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Article
Publication date: 16 January 2017

Vegard Kolbjørnsrud, Richard Amico and Robert J. Thomas

According to the authors’ research, while top-level executives look forward to the potential of artificial intelligent systems in their firms, line managers are much more…

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Abstract

Purpose

According to the authors’ research, while top-level executives look forward to the potential of artificial intelligent systems in their firms, line managers are much more skeptical. This article advises on i8mplementation strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on findings from Accenture’s survey of 1,770 managers in 14 countries and interviews with 37 senior executives responsible for digital transformation, the authors have identified patterns in managers’ attitudes and offer strategies for effective adoption of the new technology.

Findings

When managers have a say and involvement in initial training efforts, they gain a sense of ownership throughout the learning process as well as familiarity with intelligent systems.

Practical implications

The introduction of AI will put a premium on “soft” skills such as collaboration, creativity and good judgment, which may be just as important, if not more important, than technical skills in the future.

Originality/value

The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) promises to transform the nature of work and the relationship among human beings and machines in organizations. When the authors asked whether leaders would be comfortable with AI monitoring and evaluating their work, 42 percent of the top managers in our survey strongly agreed, while only 15 percent of first-line managers shared the same sentiment.” This research discovered that top executives cannot assume that mid- and lower-level managers will share their appreciation for AI.

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 45 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 October 2020

Robert James Thomas, Gareth Reginald Terence White and Anthony Samuel

The purpose of this study is to evaluate children’s perceptions and attitudes towards sponsorship transition, specifically the change from Nike to PUMA as kit sponsors for…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to evaluate children’s perceptions and attitudes towards sponsorship transition, specifically the change from Nike to PUMA as kit sponsors for Manchester City Football Club (MCFC) in July 2019.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 368 children, between 7 and 16 years of age were recruited for the study. Using electronic diaries, 1,577 diary entries were captured between February 2019 and March 2020.

Findings

Data reveals that children conceptualise sponsorship as a social exchange, with sponsoring brands seen as human entities and interaction with them reflecting the dynamism of social and familial relationships. Consequently, children in this study demanded prosocial and interpersonal behaviours from sponsors and sponsee during the transition period.

Research limitations/implications

The research has an immediate and direct application for brand managers and the sponsee when considering terminating long-term sponsorship. Both the departing and incoming sponsors can maximise their relationships with these younger fans through an orchestrated departure, arrival and dedicated handover.

Practical implications

The findings enable marketing brand managers to effectively evaluate sponsor transition to maximise opportunities to maintain, and indeed start, brand relationships with younger fans.

Originality/value

This is the first study that has examined sponsorship children’s responses to sponsorship transition.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 June 2021

Robert James Thomas, Gareth Reginald Terence White and Anthony Samuel

The purpose of this research is to understand what motivates 7–11-year-old children to participate in online brand communities (OBCs). Prior research has concentrated on…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to understand what motivates 7–11-year-old children to participate in online brand communities (OBCs). Prior research has concentrated on prescriptive product categories (games and gaming), predominantly adolescent groups and the social aspects of community engagement and actual behaviour within communities, rather than the motivations to participate with the OBC. This has ultimately limited what has been gleaned, both theoretically and managerially, from this important segment.

Design/methodology/approach

An interpretive, longitudinal position is adopted, using a sample of 261 children (113 male and 148 female) from across the UK, using event-based diaries over a 12-month period, generating 2,224 entries.

Findings

Data indicate that children are motivated to participate in a brand community for four reasons: to support and ameliorate pre-purchase anxieties, resolve interpersonal conflicts, exact social dominance in terms of product ownership and perceptions of product knowledge and to actively engage in digitalised pester power. The study also reveals that certain motivational aspects such as conflict resolution and exacting dominance, are gender-specific.

Research limitations/implications

Knowledge of children’s motivation to engage with OBCs is important for marketers and brand managers alike as the data reveal markedly different stimuli when compared to known adult behaviours in the field. Given the nature of the study, scope exists for significant future research.

Practical implications

The study reveals behaviours that will assist brand managers in further understanding the complex and untraditional relationships that children have with brands and OBCs.

