Store design: the effect of Iceland’s refit strategy on food consumers
Dr. Palto Ranjan Datta
London College of Management Studies, UK

Divine Mawuli Akwensivie
Breyer State University London Centre, UK

Gad Akwensivie
Breyer State University London Centre, UK

ABSTRACT
The primary aim of the research was to determine the impact of Iceland foods plc store design refit strategy on shoppers’ behaviour. Based on the researcher’s phenomenological stand, informal interviews and observations were used to collect data. A total of thirty interviews and observations were carried out in two refitted stores of Iceland foods plc and the data collected were analyzed qualitatively. The findings point to the relative importance of the stages of the consumer decision making process, and also to the relative importance of the factors which influences the consumer decision making process. Overall, service quality was found to be important to all and the refit strategy according to the customers was indeed a success.

Employment Relationship and Management Control of Labour Process
Dr Emmanuel Orakwue
London College of Management Studies, UK

Nicholas Gyambrah-Adaefie
Breyer State University London Centre, UK

Alex Kweku Hammond
Breyer State University London Centre, UK

ABSTRACT
This article examines the nature of employment relationship and management control over the labour process. The purpose of the article is to examine the main attributes of the employment relationship and why management must exercise control over the employees. It discussed the conflicting views expressed by the three conventional perspectives regarding the employment relationship. The overall objective is to provide critical overview of managerial strategies and theories regarding labour control. The article traces the root of management right to manage. The significance of the contract of employment, managerial prerogative and the master servant relationship are discussed. Other interactive issues such as the limitations on managerial powers of labour control are also given prominence. The views expressed in this article are useful to developing management strategies that will ensure organisational efficiency in both private and public sectors.

Public Relations: An Alternative Communication Strategy for Achieving Competitive Advantage in Business Organisations
Dr Emmanuel Orakwue
London College of Management Studies, UK

Alex Kweku Hammond
Breyer State University London Centre, UK

Nicholas Gyambrah-Adaefie
Breyer State University London Centre, UK

ABSTRACT
This paper reviews the concept of communication strategies used in business organisations. The article explores the relevant literature that underpins the concept of public relations in terms of its objectives. It reviews the various PR methods and techniques that could be used to achieve competitive advantage in business organisations. The findings of the article show that because of the increasing competition in the marketplace, organisations need to design the most effective and efficient communication programme possible to build relationships with customers in order to achieve competitive advantage. The recommendation is that organisations should build customer relationships, using a series of interactions between individuals and the organisation. This will produce more sales and profits than focusing on sales transactions alone. Thus, this article emphasised how organisations can successfully integrate brand messages, media, and marketing communication functions to help create, retain, and grow brand image that will achieve competitive advantage.

A market review of grocery prices in the UK supermarkets
Risiqat Bolanle Salami
Department of Marketing & Tourism Management,
University of Hertfordshire, UK

ABSTRACT
This market review paper compares the prices of selected national and own label brands in four leading UK supermarkets. The objective is to find out price differentials between manufacturers’ and retailers’ brands in the leading supermarkets. Prices of nine grocery products were taken from four leading supermarkets and a comparison was made between the prices charged for national brands and those charged for equivalent own label brands. An evaluation of prices within the selected stores reveals that although own label brands were significantly cheaper than those of equivalent national brands, a large segment of customers still prefer national brands to own label brands. The review also suggests that more consumers were willing to pay premium prices for national food brands than for own label brands irrespective of price differentials. It is recommended that retailers use packaging information to dispel uncertainty and innovate in areas where they have a strong presence, as this indicates consumer acceptance.

Employees’ Satisfaction with Pay: The Case of UK Fast Food Restaurant Employees
OLA SHITTU
London South Bank University, UK

ABSTRACT
The issue of pay satisfaction has for a long time been the centre of numerous investigations by researchers. However there are no studies relating to pay level satisfaction of the UK fast food restaurants employees. This study investigates pay level satisfaction among the UK large “high volume” fast food and small “low” volume fast food stores employees. Using questionnaire methodology, the study found that fifty-seven percent of the respondents expressed their dissatisfaction with their pay. The result of the three-ways analysis of variance (ANOVA) also revealed that female employees also expressed more satisfaction with their pay than their male counterparts. When job position was compared in relation to pay, the result reveals that while store staffs are generally unhappy with their pay, senior managers are most unhappy.

