The interface between transactional and relational orientation in small service firm's marketing behaviour

This paper presents and discusses findings of a cross-country study of small service firm marketing behavior. These findings demonstrate that small service firms are flexible in the marketing approaches that they adopt. They reveal that such firms are transactional and relational orientated in their marketing activities and that for growing firms, marketing activities are used to create short-term transactions and form relations with key stakeholders. This finding implies that transactional and relationship marketing should be regarded as complementary. The findings presented also demonstrate that the marketing approach selected by participating small firms is determined by a range of customer characteristics of which repeat business is only one. An integrated framework containing elements of transactional and relational approaches is proposed as an appropriate way of describing the marketing behaviours of investigated firms

Entrepreneurial marketing : a historical perspective on development and practice

Entrepreneurial marketing is a term which is receiving increasing use. It essentially encompasses two very distinct areas of management: marketing and entrepreneurship. This article is dedicated to exploring the emergence of this area of theory, its history and the current developments in the interface between these two areas. Scholars from both the worlds of marketing and entrepreneurship have long identified similarities in the key issues concerning both. Recent years have seen the emergence of increased study in the area of overlap between the two disciplines. Academics working in this field are undertaking research in a number of key areas, namely entrepreneurial management, networking and the resource and skills implications of adopting an entrepreneurial approach to marketing activities. This research has now built up into a sizeable body of literature and this article introduces the reader to the essence of this research and identifies its usefulness in viewing many areas of management

Women's business ownership : recent research and policy developments

This report aims to provide a current assessment of recent research investigating women's business ownership. The report builds on a previous review undertaken by the authors on behalf of the Small Business Service (Carter, Anderson and Shaw, 2001). The report also explores in broad terms the role and contribution of recent policy developments in changing the landscape of women's enterprise in the UK

Unethical aspects of homeopathic dentistry

In the last year there has been a great deal of public debate about homeopathy, the system of alternative medicine whose main principles are that like cures like and that potency increases relative to dilution. The House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology concluded in November 2009 that there is no evidence base for homeopathy, and agreed with some academic commentators that homeopathy should not be funded by the NHS. While homeopathic doctors and hospitals are quite commonplace, some might be surprised to learn that there are also many homeopathic dentists practising in the UK. This paper examines the statements made by several organisations on behalf of homeopathic dentistry and suggests that they are not entirely ethical and may be in breach of various professional guidelines

A growth model of weight preferences, food consumption and public policy

Copyright @ 2013 Brunel University.In this paper we unify existing theories and empirical evidence on the origins of obesity and examine the e¤ects of scal policy on the dynamic evolution of weight. We build a dynamic general equilibrium growth model, with two sectors, one producing food and the other producing a composite consumption good. Weight is a function of rational choice as well as labor allocation between the two sectors. By estimating utility from weight and calibrating the US economy we show that (i) technological advances in agriculture decrease food prices and increase weight but not necessarily through higher food consumption but through lower calorie expenditure, (ii) reducing capital taxation, initially depresses weight levels through higher food prices; steady state food consumption decreases due to a price substitution e¤ect but weight soars due to lower calorie expenditure, (iii) reducing taxation on food increases food consumption and weight levels in equilibrium. Labor reallocation towards the less sedentary sector on one hand and higher income on the other function as contradictory forces

RBR E3 ubiquitin ligases: new structures, new insights, new questions

The RBR (RING-BetweenRING-RING) or TRIAD [two RING fingers and a DRIL (double RING finger linked)] E3 ubiquitin ligases comprise a group of 12 complex multidomain enzymes. This unique family of E3 ligases includes parkin, whose dysfunction is linked to the pathogenesis of early-onset Parkinson's disease, and HOIP (HOIL-1-interacting protein) and HOIL-1 (haem-oxidized IRP2 ubiquitin ligase 1), members of the LUBAC (linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex). The RBR E3 ligases share common features with both the larger RING and HECT (homologous with E6-associated protein C-terminus) E3 ligase families, directly catalysing ubiquitin transfer from an intrinsic catalytic cysteine housed in the C-terminal domain, as well as recruiting thioester-bound E2 enzymes via a RING domain. Recent three-dimensional structures and biochemical findings of the RBRs have revealed novel protein domain folds not previously envisioned and some surprising modes of regulation that have raised many questions. This has required renaming two of the domains in the RBR E3 ligases to more accurately reflect their structures and functions: the C-terminal Rcat (required-for-catalysis) domain, essential for catalytic activity, and a central BRcat (benign-catalytic) domain that adopts the same fold as the Rcat, but lacks a catalytic cysteine residue and ubiquitination activity. The present review discusses how three-dimensional structures of RBR (RING1-BRcat-Rcat) E3 ligases have provided new insights into our understanding of the biochemical mechanisms of these important enzymes in ubiquitin biology. INTRODUCTIO

State-Branded Programs and Consumer Preference for Locally Grown Produce

Revitalization of state brands is deemed important to several constituencies. Stated preference with choice experiment methods were used to elicit consumer preferences for two locally grown products: spinach, which has had a well-publicized food safety incidence, and carrots, which have had no such incidence in recent history. A full factorial design was used to implement the choice experiment, with each commodity having four identical attributes varying at different levels. Findings reveal that consumers are willing to pay a premium for locally grown spinach marked with the Arizona Grown label over locally grown spinach that was not labeled. This premium was higher than the premium that would be paid for state-branded carrots. This difference highlights consumers’ perceptions of “locally grown†as an indicator of safety in their food supply. Findings have important implications with respect to providing consumer value and point to differentiated positioning strategies for state-branded produce.state-branded produce, certification, food safety, traceability, discrete choice models, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing,