An agent-based fuzzy cognitive map approach to the strategic marketing planning for industrial firms

Industrial marketing planning is a typical example of an unstructured decision making problem due to the large number of variables to consider and the uncertainty imposed on those variables. Although abundant studies identified barriers and facilitators of effective industrial marketing planning in practice, the literature still lacks practical tools and methods that marketing managers can use for the task. This paper applies fuzzy cognitive maps (FCM) to industrial marketing planning. In particular, agent based inference method is proposed to overcome dynamic relationships, time lags, and reusability issues of FCM evaluation. MACOM simulator also is developed to help marketing managers conduct what-if scenarios to see the impacts of possible changes on the variables defined in an FCM that represents industrial marketing planning problem. The simulator is applied to an industrial marketing planning problem for a global software service company in South Korea. This study has practical implication as it supports marketing managers for industrial marketing planning that has large number of variables and their cause–effect relationships. It also contributes to FCM theory by providing an agent based method for the inference of FCM. Finally, MACOM also provides academics in the industrial marketing management discipline with a tool for developing and pre-verifying a conceptual model based on qualitative knowledge of marketing practitioners.     

Quadratic effects of dynamic decision-making capability on innovation orientation and performance: Evidence from Chinese exporters

This study examines quadratic effects of three export decision-making approaches (planning, creativity and spontaneity) on innovation orientation, and the direct effect of innovation orientation on export market performance. The model, anchored in decision theory and dynamic capabilities, is tested on a sample of Chinese exporting firms using structural equation modelling. Findings indicate that while a greater proclivity to innovate is beneficial for export market performance, a more complex web of relationships is revealed between the three export decision-making approaches and innovation orientation, providing insights on the operationalization of a dynamic decision-making capability. Specifically, while an increasing level of export planning reduces an exporter’s capacity to innovate, creativity has a positive direct effect on exporters’ innovation orientation, which also benefits from extreme spontaneity in export decision-making. We discuss theoretical contributions and export managerial implications of this dynamic decision-making capability for industrial marketing management.     

Global marketing of industrial products: Are interpersonal relationships always critical?

The present paper examines the issue of whether interpersonal relationships are critical for global marketing of industrial products. The fields of relationship marketing, IMP group research, sales research, and network theory have stressed the importance of interpersonal relationships in the business-to-business or industrial marketing context. In contrast to this emphasis on interpersonal relationships, we argue that industrial firms can both conceive and enhance marketing strategies based on developing high quality and consistent processes, products, services or outcomes (consistent processes and outcomes). Such strategies are especially important given the fact that developing interpersonal relationships is expensive due to their reliance on frequent and/or face-to-face communications. In this paper, we examine industry and country contexts that lead to the choice of alternative industrial product marketing strategies and highlight some future research directions and managerial implications.     

The impact of aligning business,IT, and marketing strategies on firm performance

In order to succeed in today's competitive business environment, a firm should have a clear business strategy that is supported by other organizational strategies. While prior studies argue that strategic alignment enhances firm performance, either strategic alignment including multiple factors or strategic orientation of firms has received little attention. This study, drawing on contingency theory and configuration theory, investigates the performance impact of triadic strategic alignment among business, IT, and marketing strategies while simultaneously considers strategic orientation of firms. A research model is tested through SEM and MANOVA using data collected in a questionnaire survey of 242 Yemen managers. The findings indicate that (1) triadic strategic alignment has a positive impact on firm performance and (2) there is an ideal triadic strategic alignment for prospectors and defenders. This research contributes to strategic alignment literature and managers' understanding of how to align business, IT and marketing strategies to improve firm performance.     

The learning curve, R & D management, and marketing strategies for new products

This paper represents a review of the learning phenomenon which is useful in evaluating the potential of new industrial products. The learning curve in quantitative form provides a means for forecasting costs and prices in many industrial situations. While there are many metho-dological problems to be solved in any specific new project evaluation, the utilization of the learning curve should lead to improved estimates of costs, revenues, and profits. The important role of R & D management in connection with the learning curve is discussed. The interrelationships involving R & D, the learning curve, and marketing strategies are examined.     

