Dr Nick Ellis

Academic Staff

Dr Nick Ellis

Lecturer in Critical Marketing
MSc Marketing Programme Leader

Telephone: +44 (0) 116 223 1816
Fax: +44 (0) 116 252 5515
Email: n.ellis@le.ac.uk

Office: Room 606, Ken Edwards Building.

Biography

In both his research and his teaching, Nick attempts to make sense of marketing practice. A key step in this quest was the completion of his PhD in Industrial Marketing at Lancaster which took a discourse analytical view of inter-organizational relationships and explored the social construction of marketing management. He joined the School of Management in 2003, having previously been a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Derby where he co-organized the 2000 Academy of Marketing Conference. Prior to this, he was employed by the HMV music retail chain in the areas of sales, marketing, purchasing and graduate development. He also holds a Masters degree in Marketing Management (Nottingham Trent), a first degree in Civil Engineering (Surrey), and the CIM Diploma.

Having gained considerable experience in HE course management, including partnerships in the Far East and Africa, Nick is currently responsible for the MSc in Marketing, the largest full time Masters programme to be offered at Leicester. His B2B Marketing & Supply Chain Management module is the most popular option available in the School, gaining consistently good teaching evaluations from students.

Research Interests

Nick's work centres on inter-firm relationships and managerial identity construction, typically within industrial and retail supply chains. This research has been published in several leading journals in marketing and broader management disciplines (see list below). He has also written papers in the areas of industrial networks, supply chain ethics, trade marketing, professional services and relationship marketing in consumer contexts. His latest project investigates the construction of cross-cultural management practices in Asia, in conjunction with colleagues from New Zealand and Canada. Nick adopts a broadly critical engagement with the marketing discipline, underpinned by a focus on discourse analysis. This involves exploring organization(s) from the 'micro' perspective of individual boundary-spanning actors and the language used in management texts. Perhaps fittingly, his approach has led him to adopt what might be considered a 'boundary-spanning' researcher's role, positioned between the disciplines of marketing and organizational studies - a fascinating space to inhabit.

Nick is currently working on three books drawing upon the insights gained through his research as well as his extensive teaching and work experience in marketing. The first is an introductory book on Critical Marketing co-written with his colleagues at the Leicester School of Management. The second is a sole-authored textbook on Business-to-Business Marketing that will be enhanced by a wide range of case study contributions from fellow B2B scholars around the world. Finally, he is compiling a four volume collection of Major Works in Business to Business Marketing to be co-edited with Mark Tadajewski (Leicester) and Andrew Pressey (Lancaster).

Selected Publications

Ellis, N, Tadajewski, M & Pressey, A (Eds.) (2011, forthcoming), Business to Business Marketing, Volumes I-IV, London: Sage.

Ellis, N & Ybema, S (2010, forthcoming), "Marketing Identities: Shifting Circles of Identification in Inter-Organizational Relationships", Organization Studies, 31.

Ellis, N (2010, forthcoming), B2B Marketing: Relationships, Networks & Strategies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ellis, N, Fitchett, J, Higgins, M, Jack, G, Lim, M, Saren, M & Tadajewski, M (2010, forthcoming), Marketing: A Critical Textbook. London: Sage.

Ellis, N, Jack, G, Hopkinson, G & O'Reilly, D (2010, forthcoming), "Boundary Work and Identity Construction in Marketing Exchanges", Marketing Theory, 10.

Ellis, N & Hopkinson, G (2009, forthcoming), "The Construction of Managerial Knowledge in Business Networks: Managers' Theories about Communication", Industrial Marketing Management, 38.

Ybema, S, Keenoy, T, Oswick, C, Beverungen, A, Ellis, N & Sabelis, I (2009), "Articulating Identities", Human Relations, 62 (3), pp 299-322.

Ellis, N (2008), "'What the Hell is That?': Representations of Professional Services Markets in The Simpsons", Organization, 15 (5), pp 705-723.

Lowe, S, Ellis, N & Purchase S (2008), "Rethinking Language in IMP Research: Networking Processes in Other Words", Scandinavian Journal of Management, 24, pp 295-307.

Ellis, N (2008), "Discursive Tensions in Collaboration: Stories of the Marketplace", International Journal of Sociology & Social Policy, 28 (1) pp 32-45.

Ellis, N & Hibbert, P (2008), "Collecting Collaboration: Understanding Collaboration through Stories", International Journal of Sociology & Social Policy, 28 (1) pp 5-8.

Oswick, C, Keenoy, T, Beverungen, A, Ellis, N, Sabelis, I & Ybema, S (2007), "Discourse, Practice, Policy and Organizing: Some Opening Comments", International Journal of Sociology & Social Policy, 27 (11/12) pp 429-432.

