Marketing’s contribution to business strategy: market orientation,relationship marketing and resource-advantage theory

Although overlooked to some degree by non-marketing disciplines, the discipline of marketing has contributed significantly to the body of knowledge on business strategy over the last two decades. This paper evaluates these contributions, examines how they complement dominant non-marketing theories of business strategy, and shows how marketing offers a generalized theory of competition that integrates the concepts of both marketing and non-marketing theories of business strategy.     

民族品牌跨国并购后的品牌战略研究——弱势品牌视角

2009年,中国民族品牌借全球金融危机之机,为加快其全球化的步伐,花费重金并购国外强势品牌。然而,"蛇吞象"式的跨国并购背后却是消费者的认知失调。同时,国内外现有研究针对改善该认知失调的品牌战略研究十分有限。因此,本文基于认知一致性和顾客品牌资产(CBBE)理论,从弱势品牌视角出发,围绕如何有效减轻"蛇吞象"后消费者的认知失调,运用焦点小组、个人访谈、实验和LME模型,最终得到了一些重要的发现:品牌要素战略(名称变化)、营销支持战略(价格维持或降低)以及次级联想杠杆战略(原产地保留或去除)都对并后品牌绩效产生显著影响。此外,本研究还揭示了消费者认知失调的改善机制,即品牌契合度在减轻消费者失调的并后品牌战略交互效应对品牌绩效的影响中起着重要的中介作用。这些成果既可以丰富现有品牌战略管理理论,也为民族品牌国际化提供实践指导。     

Aligning operations,marketing, and competitive strategies to enhance performance: An empirical test in the retail banking industry

The close linkage between competitive strategy and functional strategic activities is asserted to be a precondition to the achievement of optimal business performance. This study explores how the relationship between (and among) operations, marketing, and competitive strategies affects organizational performance in the banking industry. Our findings show that: (a) competitive strategy moderates the relationship between operations and marketing strategic activities, and organizational performance, (b) certain integrated strategic decisions of operations and marketing functions have a significant impact on organizational performance, and (c) the performance of retail banks within a strategic group differs depending on the quality of the strategic fit.     

Marketing: The key to organizational effectiveness

The aim of this paper is to make clear the difference between the marketing concept and marketing strategy. It advocates that not only should the former be used by all structures of business organizations, but that it is necessary to do so. It is the marketing strategy chosen by the firm that is dependent upon the organizational structure and not the concept.     

Emergent Marketing Strategies and Performance: The Effects of Market Uncertainty and Strategic Feedback Systems

Although many process‐based studies appear in the strategic management literature, little attention has been devoted to the formation process of marketing strategies. Drawing on enactment and information‐processing theories, this study views the external environment as a source of information (i.e. enacted) and organizations as information‐processing entities. We propose a conceptual framework of antecedents and market performance consequences of emergent marketing strategies and test it with a sample of 214 UK enterprises. The results suggest that dimensions of market uncertainty (i.e. dynamism and complexity) and strategic feedback systems influence the formation of emergent marketing strategy. Furthermore, the data reveal that market uncertainty aspects condition the association between emergent marketing strategies and market performance in different ways. These findings provide new insights into how emergent marketing strategies evolve and influence organizational outcomes.     

Customer Learning Processes,Strategy Selection,and Performance in Business‐to‐Business Service Firms*

Learning about customers takes place through relevant dialogues with those customers, also known as customer relationship management (CRM). As relationships develop, information about the customer is gathered in the firm's customer information systems (CIS): the content, processes, and assets associated with gathering and moving customer information throughout the firm. This research develops a measure of CIS management capabilities based on learning organization theory and measured by the ability to get, store, move, and use information throughout the business unit. This measure is then used to analyze customer learning processes and associated performance in the context of marketing strategic decision making. This study of 209 business services firms finds that generic marketing strategy positioning (low‐cost and differentiation) and the marketing tactics of personalization and customization are related to CIS development. Customer information systems development in turn is associated with higher levels of customer‐based performance, which in turn is associated with increased business growth. Since the strongest association with customer‐based performance is strategy selection, the long‐term benefits of the knowledge gained from the CIS may be in the ability to assist in measuring customer‐based performance, rather than in the ability to immediately contribute to performance. Finally, for these firms, customization and personalization are not directly associated with performance and thus may not be necessary to support every firm's marketing strategy.     

