Toward a contingency theory of CRM adoption

Acknowledging the paucity of research on customers who are the targets of customer relationship management (CRM) efforts, this paper presents a contingency theory framework and set of research propositions suggesting that successful CRM adoption is contingent on a variety of contextual factors that influence value exchange in B2B channel relationships. Grounded in theoretical perspectives on the customer selection process, channel governance, transaction costs, power distribution in marketing channels, and dynamic capabilities, the authors identify five broad categories of variables potentially important in studying CRM adoption and directly affecting CRM success/failure.     

Competition and optimal departures from stock market value maximization by firms

Models of firm decisionmaking under uncertainty have done a good job of explaining the implications of spanning and competitive behavior. An opportunity set dominance argument under these conditions predicts the optimality of stock market value maximization. This paper reexamines the firm's choice rule assuming competitive behavior but without the restrictive assumption of spanning. The resulting rule breaks into two parts consisting of the traditional market value maximization component plus another term depending on the welfare effect of a change in the contract structure. Necessary and sufficient conditions, including spanning, for this term to be zero are derived.     

Active and Adjusted: Investigating the Contribution of Leisure,Health and Psychosocial Factors to Retirement Adjustment

Engagement in leisure activities during retirement and its relationship to retirement adjustment were investigated. Psychosocial mediators included mastery, self-efficacy for retirement (SE-R) and activities (SE-A), positive (PA) and negative affect (NA). Resources investigated included physical health and finances. Leisure activities examined were social, home entertainment, chores, light exercise, vigorous exercise, and education. Data were gathered from a sample consisting of 243 retirees. Direct predictors of retirement adjustment included finances, health, mastery, SE-R and SE-A. Social activities were the best predictor of a wide range of positive outcomes, including PA, mastery, SE-R and SE-A. Educational activities improved SE-R. Being involved in a broader range of activities was associated with PA, mastery and SE-A. Familiarity and enjoyment of activities were implicated in the maintenance and continuation of activities at post-retirement. Research findings have implications for aged-care and other retirement service providers, as well as for individuals.     

Review of: ‘THE ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCES’by Thomas L. Saaty,New York,McGraw-Hill,Inc., 1980, xiii + 287 pp., list $37.50*

Editor's Mote: In recent tines It has been recognized by academics and practitioners in the field of engineering economics of the necessity of an active, continuing research program. Such s program will provide improvements in the state-of-the-art along with development of the manpower required Co carry on the profession. In 1983, specific activities were initiated to increase the awareness of research activity within the profession and to identify those research areas of greateat need or promise

On August 24–29, 1984, the National Science Foundation sponsored the Research Planning Conference on Engineering Economics at Mountain Lake, Virginia. The following report describes this important meeting and the recommendations that resulted. Because of the importance of this meeting to the profession, this summary has been Included here. The proceedings resulting from this planning conference are available free of charge by contacting U. J. Fabrycky, Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061.     

Occupational Safety and Paternalism: Machan Revisited

In 1987, Machan provided a libertarian case against the right to occupational safety. Since before Machan’s essay appeared, many business ethicists and legal scholars have given considerable attention to the overall position Machan endorses: the acceptance of employment at will and the rejection of employee rights. No one yet has given adequate attention, however, to the fact that Machan’s argument against the right to occupational safety actually stands or falls independently of his overall position on employee rights. His argument ultimately rests on two values: the promotion of employee interests and anti-paternalism. Insofar as those who support the right to occupational safety share those values, they must find a strategy for opposing Machan’s argument that preserves those values. In this paper, I demonstrate why Machan’s argument ultimately rests on the promotion of employee interests and anti-paternalism. Then, I develop an objection to Machan’s argument that preserves those values.     

It all depends on your point of view: An historical account of an ethical conundrum in grain handling,ca. 1931

In 1931, charges against Manitoba Pool Elevators of cheating their members on weights and grades in order to conceal losses on their grain elevators – and of concealing these activities – were proven accurate by a provincial Royal Commission. This was ironic given that these were the same practices that the Pool had condemned in the private grain trade for 30 years, and that, they had pledged, the Pool would put an end to. This paper describes these events and examines the ethical issues from the perspective of Reinhold Niebuhr's thought. It then briefly examines more current events in the western Canadian grain business to show how they are illuminated by Niebuhr's insights and why certain problems in the grain industry have been so intractable for the last half century. Copyright © 2007 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.