July 2002 - Faculty of Business and Law - Victoria University
July 2002 - Faculty of Business and Law - Victoria University
July 2002 - Faculty of Business and Law - Victoria University
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Research Update<br />
EXCITING MARKET RESEARCH<br />
The latest edition <strong>of</strong> the book “Marketing<br />
Research”, <strong>of</strong> which VU Senior<br />
Lecturer, John Hall,<br />
is one <strong>of</strong> three coauthors,<br />
has won<br />
the Award for<br />
Excellence in<br />
Educational<br />
Publishing for the<br />
“Best Tertiary St<strong>and</strong>alone<br />
Adaption”<br />
announced on 20<br />
June, <strong>2002</strong>.<br />
Making the process as<br />
well as the outcomes <strong>of</strong><br />
research exciting is one<br />
<strong>of</strong> the book’s objectives.<br />
John teamed up with Lynx Research,<br />
Group Director, Mike Shaw, <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Ballarat, Head <strong>of</strong> Marketing<br />
<strong>and</strong> Tourism, Peter Oppenheim to<br />
produce the second edition <strong>of</strong> the book<br />
published by Pearson Education Australia.<br />
John Hall(left) pictured with co-authors Mike Shaw, Peter Openheim <strong>and</strong> Cath<br />
Godfrey <strong>of</strong> Pearson Education Publishing (second from right).<br />
At the launch, John Hall, said<br />
the book owed much <strong>of</strong> its content to the<br />
commercial <strong>and</strong> academic experience <strong>of</strong> the<br />
authors.<br />
“Our goal was to create a text that would<br />
excite <strong>and</strong> stimulate interest in market<br />
research. It is based on an applied as well as a<br />
managerial approach, primarily as a textbook<br />
Do the Irish have a natural affinity with<br />
brewing <strong>and</strong> running pubs, or is there<br />
another rationale for their pre-eminence in<br />
Australia’s brewing history?<br />
The answer to that is ‘yes’ on both<br />
counts according to recent research<br />
conducted by VU Lecturer, Barry<br />
O’Mahony, for his PhD thesis.<br />
“Essentially, the Irish were farmers, but<br />
were unable to get onto the l<strong>and</strong> in<br />
<strong>Victoria</strong> during the squatting era,” Barry<br />
explains.<br />
“They also had a cultural affinity with<br />
pubs <strong>and</strong> the liquor trade, so diversified<br />
into this business, to the point where they<br />
were disproportionately represented in it<br />
<strong>and</strong> controlled the liquor licensing<br />
authority in the 1950s <strong>and</strong> 60s.”<br />
The Toohey’s br<strong>and</strong> is one <strong>of</strong> the most<br />
outst<strong>and</strong>ing legacies <strong>of</strong> the Irish influence,<br />
still carrying the name <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> the first<br />
Irish brewers in Australia, Matthew Toohey.<br />
Barry also reveals that the lager style so<br />
predominant in today’s Australian brewing<br />
was not always the favoured drop.<br />
“It took some time for lagers to<br />
for higher education purposes.<br />
“However, I am sure many market research<br />
buyers <strong>and</strong> suppliers will also find it useful as<br />
a source <strong>of</strong> descriptions <strong>of</strong> market research<br />
methodologies <strong>and</strong> other information,” he<br />
said. The book places considerable emphasis<br />
on problem definition <strong>and</strong> an extensive<br />
discussion <strong>of</strong> the research brief.<br />
The blarney on brewing<br />
dominate. For many years, Australian<br />
brewers had a lot <strong>of</strong> trouble with yeast.<br />
Their problem was overcome in 1883 by a<br />
European chemist, Emil Christian Hansen,<br />
working at the Carlsberg brewery. His<br />
work made it possible to use exactly the<br />
same yeast to produce beer with uniform<br />
consistency.<br />
“Hansen’s thesis published in 1884<br />
inspired two Melbourne scientists to<br />
attempt to develop yeast strains <strong>of</strong> their<br />
own. Both had considerable success. One<br />
<strong>of</strong> them, de Bavay, consulted Hansen<br />
directly <strong>and</strong> in 1888 managed to isolate a<br />
wild yeast.<br />
“The difference here was that Hansen<br />
was working with the European style lager,<br />
while de Bavay produced a st<strong>and</strong>ard yeast<br />
for ales that were favoured in Australia.<br />
“This yeast was shared throughout the<br />
colonies <strong>and</strong> by 1889, de Bavay’s yeast<br />
strains were the basis for all colonial beer,”<br />
Barry says.<br />
The focus <strong>of</strong> his thesis is the proposal<br />
that the Australian pub is a hybrid Irish<br />
pub.<br />
Paul Whitelaw<br />
Paul Constantinou<br />
Common Quest for<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essionalism<br />
Quest Apartments’ founder, Paul Constantinou, is constantly<br />
striving to improve his business <strong>and</strong> recognises the importance <strong>of</strong><br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essional development among employees to achieve his goals.<br />
It made sense to Paul, when his namesake,VU Lecturer, Paul<br />
Whitelaw, contacted him about participating in a study to evaluate<br />
the skills, characteristics <strong>and</strong> attributes <strong>of</strong> hospitality managers.<br />
It did not take long to reach agreement on the potential <strong>of</strong> the<br />
study for both partners. Paul Whitelaw would complete his PhD<br />
research, while Quest would benefit from the management<br />
workshops <strong>and</strong> training sessions conducted for the research.<br />
The trickle-down benefits would also flow to Quest’s individual<br />
franchisees, supervisors <strong>and</strong> managers, who would each receive a<br />
personal report, outlining potential avenues for pr<strong>of</strong>essional <strong>and</strong><br />
career development within the group.<br />