Bridging the Housing Gap in Less Developed Countries
Dr. Palto Ranjan Datta
London College of Management Studies, UK

Gad Akwensivie
Breyer State University London Centre, UK

Divine Mawuli Akwensivie
Breyer State University London Centre, UK

ABSTRACT
The housing situations in many parts of the world, particularly in the less-developed countries are so appalling. In this 21st century era of technological and socio-economic advancement many people live in very deplorable conditions with no water and sanitary infrastructure. This article looks at the ways through which people acquire housing or have tried to provide housing for themselves and their families, particularly how they finance them. The work further looks at the effectiveness of these means in the abatement of the global housing-shortage problem. The work also explores mortgage-financing ideas in a way that is interesting and valuable considering the growth of population and cities, bad housing and poor sanitary conditions which create dangers for the general welfare of mankind. This article justifies the issue of a housing gap between the developed and developing countries, justifies the importance of adequate housing, explores and identifies ways in which people are financing the acquisition of homes based on empirical observations, provides a critique on findings and makes important recommendations.

EVOLUTIONARY APPROACHES TO ORGANISATIONAL STRATEGY: ADDRESSING BUSINESS DYNAMISM
Dr. Palto Ranjan Datta
London College of Management Studies, UK

Uttam Kumar Dey
Breyer State University London Centre, UK

ABSTRACT
Evolution is the change in characteristics as exhibited by organisms in a population and natural selection is the mechanism by which evolution occurs. Evolution is not unique to biology, it can be found in other system too (Mende and Kennedy, 1999). However, all these systems are evolving through the same mechanism as in biology: variation, inheritance and selection. A company or an organization can be treated as a living system, using evolutionary theories to understand and perhaps influence how the organization changes over time. The global environment is relatively turbulent and it is important that business needs to evolve, learn and innovate to survive. Organizations that do not change are victims of the natural selection in the market place. This paper sets out to examine the potential contribution of the evolutionary approaches to organisational strategy and how strategic dynamism can be addressed. In order to place the discussion in right perspective the authors have adopted a simple scientific working definition of evolution. The main focus of the paper is on both the biologist and geologist outlooks of evolution. While the biologist view of evolution dwells on genetic competition, the geological view presents evolution as a historical phenomenon. The main assumption here is that some metaphors of evolution have a lot of implications for organizational strategy and for generating corporate strategy to get sustainable competitive advantages.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT TO SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: THE MAKING AND UNMAKING OF ECONOMIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Joel Barimah
Breyer State University London Centre, UK

Josephine Boakye-Mensah
Breyer State University London Centre, UK

Richmond Osei
Breyer State University London Centre, UK

Yaw Gyamfi
Breyer State University London Centre, UK

ABSTRACT
Foreign direct investments (FDI) play a crucial role in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries’ development efforts in present integrated world economies. Yet most SSA countries have not been successful in attracting FDI. With the millennium development goals giving the impression of being increasingly difficult to attain, FDI to SSA countries have increased substantially to supplement domestic funds. Exploratory studies conducted by using the existing materials on FDI revealed that the flows to SSA countries is the lowest and unequally distributed both among the countries and within the various sector of the individual countries. The few countries that were able to attract was primarily due to abundant natural resource size of the market. SSA countries will continue to receive FDI from little to large sums and into diverse areas of their economies due varying interest of potential investors. The importance and distortion generated by FDI in the recipient countries are not automatic and varies from one country to another. Yet with proper management and policy planning, the full potential impact of FDI for accelerated development and growth in the recipient could be realised.

Demographic Characteristics of Grocery store shoppers in Vietnam
Hoang Thien Nguyen
Breyer State University London Centre, UK

Hoa Le Do
Breyer State University London Centre, UK

ABSTRACT
This study examines the major demographic characteristics of Vietnamese food consumers who shop from supermarkets. Study location is Vietnam where retailing, specifically the organised retail sector is relatively very young and going through an early phase. The research is based on selecting three leading grocery retailers from Vietnam. Data were collected using a random sample of consumers. This research will contribute to a better understanding of the consumers’ demographic characteristics, so enabling retailers target specific groups more effectively and specifically by understanding their needs and wants.