Industrial Pricing Strategies in Singapore and the U.S.: Same or Different?

It is generally believed that business-to-business marketing strategies are more uniform worldwide than those in consumer markets, because the buying firms focus more on issues such as product performance and profits. If this is so, a strategy model validated in one industrial market should apply reasonably well in another. This study compares pricing strategies of industrial firms in two market economies, the U.S. and Singapore. A pricing strategy model validated in the U.S. was tested in Singapore to determine whether internal and external conditions incorporated in the model could adequately explain differences in strategy choices between the markets.     

A resource-advantage perspective of product-market strategy performance & strategic capital in high technology firms

Contrary to common misconceptions, firms tend generally to remain constant in their strategic approach to markets and rarely deviate from their prevailing strategic archetype. Consequently, the effectiveness of a firm's product-market strategy is as important as its persistence in achieving overall strategic performance. Adopting a resource-advantage perspective, we examine the extent to which resource bundles differ among firms within a product-market strategy performance typology. Analyzing data generated from high-technology industrial manufacturers, we find that successful strategists are endowed with significantly greater levels of resources-that include ‘strategy championing’, ‘strategy commitment’, ‘implementation support’, ‘implementation effectiveness’, ‘learning’, and ‘memory’-in contrast with unsuccessful strategists, hopeful strategists, and fortunate strategists. Further, important inter-group differences are identified and discussed, along with the implications of this study for researchers and marketing managers.     

Toward an agent-system contingency theory for behavioral supply chain and industrial marketing research

In this study, we develop an agent-system contingency theory as a general multi-level theory of managerial decisions in the supply chain and industrial marketing (SCIM) context. The proposed theory rests on two basic assumptions: agent decision authority and bounded rationality, and postulates that agent-level properties (i.e., relevant personality traits of human agents in SCIM) and system-level properties (i.e., inter-firm and/or intra-firm properties) can concurrently and interactively influence managerial decisions and actions in SCIM. We then propose the synergistic use of experiment and survey as a methodological framework to facilitate the empirical efforts in behavioral SCIM research oriented by the agent-system contingency theory. We also provide empirical illustrations regarding how the agent-system contingency theory and the accompanied methodological framework can be applied to behavioral SCIM research inquiries, using two studies in the decision contexts of opportunism and vertical integration. Combining the proposed multi-level theoretical and methodological approaches, this study offers scholars a platform on which they can systematically advance their behavioral SCIM research agenda in the future.     

Account portfolio analysis for strategy development

This article proposes a method of composing and complementing industrial marketing strategy. A new approach to industrial marketing strategy is presented. It has the customer as the core of the analysis and considers some of the most important elements of industrial marketing, such as derived demand and buyer/seller relationships. This new approach, called account portfolio analysis, offers some indications to industrial managers and scholars for the analysis of marketing strategies tailored expressly for industrial companies.     

Achieving new product success via the synchronization of exploration and exploitation across multiple levels and functional areas

While ambidexterity has been identified as a critical prerequisite for new product success, synchronizing exploration and exploitation in practice represents a multifaceted enigma. Ambidexterity is not in reality limited to a single organizational level, or a specific functional area. Firms become ambidextrous when corporate-level exploratory and exploitative strategies interact with operational-level exploratory and exploitative capabilities across multiple functional areas. Data from a sample of technology-intensive industrial firms using a multi-informant design shows that operational-level exploratory and exploitative product innovation and marketing capabilities allow firms to implement corporate-level exploratory and exploitative strategies in the context of new product development (NPD). Further, the findings reveal that the integration of exploratory product innovation–exploratory marketing and exploitative product innovation–exploitative marketing is significant for the implementation of exploratory and exploitative strategies over deploying each capability in isolation. Finally, we show that the implementation of exploratory and exploitative strategies drives new product success through creating distinct positional advantages to customers in the form of both differentiation and cost efficiency. These positional advantages help to better explain the effects of exploratory and exploitative capabilities on new product market performance.     

