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This study applied the grounded theory method of data collection and analysis to the social phenomenon of beer consumption in Australia. The aim was to explore a popular Australian consumption activity to provide an insight into the consumption process in general, and the consumption of beer in particular. The output is a substantive theory of beer consumption that describes the specific cognitive and emotional processes involved in the selection and consumption of particular brands of beer amongst members of the Australian culture. Image management was found to be the core category pertaining to Australian beer consumption, with the associated properties being monitoring, analysing, and communicating. The implications of the category and properties for current consumer behaviour theories are outlined.

The paper investigates the effects of global value chains (GVCs) and technological innovation on exports. The paper builds a new dataset from two database, the EORA and the OECD stan database. Using a pooled OLS and a two-stage quantile regression technique on a sample of 8 OECD countries, the results suggest that the effects of GVCs participation are heterogeneous across countries. We find that at the aggregate level, GVCs and forward participation are negatively associated with exports growth. However, we only find evidence of a positive effect of backward participation on exports in the case of France and Germany. At the disaggregated level, we find that: (a) an increase in GVCs participation in low technology intensive sectors is positively associated with exports’growth; (b) an increase in GVCs participation in high technology intensive sector is negatively correlated with exports’growth. The findings stress the importance of GVCs as a driving channel for subdue economic growth in low technological sectors.

The aim of this paper is to identify the effects of business cycles on industrial business‐to‐business relationships within extremely volatile industries.

The paper is an in‐depth case study on Outotec plc, a leading provider of technologies for the mining and metal industries.

The study identifies the changes in a business relationship during a business cycle as the dominance between the parties and the cooperative and the competitive nature of the relationship alternate.

The study identifies ways to smooth the effects of business cycles in extremely volatile industries from the viewpoint of a project‐based technology provider.

While a significant amount of macroeconomic research on cycles and a few studies on industry‐specific business cycles can be found, this study is a rare example of company‐specific research on surviving business cycles.

Increasing emphasis on the fat content of foods has focused particular attention on red meat and poultry because most of the fat is highly visible. At least some of the trend towards a decreased proportion of beef and lamb in total meat and poultry consumption in many countries can probably be attributed to consumer concern about the fat content of retail cuts of meat. Discusses the reasons for and implications of these trends; describes production and processing practices to facilitate the supply of leaner red meat. While there are formidable problems in reducing the fat content of beef and lamb in retail markets, in the long term these barriers need to be addressed to prevent further erosion of market share.

The purpose of this paper is to characterize consumers of traditional foods, taking as case study fresh cheeses produced in a village, in Central Mexico.

Semi-structured interviews were applied to a sample of 150 consumers, selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling. A factorial analysis by principal component analysis was performed to the data, followed by a cluster analysis.

Four factors were obtained, named: artisanship, health and well-being, liking, and satisfaction with the purchase. Three consumer groups were identified: practical, in the process of valorization, and with liking and tradition. The socioeconomic characteristics of consumers do not have a relationship in the classification of groups. It is concluded that the consumption of fresh cheeses is due to a number of social and cultural attributes, and in lesser proportion, to economic aspects.

At present, as part of life in a dynamic society, people have the power of choice in the food they consume, a process that involves cultural, social, economic, political, and ideological aspects, established by the consumers themselves, or by a determined social group to which they belong. This has not been researched in Mexico. Being an emerging economy immersed in a rapid process of globalization, studies like this contribute in similar countries of Latin America and other places to find ways to valorize local foods and products that play important roles in the development of rural communities.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding on the impact of quality management (QM) tools and techniques in water supply infrastructure maintenance and the generation of non-revenue water (NRW) by Namibian Municipal Water Distributors.

In-depth interviews were selected as the primary data collection method, while secondary data were collected using document review and observations. In-depth interviews as primary method provided rich data and details on the subject matter from the respondents. Document review and observations provided a holistic perspective and understanding of the context within which the maintenance projects are handled by municipal water distributors.

The study found that as the number of QM tools employed to analyze maintenance data increases, the generation of NRW by the municipality decreases. However, for the tools to be effective, they should cover applications such as problem identification, data analysis, process analysis, decision making, planning, quality control and statistical process control, this helped Namibian municipalities to produce low volumes of NRW. In contrast, municipalities using QM tools arbitrarily lead to high quantities of NRW generation.

The World Bank recommends that NRW should be less than 25 percent of the total water produced, while in many countries NRW is up to 60 percent. Developed economies have made efforts to reduce NRW but efforts are still at nascent stage in emerging economies. This is the first study providing evidences of QM tools application in maintenance process and effect on NRW.

While the wine market is significant in Australia, very little has been done in the way of consumer research to investigate Australians' attitudes towards the product. This study explored the physical and social contexts that are considered appropriate for wine consumption in Australia. Interviews were conducted with 82 adults, adolescents, and children across three Australian states. The findings indicate that the apparent preference of females for wine over other forms of alcohol is contrived by the social environment in which Australians live and consume, as is the tendency for many men to avoid wine consumption in particular informal contexts. Wine marketers need to be aware of the extent to which different segments of the population adhere to the social norms surrounding wine consumption in order to select appropriate ways to attempt to integrate wine more fully into a wider range of consumption contexts.

To prospectively investigate the alcohol consumption and health‐related behaviours of Australian police officers.

Demographic, work environment, general health and wellbeing, and alcohol consumption measures were obtained from 100 Australian police officers at two time points; the first as they underwent initial training before the commencement of operational policing duties (time 1), and the second after they had completed 12 months of operational duties (time 2).

Results indicated a significant increase in the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption over time. The number of female officers, but not male officers, who reported drinking at harmful levels increased between time periods. Overall, there were no changes in the number of officers who reported risk of harmful drinking or alcohol dependency. Alcohol consumption measure scores were not associated with age, marital status, education level, general health and wellbeing, or work‐environment variables. Smoking was associated with harmful drinking behaviour at time 1, but not at time 2. The number of officers who reported smoking increased significantly over time.

This paper builds on findings of previous studies by examining the within‐groups reported drinking behaviours of a sample of Australian police officers for changes over time associated with exposure to police work and the police environment.