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The purpose of the study was to devise an instrument, labelled the Fine Wine Instrument (FWI), to measure the fine wine behaviour of respondents and then use that base to segment the consumer sample. The behaviour of those respondents who scored highly on the FWI was examined in detail.

An online survey collected quantitative information from a convenience sample of Australian wine consumers (n = 1,017). Using the FWI as the segmentation base, cluster analysis identified three segments of consumers, denoted “Wine Enthusiasts”, “Aspirants” and “No Frills” wine drinkers, and their respective wine-related behaviours were examined.

The Wine Enthusiasts’ segment consumed more wine, spent more money on wine and were more knowledgeable about wine than the other two segments. The demographics of the Wine Enthusiasts’ segment indicated that the members were not consistent with the conventional view of wine connoisseurs, as many were under the age of 35. Their lifetime value to the wine industry was highlighted along with potential targeting strategies. Some structural elements of the Australian domestic wine market were also noted.

A segmentation base of a wine market is presented, which the authors argue provides a more sophisticated analysis than other commonly used segmentation bases.

This study was the first to segment the Australian market using the recently developed FWI. The study provides the latest information on this market and deeper consumer insights that may permit better business-to-consumer engagement.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the degree to which wine consumers in South Australia have different liking for white wine styles, and to relate reported liking to wine knowledge and demographic differences.

A group of 150 regular white wine drinking consumers from the Adelaide metropolitan area responded to a wine habits and attitudes questionnaire. Consumers were segmented based on self‐reported liking of white wine styles, with three distinct segments identified.

Sauvignon Blanc wine likers were mainly younger females with low wine knowledge who reported not drinking Chardonnay wines. Conversely, “Riesling wine likers” were generally older with higher wine knowledge. These consumers were interested in the region, vintage and alcohol level when purchasing white wine. The final group (40 percent of the total sample) had a lower liking for Riesling wines, but liked all types relatively highly, had low to moderate wine knowledge and took more note of expert opinion than the other clusters.

The findings of this study can be extrapolated to the South Australian population, however, the sample size may restrict the generalisation of the results to the broader Australian population.

The results of this study provide initial insights into the behaviour of white wine consumers and highlight the importance of wine knowledge in differentiating consumer liking. Some strategies for influencing consumers' preference are suggested.

Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).

The purpose of this paper is to assess the selection of planned supply initiatives and the role of senior management expertise. The drivers that influence the selection of particular supply initiatives by firms are of major interest to both practitioners and academics, as choices indicate priorities for resources, potential performance gaps and needs for future research. Moreover, theory indicates that senior management expertise and firm‐level resources might influence the likelihood of selecting particular initiatives.

A synthesis of the literature supported the development of a five‐dimensional framework of major supply initiatives. Logistic regression was conducted with data from a survey of chief purchasing officers at large North American firms. The impact of firm‐level resources and senior management expertise, including background and experience, was assessed for the selection of supply initiatives.

After controlling for general industry‐level factors, both firm resources and senior management expertise were found to systematically affect the likelihood of a firm planning to pursue particular initiatives. First, hiring senior management from outside the firm decreased the likelihood that network‐based initiatives were planned, while senior management who last worked in supply were found to be negatively related to planned supply strategy initiatives. Second, firms with greater use of e‐business technologies favored additional investment in supply networks.

This research focused on large firms in developed countries, and additional research is needed to explore the generalizability to small and medium‐sized enterprises and less‐developed countries. Moreover, additional work is needed to explore trade‐offs between planned and emergent initiatives, as only the former were empirically assessed.

Senior management expertise has received relatively little attention in prior research, yet was found to be a significant factor influencing strategic, process and network‐related supply initiatives. Moreover, the framework of supply initiatives provides a basis for assessing and benchmarking firm‐level supply chain strategy and investment patterns. Finally, empirical evidence emerged that both firm and individual‐level factors influenced the probability of selecting particular initiatives.

