relationships with retailers based upon relationship antecedents. Reward structures should be developed to encourage academics to develop research relationships. Resources should be allocated to better defining and communicating the benefits of a university research relationship with retailers. Originality/value There has been limited empirical research on the academic-practitioner gap within the context of the UK retail sector. The RM lens draws attention to new insights about barriers to successful relationships and generates concrete ideas for closing the gap moving forward.

Educating graduates for marketing in SMEs: an update for the traditional marketing curriculum

Purpose – Despite rising graduate unemployment in the UK, there are insufficient numbers of graduates employed in small and medium sized-enterprises (SMEs). The literature suggests that a teaching emphasis on large organisational business models in higher education institutions, particularly in the teaching of marketing theory, renders the SME sector unattractive to graduate employment and conversely, it is perceived that graduates lack additional “soft skills” vital for SME development and growth. The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of how SMEs define marketing and to compare student perspective on marketing within a SME context. This paper also examines the need to improve the conventional marketing curriculum with additional teaching solutions that consider the reality of UK SME ownership and student employment prospects. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research approach was adopted using in-depth interviews amongst ten SME owners and 20 undergraduate marketing students of a...