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The purpose of this paper is to establish whether consumer focus groups can generate reliable data when used as a consumer research input to copy/graphic design development for retail food packaging.

Six focus groups of six consumers each (n=36) were used to assess four concept designs for a manuka honey cordial product. The focus groups were used to rank the design concepts and to generate specific consumer-driven recommendations to develop/improve each of the designs. A new version of each design was then developed using these recommendations. The eight designs (four original and four improved) were tested together, using a quantitative field experiment at a supermarket in the area from which the focus group sample was drawn.

The results showed that the focus group rankings of the four original designs were largely predictive of the outcomes of the field trial. The improved designs also consistently outperformed their original equivalents in the field trials. Very large improvements were recorded with respect to the weaker original designs.

The research only studied a single product type. However, the results demonstrate that focus group outcomes can be extended onto larger populations if the focus group sample is large enough.

These results support the use of consumer focus groups as a research input to package graphic design development.

Focus groups are used regularly in research where the applicability of their results to larger populations is assumed. This is the first research to formally test that assumption.

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a “partnership‐research” study of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour within the “local government” setting of the Wolverhampton City Council Social Care Department, and to describe how the research supports and challenges the organisation's existing “leadership and management behavioural competency framework”. Additionally, it reveals and discusses the extent to which the results are consistent with equivalent and comparable findings from an equivalent study within a “central government” department.

Concrete examples of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour were collected using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) of Flanagan, and the obtained data were analysed using content and thematic analytic methods.

The paper finds that from a total of 218 usable critical incidents 50 discrete behavioural items were identified, of which 25 were examples of “effective” and 25 of “ineffective” behaviour. A comparison against equivalent findings from the “central government” study revealed high degrees of overlap with 92 per cent of the “effective” and 96 per cent of the “ineffective” behavioural items being the same as, similar to, or containing some congruence of meaning.

Although the number of CIT informants (n=40) falls at the top end of the typical sample range for qualitative research, it is possible that data collection “saturation” has not been reached. Whereas the subject of the present “local government” study was first line and middle managers, the focus of the compared “central government” study also included senior managers.

The results of this replica research lend additional empirical support to those who believe in “generic” and “universalistic “ explanations of managerial and leadership effectiveness.

This paper aims to report the results of a replication study of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness within a Romanian public sector hospital, and to discuss the extent to which they are similar to and different from findings from equivalent studies carried out in two British NHS Trust hospitals.

Concrete examples (critical incidents) of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour were collected using Flanagan's critical incident technique (CIT). The critical incidents were content analyzed to identify a smaller number of behavioural statements (BSs). These were then compared and contrasted against two British BS data sets using realist qualitative analytic methods, and deductively coded and sorted into extant behavioural categories.

A total of 57 BSs were identified of which 30 were examples of effective and 27 of least effective/ineffective managerial behaviour. The multi‐case/cross‐nation comparative analysis revealed high degrees of commonality and relative generalization between the Romanian and British findings.

Data saturation may not have been achieved during the CIT collection phase of the study. The relevance and transferability of the findings to other public sector hospitals in Romania have yet to be demonstrated empirically. The results have potential as “best evidence” to inform and shape “evidence‐based HRD” initiatives designed to train and develop effective managers and leaders within the health services sector of Romania and the United Kingdom.

The study is a rare example of indigenous managerial behaviour research in a non‐Anglo country. The results lend strong empirical support for universalistic explanations of the nature of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness.

The concept of managers assuming developmental roles such as coaches and learning facilitators has received considerable attention in recent years. Yet, despite the growing body of expert opinion that suggests that coaching is an essential core activity of everyday management and leadership, the literature base remains largely atheoretical and devoid of empirical research. While there is some consensus about what effective coaching looks like, little if any empirical research has examined ineffective coaching behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to compare the empirical findings from three separately conducted studies to derive a comprehensive understanding of the ineffective behaviours associated with managerial coaching.

The current study adopted a cross‐national “etic” methodology based on the empirical findings generated by three previously conducted and purposefully selected “emic” studies. Drawing on Berry's and Lyons and Chryssochoous' “emic‐etic” approach and cross‐cultural comparisons, the researchers employed Guba and Lincoln's file card approach to analyze and compare the three behavioral datasets of the previously conducted studies.

