M.A. / This study focuses on empirically determining the branding role that product labelling plays as a strategic element in Integrated Marketing Communication functioning within the food and beverage industry. This research topic was selected for a number of reasons. Firstly, there is a general misconception of the definition of the term Integrated Marketing Communication. Secondly, there is also an emergence of the perception that labelling plays an important role as a strategic element in Integrated Marketing Communication functioning. Thirdly, there is also speculation regarding what this actual role is, that labelling plays within the Integrated Marketing Communication functioning. Fourthly, on closer investigation, it becomes evident that although there is a degree of literaturebased evidence that identifies the role that product labelling plays (within Integrated Marketing Communication), as that of branding, there is no empirical research to substantiate these claims. For these combined reasons there is a direct need for research into these issues. To facilitate the effective fulfilment of the research goals, there was a thorough examination of the theoretical literature available and the completion of an empirical study. Furthermore it was found that the examination of the branding role that product labelling plays as a strategic element in Integrated Marketing Communication functioning would be attainable if the research goal was restricted to a manageable field. To satisfy this aim, the study was focused on the food and beverage industry. The key terms of branding as well as Integrated Marketing Communication were investigated and defined. From the literature available, the branding role that product labelling plays as a strategic element in Integrated Marketing Communication functioning was examined and also defined. From this context it was found that ample evidence was available to conduct empirical research into this area. It became clear that the identification of the branding role that product labelling plays as a strategic element in Integrated Marketing Communication functioning within the food and beverage industry would rest upon the identification of the transmission of functional and non-functional attributes, consequences and values to consumers via verbal and visual images. The method best suited to identifying the transmission of these values was shown to be that of qualitative research. The proof of the transmission of these functions within the sample formed the focus of the empirical study. Ultimately this proof would illustrate the branding role of labelling. Within the context of the qualitative research, it was shown that the most appropriate approach to identify the transmission of functionality was through the use of the Means-end theory utilising the laddering technique. Within the context of the research document through the laddering technique, it also became apparent that there is a clear role that product labelling plays as a strategic element in Integrated Marketing Communication functioning within the food and beverage industry. It is also evident through literature-based and empirical evidence that this role is one ofbranding.

This paper investigates the advantages and disadvantages of the use of e-mail to obtain agreement between two parties with overlapping but also conflicting interests. The literature on Media Richness suggests that e-mail is too lean to facilitate agreement; but all supporting evidence stems from homogenous populations. This paper, however, starts from the hypothesis that in connection with lingua franca interaction, the text format provides advantages for parties that need to think how to phrase an argument. However, the evidence provided from a negotiation task performed by international business students indicates that, while there is a distinct advantage in the feature of reviewability, the text format itself also poses a problem because it allows selective attention. / Series: WU Online Papers in International Business Communication / Series One: Intercultural Communication and Language Learning

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Communication skills and interpersonal relationships have been receiving an increasing amount of attention in literature on workplace culture. Being polite serves a significant role in building up a harmonious working environment, and in enhancing communication efficiency. Current approaches to politeness have called for a more comprehensive framework than the polite-impolite continuum. There is a growing tendency to view politeness as a matter of appropriateness, which involves the negotiation of relationships. This new trend is represented by Spencer-Oatey’s rapport management theory. While rapport management has been framed within the study of workplace culture or communities of practice (CofP), little empirical research has investigated its application in intercultural settings. The present study has continued the focus of building up and maintaining rapport at work, which draws attention to intercultural communicative behaviour as it arises in a multicultural context. In essence, the purpose of this study is to examine how people from different cultural backgrounds manage rapport at work, and consequently explore how the workplace culture is shaped. It also aims to document and examine the change and development of workplace culture with the participation of different members. A multi-method approach underpins the study, which enables the research concern to be looked at from different perspectives. This approach, involving the adoption of workplace observation, audio recording of conversations, and semi-structured interviews, overcomes the weakness of using one single instrument to analyse communicative behaviour. Situated in a multi-cultural university workplace in Mainland China, the research makes use of naturally-occurring interactions between Chinese and foreign (American and European) teaching-related staff. The study is composed of two phases with some overlap of participants. Conversations are analyzed using Spencer-Oatey’s rapport management theory. While audio recording serves as the primary tool to collect data, follow-up and in-depth interviews were conducted in which participants were asked to recall and evaluate others’ and their own communicative behaviour. Findings from the data analysis suggest that participants exhibit an appropriate amount of their own inherent behaviour. Each of them contributes their own cultural traits and personalities to the intercultural communication process, which ultimately determines the general tendency of rapport management style. A diversity of rapport management strategies is identified according to participants’ different rapport management orientations and individual dispositions. Some features of the workiii place culture are thus clearly revealed. Neither the local Chinese staff nor the foreign (native English-speaking) staff behave in a way that could be described as typical of their own culture; their behaviour conforms to a hybridized culture which shows characteristics of both the local Chinese and foreign cultures. The comparison of results from the two phases indicates that the workplace culture evolves according to the cultural and personal attributes displayed by participants. This process is associated with a pidgin language analogy. This study therefore yields a better understanding of the dynamic nature of intercultural workplace communication. While there has long been debate and emphasis on adaptation to a workplace culture, the present study suggests that cultural hybridization is the trend in such a multicultural university workplace. It is therefore implied that in order to manage rapport appropriately in intercultural communication, it is important to be able to negotiate one’s behavioural norms to the workplace culture instead of only acclimating oneself to the local culture.