Originality/value

This study makes a novel examination of a hitherto little-explored segment of consumers. In doing so, it uncovers the theoretical and practical characteristics of child consumers that contemporary, adult-focussed literature does not recognise. The paper makes an additional contribution to theory by positing four new behavioural categories relating to community engagement – dependers, defusers, demanders and dominators – and four new motivational factors which are fundamentally different from adult taxonomies – social hegemony, parental persuasion, dilemma solving and conflict resolution.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 55 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 February 2021

Robert James Thomas, Gareth Reginald Terence White and Anthony Samuel

The purpose of this paper is to explore the social and personal drivers of co-creation in children.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the social and personal drivers of co-creation in children.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 463 children aged between 7 and 13 years were recruited. Using electronic event-based diaries, 2,631 entries were captured during an 18-month period.

Findings

Data from 861 entries identified a series of anomalous external social and personal factors that drove children to engage in co-creation. These were for maintaining external relationships, dealing with addiction to the co-creation process and dealing with personal loneliness.

Research limitations/implications

The study reveals new, unconventional and gender-specific behaviours that might assist marketers in understanding children’s complex relationships with co-creation and brands.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to examine children’s social and personal drives to engage in co-creation.

Details

Young Consumers, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-3616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 October 2019

Daniel Parker, Michael Taylor, Julio Romero Johnson and Keith Robert Thomas

The purpose of this paper is to analyse data from routine quality control samples of beer over a ten year period to provide comparisons with a previous study in 2006 and apply…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse data from routine quality control samples of beer over a ten year period to provide comparisons with a previous study in 2006 and apply interpretations to the contemporary beer market.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from laboratory analysis of 1,469 beers submitted for due diligence quality assurance from commercial microbreweries were analysed. Additional commercial samples were taken for analysis of sour beers and cask conditioned beers as examples of niche product areas.

Findings

Style characteristics were summarized as a reference for industry evaluation and as a basis for comparisons. Differences were noted between the characteristics found and those of a similar study in 2006. Average alcohol by volume increased by 1.2 per cent, bitterness levels increased by 6.1 per cent while colour decreased by 22 per cent. These differences suggest that standard UK beers are undergoing change. A study of sour beers indicated specific features in this recently popular style and confirmed the use of a different microbiology. Analysis of cask ales indicated some variability in quality suggesting the need for greater quality control.

Research limitations/implications

The comparison with the previous study has limitations as the samples were not individually comparable but were from major established microbreweries and so representative of the industry. The work analysed UK beers only but will act as a base line for comparison to other markets. Moreover, the data may be relevant to other forms of market analysis seeking to identify factors associated to consumer preferences.

Practical implications

The data presented have relevance to breweries looking to develop their portfolios and product descriptions, to the drinking public and to regulatory bodies in providing a benchmark for comparisons and for assisting in defining the recently promoted term “craft beer”.

Social implications

The findings are relevant to beverage development and consumer education of alcoholic beverages by allowing discrimination between styles with different characteristics affecting consumer choice and when assessing styles for industrial, legislative and health research. Beers today appear to be more varied than in past decades but show lower colour and higher bitterness characteristics. As these features particularly relate to ingredients they may have implications in their contributions to diet and health.

Originality/value

The work has value in replicating the previous study to illustrate changes and trends. It presents novel data on recently popular sour beers and assesses traditional cask beer with implications for product quality.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 122 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 July 2021

Ibrahim Lewis Mukattash, Ala' Omar Dandis, Robert Thomas, Mohammad B. Nusair and Tareq Lewis Mukattash

The overall objective of this research is to “explore whether shock advertising has a long-lasting positive effect on the smoking cessation among smoking Jordanians in a country…

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Abstract

Purpose

The overall objective of this research is to “explore whether shock advertising has a long-lasting positive effect on the smoking cessation among smoking Jordanians in a country where smoking is a deep-rooted social norm.”

Design/methodology/approach

This research is an exploratory qualitative research. A purposeful sampling technique was used to select participants from a mall intercept and randomly divided into groups of seven. Each group was interviewed in two different focus group sessions (four weeks apart). All focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Findings

A total of 41 participants took part in the focus group session. Most participants were smokers or second-hand smokers. “Three overarching themes were generated from the focus groups: previous anti-smoking campaign experience, shock advertising (SA) impact and drawbacks of SA. All participants reported that they have never been exposed to shocking adverts, and the shock appeal has never been applied in any of the anti-smoking or health awareness campaigns in Jordan. This research revealed that incorporating images of children with a mixture of emotional and fear appeals is effective in targeting Jordanian parents' negative consumptive behaviors, which may harm other individuals, especially children. Moreover, most participants commented that the effects of shock adverts would be very short term and would not likely change behaviors”.