The findings from this cross‐national comparative “etic” study revealed that the vast majority of ineffective coaching behaviours previously identified in the emic studies were held in common with each other. The predominant ineffective behaviours included using an autocratic, directive, controlling or dictatorial style, ineffective communication and dissemination of information, and inappropriate behaviours and approaches to working with employees. Of the 17 ineffective behaviours that were compared only three were not held in common.

Limitations associated with this cross‐national study included minor variations in the use of data collection approaches and samples of managers in the previously conducted emic studies.

The ineffective managerial coaching behaviours derived from the cross‐national comparisons can be integrated as diagnostic tools into coaching training programmes and management and leadership development programmes to improve the practice of managerial coaching. They can also be used to increase managers' awareness of the behaviours that impede their coaching interventions with their respective employees.

The literature base on coaching in general and managerial coaching in particular has been criticized for not being research‐informed and evidence‐based, but rather predominantly practice‐driven and guru‐led. The findings from the current cross‐national etic study not only add to a sparse base of empirical research on managerial coaching, but also illuminate an underdeveloped area, namely that of ineffective managerial coaching practice. Furthermore, the findings provide a foundation on which to compare and contrast future empirical research that may be conducted on managerial coaching behaviours.

The aim of this study was to identify what people in Mexican organizations perceive as effective and ineffective managerial behavior.

A qualitative study based on the grounded theory approach was conducted. Interviews using the critical incident techniques were conducted with 35 participants from six different companies located in Yucatan, Mexico.

Results suggest that effective managers in Mexico are considered approachable, democratic, fair, considerate, understanding, supportive, caring, and hard working with problem solving skills.

This study is based on the responses of participants located in one region of Mexico. This study focused on the perceptions of Mexican participants only.

Findings of this study have practical implications for human resources professionals, Mexican managers, and expatriates who manage operations and manage people in Mexico. Human resources professionals can use the findings of this study to develop programs for leadership and management development. For Mexican managers, this study set parameters of what is considered effective or ineffective management behavior. Also, the findings of this study can help multinational companies better prepare expatriates for their international assignments in Mexico.

The article explores leadership practices internationally.

This paper examines the attitudes of the New Zealand wine industry towards the proposed New Zealand ‘Registered Origin’ appellation policy. Existing appellations are reviewed, including the motives for their establishment, their performance, and their relationship with the marketing activities of wine producers. The review concludes that existing appellations could be divided into two groups, the ‘active’ appellations of the Old World, and the ‘passive’ appellations of the New World. Passive appellations make assumptions as to industry behaviour. These assumptions are identified. These assumptions have to be both understood and supported by an industry if they are to adequately support a passive appellation policy. An interview survey of New Zealand wine producers examines the industry's understanding of the proposed passive appellation. The results suggest that the level of understanding is low, at around 25% of those interviewed, which has negative implications for the proposed appellation.

This study seeks to examine the managerial behavior of Chinese managers, as observed by their superiors, subordinates, and peers in a state‐owned enterprise in China. Specifically, this study aims to explore two questions. First, what managerial behaviors are perceived as being effective in the Chinese state‐owned enterprise? Second, what managerial behaviors are perceived as being least effective or ineffective in the Chinese state‐owned enterprise?

An exploratory qualitative study was conducted using critical incident (CI) interview techniques. From 35 managers of one large state‐owned telecommunication company in Western China, 230 usable CIs were collected. In total, 31 themes were identified from the thematic analysis, of which 14 related to effective managerial behaviors and 17 related to ineffective behaviors.

An effective Chinese manager is perceived as being supportive, caring, fair, engaging, self‐disciplined, unselfish, responsible, and knowledgeable. While findings of the study highlight the continuing influence of the traditional Chinese culture on the perceived effectiveness of managerial behaviors, they also suggest a clear shift from traditional values that emphasize authoritarian management to Western values that encourage participative management.

While the small sample may limit the generalizability of the study, findings expand the current knowledge base of Chinese management and can be useful for further empirical testing.

This study provides some parameters for benchmarking and evaluating Chinese managerial practices. The identified indicators of effective and ineffective managerial behaviors can be incorporated into the development of a Chinese management competency model or instrument, and a more targeted management development intervention.

