July 2002 - Faculty of Business and Law - Victoria University

Research Update
EXCITING MARKET RESEARCH
The latest edition of the book “Marketing
Research”, of which VU Senior
Lecturer, John Hall,
is one of three coauthors,
has won
the Award for
Excellence in
Educational
Publishing for the
“Best Tertiary Standalone
Adaption”
announced on 20
June, 2002.
Making the process as
well as the outcomes of
research exciting is one
of the book’s objectives.
John teamed up with Lynx Research,
Group Director, Mike Shaw, and
University of Ballarat, Head of Marketing
and Tourism, Peter Oppenheim to
produce the second edition of the book
published by Pearson Education Australia.
John Hall(left) pictured with co-authors Mike Shaw, Peter Openheim and Cath
Godfrey of Pearson Education Publishing (second from right).
At the launch, John Hall, said
the book owed much of its content to the
commercial and academic experience of the
authors.
“Our goal was to create a text that would
excite and stimulate interest in market
research. It is based on an applied as well as a
managerial approach, primarily as a textbook
Do the Irish have a natural affinity with
brewing and running pubs, or is there
another rationale for their pre-eminence in
Australia’s brewing history?
The answer to that is ‘yes’ on both
counts according to recent research
conducted by VU Lecturer, Barry
O’Mahony, for his PhD thesis.
“Essentially, the Irish were farmers, but
were unable to get onto the land in
Victoria during the squatting era,” Barry
explains.
“They also had a cultural affinity with
pubs and the liquor trade, so diversified
into this business, to the point where they
were disproportionately represented in it
and controlled the liquor licensing
authority in the 1950s and 60s.”
The Toohey’s brand is one of the most
outstanding legacies of the Irish influence,
still carrying the name of one of the first
Irish brewers in Australia, Matthew Toohey.
Barry also reveals that the lager style so
predominant in today’s Australian brewing
was not always the favoured drop.
“It took some time for lagers to
for higher education purposes.
“However, I am sure many market research
buyers and suppliers will also find it useful as
a source of descriptions of market research
methodologies and other information,” he
said. The book places considerable emphasis
on problem definition and an extensive
discussion of the research brief.
The blarney on brewing
dominate. For many years, Australian
brewers had a lot of trouble with yeast.
Their problem was overcome in 1883 by a
European chemist, Emil Christian Hansen,
working at the Carlsberg brewery. His
work made it possible to use exactly the
same yeast to produce beer with uniform
consistency.
“Hansen’s thesis published in 1884
inspired two Melbourne scientists to
attempt to develop yeast strains of their
own. Both had considerable success. One
of them, de Bavay, consulted Hansen
directly and in 1888 managed to isolate a
wild yeast.
“The difference here was that Hansen
was working with the European style lager,
while de Bavay produced a standard yeast
for ales that were favoured in Australia.
“This yeast was shared throughout the
colonies and by 1889, de Bavay’s yeast
strains were the basis for all colonial beer,”
Barry says.
The focus of his thesis is the proposal
that the Australian pub is a hybrid Irish
pub.
Paul Whitelaw
Paul Constantinou
Common Quest for
professionalism
Quest Apartments’ founder, Paul Constantinou, is constantly
striving to improve his business and recognises the importance of
professional development among employees to achieve his goals.
It made sense to Paul, when his namesake,VU Lecturer, Paul
Whitelaw, contacted him about participating in a study to evaluate
the skills, characteristics and attributes of hospitality managers.
It did not take long to reach agreement on the potential of the
study for both partners. Paul Whitelaw would complete his PhD
research, while Quest would benefit from the management
workshops and training sessions conducted for the research.
The trickle-down benefits would also flow to Quest’s individual
franchisees, supervisors and managers, who would each receive a
personal report, outlining potential avenues for professional and
career development within the group.
“The outcome of the research is yet to be finalised,” said Paul
Whitelaw. However, based upon the data gathered from Quest
and more than 250 other hospitality managers and employees,
staff who perform well are often promoted without having the
necessary skills to perform their more senior functions effectively.
“It suggests that hospitality organisations may need to link
promotion up the ladder with more substantial and formal
personal development opportunities to ensure their best staff are
able to realise their potential.”
Paul Constantinou believes that in the hospitality business, it is
not the business that fails, but the people who run it.Their
learning experience must never stop.
Paul’s never-ending Quest
Paul Constantinou is the driving force behind the network of 65
Quest apartment complexes dotted throughout Australia and New
Zealand.
As with most business success stories Paul’s career, since
graduating from VU’s predecessor Footscray Institute, was ignited
by a small spark of opportunity – and the capacity to recognise it.
In retrospect, the opportunity was quite obvious.While working
for a small chain of motels in northern Victoria, Paul recognised
that the business was not driven by tourists, but by business
travellers.
The rest is history. He explored the potential for developing
accommodation specifically tailored to the needs of business
travellers.
Paul’s Quest was launched with his Royal Gardens apartments,
positioned behind Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building in
1988.
The group is planning for about 30 new developments in
Australia, with a target of around 120 in the network by 2005.
Equity and access concern
for on-line teaching
The rush to embrace the internet as a
primary education resource medium
should be tempered by concerns about
equity and access for all, according to
Jeffrey Kidd and Helen Madden-Hallett
of the School of HTM’s Marketing
Discipline Area.
They recently completed a brief study of
the use of computers in education,
especially among marketing students.
“While our surveys indicated that
internet access is not a problem for a
Jeffrey Kidd
majority of students, universities and
teachers should ensure that equipment and training are available to
avoid disadvantaging students who may not have access for reasons
beyond their control,” the pair said.
Their conclusions were based on a survey of students using the
internet at home and elsewhere and the results compared across
campuses and with another university.
It analysed the potential impacts on student internet access of
disability, personality type, non-English speaking and indigenous
backgrounds and socio-economic circumstances.
Jeffrey and Helen have produced two joint papers based on their
studies, one of which was presented at last year’s ANZMAC
Conference.
Another will be published this year for the Equity Conference
being held at VU.
Strategic alliances are the
way of the future
Strategic alliances are the leading edge of
business-to-business (B2B) marketing,
according to VU’s Helen Madden-
Hallett, who is not only preparing a
thesis on the subject, but clearly applies it
to her teaching strategy.
Energex State Manager, John Gawne, is
studying for a Masters at VU, but Helen
saw the value of a strategic partnership
with John to help School of HTM
students understand more about the real
world of B2B marketing.
Helen Madden-Hallett She recruited John as a guest lecturer to
talk on the subject and specifically how Energex, a leading Victorian
utilities company was leveraging alliances to win commercial
business in the fast-moving, de-regulated energy market.
“Most people do not realise that B2B marketing is five times the
size of the consumer marketing business and it has become
extremely sophisticated.”
“It is clear that sales people are becoming more like consultants in
this sphere.They are researching potential customers, and pitching
specifically tailored solutions to their needs,” Helen said
She said companies were constantly re-evaluating their own
strengths and weaknesses and forming alliances that leverage their
strengths and fill gaps where they might be deficient.
“Forming strategic alliances is also fraught with danger. It is very
easy with alliances for companies to become selfish and maximise
their individual shares of the total business.
“Companies must be sure to undertake proper due diligence,
including evaluation of intangible elements like different company
cultures,” she said.
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School of Hospitality,Tourism & Marketing
Victoria University
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School of Hospitality,Tourism & Marketing