Niall Piercy

ABSTRACT Mobile payments (MPs) are predicted to be one of the future's most successful mobile services but have achieved limited acceptance in developed countries to date. PCs are still the preferred technology for online shopping in the United Kingdom but the continued growth of mobile commerce (MC) is highly correlated with the success of remote MPs (RMPs). Currently MP research has largely ignored the variations between different MP solutions, and existing MP adoption studies have predominantly utilized Davis’ (1989) Technology Acceptance Model, which has been criticized for having a deterministic approach without much consideration for users’ individual characteristics. Therefore, this study applied the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), extended with more consumer-related constructs, to explore the factors affecting nonusers’ intentions to adopt RMP in the United Kingdom. Quantitative data were collected (n = 268) and structural equation modeling was undertaken. The findings revealed that performance expectancy, social influence, innovativeness, and perceived risk significantly influenced nonusers’ intentions to adopt RMP, whereas effort expectancy did not. Inclusion of MP knowledge as a moderating variable revealed that there was a significant difference in the effect of trust on behavioral intention for those who knew about MP than for those who did not. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications, particularly for the development and marketing of RMP, which will support the long-term success of MC.

... Suboptimal segmentation: Assessing the use of demographics in financial services advertising.Niall Piercy 1 , Colin Campbell 2 and Daniel Heinrich 3. ... | Article |; Gunter, B., Nicholas, D., Huntington, P. and Williams, P. (2002) Online versus offline research. ...

Abstract
Commentators are increasingly suggesting that marketing may be suffering a ‘mid-life crisis’
and that marketing research and practice is stagnating and loosing corporate influence. In
parallel, the management of operations is gaining increasing organisational attention and
research prestige. One of the most influential of the new operational strategies is the lean
enterprise, which proposes organisational design based around its own core principles,
extending from raw materials to final consumer. In this paper we investigate the shortcomings
of the value definitions contained within the lean enterprise and propose that an
opportunity exists for the strategic integration of marketing activities and lean operations to
provide marketers with access to a tool kit for quality and efficiency improvements whilst at
the same time resolving shortcomings in the lean enterprise to improve organisational
effectiveness in the marketplace.

STRUCTURED ABSTRACT
Purpose
There are two objectives of this paper: firstly, to examine the application of lean production
improvement techniques to the pure-service context; and, secondly to evaluate the
contribution of lean production techniques to services marketing improvement.
Methodology / Approach
Three case companies from the British financial services sector are tracked through the
process of lean improvement. Analysis of management change of a common process within
each company forms the basis of the investigation.
Findings
Research findings highlight that through the adoption of lean service tools, service call centres
can serve both of the traditionally competing priorities of operational cost reduction and
increased customer service quality. The lean approach is validated in the service context and
proposed as a valuable addition to traditional service marketing approaches to services
improvement.
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Practical Implications
The techniques described are easily replicable by academics, practitioners and managers and
can be applied to a wide range of service centres or service businesses. In the contemporary
marketplace, the difficulty of delivering quality service at any costs suggests that there is a
great opportunity for the business that can deliver better service at a reduced cost of operation.
Originality / Value
Lean transformation in the manufacturing sector is well established, however, the use of lean
improvement tools to improve the quality of service delivery within the service sector is
relatively new, with limited understanding of approaches and benefits in the academic or
managerial arenas. In addition, coverage of lean tools is still rare in the marketing literature.
Keywords:
Service, Call-Centre, Lean
Categorisation
Research paper / case study

Lean operating principles are based on the systems of Toyota Japan. Companies around the
world, in all sectors of the economy, now embrace these approaches to improve quality, cost
and productivity. Different purchasing and sourcing practices in lean organisations mean that
winning sales from them requires major changes to sales strategy and practice. This process
has not been fully explored. Serving lean customers, who demand complete transparency
across the supplying organisation and focus on capability not cost, has proven problematic
for traditional sales departments. Further, as supplying organisations themselves become
lean (this transformation being a result and requirement of selling to a lean company),
organisational redesign extends from operations into sales. This paper illustrates the shifts
needed in sales approach and strategy in selling to, and subsequently, becoming a lean
business. The role of this future-sales-force is considered in relation to its shift towards a
marketing-orientated rather than sales-push strategy.

