A/Prof. Guilherme Pires

Biography

Guilherme D Pires, Ph.D. (Newcastle, Australia) is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Management at the Faculty of Business & Law, University of Newcastle, Australia. Previously, he was the Head of the Newcastle Graduate School of Business with the title of Director, The Director of Postgraduate Studies, a Deputy Head of the Newcastle Business School and a Visiting Scholar at Universidade do Minho (Portugal), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal), ISCTE (Portugal) and Concordia University (Canada).

He is a Trustee for the Business & Economics Society International (BESI) and an advisor to the Board of Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES). He is also the Associate Editor of the International Journal of Behavioural and Health Research (IJBHR), Book Reviews Editor for the Global Businesses and Economics Review (GBER) and a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Integrated Supply Management (IJISM), Global Businesses and Economics Review (GBER) and Advances in Doctoral Research in Management (ADRM). He was the Chair for the ACCD Conference: Accepting the Challenge of Cultural Diversity, 2005, University of Newcastle, Australia.

Qualifications

• PhD, University of Newcastle, 2001
• Licenciatura in Economics (equiv Bachelor), Universidade Nova de Lisboa - Portugal
• Master of Commerce, University of Newcastle, 1986
• Bachelor of Economics (Honours), University of Newcastle, 1983

Research

Research keywords

• Electronic Commerce
• Electronic Procurement
• Ethnic Marketing
• Marketing Strategy
• Services Marketing

Research expertise

My primary research focus has been the study of ethnic marketing, involving issues of ethnicity and minority ethnic groups within culturally diverse countries, such as Australia, from a marketing perspective. Ethnic marketing was also a major focus of my doctoral work, completed in 2001.

Other foci of my research activity include the impact of information and communications technology on business-to-business marketing, electronic procurement, consumer empowerment, foreign direct investment, local government reporting and behaviour and health research.

Distinct from most marketing research dealing with cultural groups, which is mostly value based, my research assumes a cognitive approach. Hence, the impetus of my research in the ethnic marketing area has been on examining the relevancy of minority ethnic groups for marketing purposes. One major area of interest is to investigate whether current aggregative practices (commonly characterised by the aggregation of minority ethnic groups largely based on language or race) is theoretically defensible, hence contributing to the creation of marketing knowledge relative to culturally diverse societies. In a major research program conceived to incrementally add to knowledge in this area of marketing, the strategy has been to conduct a variety of small projects looking at narrow aspects within the larger research problem. This has produced studies examining ethnic market segmentation within culturally diverse societies (including the development of acculturation perspectives of ethnicity, culminating in the development of a three dimensional analytical framework for ethnicity), ethnic marketing etics, ethnic networks, research methodology issues, impact of income and language proficiency, consumer decision processes, link to expatriate experiences, strategic issues for suppliers to minority ethnic groups, implications for health research and the development of a theory of group sustainability based on ethnic resource creation.

While issues related to cultural diversity are gaining in attention in Australia and internationally, ethnic marketing is an area of research that remains relatively undeveloped and to which I continue to make significant contributions. Illustrative of my international standing in the discipline, these contributions have been recognised by peers internationally, as reflected in publications (one book and a large number of journal articles) and in a continuous stream of requests for peer reviewing of papers dealing with culture related issues by international academic journals.

Languages

• Portuguese

Fields of Research

Centres and Groups

Centre

Memberships

Editorial Board.

• Book Reviews Editor - Global Business & Economics Review
• Membership - Advances in Doctoral Research in Management (ADRM).
• Membership - Business & Economics Society International
• Membership - International Journal of Integrated Supply Management (IJISM).

Learned Academy.

• Membership - Literati Club
• Membership - Chartered Institute Of Marketing (CIM)
• Membership - American Marketing Society (AMS)
• Membership - European Marketing Association (EMAC)
• Membership

Awards

Recognition.

2002	Outstanding Conference Participant Business and Economics Society International (United States)

Research Award.

2005	Awards for Excellence Literati Club (United States) Outstanding paper for 2005 for the journal Corporate Communication, Impressions of Annual Report an Experimental Study, Corporate Communications, An International Journal,
2004	Highly Commended Award Literati Club (Australia) Awards for Excellence, Literati Club, Emerald, for the article Identifying and Reaching and Ethnic Market: Methodological Issues, Qualitative Market Research - An International Journal, 5(4): 224-35
2004	Best Paper Award International Business Information Management Conference (IBIM), (Jordan)
1982	A.J.Day Memorial Prize University of Newcastle (Australia) Prize for the best undergraduate thesis.

---

Administrative

Administrative expertise

Since my application for promotion in 2008 I have developed my administration activity as the HoS/Director for the Newcastle Graduate School of Business (NGSB) until its integration into the newly formed Newcastle Business School (NBS). My current position is of Director of Postgraduate Studies, Deputy HoS for the NBS. My responsibility for the management of City Precinct operations is equivalent to HoS.

My responsibility over the period included the development, submission and implementation of a strategic plan for the delivery of postgraduate coursework education. Program enrolments comprise an increasing percentage of international students embodying a variety of skills and socialisation gaps that need to be effectively addressed to ensure the achievement of the outcomes sought by the FBL and University. My activity in these areas involved [1] the detection and analysis of skills gaps and the development and implementation of preventive/remedial programs to address those gaps (e.g. Skills Enhancement Program and Postgraduate Mentoring Program, both under the umbrella of the Striving for Excellence Program) and [2] the improvement of socialisation programs (e.g. orientation) and the development and implementation of new ones (e.g. Program for Student Social Engagement).

It is important to note that all these programs have been successfully implemented and have become factors of continued distinction for the FBL and the University. For example, in its fourth operating trimester the Skills Enhancement Program already provides invaluable written English support to over 50 percent of all new postgraduate students, including those in the City Precinct, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong and Gradschool.com. While overall impact is still to be conclusively assessed, early anecdotic evidence support the importance of the program. Another clearly successful program that I have designed and implemented is the Postgraduate Mentoring Program. Currently in its third trimester, the program has formed over 70 professionally trained mentors who have assisted over 300 students. This is a program that has been clearly embraced by students and staff alike. It has been implemented at University of Newcastle (Singapore) in trimester 1, 2009.

Socialisation programs were developed to combine a reduction in students' cultural shock with effective measures to improve student experiences (involving student Orientation, leisure activities, multicultural celebrations, celebration of graduating students), and professional success (e.g the Employment Skills Program is currently in its second trimester; it provides all graduating students with job search and interview skills seminars and a professionally developed resume).

A further activity that I have developed and implemented from scratch is the NBS Postgraduate Newsletter. In its fourth trimester, the Newsletter continues to be commended by all stakeholders. Still to be implemented is the Alumni Program, scheduled for 2010.

Since my application for promotion in 2008 I have been a member of the following committees at the University level (AUQA Audit Working Group 2), FBL level (Executive, Board, Teaching & Learning, International Consultative) and NBS level (Executive, Board).

Externally, I have become a Consultant to the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIE).

---

Teaching

Teaching keywords

• Business to Business Marketing
• Ethnic Marketing
• Literature Review
• Marketing Concepts
• Professional Practice in Design
• Relationship Marketing
• Research proposal
• Services Marketing
• Strategic Marketing Management