This thesis developed a normative model for designing advertising communications for entertainers in particular fields. Models in four major areas of advertising communication (segmentation, positioning, strategy and creative decisions) were reviewed and a model was developed that was tailored to the entertainment service industry. Based on each model, hypotheses were developed to posit relationships between easily identified and accessed restaurant characteristics (location, classification, atmosphere style and current entertainment status) and interest in hiring entertainment, entertainment form attractiveness and consumer involvement. These hypotheses postulated that there were differences, based on restaurant groupings by the characteristics, in terms of restaurant managers' interest in hiring magic, perceptions of attractiveness and involvement. The research was conducted in two phases. The first phase was an informal pilot study that determined salient attributes and entertainment services for consideration in positioning; the second phase was the use of a personal interview survey to examine the attitudes of restaurant managers in Southwest Virginia toward entertainment in general, and magic in particular. Magic was selected as a representative entertainment form for testing of the conceptual model. In general, the analysis provided good support for the hypothesized relationships. All hypotheses showed significant results for at least some of their component parts, the primary exception being the belief that restaurant managers differ in their attitudes by the location of their restaurants. Finally, the major findings of the research were used to discuss managerial recommendations for designing an advertising communication for magicians. Limitations and implications for future research were also discussed. / Master of Science

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This study aims to explore communication deviances and strategies in the negotiation discourse of Malaysian-Australian business encounters, from both a linguistic and nonlinguistic perspective. Specifically, it sees miscommunications/deviances as factors that may hinder the business communication process and prevent the negotiators from achieving their objectives. The study also focuses on strategies, or those discourse skills which promote successful business negotiation. The research method is based on the analysis of discourse generated from initial 'perception' interviews, business meetings, and post-meeting 'follow-up' interviews. The research involved a cross-section of Malaysian and Australian business people from various industries; such as tourism, information technology, hospitality and financial services. The initial 'perception' interviews were intended to gather data on the prior experiences of Malaysian and Australian businesspeople, both in terms of the reported difficulties and strengths in their business interactions and dealings in Western Australia. In the second stage of the analysis, the deviances which signalled miscommunication in the negotiation were identified in the recorded meeting data. Also identified were the strategies which were used by the negotiators to increase the likelihood that their goals will be achieved. The objective of the research was then to interpret why these strategies were being used, and their influence on the negotiation process. From the data a pattern emerged in the way that deviance occurred, and the way that strategies were being performed. This has made it possible to group deviance and strategies and present the findings thematically. Altogether, five themes identified, these were: Management of topics, Building rapport; Ethical business conduct; Building recognition; Styles in business practice. The study has shown that business communication discourse reflects the embedded culture of its speakers. Topic management was also found to play an important role in the business meetings as it enabled the participants to more effectively lead their discussion towards its intended goal. Both the deviance and strategies have been managed by the business negotiators in the way they select the appropriate topic categories in order to effectively maintain the discussion throughout the meeting.

Increasing globalization and transnational trends in business have resulted in greater contact with people from different cultures. However, in any cross-cultural encounter, miscommunication and misunderstandings are likely to occur. In a workplace setting, these can seriously undermine job performance and employee relations. The Intercultural Sensitizer is a cross-cultural training tool that is designed to increase the likelihood that trained individuals will make accurate interpretations concerning behavior observed in individuals from other cultural groups (Albert, 1983) . The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to identify cultural differences between Americans and Japanese that can lead to misunderstandings in the workplace and hinder communication, and (2) to construct an intercultural sensitizer that will enable the two cultural groups to interact more effectively with each other. The study's five-phase research design was based on Albert's (1983) delineation of the construction of an intercultural sensitizer. Twenty-four episodes were constructed and statistically analyzed to determine if there was a difference in the way the two cultural groups responded to a given situation. Nine episodes yielded critical values significant at the .05 level. The study concluded that there while there are differences in the cultural perspectives of American and Japanese business professionals, the two groups also share common cultural assumptions. The study's findings have numerous implications for cross-cultural corporate training and higher education.

The objectives of this research were to: (1) augment existing research regarding the impact of information retention resulting from the application of redundant color codes; and (2) determine whether the application of color in hard-copy documents has a positive influence in business reports by non-color deficient subjects. This research was an extension of work done by Lamberski and Dwyer (1983) and Moore and Dwyer (1991). Both studies were hard copy based and focused on the impact of information retention resulting from the application of redundant color codes.

Decisions are made with varying degrees of effectiveness and efficiency and are influenced by a myriad of internal and external forces. Decision Support Systems (DSS) software can effectively aid decision making through processing the facts and producing meaningful outputs for use by the person or team in making the final choice. Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a form of DSS, are very effective when locational data are present. This thesis talks about using GIS software in decision making procedures.