A second post on Gad Saad’s, The Parasitic Mind. I’m not sure this was his central aim but he did make me think about the problem of understanding others. Is Society Really Collapsing? I really wanted to know why he thinks society is collapsing. I have never known why people think this. It is not…
Search Results for: academia
Scientific Thinking Is Hard (Especially For Academics)
I must confess to being disappointed with Gad Saad’s The Parasitic Mind. Before purchasing the book I knew I would disagree with many of his points given his robust public profile. (For background, Saad is the sort of evolutionary psychologists your mother warned you about. Lots of sex differences in consumption). That I would disagree…
Advice For The Marketing Academic Job Market
As a tenured professor I have seen a bunch of people on the academic job market. I, unsurprisingly, have been on the market myself. This means I have advice which I hope will be useful. That said, I do not have ‘the secret’ and would never claim to have. I would love to be able…
Do Generalists Triumph?
I am a marketing professor, who has been an accountant working in politics, and who was educated as an ancient historian. As such, it is perhaps no surprise that I am naturally drawn to the arguments in Range. In this David Epstein lays out his case for having a diverse range of skills. His argument…
Universities Don’t Seem Completely Toxic To Me
If you like your angst with lashings of the phrase neoliberalism John Smyth’s book, The Toxic University, is for you. The title with its references to Zombie and Rock Stars is fun. Unfortunately, you get the impression that the title is where the fun ends. Smyth makes a number of criticisms of universities and many…
American Higher Education’s Uncertain Future
Moving to the US I thought I should get up to date with US higher education. Daniel Johnson’s book, on American Higher Education’s Uncertain Future, is a critique of where we are. I was expecting criticism of government funding levels, lack of appreciation of the benefits of academic thought, and maybe students themselves. It isn’t…
Tobin’s Q: Why Academics Should Listen To Managers
Has A Manager Ever Used Tobin’s Q? Ask an academic where they know Neil Bendle from and they might cite my work arguing that Accounting-based Approximations of Tobin’s q (AATQ) should never be used as a performance metric. (I don’t mean to imply that I think that I’m properly famous in the sense that normal…
Non-GAAP Disclosures and Implications for Marketing
An interesting phenomenon has emerged over recent years in financial accounting which could prove relevant to marketing. This is non-GAAP reporting by companies. What is, could be, the relatonshp between marketing and Non-GAAP disclosures. GAAP: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles The rules of external financial reporting, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, are known as GAAP. Non-GAAP reporting…
Understanding What Companies Are Spending On Marketing. SG&A Isn’t Great.
I often discuss marketing assets. Specifically, I worry about that the way marketing assets are accounted for in financial reports. This does not help us understand marketing effectiveness. For example, see here and here and here. This results of financial accounting choices creat a significant problem in understanding what marketing does. It means we can’t…
Improving Political Management; Some Of It Is A Bit Dark Ages
A co-author of mine, Jennifer Lees-Marshment, is a world expert on political marketing, (crudely put winning elections). In recent years she has turned her attention to improving political management. E.g., what politicians and their staffs have to do after they have won. Her new book, Political Management, is the result of years of painstaking work…