信息与传播技术企业的竞争与营销战略

我们生活在信息社会,在这个新的时代,先进技术被迅速转化成高科技产品,因此越来越多与ICT相关的高科技产品已逐渐进入家庭、办公室和公共场所。ICT这种新的媒介在不远的将来将彻底改变公司管理顾客事务的方式。所以,努力获得ICT产业的竞争优势对任何国家的经济或企业来说都是非常重要的议题。虽然,在高科技对市场营销战略的影响的研究方面已经产生了一些理论成果,但是,现有的研究中还没有直接讨论高科技对市场营销战略和实践的影响。了解ICT企业独特的市场营销战略与实践是现今企业生存和发展的必要课题。     

The Influence of Western Concepts on Russian Marketing Theory

As part of modernizing their economy, the Russians appear interested in learning about and adopting western business techniques. Attesting to this concern has been the recent publication of quite a few western- and Russian-authored marketing books in the Russian language. Western and Russian concepts of marketing are compared, and the content of western marketing books in Russian translation is examined. It is explained how discrepancies between the original-language and Russian-language texts due to editing, and also distortions in translation, sometimes mar the proper understanding of western marketing concepts. In a review of current Russian marketing theory, it is suggested that the legacy of the Soviet period, current Russian conditions and the inexperience of Russian managers in western marketing techniques have combined to maintain a pronounced product (rather than a market) orientation in Russian concepts of marketing. All the same, there is evidence that at least some Russian business people, either through western training or intuitively, have applied western marketing concepts to their businesses.     

Market Orientation,Ownership Type,and E‐Business Assimilation: Evidence from Chinese Firms

While more and more firms have implemented e‐business in business operations, a better understanding of the factors that successfully drive the assimilation of e‐business will provide insights for firm executives and practitioners to develop effective strategies for e‐business. Different from previous studies that focus on individual‐level factors related to business executives and top management teams, this study examines how firm‐level strategic and cultural factors shape e‐business assimilation. Based on the strategy and marketing literature on market orientation and firm ownership, we developed a research model to describe how a firm's market orientation impacts e‐business assimilation. The model also describes the moderating effect of firm ownership type on the relationship between market orientation and e‐business assimilation. Based on data from 301 Chinese international trade firms, we found that two dimensions of market orientation (i.e., customer orientation, competitor orientation) had significant effects on e‐business assimilation. However, the third dimension, interfunctional coordination, was only partially significant. In addition, ownership type was a significant moderator of the effects of customer orientation and competitor orientation on e‐business assimilation, although ownership type was not a moderator of interfunctional coordination. Being one of the first studies of the impact of market orientation and firm ownership type on e‐business assimilation, we conclude with a discussion of the implications for future research and practice.     

针对灰色营销进行道德培训的实验效果

本文以道德培训为操纵变量,以工商管理专业的大学生为实验对象,研究了灰色营销的道德培训对人们灰色营销道德判断和行为倾向的影响.结果发现:第一,针对灰色营销的短期道德培训能够显著改进被培训者针对灰色营销的道义论评价和目的论评价,但是不能降低其灰色营销行为倾向;第二,尽管针对灰色营销的短期道德培训能够改进人们针对灰色营销的道义论评价和目的论评价,并且后者对人们的灰色营销行为倾向也有显著影响,但是它们不能中介短期道德培训对灰色营销行为倾向的影响.本文最后讨论了研究结果的理论贡献与实际应用.     

Stakeholder Theory: The State of the Art

Abstract

For the last 30 years a growing number of scholars and practitioners have been experimenting with concepts and models that facilitate our understanding of the complexities of today’s business challenges. Among these, “stakeholder theory” or “stakeholder thinking” has emerged as a new narrative to understand and remedy three interconnected business problems—the problem of understanding how value is created and traded, the problem of connecting ethics and capitalism, and the problem of helping managers think about management such that the first two problems are addressed. In this article, we review the major uses and adaptations of stakeholder theory across a broad array of disciplines such as business ethics, corporate strategy, finance, accounting, management, and marketing. We also evaluate and suggest future directions in which research on stakeholder theory can continue to provide useful insights into the practice of sustainable and ethical value creation.     