Purpose
The adoption of lean operational practices and independently the uptake of business
practices related to sustainability and corporate social responsibility continues to grow. Past
research has hinted at relationships between these two areas – suggesting that ‘lean is green’
(e.g. Florida, 1996). The lean mantra of waste reduction and ‘doing more with less’ is
immediately apparent as delivering environmental benefits and has formed the basis of past
research (e.g. Hughes, 2012). Almost all research linking lean operations or lean supply chains
to sustainability issues have focused exclusively on environmental impact. The purpose of this
paper is to explore the broader sustainability benefits of lean operations.
Design/Methodology
The paper uses a longitudinal multi-year (up to four years observation), multi-case
analysis (n=5).
Findings
The paper reports that lean operations meet a wide range of sustainability outcomes
beyond environmental benefits (including supply monitoring, transparency, workforce
treatment, and community engagement). The paper specifies the internal and external policies,
procedures, tools, and strategies for implementation of lean and sustainable operations
management. This is encapsulated in the development of a stage based theoretical model of
lean-sustainability. Further, it is proposed that lean implementation and sustainability
performance are in fact interlinked.
6
Originality/Value
Past research on the role of lean operations in improving sustainably has focused almost
exclusively on environmental benefits accruing from toolkit/workplace level waste reduction.
This paper demonstrates that lean provides more than a toolkit (a philosophy and strategic
direction) and that this meets a wide range of sustainable outcomes. This finding makes major
contributions to conceptualizing how lean operations influence sustainability outcomes. The
paper develops the first integrative stage based model of lean and sustainable operations
management.
Keywords: lean, green, sustainability, operations management
Article Classification: Research paper

Experiential learning techniques such as business simulation exercises are increasingly being
used to improve student engagement and learning (Ellington and Earl 1998, Karns 2005,
Frontczak 2000, Gremler et al 2000, Wright et al 1994). A wide range of exercises or games in
operations management are currently available (Dhumal et al 2008, Ashenbaum 2008, Swanson
2008). However, with universities around the world cutting back on expenditure as the global
recession hits, investment in teaching materials are already starting to suffer at many institutions.
Faculty, keen to continue innovating, are facing problems in securing funds to cover the
licensing, material, computing, capital and staff costs associated with many experiential or
simulation approaches (Lewis and Maylor 2007). This paper reports on a low-cost simulation
exercise (the production game) that can be run simply and efficiently with little staff overhead,
minimal equipment and free of licensing costs.

The internet has become one of the most competitive retail marketplaces. Companies
operating in this area face demanding customers intolerant of any service failure and a large
number of competitors. A key issue in how companies can serve this market is the way in
which they internally manage the relationship between the marketing and operations
departments of the business. These two areas represent the ‘value adding’ core of all
organisations. Co-operation and collaboration between these functions is vital for success in a
highly competitive marketplace such as internet retail. However, the reality for many
organisations is a legacy of functional division, hostility and even hatred. This paper presents
case evidence from an internet retailer that has achieved positive working relationships
between marketing and operations functions, leveraging this to deliver award winning
customer service, growing the business and maintaining profitability.

The purpose of this paper is to build a comprehensive model of online service quality
that confirms both the content of, and process of measuring, this higher-order construct. While
the past decade has seen the internet become a key channel for service delivery, there remains
uncertainty around many aspects of both the content of, and process of how to measure, online
service quality. We use a large sample of European consumers (n=3399) of four companies
(two pure-play and two multi-channel) to develop a new nine-dimension model of online
service quality. We validate importance as a disconfirmation standard. We find trust in the
company to be the most important dimension of online service quality, with customer service
also highly rated. Issues of personalization/customization were very low rated. We find the
online pure-play companies in the sample delivering better performance than multi-channel
retailers, despite having customer who are actually more demanding. We discuss the practical
and research implications of these findings.

Collaboration between marketing and operational areas is critical to business success. Despite
this, in practice most companies suffer hostile and adversarial relationships between these
functions. Existing research has not sufficiently addressed methods for improving this
situation outside of the large corporation or manufacturing sector. This paper seeks to address
this shortcoming, investigating mechanisms to support better cross-functional relationships in
the small-medium-enterprise and in the service sector. Five case studies are presented of
companies that displayed a-typically good relationships between marketing and operations
groups. A cross-comparison is conducted to identify key themes and approaches that provide
for and support good cross-functional relationships. Three key methods are presented and
proposed as sources of positive marketing-operations relationships: (i) manipulation of
pay/reward mechanisms; (ii) clear strategy and strategic leadership; and, (iii) an explicit focus
on bringing people together.

Marketing and operations as functional areas constitute the key value adding areas of the
business organisation. It is these areas that are responsible for specifying what is produced,
how it is produced and actually delivering goods and services to customers. Close
collaboration between marketing and operations is vital to ensure effective fulfilment of
organisational aims. In practice, the relationship between these two areas has been marked by
fighting and hostility rather than co-operation or partnership. In this paper, the literature that
has examined this relationship is analysed. From this, six key issues are proposed that have
resulted in the poor working relations seen in practice. These are: conflicting reward systems,
different backgrounds and philosophies, functional separation, politics and resource
allocation, management failure and academic failure. Implications for marketing practice and
future research directions are then identified.