This study taps an under‐explored research territory – China, and is one of the first attempts at identifying effective managerial behavior indicators of Chinese managers using the CI technique. By adopting an inductive approach this study provides rich qualitative data that can be useful for developing an indigenous tool appropriate in the Chinese context.

This chapter seeks to increase our understanding of health care employees' perceptions of effective and ineffective leadership behavior within their organization.

Interviews were conducted with 59 employees working in a diversity of positions within the case study hospital. Interviewees were asked to cite behaviors of both an effective and an ineffective leader in their organization. They were also asked to clarify whether their example described the behavior of a formal or informal leader. Grounded theory data analysis techniques were used and findings were interpreting using existing leadership behavior theories.

(1) There was a consistent link between effective leadership and relationally oriented behaviors. (2) Employees identified both formal and informal leadership within their hospital. (3) There were both similarities and differences with respect to the types of behaviors attributed to informal versus formal leaders. (4) Informants cited a number of leadership behaviors not yet accounted for in the leadership behavior literature (e.g., ‘hands on’, ‘professional’, ‘knows organization’). (5) Ineffective leadership behavior is not simply the opposite of effective leadership.

Findings support the following ideas: (1) there may be a relationship between the type of job held by employees in health care organizations and their perceptions of leader behavior, and (2) leadership behavior theories are not yet comprehensive enough to account for the varieties of leadership behavior in a health care organization. This study is limited by the fact that it focused on only those leadership theories that considered leader behavior.

There are two practical implications for health care organizations: (1) leaders should recognize that the type of behavior an employee prefers from a leader may vary by follower job group (e.g., nurses may prefer relational behavior more than managerial staff do), and (2) organizations could improve leader development programs and evaluation tools by identifying ineffective leadership behaviors that they want to see reduced within their workplace.

Health care organizations could use these findings to identify informal leaders in their organization and invest in training and development for them in hopes that these individuals will have positive direct or indirect impacts on patient, staff, and organizational outcomes through their informal leadership role.

This study contributes to research and practice on leadership behavior in health care organizations by explicitly considering effective and ineffective leader behavior preferences across multiple job types in a health care organization. Such a study has not previously been done despite the multi-professional nature of health care organizations.

This paper seeks to examine long‐term trends in retailer and manufacturer brand shares in grocery product categories, and to relate these trends to retailer category strategy with regard to these two types of brand.

The study makes use of secondary data and empirical materials from the literature to establish and explain the trends in four countries: the UK, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand. Additionally, interview data are used to develop issues.

The results indicate the existence of long‐term equilibrium points between the shares of manufacturer brands and retailer brands in grocery product categories in the USA, New Zealand and Australia. Only the UK shows strong growth of retailer brands in line with retailer consolidation and power, but this trend is arrested, reversed and brought to equilibrium in 2001.

The data presented are restricted to four major English‐speaking economies between 1992 and 2005. The data are also consolidated national data. Equilibria within individual categories will vary due to variations in category structure and pace of innovation.

This research indicates that major retailers deploy manufacturer brands to drive the categories via innovation and retailer brands to generate additional profit for the retailers. Therefore manufacturer brands do have a long‐term future. Individual manufacturer brands are likely to be assessed by the retailer primarily on this driving capability, and on the manufacturers' ongoing investment in the capacity to innovate that supports it.

The paper provides a fresh perspective of looking at retailer and manufacturer strategy via brand share trends.

This paper aims to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of experimental design and development in academic marketing since 1950.

The paper does so by taking one experimental design, Latin Square, and describing its history and development within academic marketing in detail.

The Latin Square is a powerful experimental technique that first rose to prominence in agriculture in the 1920s and has remained a key tool in this discipline ever since. The technique was introduced into marketing in 1953, and enjoyed a period of great influence and popularity until 1973, when it abruptly disappeared from the publications of the discipline. Careful investigation of the research record of this period revealed that its demise was due to increasingly poor application method that led to compromised results, combined with an erroneous assignation of superior capabilities to full and fractional factorials that occurred at approximately the same time.

Two major implications arise from these findings. First, the discipline has incorrectly retired a tool that is still unmatched in some key research situations. Second, the errors that led to the technique's demise led to the rise of other techniques that do not have the capabilities that many researchers appear to think they have.

This is the first longitudinal historical case study of a single research technique that has appeared in print in a major journal, and it reveals aspects of the discipline's approach to science that could not have been illustrated in any other way.