The document discusses the relationship between marketing academics and practitioners and identifies gaps between the two groups. It analyzes how different business disciplines engage academics and practitioners, ranging from exclusive engagement like accounting to more inclusive engagement like strategic management. For marketing, engagement falls in between due to limited professional body involvement. The document also outlines initiatives to bridge the divide by making academic research more accessible and relevant to practitioners through formats like executive summaries and social media. It identifies key issues to achieve togetherness, such as providing space for co-creation and overcoming language barriers between the two communities.

1. Marketing as an Applied
Science :
Lessons from other Business
Disciplines

2. GROUP 01
NAME REGISTRATION NUMBER
Nishantha De Silva 2010/MBA/WE/MKT/09
R Shyamali Dias 2010/MBA/WE/MKT/15
A.W.B. Karalliyadda 2010/MBA/WE/MKT/12
N.N.I De Silva 2010/MBA/WE/MKT/14

3. Presentation Outline
Critical Review of the Article
The Debate
Objectives of the article
Exclusive Vs Inclusive Engagement
Exclusive
Inclusive
Relevance Gap
Beyond the Article
International and Local Scenario – Entrepreneurs
International and Local Scenario – Academics
Recent Developments, Findings and Conclusion
Achieving Togetherness
Key Issues for the Future and Initiatives
Summary and Conclusion

4. Critical Review of the Article

5. The Debate Across A Business and
Management Disciplines
Inappropriate models
Over-focused on analytics and problem
findings and not problem solving and
implementation
Marketing as a Science ? Or, Art ?
Do professionals produce viable knowledge?
To what extent the Academics engage with
Practitioners
Academics
are
irrelevant?

6. The Objectives of the Article….?
Academics Vs Professionals, or
Academics + Professionals = Industry(Profession),
or
Academics with practical experience +
professionals with academic / theoretical
background = Industry (profession)
Which Scenario is the BEST ???

7. To understand the ways in which Academics and
Practitioners in different management fields
engage or fail to engage ;
 Marketing (semi-regulated)
 Accountancy (fully regulated)
 Strategic Management (not regulated)
 Organizational Studies (not regulated)
The Objectives of the Article….? Contd.,

8. Exclusive Vs Inclusive Engagement

9. Exclusive Vs Inclusive Engagement
Exclusive
Engagement
Inclusive
Engagement
Accountancy
Marketing
StrategicManagement
Organization
Studies

10. Accounting Professional Bodies Control the
License to Practice ;
ICA – Institute of Chartered Accountants
(Eng.& Wales)
ACCA – Association of Chartered Certified
Accountants(U K)
CIMA – Chartered Institute of Management
Accountants(U K)
CIPFA – Chartered Institute of Public Finance and
Accountancy(U K)
Exclusive Engagement

11. Professional Bodies Offer . .
An incentive for Practitioners to update their
knowledge - CPD-Continuous Professional
Development
Opportunities for Academics to engage with
Practitioners
A Channel for Academics to give their input
into policy making/professional standards

12. Inclusive Engagement
Far less specialist (not regulated)
Strategic Management comes from CEO level of
the Organization to Senior Management level and
then to the Operational level
Skills & Communication are important to
successful implementation
Emphasis is on “Simplicity” and “Sticking to with
what is known” - this have worked in the past.

13. The main role of Academic in Strategic
Management - is to give basic strategy concepts
for non-specialist Practitioners to achieve
Effective Implementation
Is this really needed ?
May be ‘YES’
May be ‘NO’
Inclusive Engagement Contd.,

14. Professional Bodies in Marketing
(mainly CIM-UK & Local Bodies)
Play a limited role in many countries
Marketing field stands somewhere between
Accountancy and Strategic Management on
the Exclusive – Inclusive continuum
Provides limited opportunities for practice

15. Relevance Gap in Academics and
Practitioners in Marketing
Too much theory oriented
Sometimes Academic findings are not aligned
with today’s dynamic environment
Academic findings/articles are not made available
for practitioners
How many read European Journal of Marketing ?
What about the Harvard Business Review ?
Academics have less access to practice and
implementation
Academics are not policy makers

16. Beyond The Article

17. Exclusive Vs inclusive Engagement
Exclusive engagement Inclusive engagement
Accountancy Marketing
StrategicManagement
Organization
Studies
Medicine
Engineering
Nursing
Teaching
Entrepreneurs
Law

18. Successful International Entrepreneurs
(Without Academic Background)
Michael Dell
Founder/CEO of Dell, Inc., Dropped out of
college at 19. Started his computer company in
college dorm room. Later using company’s
earnings and family loans expanded.
Henry Ford
Never graduated high school. Started one of
the largest automobile manufacturing
companies in the world, Ford Motor Co.
Revolutionizing Car manufacturing industry.

