Publisher's Synopsis
In September 2003, Athens University of Economics & Business hosted the third in a series of international research symposia held under the a- pices of the ECR Europe Academic Partnership and ECR Journal: Inter- tional Commerce Review. Held first in Cambridge in 2001 and then at WHU Koblenz in 2002, the Symposia have become important, unique - casions in the international calendar of business research. No other event brings together in a university environment distinguished academics, bu- ness practitioners and consultants to explore the development of the c- sumer goods industry through collaborative management. The papers c- lected here, first presented in Athens, represent an important contribution to the research literature of modern business. The wide-scale institutional development of collaborative practices in the European consumer goods business began in 1994 with the creation of ECR ("Efficient Consumer Response") Europe, a joint initiative of ma- facturers and retailers working together to improve the quality and p- formance of the value chain. At the heart of ECR was a business envir- ment characterised by dramatic advances in information technology, shifts in consumer demand, and the increasing movements of goods across int- national borders. This new reality required a fundamental reconsideration of the most effective way of delivering the right products to consumers at the right price.