The use of experiential learning techniques has become popular in business education.
Experiential learning approaches offer major benefits for teaching contemporary management
practices such as cross-functional and team based working. However, there remains relatively
little empirical data on the success of experiential pedagogies in supporting such efforts. In
this paper we investigate one exercise and the impact it has had on the student experience and
learning performance. Two analyses are conducted: firstly, students were surveyed to
establish their perceptions of the quality and value of the exercise related to these aims;
secondly, ten years of course marks were evaluated for changes in overall student
performance after the introduction of the exercise. Findings provide strong support for
experiential approaches. Implications for management education are discussed.

Abstract
Purpose – This paper examines the preferences of students towards different teaching methods
and the perceived effectiveness of experiential teaching methods in different Operations
Management (OM) modules.
Design/methodology/approach – Student perceptions of different teaching methods and
various aspects of an experiential teaching method, in the form of a business simulation game,
are examined using survey data from 274 respondents in four small post-experience and two
large pre-experience OM modules.
Findings – Our analysis suggests that traditional and experiential teaching methods are both
popular with OM students, whilst independent teaching methods are less well liked. Analysis
also shows that students on both kinds of OM modules perceive most aspects of the
experiential teaching method used in this study (The Operations Game) very positively.
Research limitations – This research study was confined to a particular type of experiential
teaching method – a business simulation game. There is a need for further research to
investigate the perceived effectiveness of other experiential teaching methods, such as roleplays
and live cases. Furthermore, the paper does not examine the use of experiential teaching
methods that do not require the physical presence of students.
Practical implications – For Operations Management educators, the paper clarifies how they
might incorporate experiential teaching methods in different class settings. Whilst experiential
teaching methods are typically used for small post-experience modules, our data indicate that
the method can also be used on larger pre-experience modules with great success. We also
note a number of challenges involved in using experiential teaching methods on both kinds of
module.
Originality/value of the paper – This is the first known study to directly examine the
perceived effectiveness of an experiential teaching method in both small post-experience and
larger pre-experience OM modules.
Key words – Experiential teaching, Kinaesthetic, Operations Game, survey research
Paper type – Research paper

Over the past half-decade, research has consistently highlighted the need to improve crossfunctional
relationships and integration between the demand- (DS) and supply- (SS) sides of
organizations. Yet, in practice, firms have made little progress towards more effectively
integrating these diverse functional areas with friction between customer-facing and
operations/supply functions often resulting in sub-optimal business performance. Extant
cross-functional relationship research is variously criticised for failing to capture interaction
between the demand and supply sides of the organization in an integrative manner, for
focusing on the content of interaction but over-looking how exchanges take place, for taking a
simplistic view of cross-functional relationships as being dichotomously good or bad, and for
lacking a solid theoretical foundation. To address these shortcomings, this paper draws on
disconfirmation theory to propose a conceptual framework that captures the process and
content of interactions between DS and SS functional area representatives. To facilitate a
better understanding of complex and dynamic cross-functional relational exchanges,
prescriptions for testing the associated study propositions and directions for future research
are also presented.

Purpose
Purchasing behaviour across traditional retail and internet routes to market is becoming
increasingly integrated. The positive and negative consequences of such behaviour for multichannel
businesses have not been thoroughly examined – while an offline retail presence may
reassure customers purchasing from an online channel, poor service online may negatively
influence customer usage of an offline channel.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire survey of the online customers of four companies is employed and structural
equation modelling used to investigate influences of demographic and behavioural variables
(purchase involvement, loyalty, experience with the internet, company and product-type) on
positive and negative cross-channel behaviour (CCB).
Findings
Strong evidence for both positive and negative customer cross-channel behaviour is found.
5
Female, higher purchase involvement, higher loyalty and those with more experience of the
company were more likely to display positive CCB; higher education, experience with the
product type and online channel negatively influenced positive CCB. Increased age,
education, occupation/class and purchase involvement lead to more negative CCB; product
and company experience lead to reduced levels of negative CCB.
Research limitations/implications
As a first step towards understanding of customer cross-channel behaviour the research
generates many insights, however, more research is required to explore in more depth each of
the constructs discussed and measured.
Practical implications
Understanding how different customer groups display different tendencies for cross-channel
behaviour can companies shape fulfilment and delivery strategies across different channels to
market.
Originality/value
The study makes contributions to customer cross-channel customer behaviour, developing
implications for future research as well as management practice.
Keywords
Cross-channel behaviour, retail, internet

