UKZN Professor Appointed to Editorial Board of the Journal of Retail and Marketing Review

BY: .

Click here for isiZulu version

The Journal of Retail and Marketing Review (JRMR) has appointed Professor Maxwell Phiri of UKZN’s School of Management, Information Technology and Governance (SMIG) to serve on its editorial and advisory board for three years.

The JRMR - accredited by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) - is a prestigious international and interdisciplinary scholarly platform for sharing insightful and original research and promoting debate in the rapidly developing and converging fields of marketing and retailing.

Phiri joins the board with a wealth of experience as one of the current reviewers for the African Journal of Business and Economic Research (AJBER). He served on the editorial committee for a special edition of the Alternation Journal, which carried selected articles from the e-MIG conference held in Mauritius in 2019. He was also one of the editors for the e-MIG 2019 conference proceedings.

As an academic leader for the Discipline of Supply Chain and Marketing in SMIG, Phiri’s appointment comes at a critical time when the COVID-19 pandemic has put the resilience of global supply chains to the test - many local and national retailers have been crippled and consumer and buyer behaviours disrupted. This presents an opportunity for scholars to conduct meaningful research that will assist players in the retail and marketing sectors to navigate the unprecedented business challenges. As such, platforms like the JRMR are ideal for robust debates and insights during these trying times.

Commenting on his appointment, Phiri said: ‘As we forge ahead in building the image of our offerings in Marketing and Supply Chain Management, the possible introduction of a Bachelor of Commerce course specialising in Retail Management and Marketing as well as SMIG’s participation in this internationally recognised and accredited DHET journal, will assist in setting us apart from others in terms of our excellence and our desire to train and graduate competent candidates for the industry.’

The editor of JRMR, Professor Michael Cant, welcomed Phiri to a board of about 35 local and international academics and said he was looking forward to drawing from Phiri’s academic acumen to assist the journal maintain its high standards in evaluating submitted articles and giving invaluable feedback to authors.

The Dean and Head of SMIG, Professor Stephen Mutula, congratulated Phiri and said: ‘The appointment of Professor Phiri to the editorial board of such a high-ranking journal is testament to SMIG’s commitment and resolve to promoting research excellence, raising the visibility of the University and extending the frontiers of knowledge in the global space of scholarship to help address complex problems facing humanity in the 21^st century from diverse disciplinary epistemologies.’

Words: Hazel Langa

Photograph: Supplied