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While, Japanese marketing strategies in world markets have attracted much attention in international business circles, they have received only secondary attention from researchers. Indeed, most studies into the competitive behaviour of Japanese firms have not identified marketing as a particularly significant factor in accounting for their overall success. By default, therefore, researchers have failed to provide information and insight into an area which is recognised as crucial to efficient performance. The aim of this study was to gain an insight into the role marketing plays in affecting the competitive position of Japanese firms in the British market. In particular, the research focused on the overall approach of Japanese companies to the marketplace, the process by which they identify and bring products to the market and their view towards the 1992 single European market. Care has been taken in describing and explaining the competitive behaviour of Japan's companies in order t o achieve a fair analysis of the contribution of marketing to their overall strategy. In doing so, it is hoped that a more analytic and less subjective outcome will be of value and interest to the Western business community. Based upon the literature review which documented the positive role of marketing in competitive success, analysed the factors that contributed to Japan's success in world markets and highlighted the specific role played by Japanese marketing strategies in achieving such results, a set of hypotheses were developed and tested. The field research was carried out during October/November 1989 following a series of five personal interviews with managing directors and senior marketing staff in August 1989 to pilot test the questionnaire. Questionnaires were despatched addressed in person to the managing directors of Japanese companies operating in Britain. The subsequent analysis is based upon a total sample of 57 companies operating in the U. K. -a substantial proportion of the total (63%). The broad findings emerging from this research present few surprises. Japanese companies do not seem to suffer from a 'sales orientation', 'production orientation' or 'finance orientation' as opposed to a marketing orientation. The in-roads being made into the British market are based by and large on a strategy aimed at satisfying customer needs and wants. Japanese companies saw their strengths in placing emphasis on research and engineering and bringing the right product to the market quickly and decisively. As far as 1992 is concerned, Japanese companies indicate that they will be fighting aggressively to hold onto their market share. They also anticipate increased competition coupled with a necessity to know and serve the market better.

Thesis advisor: Frank Gollop / This dissertation analyzes advertising strategies in specialized markets like the prescription drugs, travel, health insurance and real-estate markets where the consumers' purchasing decisions are influenced by experts (e.g., doctors, travel agents, employers and real-estate agents). / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2006. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

Between 2007 and 2013, the number of loans banks provided to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) declined. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies that senior bank lending officers used to improve lending to SMEs. The sample size consisted of 4 senior small business lending officers who have in lending for 5 or more year in Houston, Texas. The conceptual framework used was agency theory. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with 4 senior bank lending officers from a bank in the Houston, Texas area, a review of documents from lending officers, and other artifacts from the Small Business Administration. Data were analyzed with the support of software to generate themes. The data analysis included process coding of the data collected from the participants. Member checking and methodological triangulation enhanced the credibility of the findings in this study. Three themes emerged from the data analysis: the barriers and challenges lenders face when lending to business owners, bankers' strategies to overcome challenges in lending to their customers, and lenders' use of relationships and lending experience to provide loans to their customers. The findings from this study may contribute to social change by providing insights that can be used by senior lending officers related to strategies for providing loans to SMEs. The results of this study may also contribute to increased job creation for local residents, which can positively impact the economic viability of the Houston area.

acase@tulane.edu / This dissertation models integrative strategies pertaining the Classic Period (AD 200-900), Copan polity of western Honduras on the frontier of the Maya world. Past scholarship on integrative strategies is largely based on comparative analyses of empires, the largest and most diverse political entities of the ancient world. However, as is argued on the basis of new fieldwork, integrative strategies can be successfully employed at smaller scale polities, such as Maya polities, since these strategies are not sensitive to either population size or heterogeneity. The unique location of the Copán polity on the southeastern frontier of the Maya world in a multi-ethnic area, makes it an attractive area to study Classic Maya integrative strategies. The surrounding populations were non-Maya at the time of Copán’s dynastic foundation making subsequent structural transformations to political systems and styles in those regions highly visible in the archaeological record. The Cucuyagua and Sensenti valleys on the southeastern frontier of the Copán polity were systematically surveyed and excavated as part of this research. A model was created to evaluate whether the Copán polity cultivated territorial relations, hegemonic or transactional relation with the respective valleys. Using this model, I discovered greater convergences in settlement patterns, artistic styles, and economic interaction between Late Classic settlement in the Cucuyagua and Copán valleys than with the more distant Sensenti valley. The construction of a Copán-style secondary center in the Early Classic with nucleated settlement, Copán-style sculpture, and Copán-style palace suggests that this valley was territorially integrated within the Copán polity. In contrast, elites from the Sensenti valley emulated Copán-style residential architecture and consumed Madrugada model-carved pottery that was produced in Copán for inter-elite gift-giving. However, its Late Classic settlement lacked a nucleated center or public imagery referencing the rulers of Copán. Due to that combination of factors, I conclude that this area was hegemonically integrated within the Copán polity. Furthermore, smaller polities, like the Copán polity used the same varied integrative strategies carried out by larger, better known empires. / 1 / Erlend M. Johnson