19. Bill Gates
College dropout. Named the richest person in the
world by Forbes magazine 27 times. Bill Gates, who
was 10 points away from a perfect score on SAT’s,
enrolled at Harvard College in 1973 only to take a
leave of absence two years later to form a
partnership with classmate Paul Allen. The
partnership became known as Microsoft.
Denied acceptance to film school. Dropped out of California
State University. He co-founded DreamWorks, a major film
studio that’s produced several of the highest grossing movie hits
and Academy award winning films. He repeatedly applied to the
UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television and the University
of Southern California's School of Cinema and Television but
failed to gain entry
Steven Spielberg

20. Successful Sri Lankan Entrepreneurs
(Without Academic Background)
• Mr A.G.Hinni Appuhami
Founder of Maliban Biscuits
• Mr H.K. Dharmadasa
Founder of Nawaloka Group
• Mr. D Samson Rajapaksa, Founder of DSI
Group

21. Academics in practice in Sri Lanka
Mr. Wegapitiya Prof Uditha
Liyanage
Mr. Prasanna
Perera
Mr. Kapila
Chandrasena

22. Murali Prakash
Dian Gomez
Academics in practice in Sri Lanka Contd.,

23. Recent Development and Findings

24. Marketing Academics and
Practitioners: Towards Togetherness
2 recent Academic marketing conferences(ANZMAC), and Academy
of Marketing(AM), featured special sessions on the perceived “Academic-
Practitioner Divide in Marketing”.
Underpinning discussions and debates ;
1. Academic research in marketing should be of use to
marketing practice;
2. Marketing graduates should have the knowledge and
skills that are needed in the marketing workplace
BUT, these desires often do not reach fulfillment.
Marketing graduates are ill prepared in terms of fitting the
job

25. Key Issues Towards “Togetherness”
Academics to satisfy peer reviewers : of rigorous
theory and methodology
Long lead-time between research and publication :
less likely to inform contemporary practice
Incentives and rewards in Academia : favour Academic
publications in top-tier A-rated journals that often only pay
lip-service to managerial implications of research findings
lecturers use textbooks as support and timesaver :
textbooks - criticized as out-of-date & out-of-touch with
contemporary thinking - flawed view of the practitioner
world
- Regarding academics -

26. - Regarding marketing students -
Widespread belief that ;
“...most undergraduate curricula focus primarily on
communicating a basic knowledge of marketing management
principles, an understanding of consumer needs and behaviors,
and an awareness of marketing research issues, rather than
more nebulous communication and interpersonal skills”
(Taylor, 2003, p.105).
Key Issues Towards “Togetherness”

27. Achieving Togetherness
Marketing graduate students require sophisticated
information and communication technological skills
regarding technology in marketing ;
“...marketing practice has sped ahead of marketing
theory and education”
Extensive social networking
Marketing Academia must strive for holistic solutions
that embrace innovations in both practice and
theory, in order to provide students with a more
balanced marketing education

28. Initiatives
Academic journal editors and publishers recognize that
practitioners prefer an abridged, to-the-point version of a full
paper ;
1. Journal of Services Marketing - Executive Summary and
Implications for Managers’ after each published paper
2. Journal of Consumer Research has a Twitter account -
tweeted’ a brief summary of articles published
3. Journal of Service Research – monthly newsletter with
webinar links, media mentions and executive summaries
4. The Chartered Management Institute has launched an
initiative for academics to submit ‘top’ management
articles to bring to the attention of UK managers

29. Create wider accessibility for wider audience
through online - marketing scholarship 2.0
1. Pdf white papers, pre-publication of working
papers
2. Slide shares
3. Blogs
4. Forums
5. Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn - creating academic
hubs
6. wiki approaches
Initiatives Contd.,

30. Issues for the Future
Ways to provide ‘space’ for academics and practitioners to co-
create value.
Barriers of ‘language used’ between academics and practitioners,
and how to overcome them
Ways in which the academic community can keep up with current
practice
How to create practitioner awareness of, and, access to academic
research findings
How to present useful academic marketing frameworks/models to
practitioner audiences
Academic career paths and capacity building initiatives
Design of ‘practical’ elements in academic programs/courses
Use of technology to disseminate marketing theory and practice

31. Open For Critique
Are we that bad??
Where should we
improve?