Originality/value

This research contributes both “theoretically and practically to the value and effectiveness of shock advertising. This research area is overlooked in MENA countries, particularly Jordan”.

Details

International Journal of Emerging Markets, vol. 18 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-8809

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Review of Marketing Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7656-1305-9

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1999

Robert J. Thomas

This article deals with the difficulty of creating a “leadership team.” Increasingly, organizations are finding it unworkable for a single almighty leader at the top to understand…

Abstract

This article deals with the difficulty of creating a “leadership team.” Increasingly, organizations are finding it unworkable for a single almighty leader at the top to understand the full complexity of the business, build consensus throughout the business, and call all the shots. Instead, many are arranging for the leadership function to be performed by teams, perhaps of two equals, perhaps of whole, cross‐functional committees. The problem is that, while the idea is excellent in principle, very few companies have actually succeeded in creating effective leadership teams. In this article, the author describes that problem and addresses it with an approach to building leadership teams. Importantly, the approach recognizes and integrates elements of leadership teamwork that can be engineered and elements that must be cultivated and grown over time, and is well positioned in terms of the current scholarship on leadership development and team‐building.

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 27 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2016

Robert J. Thomas

The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of identifying market segments in multistage markets and assessing whether their alignment could provide a useful…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of identifying market segments in multistage markets and assessing whether their alignment could provide a useful managerial approach to find competitive advantage and better understand market opportunities.

Design/methodology/approach

Using data from a pilot project, need-based market segments from different market stages were identified and their potential alignment evaluated. The data were not designed to test hypotheses, nor were they originally intended to be used to align segments. Nevertheless, they provided a unique opportunity to explore multistage segmentation and segment alignment in a business-to-business (B2B) setting.

Findings

Overall, the findings of this exploratory study should encourage both academics and practitioners to continue to explore the possibility of studying and aligning multistage market segments. The possibility of aligning segments was demonstrated using visual alignment based on managerial judgment of data and alignment based on a combined cluster analysis of customers across the multistage markets.

Research limitations/implications

First, the market research was not specifically designed to formulate and test hypotheses about the feasibility of aligning segments in multistage markets – it is an exploratory study. The research was based on a pilot project, and the survey-derived databases were conveniently available for analysis. While sample sizes were small, they are typical of many B2B markets. Second, to more effectively study complex relationships in multistage markets, it would have been desirable to include a more comprehensive set of needs. Each market stage has not only a set of their own perceived needs but also a set of perceptions of the needs of other stages. Third, as in many B2B studies, the data used in this pilot project were based on single informants.

Practical implications

A common complaint among firms is that B2B market segmentation does not really work that well for them. An unexplored reason for this may be that true market segmentation does not stop with one’s direct customer, but should also include the customer’s customer and so on, in a multistage market segmentation structure. One implication of the research presented here suggests that better understanding the segmentation structure in a multistage market can enlighten the opportunities and risks of implementing such a strategy. Multistage market segmentation alignment may lead to innovative positioning and message levers for the sales force to use as an argument to gain advantage according to common and unique aligned segment needs.

Social implications

The process may be applied to social institutions in addition to commercial organizations.

Originality/value

While it is obvious that market segmentation can be applied to any single market of customers, the question of applying it to complex multistage markets needs additional exploration. The original idea in this paper is that the potential for strategically aligning multistage markets and segments can have both conceptual and managerial implications for establishing competitive advantage and more efficient and effective resource allocation. The paper shows that that such alignment is possible; however, research and research methods in this area are nascent and will require continued step-by-step learning about these complex market structures to build up to a more definitive understanding of the processes involved to guide future research and managerial thinking.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 31 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2006

Michael Romanos

This paper aims to provide a selection of poetry titles from the Poets House Showcase of 2005.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a selection of poetry titles from the Poets House Showcase of 2005.

Design/methodology/approach

This article gives a review of the 2005 Poetry Publication Showcase.

Findings

This review represents a wide‐ranging selection of contemporary poetry collections and anthologies.

Originality/value

This list documents the tremendous range of poetry publishing from commercial, independent and university presses as well as letterpress chapbooks, art books and CDs in 2004 and early 2005.

Details

Collection Building, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0160-4953

Keywords

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