“The outcome <strong>of</strong> the research is yet to be finalised,” said Paul<br />
Whitelaw. However, based upon the data gathered from Quest<br />
<strong>and</strong> more than 250 other hospitality managers <strong>and</strong> employees,<br />
staff who perform well are <strong>of</strong>ten promoted without having the<br />
necessary skills to perform their more senior functions effectively.<br />
“It suggests that hospitality organisations may need to link<br />
promotion up the ladder with more substantial <strong>and</strong> formal<br />
personal development opportunities to ensure their best staff are<br />
able to realise their potential.”<br />
Paul Constantinou believes that in the hospitality business, it is<br />
not the business that fails, but the people who run it.Their<br />
learning experience must never stop.<br />
Paul’s never-ending Quest<br />
Paul Constantinou is the driving force behind the network <strong>of</strong> 65<br />
Quest apartment complexes dotted throughout Australia <strong>and</strong> New<br />
Zeal<strong>and</strong>.<br />
As with most business success stories Paul’s career, since<br />
graduating from VU’s predecessor Footscray Institute, was ignited<br />
by a small spark <strong>of</strong> opportunity – <strong>and</strong> the capacity to recognise it.<br />
In retrospect, the opportunity was quite obvious.While working<br />
for a small chain <strong>of</strong> motels in northern <strong>Victoria</strong>, Paul recognised<br />
that the business was not driven by tourists, but by business<br />
travellers.<br />
The rest is history. He explored the potential for developing<br />
accommodation specifically tailored to the needs <strong>of</strong> business<br />
travellers.<br />
Paul’s Quest was launched with his Royal Gardens apartments,<br />
positioned behind Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building in<br />
1988.<br />
The group is planning for about 30 new developments in<br />
Australia, with a target <strong>of</strong> around 120 in the network by 2005.<br />
Equity <strong>and</strong> access concern<br />
for on-line teaching<br />
The rush to embrace the internet as a<br />
primary education resource medium<br />
should be tempered by concerns about<br />
equity <strong>and</strong> access for all, according to<br />
Jeffrey Kidd <strong>and</strong> Helen Madden-Hallett<br />
<strong>of</strong> the School <strong>of</strong> HTM’s Marketing<br />
Discipline Area.<br />
They recently completed a brief study <strong>of</strong><br />
the use <strong>of</strong> computers in education,<br />
especially among marketing students.<br />
“While our surveys indicated that<br />
internet access is not a problem for a<br />
Jeffrey Kidd<br />
majority <strong>of</strong> students, universities <strong>and</strong><br />
teachers should ensure that equipment <strong>and</strong> training are available to<br />
avoid disadvantaging students who may not have access for reasons<br />
beyond their control,” the pair said.<br />
Their conclusions were based on a survey <strong>of</strong> students using the<br />
internet at home <strong>and</strong> elsewhere <strong>and</strong> the results compared across<br />
campuses <strong>and</strong> with another university.<br />
It analysed the potential impacts on student internet access <strong>of</strong><br />
disability, personality type, non-English speaking <strong>and</strong> indigenous<br />
backgrounds <strong>and</strong> socio-economic circumstances.<br />
Jeffrey <strong>and</strong> Helen have produced two joint papers based on their<br />
studies, one <strong>of</strong> which was presented at last year’s ANZMAC<br />
Conference.<br />
Another will be published this year for the Equity Conference<br />
being held at VU.<br />
Strategic alliances are the<br />
way <strong>of</strong> the future<br />
Strategic alliances are the leading edge <strong>of</strong><br />
business-to-business (B2B) marketing,<br />
according to VU’s Helen Madden-<br />
Hallett, who is not only preparing a<br />
thesis on the subject, but clearly applies it<br />
to her teaching strategy.<br />
Energex State Manager, John Gawne, is<br />
studying for a Masters at VU, but Helen<br />
saw the value <strong>of</strong> a strategic partnership<br />
with John to help School <strong>of</strong> HTM<br />
students underst<strong>and</strong> more about the real<br />
world <strong>of</strong> B2B marketing.<br />
Helen Madden-Hallett She recruited John as a guest lecturer to<br />
talk on the subject <strong>and</strong> specifically how Energex, a leading <strong>Victoria</strong>n<br />
utilities company was leveraging alliances to win commercial<br />
business in the fast-moving, de-regulated energy market.<br />
“Most people do not realise that B2B marketing is five times the<br />
size <strong>of</strong> the consumer marketing business <strong>and</strong> it has become<br />
extremely sophisticated.”<br />
“It is clear that sales people are becoming more like consultants in<br />
this sphere.They are researching potential customers, <strong>and</strong> pitching<br />
specifically tailored solutions to their needs,” Helen said<br />
She said companies were constantly re-evaluating their own<br />
strengths <strong>and</strong> weaknesses <strong>and</strong> forming alliances that leverage their<br />
strengths <strong>and</strong> fill gaps where they might be deficient.<br />
“Forming strategic alliances is also fraught with danger. It is very<br />
easy with alliances for companies to become selfish <strong>and</strong> maximise<br />
their individual shares <strong>of</strong> the total business.<br />
“Companies must be sure to undertake proper due diligence,<br />
including evaluation <strong>of</strong> intangible elements like different company<br />
cultures,” she said.<br />
<strong>Victoria</strong> <strong>University</strong> 4<br />
School <strong>of</strong> Hospitality,Tourism & Marketing<br />
<strong>Victoria</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
5<br />
School <strong>of</strong> Hospitality,Tourism & Marketing