This conceptual paper outlines why, when working in the international as opposed to the domestic environment, the success of a relationship marketing strategy is heavily dependent on levels of psychic distance. The higher the level of psychic distance, the greater the time and effort required to develop successful business relationships. At the different stages of relationship development, different variables of psychic distance assume relatively greater levels of importance which are likely to have implications for the implementation of a relationship marketing strategy.

The Education Reform Act 1988 brought about a number of radical changes in the structure and funding of UK higher education institutions particularly within the “new university” and college sector. As a result, they now operate within a much greater competitive context and need therefore to incorporate a greater market orientation into their strategic planning process in order to acquire a competitive advantage over their rivals. Reports on exploratory research undertaken to assess the degree to which these higher education institutions are aware of the complexity of the student′s role and whether this complexity is considered in the development of an institutions mission statement. Assesses the degree to which institutions display an awareness of the various types of customer that need to be taken into consideration when formulating their strategic plans.

Proposes a conceptual model of quality which incorporates an expectation framework. The model was prompted by a related empirical study examining effectiveness in a health care setting which highlighted the importance of quality measures in a contracting environment. The model attempts to understand the relationships between perceived service quality and patient expectations, experience and satisfaction. Makes recommendations which are considered to be relevant to NHS policy makers.

Tony Conway is Senior Lecturer in ABSTRACTThere is evidence that a good deal of the marketing within the not-for-profit sector tends to be of a short-term tactical nature. More particularly, there would seem to be disproportionate emphasis on the communication element aimed in many cases at donorsflunding organisations. This paper proposes a need for a more long-term strategic role for marketing within not-fr-profit organisations and due to their particular characteristics, the application of relationship marketing is considered to be necessary to produce such a role.