Toward a theory of professional service marketing

The existing marketing theory is inadequate in its attempts to explain service marketing. This paper contributes to both the theory of industrial marketing and service marketing through its treatment of the following two questions: What is a professional service? And what relevance has a generic definition of a professional service to the marketer of those services? These questions are dealt with in the broader areas of the current theories and models of industrial marketing and the emerging conceptual frameworks of service marketing.     

Market representations in industrial marketing: Could representations influence strategy?

A central question in industrial marketing is whether the form in which the market of a firm is represented influences the marketing strategy. This question has been studied generally through case study research, and quantitative evidence is limited. In response to this limitation, this paper reports on a quasi-experiment investigating whether market representations have a constructive aspect in business. Empirically, this study compares two types of market representations - ostensive and performative - in order to test for influence exacted in two well-established strategies in industrial marketing - service focus and product differentiation. Results indicate that service focus is selected when market representations rely on agency in firms (i.e., performative), and product strategies are selected when structures are emphasized (i.e., ostensive). This paper contributes to methodology development by expanding the link between a case study approach and quasi-experiments explaining how quasi-experiments can replicate findings in industrial marketing.     

The relationship between marketing agility and financial performance under different levels of market turbulence

Marketing agility is an example of dynamic capability that has significant influence on ordinary capabilities leading to superior financial performance. This makes it of interest to marketing managers. Yet the way in which this capability aligns with turbulent market environments to simultaneously influence ordinary capabilities and performance has not been adequately examined and empirically tested. This study seeks to close this gap by positing that marketing agility has both direct and indirect (through innovation capability which is an ordinary capability) impacts on financial performance. However, these relationships are moderated by market turbulence to yield both mediated moderation and moderated mediation effects. The study was undertaken in the Chinese food-processing industry where a sample of 518 companies participated. This provides an opportunity to validate theory developed in the western economies and to generalize some previous findings. Contrary to received literature we found that the impact of innovation capability on financial performance is stronger under low market turbulence; and that market turbulence moderates the indirect relationship between marketing agility and financial performance. The indirect effect is stronger when market turbulence is low than when it is high. Implications for managers and academia are discussed and limitations of the study are pointed out.     

Green marketing and its impact on supply chain management in industrial markets

Green marketing and green supply chain have been drawing the attention of both academics and practitioners in the recent decade. However, no holistic framework has been developed on how to build green industrial brands and industrial corporate brands. Whether or not sustainable/green supply chains can be integrated with green industrial marketing in building greener organizations and industrial brands is still unclear. In addition, little is known on the factors on green new industrial product development or how green new industrial products are adopted by organizations. Furthermore, we know little of whether and how green supply chain enables green new industrial product development. This special issue aims at reflecting the most recent advances on green industrial marketing, green/sustainable supply chains and their interplay in green industrial branding, and to explore future research directions. The guest editors hope that the solicited papers can provide insights on the impacts of sustainable or green supply chains on marketing theory in industrial and business-to-business markets.     

A strategic approach to industrial product pricing: The pricing plan

Price planning is one of the most overlooked areas in industrial marketing. Traditionally, emphasis is placed on product development, advertising strategy, and distribution channel formation before any consideration is given to pricing. The result is that industrial pricing decisions are made quickly without the necessary market and cost factors included in the final decision. The pricing decision is at the core of every business plan and impacts directly on the critical components of a company's marketing strategy. In this article, the importance of price planning in industrial marketing is discussed including the major components needed to make an industrial pricing strategy successful.     

