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The focus of this article is on the detailed elements of distribution. A form of checklist is developed of the key elements that need to be considered by any company, not just retailers, in setting a distribution strategy.

Should small customers be supplied from salesvans? The costs are compared with the traditional practice of salesmen taking orders for subsequent delivery.

In 1986 a study was carried out in a number of small companies in the UK that manufacture to customer requirements. The primary objective was to assess the relevance and importance to industry of ideas developed in earlier research at Lancaster University, relating the order quotation process to production and sales. However, in the course of the study a great deal was learnt about the industrial sectors examined.

The smaller warehouse cannot afford to use the most sophisticated computer systems but here is an introduction to what can be done to improve their picking systems.

Structures alternative methods used to determine marketing's quantitative pressure effects for retailing, consumer and industrial markets. Suggests manufacturers try to convince retail outlets that it should not only stock their products, but should also have them on prominent display. Proposes that both wholesalers and retailers will more likely stock products that are widely advertised believing that sales will be higher for heavily promoted products. States after‐sales service in some consumer markets (durables) might also be important so must be included, as it is likely to be more important even than advertising. Examines retailing's problems of trying to get customers to enter a shop and looks at ways and means of doing this. Uses a study of a chain of carpet shops using figures for emphasis. Discusses also consumer marketing and the various methods of doing this. Covers industrial marketing, giving worked example. Closes by stating there are differences between industrial and consumer marketing, though there are also similarities — such as use of effective salesforce deployment.

Because of the marketing role of distribution it is not always appropriate to take a cost minimisation approach to distribution planning — the needs of the market must first be understood.

LAST April, when he announced his recommendations concerning the detergent industry, the then President of the Board of Trade told the House of Commons that too little was known about the economic effects of advertising in general and its relationship to competition. If he had been speaking in a wider context, he might have said that the descriptive theories of marketing are inadequate when complex decisions have to be made. In an increasingly numerate society, it is important to develop mathematical models which at one extreme will allow the Monopolies Commission to resolve questions relating to company mergers and at the other will enable the small shopkeeper to take decisions about his retail outlet.

Presents a series of articles on each of the following topics: digital strategy in the next millennium (Digital strategy – a model for the millennium; Searching for the next competitive edge; The technology link; Value web management opportunities; clash of the Titans: communications companies battle for new ground; and a guide through the maze); retailing and distribution in the digital era (The business case for electronic commerce; superdistribution spells major changes; VF Corp. sews up software operation; IBM seeks to harness digital revolution; Egghead’s bold move to a Web‐based strategy; achieving successful Internet banking; and enterprising uses for IT); and the changing shape of the aviation industry (boom times ahead for air cargo; United Airlines flies high through employee ownership; Asian practices to West at Cathay Pacific; and Ryannair strips to the bone).

Many readers will be familiar with the Reports of the Prices and Incomes Board on topics from bread and bus fares to fletton bricks and university teachers' pay. But what are the grinding principles behind its delibera‐tions, and how does its activity restrict the freedom for marketing manoeuvre which modern management needs? Is the PIB an attempt to arrive at the medieval principles of the “just price”, or are these concepts of social costs and market orientated pricing a part of its philosophy? These are the issues raised in this exclusive interview, when Gordon Wills, Editor of “Management Decision” and Senior Lecturer in Marketing Studies at the Management Centre in the University of Bradford talked to AUBREY JONES, Chairman of the National Board for Prices and Incomes.

This paper examines the effectiveness of the reliance on a leader’s reputation as an informal control tool to mitigate subordinates’ budgetary slack. In addition, it seeks to explain whether this relationship is mediated by subordinates’ truthfulness in revealing their private information.

A laboratory experiment was conducted involving 60 undergraduate business students who participated in the experiment. A 1 × 2 between-subjects design was employed for the experimental study. Each subject assumed the role of a production manager responsible for setting a budget target. The experimental task employed involved a simple decoding task adapted from Chow (1983).

The results of this study indicate that budgetary slack is lower when a leader’s reputation is favourable than when it is unfavourable. In addition, it is found that subordinates’ truthfulness in revealing private information fully mediates the relationship between a leader’s reputation and budgetary slack.

This paper extends the limited literature on the reliance of informal controls in mitigating budgetary slack by examining a leader’s reputation as an informal control. The findings of this study provide important implications for the design of effective management control systems.