In December 2015 the ANZMAC Executive Committee established a working party to conduct a strategic review of the role and value of ANZMAC to members and other stakeholders and to make recommendations. The central questions to be addressed are: How can ANZMAC best co-create and deliver value with and for its members and other stakeholders; What kinds of services and activities should it consider in addition to those currently offered? Are there any existing activities and structures that should be changed?

There was a call for submissions and group discussions were held with academics at a number of universities in Australia and New Zealand. Personal interviews were also held with academics from ANZ and abroad as well as representatives of external stakeholders such as the Australian Marketing Institute and the Australian Market Research Organisation. A special session was held at the ANZMAC Conference in December 2016 to discuss the Green.  It was also discussed at the Fellows meeting and Institutional Members meeting. On the basis of this process this White Paper has been developed for approval by the Executive of ANZMAC.

A variety of issues arose including those related to the conference, early career researchers. The roles of ANZMAC generally, Institutional Members and Fellows; the Australasian Marketing Journal, funding issues and external relations. Seven overlapping priorities for the near term emerged.

1. Adding value to its offering for previous neglected groups, including Early Career Researchers and more education focused academics
   
2. Revising the structure of the conference to better meet the needs of different groups
   
3. Addressing the quality issues raised in the report
   
4. Increase and stabilise the revenue base of ANZMAC;
   
5. Engage with industry and other professional groups;
   
6. Enhance the value and status of the Australasian Marketing Journal;
   
7. Communicate more effectively and widely the activities of ANZMAC and about developments in the academic community;
   
8. Make greater use of the Fellows in meeting all the above priorities;
   
9. Organize and facilitate methodological workshops. 

To meet these priorities the following recommendations are made:

Recommendation 1: Establish Special Interest Research and Education Focused Groups (SIGs), like those that exist in AMA and EMAC.

Recommendation 2: We recommend that ANZMAC Executive for a subcommittee to identify potential SIGs and recruit “SIG champions” to create and drive them. One or more Fellows should be co-opted onto the sub-committee. A Fellow(s) will be associated with each SIG and assist the SIG Champion to start up and run it initially. 

Recommendations 3: We recommend as part of the investment budget of ANZMAC that funds be set aside to support the SIGs in the near term.

Recommendation 4: Establish a SIG for education focused academics along the same lines as the research focused SIGs.

Recommendation 5: Establish an ANZMAC Visiting Professor programme jointly supported by ANZMAC, Institutional Members and Fellows.

Recommendation 6: We recommend that ANZMAC allocate an investment fund budget for the future of $50,000 dollars out of accumulated funds to invest in money earning events such as fee paying specialist workshops and mini conferences run in the name of ANZMAC. These can be organised in conjunction with the SIGs.

Recommendation 7: We recommend the ANZMAC Executive establish a sub-committee to investigate the potential links with professional organisations. A Fellow(s) should be co-opted onto this sub-committee. It should also explore potential links with other academic organisations such as ANZIBA and ANZAM, such as joint secretariats, use of same conference organiser, joint conferences, skills workshops and tracks, SIGs focused on cross disciplinary research and teaching topics.

Recommendation 8: We recommend that a subcommittee of the Fellows be established to work with the editor in improving submissions and citations to the AMJ. This includes asking Fellows to contribute at least one paper to each issue. This does not have to be a full paper but an invited commentary stimulating debate. Other suggestions are listed above.

Recommendation 9: We recommend ANZMAC Executive establish a sub-committee to identify ways to enhance the value of the website and to establish links to source and communication relevant news along the lines suggested. One or more Fellows should be co-opted onto the committee.

Recommendation 10: We recommend that the ANZMAC Executive and Fellows form a joint working party to develop methods by which Fellows can contribute more to ANZMAC along the lines suggested in other recommendations. They should consider removing the title of Fellow for those that are unwilling to contribute.