Purpose – This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments...

Grocery e‐tailing can, in theory at least, lead to savings of time and money for both buyers and sellers. However problems remain where delivery is concerned and these can threaten the overall profitability of the exercise. The main question is: how do sellers provide an efficient, appealing...

There is an old direct marketing saying that half the population won’t buy mail order. It does not matter how much you reduce the perceived barriers, these people are that way out about the idea of mail order, you cannot convert them to its delights. It seems reasonable to assume that the same...

Next time you receive a birthday‐card that really catches your eye, it might have been thought up by the Hallmark Idea Exchange. This is not a team made up of the best and brightest card designers at Hallmark Cards Inc., but instead comprises about 200 volunteer consumers.

In a current advertising campaign, a major bank has a reassuring message for its customers. The HSBC describes itself as “the world’s local bank”, presumably to establish that it has the virtues of both service to individual customers and size. These are, as the Chinese would say,...

Intel is the world’s largest producer of integrated circuit chips and has customers around the world. But it also faces stiff competition from companies such as Advanced Micro Devices, Motorola and Texas Instruments. In 1997, Intel began to look into e‐business. Right from the start the...