Introducing Marketing Concepts into a Science‐based Department: A Case Study

Reports on the introduction of marketing concepts into the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, in 1988‐89, using workshops, luncheon seminars, newsletters and the establishment of an entrepreneur′s network. Two years later, interviews were conducted within two branches of the department and with some clients of those branches, to determine the extent of adoption of marketing concepts and techniques and the degree of cultural change achieved. The main finding was that there had been a significant degree of adoption and that promotional activities had contributed to that adoption. Other findings included that the part of the programme concerned with fostering entrepreneurialism was a failure and that the full range of changes and benefits achieved were more evident to the managers of the branches concerned than they were to the customers of those branches.