Increasing diversity in business education and practice has created two key priorities for
educators: how to integrate new student groups, most notably from China and the Far East,
into the educational process; and, how to better prepare students for working in diverse
organisations. Traditional teaching methods have been weak on supporting the integration
needed to realise these aims and experiential approaches are suggested as a useful alternative.
This paper reports an assessment of how the experiential learning approach works with
globally diverse students and how it contributes to integration through use of a simulation
exercise in business teaching. We find broad support for the use of the exercise across diverse
student groups.

Many retailers have expanded their businesses by adding internet sales channels. There are
many advantages of such multi-channel business operation, however, these may be offset by
an overlooked negative consequence of cross-channel shopper behaviour – poor service
online may lead customers to suspend consumption in a company’s offline channels. Support
is found for this proposition and an investigation into the influence of purchaser
characteristics and purchase criticality on propensity to engage in such behaviour is
conducted. The study makes contributions to cross-channel customer behaviour, developing
implications for future research as well as management practice.

Operations management is a key function in the modern organisation and an important area of study in the business school. Like many subjects it remains separated from the business history community. The practice of operations management can gain meaningful and significant
lessons from proper consideration of the historical antecedents of current practices.
Unfortunately, more than any other business area, operations management has a habit of
forgetting the lessons of the past and ‘reinventing the wheel’. The purpose of this paper is to
emphasise the value of historical analysis in operations management, assess the level of
historical coverage of the development of operations within that subject area (taking a review
of OM textbooks as a proxy), and highlight the valuable opportunities for the business history
community to engage with their operations colleagues to better guide the next generation of
operations management education and practice.

Purpose – Purchasing behaviour across traditional retail and internet routes to market is becoming increasingly integrated. The positive and negative consequences of such behaviour for multi-channel businesses have not been thoroughly examined – while an offline retail presence may reassure customers purchasing from an online channel, poor service online may negatively influence customer usage of an offline channel. This paper

... Niall Piercy a * pages 185-207. ... Can marketing and manufacturing coexist?. Harvard Business Review , 55(5): 104–14. September–October [Web of Science ®] View all references; Lindsley,Blackburn and Elrod, 199155. Lindsley, W., Blackburn, J. and Elrod, T. 1991. ...

However, it is not just an issue of how to best serve overseas student groups, but also how to best prepare all students for the diverse working environment. Experience of different racial groupings in education can enhance student learning and appreciation of cultural issues ...

ABSTRACT Many retailers have expanded their businesses by adding Internet sales channels. There are many advantages of such multi-channel business operation, however, these may be offset by an overlooked negative consequence of cross-channel shopper activity – poor service online may lead customers to suspend consumption in a company's offline channels. Support is found for this proposition, and an investigation into the influence of purchaser characteristics and purchase criticality on propensity to engage in such behavior is conducted. The study makes contributions to understanding cross-channel customer behavior and developing implications for future research as well as management practice.

The complexity of organisations in the public sector, in comparison to those in the private sector, can make it difficult to transfer operations management practices and approaches. The adoption of systems-based improvement methodologies have been widely reported for industrial organisations and are increasingly popular in the public sector, notably in healthcare, as a means to improve productivity, cost and quality

Purpose-Purchasing behaviour across traditional retail and internet routes to market is becoming increasingly integrated. The positive and negative consequences of such behaviour for multi-channel businesses have not been thoroughly examined–while an ...

Lean operating principles are based on the systems of Toyota Japan. Companies around the world, in all sectors of the economy, now embrace these approaches to improve quality, cost and productivity. Different purchasing and sourcing practices in lean organisations mean ...

ABSTRACT The widespread penetration of proximity mobile payment systems could drastically change the methods in which consumers purchase goods and services. However, earlier forecasts of the success of these systems have been substantially reduced due to lower than anticipated uptake of the supporting Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. This study explores the potential of a new model of consumer technology adoption, and its extension with trust and risk constructs, in explaining non-users’ adoption of proximity mobile payments. Analysis of data collected from 244 UK consumers reveals that the extended model explains more variance in behavioural intention, but performance expectancy remains the strongest predictor across both models. The findings provide new and important theoretical and practical contributions, particularly for strategic development and marketing of proximity mobile payments in the UK.

Collaboration between marketing and operational areas is critical to business success. Despite this, in practice most companies suffer hostile and adversarial relationships between these functions. Existing research has not sufficiently addressed methods for improving this ...