Value creation and firm sales performance: The mediating roles of strategic account management and relationship perception

Research on relationship management has extolled the virtue of sellers creating value for their customers. Indeed, loyal relationships, defined as repeated business exchanges, tend to flourish when firms create and deliver value to their customers. While few argue this premise, questions remain regarding the precise delineation of a firm's value creation competence and the mechanism by which it influences the firm's performance. In the current study, the authors define the value creation competence concept and find empirical evidence for its positive effects on firm sales performance (e.g., new customer leads, close rates, retention, revenue, etc.). Interestingly, the results suggest this effect is mediated by strategic account management and the perception of the relationship held between buyer and seller. Both of these findings have implications in establishing that a firm's value creation competence translates into improved sales performance, mediated by strategic account management and relationship perceptions.     

Hans Peters Werk unter dem Aspekt der Autergie und Allergie

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Technology strategies and the Miles & Snow typology: a study of the biotechnology industries

Abstract
Strategic behaviour has been defined as managing environmental risks and matching organisational capabilities with the opportunities offered by the environment (e.g. Hofer & Schendel (1978)). One possible theoretical framework for analysing strategies of a firm is the Miles & Snow typology (Miles & Snow, 1978). It has received considerable attention and has been tested empirically with respect to business strategy in various industries (Snow & Hrebiniak, 1980; Hambrick, 1983) as well as marketing strategy (McDaniel & Kolari, 1987).
In this paper we attempt to apply the Miles & Snow typology to technology strategy and to relate technology strategies to the perception of environment and project risks. Thus, we
Empirical data from companies involved in biotechnology is used to study some key questions.     

Managing technology as a virtual enterprise

The complexity of R&D projects and growing international competition are factors leading to more co‐operation especially among small and medium‐sized firms. But even large integrated firms are often not willing or able to perform the necessary amount of R&D and to cope with the uncertainty associated with radical innovations.
In a virtual company, members form a network, thereby enabling projects to be pursued by combining member's resources. Specific assets of a virtual company are its flexibility and ability to handle variety. Costs of co‐ordination and motivation are lowered if the virtual company succeeds in building trust and commitment. On the other hand, lack of these pose severe problems.
In markets with a strong scientific‐technological basis and rapid rate of change the concept of a virtual organization seems appealing. High R&D costs and risks can be shared, developments and time‐to‐market can be accelerated and the partners can concentrate on their respective core competencies.
In the paper we use an example from the biotechnology industry as a case study and discuss some of the theoretical and practical problems that are encountered in the virtual enterprise.     

Cost and economic burden of adverse events associated with metastatic melanoma treatments in five countries

Objective: To estimate per-event cost and economic burden associated with managing the most common and/or severe metastatic melanoma (MM) treatment-related adverse events (AEs) in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK.

Methods: AEs associated with chemotherapy (dacarbazine, paclitaxel, fotemustine), immunotherapy (ipilimumab), and targeted therapy (vemurafenib) were identified by literature review. Medical resource use data associated with managing AEs were collected through two blinded Delphi panel cycles in each of the five countries. Published costs were used to estimate per-event costs and combined with AEs incidence, treatment usage, and MM prevalence to estimate the economic burden for each country.

Results: The costliest AEs were grade 3/4 events due to immunotherapy (Australia/France: colitis; UK: diarrhea) and chemotherapy (Germany/Italy: neutropenia/leukopenia). Treatment of AEs specific to chemotherapy (Australia/Germany/Italy/France: neutropenia/leukopenia) and targeted therapy (UK: squamous cell carcinoma) contributed heavily to country-specific economic burden.

Limitations: Economic burden was estimated assuming that each patient experienced an AE only once. In addition, the context of settings was heterogeneous and the number of Delphi panel experts was limited.

Conclusions: Management costs for MM treatment-associated AEs can be substantial. Results could be incorporated in economic models that support reimbursement dossiers. With the availability of newer treatments, establishment of a baseline measure of the economic burden of AEs will be crucial for assessing their impact on patients and regional healthcare systems.     

Social partners' levers: job quality and industrial relations in the waste sector in three small European countries

This article examines how social partners in the waste sector in Austria, Bulgaria and Denmark strive to protect job quality from negative impacts of two European trends: privatisation and greening. The article uses qualitative, comparative research to examine social partners' levers for protecting and improving job quality. Three levers are identified: negotiation power, collective agreements and general regulation that facilitate negotiation and social partnership. In general, privatisation has had a negative influence on job quality and the levers of collective actors, whereas the impact of greening is ambiguous, that is, not necessarily positive. The article concludes that stakeholders' ability to improve job quality is contingent upon their activity on both a national and European level.     

Human resource management practices and psychological contracts in Swiss firms: an employer perspective

This article investigates the relationship between HRM practices and organisational performance, considering the fulfilment of the psychological contract as an intermediate variable. Apart from testing the influences of a high-investment HRM system index on the psychological contract, the influence of individual HRM practices and their interaction was examined. The sample consisted of HR managers of 92 firms in Switzerland and the data were collected for the Cranfield Network project. The results showed that the high-investment HRM system index predicted the fulfilment of the psychological contract, and some of the individual HRM practices were correlated with the fulfilment of the psychological contract. The interaction effect of performance appraisal and performance-based pay on the fulfilment of the psychological contract showed that performance appraisal is only effective in combination with a tangible consequence in the form of performance-based pay. We neither found a mediation effect for the psychological contract nor an association with organisational performance. This might be due to the fact that the questionnaire was filled in during the financial crisis in 2008 and that the organisational performance was assessed in an economic crisis. Our study sheds light on the relationship between HRM practices and the psychological contract and contributes to the body of research on psychological contracts from a macro level perspective.