Paradise Revisited: The Current State of The Living Theatre

Paradise Revisited: The Current State of The Living Theatr

Performing the Music of Roger Sacheverell Coke

I discovered the music of Roger Sacheverell Coke (1912-72) in 2014 and since then have made four recordings and numerous new performing editions, and given concerts, broadcasts and lecture-recitals on his music. My project is the first ever indepth exploration of the composer and my recordings, made with renowned colleagues in the music industry, have presented ten of Coke’s opuses for the first time on disc. My continuing research into the composer has shown that knowledge of his personal circumstances has shaped my interpretations. This has allowed me not only to give convincing, informed performances of his works, but also to provide a blueprint for musicians to approach other lesser-known composers and bring their music into the mainstream. Indeed, an understanding of Coke’s biography based on detailed archival study and an evaluation of the existing musical sources has proved invaluable and I have shown that without it, the compositions can often be misunderstood or undervalued. No element of this project can exist without the others. My archival research has uncovered not only manuscripts of Coke’s music (the only versions that existed before my new editions), but also press cuttings and personal documents that have never been studied before. My performing editions have enabled world premiere recordings to take place, thus making Coke’s music accessible to a global audience for the first time

The research buyer\u27s perspective of market research effectiveness

This study examines the views of research buyers about the efficacy of market research used within their firms. A sample of research buyers from Australia's top 1000 companies was asked to evaluate the research outcomes of their most recent market research project in terms of their overall business strategy. Specialist market research buyers (insights managers) believed their commissioned research was very effective. This was in contrast to research buyers in generalist roles who did not believe in the effectiveness of the research outcomes to the same extent. The overarchlng strategic direction adopted by the buyer's firm did not make a difference to the type of research conducted (,action orientated' vs. 'knowledge enhancing'). However, entrepreneurial firms were more likely to rate their research as effective and to have dedicated research buyers generating insights into their markets. The results of this study are inconsistent with earlier studies and indicate that the market research function within Australian firms stili plays an ambiguous role

Differences between differentiators and cost leaders in market research and internal CRM usage

The Porter strategy types of Differentiation and Cost Leadership are put forward as strategies leading to competitive advantage (Porter 1980). These types have quite contrasting implementation guidelines in terms of human resources, organisational structure, job design decision-making process, control systems, and information systems. These internal contrasts suggest Differentiators and Cost Leaders require contrasting roles for market research and internal CRM systems. Very few studies have explored the contingent role business strategy may have in explaining contrasting roles in marketing information systems or market research.This study involved a cross-industry postal survey of 240 Australian marketing managers. One contribution of this study was to find market research having quite different roles in supporting Marketing (i.e. brand) Differentiators compared to Product (i.e. innovative feature) Differentiators. Surprisingly only one market research role differed when comparing Cost Leaders with Marketing Differentiator strategies. A final contribution was to find that no one strategy having a greater reliance on internal CRM systems in supporting decisionmaking.<br /

Differences in the role of market research and internal CRM according to strategy type

The traditional or conventional role of market research is one of enabling marketing managers to make informed decisions about key strategic issues and likewise reduce chances of poor strategic decisions. (Hamlin, 2000; Raguragavan et al., 2000) Yet recent literature suggests marketing research is becoming marginalized in supporting strategic decisionmaking. (Weber, 2001) In addition internal CRM is emerging as a viable source of aggregated customer intelligence (Malhotra and Peterson, 2001). Very few studies have explored the contingent role business strategy may have in explaining either the changing role of market research or the emergence of internal CRM systems. This study involved a cross-industry postal survey of 240 Australian marketing managers. One contribution of this study was to find market research having a greater role in supporting productivity and political outcomes for Prospector strategies when compared to both Defender and Analyzer strategies. The findings also showed Prospector strategies to have more sophisticated internal CRM systems than Defender strategies.<br /

Management of the market research function in client firms

Companies vary in the way they structure their market research function. This was hypothesized to affect the perceived value of their research. A survey of 241 marketing managers in major Australian firms showed that structure positively affected the perceived value of market research information while bolstering the internal client&rsquo;s position.<br /