The Social Organisation of Marketing : A Figurational Approach to People, Organisations, and Markets

The book examines the social processes which have shaped the development and organisation of various marketing practices and activities, and the markets associated with them. Drawing on the figurational-sociological approach associated with Norbert Elias the contributors explain how various markets and related marketing practices and activities are organised, enabled and constrained by the actions of people at different levels of social integration. Collectively, The Social Organisation of Marketing provides insights into topics such as the consumption and of wine in China, the advertising of Guinness, the management of on-line communities in Germany, the corporate social responsibility strategies of multinational energy corporations in Africa, the concept of talent management in contemporary organisations, the child consumer in Ireland, and the constraining and enabling influences of the American corporate organisational structure. . Read more... Abstract: The book examines the social processes which have shaped the development and organisation of various marketing practices and activities, and the markets associated with them. Drawing on the figurational-sociological approach associated with Norbert Elias the contributors explain how various markets and related marketing practices and activities are organised, enabled and constrained by the actions of people at different levels of social integration. Collectively, The Social Organisation of Marketing provides insights into topics such as the consumption and of wine in China, the advertising of Guinness, the management of on-line communities in Germany, the corporate social responsibility strategies of multinational energy corporations in Africa, the concept of talent management in contemporary organisations, the child consumer in Ireland, and the constraining and enabling influences of the American corporate organisational structure Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii The Social Organisation of Marketing: An Introduction (John Connolly, Paddy Dolan)....Pages 1-30 Wine and China: Making Sense of an Emerging Market with Figurational Sociology (Jennifer Smith Maguire)....Pages 31-59 Figurational Dynamics and the Function of Advertising at Arthur Guinness & Sons Ltd, 1876–1960 (John Connolly)....Pages 61-91 Unintentional Social Consequences of Disorganised Marketing of Corporate Social Responsibility: Figurational Insights into the Oil and Gas Sector in Africa (Stephen Vertigans)....Pages 93-118 Organisational Dynamics and the Role of the Child in Markets (Paddy Dolan)....Pages 119-142 Ballet for the Sun King: Power, Talent and Organisation (John Lever, Stephen Swailes)....Pages 143-169 “Friends and Followers”: The Social Organisation of Firms’ Online Communities (Ad van Iterson, Johanna Richter)....Pages 171-192 Organisations and American Collective Self-Understanding (Stephen Mennell)....Pages 193-204 Figurational Theory, Marketing and Markets: Moving from Description and Technological Empiricism to Empirical–Theoretical Explanations (John Connolly, Paddy Dolan)....Pages 205-221 Back Matter ....Pages 223-230