Vaughan C. Judd

Differentiate with the 5th P: People

Abstract This article examines traditional marketing views of employees to develop a differentiated marketing strategy to gain a competitive advantage. Based on a suggested topology of employees, it is proposed that employees be recognized as a distinctive element of the marketing mix—people-power—and consequently as an integral part of marketing strategy. By managing its employees in terms of newly defined, customer-related roles, an organization can gain a competitive advantage by being perceived as distinctly different from its competitors.

Achieving a customer orientation using “people‐power,” the “5th P”

There have been scant references in the marketing literature to conceptualizing an organizations employees as an element of the organizations marketing mix. Extending previous conceptualizations of employees in a business marketing and a nonprofit marketing context, it is proposed that all organizations have the ability to move beyond their traditional view of employees in order to capitalize on “people‐power” as a distinctive element of their marketing mixes; an element that can help them become customer‐oriented to gain a competitive advantage through differentiation and to deliver customer value. To do so presents a real managerial challenge for any organization. It is a challenge worth undertaking, however, because successful implementation will help an organization achieve a customer‐orientation and more effectively meet the needs of its customers.

Evaluation and assessment of a library instruction component of an introduction to business course: a continuous process

This paper discusses the ongoing process of creating, evaluating and assessing the library instruction (LI) component of an undergraduate introduction to business course. Business faculty and librarians worked collaboratively in this process. The changing content and format of the LI sessions are discussed, as well as the development of assignments. The paper attempts to evaluate the LI component in terms of its goals, content, format and effectiveness in instruction; and to access the outcome in terms of student learning. A construct of instructional effectiveness based on three components – operational, constitutive, and behavioral definitions – was created and the evaluation form derived from this construct.

Toward a Customer-Orientation and a Differentiated Position in a Nonprofit Organization: Using the 5th P-People

SUMMARY There have been scant references in the marketing literature to conceptualizing an organizations employees as an element of the organizations marketing mix. Extending a previous conceptualization in a manufactured product-market context, this paper focuses on nonprofit organizations. It proposes that nonprofit organizations move beyond their traditional view of their employees in order to capitalize on “people-power” as a distinctive element of their marketing mixes. To do so presents a real managerial challenge for any nonprofit organization. It is a challenge worth undertaking, however, because successful implementation will help an organization achieve a customer-orientation and more effectively meet the needs of its customers (clients, patients, students, etc.) with competitively viable offerings.

International marketing and electronic government sources: a collaborative research strategy workshop

Reference and document librarians are increasingly faced with questions about international marketing as a result of globalization. Knowing where to look for specialized information of this kind can be a daunting task. While the focus of this paper is to describe an international marketing workshop, the sources described and the types of questions raised in the workshop can be helpful to busy reference librarians. This paper describes four US government sources that are available in electronic format. Using these electronic sources, librarians can quickly answer a variety of questions, or show patrons how they can find information free of charge.

U.S. Government Electronic Data Sources for Global Marketing Decisions: An Evaluation and Classroom Application

Abstract The amount of information available to business people interested in global marketing opportunities is overwhelming. The United States government publishes a vast amount of information, a great deal of which is available electronically on the Internet and CD-ROMs. This paper evaluates the usefulness of four of the governments most important electronic sources of global marketing information. It will serve to guide students as future marketers and faculty members as to what is the most appropriate and likely source according to their specific information needs. The paper also describes a workshop using these sources which can be incorporated into a marketing course.