This study was concerned with the capability of food processors to conduct a product recall, when necessary, with the least time and cost expenditures. An evaluation was made of the effectiveness of the procedures, policies, and organization by which food processors have conducted or would conduct a product recall. Based upon this assessment, a model product recall program was designed to enhance the ability of food processors to conduct product recalls more efficiently. The study concludes that product recalls are very costly to conduct, and, therefore, every effort should be undertaken to prevent situations from occurring which require product recalls. The use of stringent quality control procedures and packaging improvements are thus recommended. Food processors are encouraged to adopt product recall programs in order to reduce the cost of conducting a product recall. If food processors do not take the initiative in these areas, consumerists will likely continue to pressure Congress for more stringent federal regulation of the food industry.

This study is intended, first, to describe and analyze the channels of distribution for food products in the State of Kuwait, second, to pinpoint the problems that exist in the food-distribution system, and, third, to make specific recommendations for the alleviation of the problems. Consistent with the objectives of the study and based on the description and analysis of the food-distribution system in the country, it is concluded in the study that Kuwait depends on imports for virtually all of its food; the government plays a major role in the food-distribution system; and the majority of food wholesaling and retailing establishments are small, inefficient, and lack modern marketing and physical distribution techniques. Product shortages and rising food prices plague the food-distribution system in the country. Also, the findings indicate that consumers in Kuwait are generally ignorant and uninformed in the areas of food nutrition and food shopping, and the lack of standardization and grading of food products makes the shopping task of the consumer more difficult.

This study deals with "open code dating," the movement by grocery manufacturers and distributors toward dating perishable food packages in such a manner that consumers can readily determine product freshness or length of time on store shelves. The study explores the desirability and feasibility of open code dating, placing greatest importance upon the response of the consumer to the concept. It was found that consumers were aware of open code dating and generally strongly desired its universal adoption. Shoppers were also confused by open dating and failed to understand freshness dates properly. The strongest desire for open dating was found in shoppers at the upper end of the socio-economic scale. Grocery retailers expressed satisfaction with open coding, believing it an aid in stock rotation and customer satisfaction. Possible disadvantages, such as increased throwaway costs and large conversion costs, were not perceived as being significant. The businessmen favored widespread adoption of open code dating. On the basis of data from interviews with shoppers, it is concluded that consumers desire adoption of open code dating and do use this service. It is also concluded that adoption of open code dating would be an economically sound decision which would constitute a desirable marketing …

The purpose of this research is to investigate the differentials and commonalties in the consumer behavior and attitudes of the working woman as opposed to the non-working woman. The findings of the research are analyzed to determine their impact on the performance of marketing institutions and functions. The major hypothesis tested in this research is: Working women comprise a distinct market segment, which differs in kind from the non-working woman. Both primary and secondary data are used for this study. The principal sources of secondary data are the 1960 and 1970 U.S. Government Census Tracts of the Census of Population. The primary data was obtained from a questionnaire, sent to 1,093 women residing in specific Census Tracts within the Dallas, Texas Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Tracts were selected by geographical dispersion and statistically tolerable limits for female labor force participation and median family income. This criteria insured the inclusion of women for whom the value of work was either high or low. The analysis of the data revealed that working women may be segmented into a distinct consumer market. Demographic characteristics related to consumer behavior were found to be (in order of importance) Age, Income, Education, Age of Children …

This investigation determines students' attitudes toward a "humanized" work climate. The possibility that attitudes developed before entering the labor force contribute to the lack of such environments is the basis of the research design. A review of motivation theories, relevant research and experiences of some "humanized" firms precedes the development of a model for a humanized climate. The three main elements of the model--team activity, the product, and the self-concept--are interconnected by elements such as self-control, job performance, autonomy, goal definition, and learning. The research questionnaire, a thirty-onestatement, Likert-type instrument, elicits attitudes about the time-task aspect of Kahn's "Work-Module." A Cronbach Alpha Coefficient of 0.74 indicates an acceptable reliability. The subjects, all male, were seventy senior business students at North Texas State University, fifty-six high school senior academic students from the Richardson, Texas ISD, thirty-two high school vocational students from the Garland, Texas ISD, and twenty-nine college vocational students from the El Centro Branch of the Dallas County Community College System. A 2 x 2 analysis of variance revealed a significant difference (P = 0.0038) between attitudes of vocational and non-vocational students. Vocational students apparently value an autonomous work situation. They prefer a job which permits them to develop and …

This study is designed to examine comparative advertising as a viable advertising strategy in today's competitive business environment. Frequency and use of comparisons by the selected key industries and advertising agencies are investigated. Analysis is conducted to determine similarities and differences between firms who elect or avoid comparative advertising. Based on an analysis of the findings, certain conclusions are presented. The industry leader is not likely to use comparative advertising in most industries. Firms that are fourth or smaller in market share are most likely to use comparisons. However, the smallest firms, in terms of dollar sales volume, are least likely to use comparative advertising.