我国企业对企业促销管理的实证研究

调查研究发现,我国企业对企业促销管理实践还存在着许多问题。针对这些问题,企业应真正树立以市场为导向的营销观念,加强促销宣传,实施人员促销、广告和营业推广相结合的促销组合策略,加强促销人员队伍建设,加强和完善电子邮件促销。     

International issues of the design and usage of websites for e-commerce: Hotel and airline examples

Technology has globalized businesses. International business is difficult due to differences in languages and cultures. In terms of technology, in some countries, it is difficult to get data; while in others, data is input in different ways. This paper examines how international differences affect website design, implementation and usage. We analyze websites of airlines and hotels. While some websites take into consideration language and culture differences, we find significant room for improvement in both industries. We found support for localization strategy in marketing, communication and transactions. Theoretical and practical implications, including language translators, currency converters and pull-down fields, are discussed.     

互联网环境下的企业商业模式概念和定位研究

为了理解商业模式与已有企业理论和概念的关系,完善对商业模式的认识,首先从研究商业模式与企业战略的关系出发,确定了商业模式在企业中的定位;然后通过与数据库设计层次的类比分析,更加明晰了企业规划与运作层次以及商业模式的概念与作用.     

Location still matters! How does geographic configuration influence the performance-enhancing advantages of FDI spillovers?

Although many studies on FDI spillovers either implicitly or explicitly consider the firm as a single-location entity, most countries are dominated by multi-location business groups that consist of several affiliates. Business groups and their affiliates operate in different subnational regions and vary in their responsibilities (i.e., research and development, manufacturing, and marketing & sales) as well as in their ability to coordinate internally and minimize spatial transaction costs. We argue that such variations in turn affect the ability of business groups to benefit from intra- and inter-regional FDI spillovers. We advance prior research by examining how the effects of FDI spillovers on the performance of indigenous business groups in China are influenced by 1) the location and the geographic dispersion of their portfolios of affiliates and 2) the responsibility of each affiliate. Our analysis shows that the geographic dispersion of business groups has a profound effect on how much they benefit from FDI spillovers. It also shows that business groups are particularly effective in exploiting FDI spillovers through affiliates with marketing & sales responsibilities, while affiliates with other responsibilities are not effective in doing so.     

Assigning migrants to customer contact jobs: a context-specific exploration of the business case for diversity

Ethnic diversity of both their labor forces and customer bases presents a challenge for companies and fuels debate on the business case for diversity: the view that diversity positively impacts firm performance. This study enriches the business case debate by focusing on a particular organizational activity, customer contact. It combines theory from strategic human resource management (SHRM), research on diversity, and research on marketing to analyze what drives companies to assign migrants to customer contact jobs and which performance impacts ensue. We test our hypotheses in data from 338 German business companies. Companies that recognize the value in ethnic diversity and seek to respond to customer diversity are especially likely to assign migrants to customer contact jobs. The analyses reveal a positive impact of migrants in customer contact jobs on company profitability. This impact is enhanced by a broad range of equality and diversity practices and a supportive works council. These moderators have stronger effects than two other moderators related to business strategy: the market served by a company, and its competitive strategy. The paper contributes to SHRM research in general and diversity research in particular through its original examination associating the business case for ethnic diversity with the role of equality and diversity practices and institutions. The study findings can help managers to decide whether to leverage staff ethnic diversity and show that collaboration between HR management and marketing functions is useful to achieve a strategic fit among practices.     

企业营销道德水准测试的指标体系及评价方法研究

本文是“企业营销道德水准测试及评价系统”课题的前期研究成果。作者首先通过探测性调研确定了影响营销道德水准评价的企业营销行为,并在定量调研基础上将其归并为七个评价营销道德水准的维度,同样还根据定量调研的结果确定了企业营销道德水准的测评方法,为营销道德水准测试与评价系统的建立构筑了重要基础。     

Strategies for marketing new computer products

Using the example of the computer industry, this paper explains how the marketing of new ‘high technology’ products can be improved by tailoring the extent and focus of prelaunch marketing planning to the nature and focus of the marketing strategy chosen for the new product.