Ellis, N & Higgins, M (2006), "Rechatechizing Codes of Practice in Supply Chain Relationships: Discourse, Identity and Otherness", Journal of Strategic Marketing, 14, pp 327-350.

Ellis, N, Lowe, S & Purchase, S (2006), "Towards a Re-Interpretation of Industrial Networks: A Discursive View of Culture", The IMP Journal, 1 (2), pp 29-59.

Ellis, N, Higgins, M & Jack, G (2005), "(De)constructing the Market for Animal Feeds: A Discursive Study", Journal of Marketing Management, 21, pp 117-146.

Ellis, N (2005), "Managing Global Marketing Relationships", in K Lee & S Carter, Global Marketing Management: Changes, New Challenges & Strategies, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp 416-454.

Kapoulas, A, Ellis, N & Murphy, W (2004), "The Voice of the Customer in e-Banking Relationships", Journal of Customer Behaviour, 3, pp 27-51.

Ellis, N (2003), Review of "Business-to-Business Marketing: Strategies & Implementation", D Michel, P Naude, R Salle & J-P Valla, The Marketing Review, 3 (4), pp 501-505.

Kapoulas, A, Murphy, W & Ellis, N (2002), "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye: Missed Opportunities for Electronic Relationship Marketing within the Financial Services Sector?", International Journal of Bank Marketing, 20 (7), pp 302-310.

Ellis, N & Mayer, R (2001), "Inter-Organizational Relationships and Strategy Development in an Evolving Industrial Network: Mapping Structure & Process", Journal of Marketing Management, 17 (1/2), pp183-222.

Ellis, N & Watterson, C (2001), "Client Perceptions of Law Firms and Their Implications for Marketing Management", The Service Industries Journal, 21 (4), pp 100-118.

Ellis, N & Wiesehofer-Climpson, H (2001), "Guest Editorial: Papers from the Academy of Marketing Conference 2000", Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 4 (1), pp 5-6.

Mayer, R, Job, K & Ellis, N (2000) "Ascending Separate Stairways to Marketing Heaven (or Careful With That Axiom, Eugene!)", Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 18 (6/7), pp 388 - 399.

Ellis, N (2000), "Developing Graduate Sales Professionals through Co-operative Education and Work Placements: A Relationship Marketing Approach", Journal of European Industrial Training, 24 (1), pp 34-42.

Ellis, N (1999), "A Disco(urse) Inferno: The Pitfalls of Professionalism", Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 17 (7), pp 333-343.

Ellis, N, Mayer, R & Radford, V (1999), "Managing Trade Marketing Relationships in Non FMCG Sectors: A Case Study", International Journal of Customer Relationship Management, 2 (3), pp 205-216.

Ellis, N & Moon, S (1998), " Business and HE Links: The Search for Meaningful Relationships in the Placement Marketplace", Education & Training, 40 (9), pp 390-397.

Teaching

B2B Marketing & Supply Chain Management (MBA & MSc Marketing)
Principles & Practice of Marketing (MSc Marketing)
Strategic Marketing (MBA Summer School)
Retail Marketing & Supply Chain Management (BA Management Studies)
Doctoral Supervision: Joint supervisor for two students undertaking discursive explorations of marketing and management in the music and high-tech industries.

Awards and Other Activities

Visiting Scholar (2008), International Centre for Research in Organizational Discourse, Strategy & Change, University of Sydney, February-March.

Best Paper Runner Up (2007) Highly Commended - Sheth Foundation Prize at Relationship Marketing Summit: Ellis, N, "Constructing Boundaries: Researching Relationships using Discourse Analysis", Buenos Aires, 12-14 December.

Stream Co-Convenor (2007), 5th Critical Management Studies Conference, Manchester University - 'Critical marketing perspectives on identity construction'.

Conference Co-Organiser (2006), 7th Organizational Discourse Conference, Vrije University, Amsterdam.

Invited Seminar (2004), "Deconstructing Relationships using Discourse Analysis", ESRC Seminar on Relationship Marketing, University of Nottingham, 26 March.

Best Paper Prize (2002) in Financial Services Marketing Stream at Academy of Marketing Conference: Kapoulas, A, Murphy, W & Ellis N, "Electronic Relationship Marketing within the Financial Services Sector", University of Nottingham, 3-5 July.

Paper Review Chair & Co-Editor (2000) "AM2000 - Bridging the Divide", Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Conference, University of Derby, 5-7 July.

Reviewer for journals such as Organization Studies, Human Relations, Journal of Marketing Management, Marketing Theory, Culture & Organization, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Journal of Organizational Change Management, plus conferences including EMAC, IMP, AM, ANZMAC, CMS and SCOS.