Participative management practices between United States parent companies in the maquiladora industry and their Mexico assembly plants were investigated for this study. It was hypothesized that managers of parent maquiladora companies in the United States encouraged greater levels of worker participation than did expatriate managers in Mexican subsidiaries. However, the findings of this study indicate that expatriate managers in a number of the Mexico subsidiaries are currently implementing employee involvement approaches. In some instances, highly participative team-based approaches are being used.

The purposes of this study were to prepare an analysis of the size, growth, structure, and problems of the industry; determine the influence of imports on the general structure of the industry; determine the significance of market penetration to domestic manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and foreign manufacturers and importers; and examine the market penetration reporting mechanism, its accuracy, usefulness, promptness in feedback of data, and the advantages and disadvantages of maintaining secrecy of data.

This study has a twofold purpose. The first is to demonstrate the state of the art of corporate planning and forecasting activity, and the second is to determine the existence of any differences between the planning practices of the consumer service industry and the producer service industry. The study is organized into seven chapters. The introduction chapter contains background information, a description of the problem and opportunity followed by a definition of terms, the purpose of the research, hypothesis of the research. It also describes the scope of the research, methodology, significance and limitations of the study and provides a chapter bibliography. The study finds that though certain segments of the service industry have sophisticated planning capability, it is not generally widespread. The study concludes there is no significant difference in the planning methods between consumer services and producer services industries

Information systems (IS) are indelibly linked to the global economy and are indispensable to society and organizations. Despite the decisive function of IS in organizations today, IS development problems continue to plague organizations. The failure to get the system requirements right is considered to be one of the primary, if not the most significant, reasons for this high IS failure rate. Getting requirements right is most notably identified with Frederick Brooks' contention that requirements are the essence of what IT professionals do, all the rest being accidents or risk management. However, enterprise architecture (EA) may also provide the discipline to bridge the gap between effective requirements, organizational objectives, and the actual IS implementations. The intent of this research is to examine the relationship between IS development capabilities and requirements analysis and design capabilities within the context of enterprise architecture. To accomplish this, a survey of IT professionals within the Society for Information Management (SIM) was conducted. Results indicate support for the hypothesized relationship between IS development and requirements capabilities. The hypothesized relationships with the organizational demographics were not supported nor was the hypothesized positive relationship between requirements capabilities and EA perceptions. However, the nature of the relationship of requirements and …

The purpose of this research was to determine if differences exist between the young/old (55-74) and the old/old (75+) regarding external search behavior and the importance of information sources.

The problem with which this research is concerned is that of determining the impact of the 1974 Amendments (Public Law No. 93-3 60) to the Taft Hartley Act. These amendments provided new coverage to over two million health care workers. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of this law on labor relations in the health care industry. In retrospect, the first years following the amendments have been eventful; National Labor Relations Board cases, court decisions, increased organizing activities. Boards of Inquiry recommendations, and professional associations union functions are the most significant developments. Future research will be able to present a longitudinal analyses of these activities and investigate other important areas of health care labor relations such as nursing homes and clinics.

Marketing scholars question the ability of the 4Ps to explain higher order phenomena in modern marketing. Scholars contend that marketing's historical framework, based in product centric economic theory, constrains the 4Ps ability to form a foundation for a general theory of marketing. The focus on value embedded in product fails to explain knowledge-based intangible sources of competitive advantage. In response to this concern a new dominant logic for marketing called service-dominant logic (S-D Logic) has been proposed. However, not all scholars are supportive of S-D Logic. Still nescient, S-D Logic lacks a theoretic model, operationalized constructs, and relationships between those constructs. This study addresses those deficiencies by: (1) generation of a grounded theory of a performance-oriented network; (2) empirical assessment of the S-D Logic literature; and (3) development of an inductively generated theory of S-D Logic to include constructs, relationships, outcomes, and hypothesis. This investigation provides an important set of research findings. The resultant service-oriented network theory suggests a theoretic structure for S-D Logic. Use of grounded theory provides a strong empirical foundation based in a leading edge multi-national market segment composed corporations and programs worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The analysis drew upon 44 field interviews and follow-up …