Increasing the role of direct mail marketing in industrial marketing strategy

Direct marketing has long been a dominant factor in the distribution strategy of industrial goods and services. Yet frameworks for strategy formulation in this area are nearly nonexistent in the literature. Much that has been written focuses on successful techniques, such as how to use a specific type of sales letter to improve results. This article outlines a set of key perspectives that industrial marketers may use to evaluate the potential effectiveness of direct marketing strategies.     

Understanding the links between technological opportunism, marketing emphasis and firm performance: Implications for B2B

The capability of firms to sense and respond to changes in technologies, called technological opportunism, is of growing importance to managers as a source of competitive advantage. However, exactly how technological opportunism impacts firm performance is still not clearly understood. Furthermore, the role of marketing in this relationship, if any, has yet to be examined. Understanding this relationship is critical for marketing managers not only for determining strategic investments of resources but also for demonstrating marketing return on activities. This paper explores the links between technological opportunism and firm performance. The results show that technological opportunism has a strong positive impact on key measures of performance such as firm sales, profits and market value. Importantly, marketing emphasis is the mechanism through which the technological opportunism-performance relationship is achieved. Finally, the impact of marketing emphasis on B2B firms is different than that for B2C firms, highlighting the importance of these activities for B2B marketing managers.     

Organizational alignment as competitive advantage

In explaining financial performance variance, strategic management researchers and industrial organization economists have emphasized industry factors, market share, generic strategy, and strategic group membership, whereas organizational contingency theorists have emphasized alignments involving environment and internal structure. This study integrates these perspectives, testing the financial performance consequences of organizational alignments, in context with the effects of industry, market share, and strategy. In an empirical study in two manufacturing industries, it is shown that some organizational alignments do produce supernormal profits, independent of the profits produced by traditional industry and strategy variables. The results are consistent with the resource view of the firm: to the extent that alignments result from skill rather than luck, it is reasonable to regard alignment skill as a strategic resource capable of generating economic rents. The article suggests that, by focusing on industry and competitive strategy variables, contemporary industrial organization and strategy research has understated the role of organizational factors in producing sustainable competitive advantage.     

Key trends in business-to-business services marketing strategies: Developing a practice-based research agenda

The marketing of B2B services has become an important field of academic enquiry. Industrial Marketing Management scholars have contributed to building a robust body of scholarship on the role of services as an indispensable aspect of company’s strategic performance process. However, with digitization, there is a clear need for theoretical concepts and frameworks that can guide companies in the development of contemporary and strategic roadmaps for their B2B service marketing strategies and performance practice. This position paper outlines an agenda and delineates issues in B2B service delivery that need to be addressed to close the gap between service marketing theory and practice and collaborate on the development of strategic service capabilities for the industrial marketing space. More specifically, we identify and discuss the impact of 5 important trends shaping B2B services: 1) gamification, 2) personalization, 3) Mixed Reality (MR), 4) data visualization, and 5) privacy. On the basis of these, we will offer a number of specific directions for future research by industrial marketing researchers.     

The digital marketing capabilities gap

Over the past two decades, digitalization has revolutionized not only consumer marketing but also industrial marketing. Both industrial marketing scholars and industrial marketers seek insights to understand how our knowledge and practice of digital marketing has been structured and configured. To address this gap, we adopt the resource-based perspective as an organizing framework and systematically review 129 articles spanning two decades of research to identify different digital marketing capabilities in industrial firms. From this analysis, we identify four themes: channels, social media, digital relationships, and digital technologies. We then stress-test this knowledge with managerial practices by conducting an online survey of 169 managers, designed to establish the repertoire of current and future marketing capability needs of industrial firms. Herein, we identify two marketing capabilities gaps: the practice gap—which identifies the deficit between managers' ‘current’ practices and their ‘ideal’ digital marketing capabilities; and, the knowledge gap—which demonstrates a significant divide between the digital marketing transformations in industrial firms and the extant scholarly knowledge that underpins this. Based on these results, we build an agenda for future research on digital marketing capabilities.