This paper analyzes how German municipalities organize their purchasing activities. It aims to identify patterns in the structure of the purchasing function and to study how the size of the municipality influences the design of its purchasing organization. Therefore, an analytical framework based on contingency and organization theory is developed and results of an empirical study are presented. The results indicate that German municipalities use a medium level of centralization and specialization in organizing their purchasing activities, but that the purchasing process is highly formalized and represented on high hierarchical levels in many cases. As to the relationship between the size of a municipality and the structure of its purchasing function, the study indicates that size, measured by the number of inhabitants, the number of employees and purchasing volume influences the structural variables in various ways.

This chapter provides “viewpoints” on the education of learners with extensive and pervasive support needs. That is, students who require the most support to learn, often categorized as having intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, or related disabilities. The lenses through which we provide these viewpoints are historical and future-oriented; we begin with historic perspectives on the education of students with extensive and pervasive support needs, and then provide 21st century viewpoints for these learners. We interpret the notion of viewpoints in two ways: first, consistent with a viewpoint as indicating an examination of objects (in this case, practices and interventions) from a distance so as to be able to compare and judge; and, second, viewpoint as indicating our perspective on said interventions and practice.

Revisits a retail development near Stoke on Trent, UK, first reported on in 1998. It draws on recent work by Arnold and Luthra which has called for attention to be paid to the effects of large format (big box) retailing. To do so it draws on the opinions of members of the public who live within view of the Stoke on Trent development. It utilises before and after surveying, supplemented by interviews with a community leader, to show how redevelopment is viewed by those it most affects. Findings suggest that even the redevelopment of an existing site can generate protest. However, post‐opening, the concerns are more muted. The research process also reveals that the case study is one with implications for current concerns regarding future use of sites with A1 or open consent as defined under locally‐applicable land‐use planning regulations.

It has often been said that a great part of the strength of Aslib lies in the fact that it brings together those whose experience has been gained in many widely differing fields but who have a common interest in the means by which information may be collected and disseminated to the greatest advantage. Lists of its members have, therefore, a more than ordinary value since they present, in miniature, a cross‐section of institutions and individuals who share this special interest.

The pretty girl with raven hair sings as she works and dreams of wonderful days ahead. The girl's dream is deferred by the wickedly jealous stepmother who sends a trusted guard to commit murder. The man, overwhelmed by the girl's inherent goodness is unable to complete his deed, and warns her to run away and never return. She travels deep into the woods and is helped by friendly forest creatures with big eyes. They take her to a small cottage and she falls asleep, to be awakened by several small men who find it in their hearts to allow her to remain. The miniature men leave for work the next day, warning the girl of the stepmother and her trickery. The nasty woman disguises herself and easily convinces the girl to take a bite of the religiously symbolic apple, after which the girl is induced into a coma. The small men return, chase after the horrible stepmother and cause her to fall to her death, after which they do not bury the beauty-girl, but instead leave her ensconced in a glass tomb for all to see. The gallant prince finally arrives and kisses her, true love breaking the apple's spell and allowing the girl to ride away on the horse with the true hero, leaving behind the woodland creatures and small men forever. Sunlight beaming, girl beaming, small men and creatures beaming. All is right with the world.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a synthesised conceptual framework for global sourcing (GS) strategy and structure.

The authors adopt a systematic literature review method and analyse through content analysis techniques 52 peer-reviewed journal articles focussed on GS strategy and structure. Based on these analyses, a conceptual model is developed.

A synthesised construct of GS strategy, consisting of three dimensions, i.e., supply internationalisation, internal integration and external integration, is proposed. The GS structure construct is further broken down into structural design and control and coordination, consisting of three dimensions for each. Propositions for GS strategy, GS structure and, in particular, the relationships between them are developed for future empirical validation.

This is the first study which synthesises various dimensions of GS strategy and GS structure and advances/extends the theory of the strategy-structure nexus to a GS context. The conceptual model provides a comprehensive framework for future empirical work and opens avenues of research on this topic.