How academics come up with research questions is an interesting and important topic (at least to academics). Sandberg and Alvesson study the creation of Academic Research Questions. They look at how academics in organizational studies describe the way they came up with research questions . The journals reviewed were major journals: Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Management…
Category: Understanding Marketing
Academics As Thinkers, Managers As Doers
In an interesting interview Gary Bridge, Managing Director of Snow Creek Advisors, shared his thoughts on the managerial/academic divide. He is pretty critical about academia but I think he is largely right. What does he have to say about academics as thinkers, managers as doers? Thinkers, Doers & Academic Gamesmanship Bridge starts with the comforting thought…
A Sustainable Standard When Accounting For Marketing
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) seems to have been remarkably successful. They have recruited some well-known board members. These have included Michael Bloomberg, Mary Schapiro (former SEC chair), and Laura Tyson (former London Business School Dean). This has helped them raise their profile. They have been working on a sustainable standard when accounting for…
Academics Need To Seriously Engage With The World
There are few things in the world more frustrating than people who list problems but offer no meaningful solutions. Such people often seem to be drawn to academia. I think academics need to seriously engage with the world. Citicism But No Solutions This brings us to Lawrence Busch’s Knowledge for Sale. Busch makes many good…
Not Very Thoughtful Thought Leadership
I love terrible visuals, especially when they are used by consultants. Alex Usher (@http://higheredstrategy.com/) is brutal in criticizing a recent Deloitte report doing “big thinking” about the future of the workforce. (Post written in 2017). The report seems to be a great example of not very thoughtful thought leadership. Not Very Thoughtful Thought Leadership Usher…
Marketing In The World Of Big Data
Arvind Sathi’s book Engaging Customers Using Big Data has a number of interesting points about big data. What does he tell us about marketing in the world of big data? Marketing In The World Of Big Data Sathi is keen to point out that marketers now drive many technological needs in firms. The chief marketing…
Good Marketing And Social Missions
Managers often have challenges understanding how to position their brands and companies when contentious public issues find them. More interesting in some ways are companies whose managers seek out contentious issues. It is very hard to measure the net impact of having a contentious social mission. Experiments are hard to run on social missions. Yet,…
Marketing Standing On Its Own Feet
People like to ask “where are we all going?”. Marketing academics are no different. A recent editorial in JAMS (a major marketing journal) examines the future of marketing. Overall, I agreed with the author, Jan-Benedict Steenkamp, on most things in this article. (Although I hated his book Time To Lead with a passion, see here and…
Cool Result: What Next?
Adam Alter’s Drunk Tank Pink is a fun book. It follows in a long tradition of behavioral books — some by psychologists, some by marketers — that describe interesting quirks found in academic research. Much of Alter’s focus is on the subtle influence of color on us. Unfortunately some of the influences seem too subtle…
Meta-Analysis: Combining Many Results into One
How marketing impacts firm value is an important question facing for-profit businesses. In an ambitious paper Conchar, Crask and Zinkhan (2005) examined this. they did a meta-analysis: combining many results into one. Meta-Analysis Seem Like Hard Work The hard work involved in this paper is impressive. The authors looked at 88 studies of advertising and…
