The marketing firm and co-creation: The case of co-creation by LEGO

This article discusses the marketer and customer co-creation process within the context of bilateral contingencies. Bilateral contingencies occur when the marketers' behavior is reinforced (and/or punished) by the customers' behavior, whereas the behavior of the customers is reinforced (and/or punished) by the marketers' actions. Using the example of the LEGO community, we discuss how the marketers in the organization can respond to behaviors resulting from co-creational customer–customer exchanges. This paper fills the knowledge gap by presenting a behavior analysis framework (theory of the marketing firm) for the empirical measurement of the co-creation process.     

The marketing firm: Retailer and consumer contingencies

Efficiency has emerged as an important consumer value and thus has increased the importance of the in-store search as one facet of consumer transaction costs. This paper contributes to the development of a marketing theory of the firm by analyzing the consumers' in-store efficiency ratios and the retailers' natural sources of resistance to offer efficiency to all of their customers. We propose new behavioral metrics for consumer transaction costs. Our data from the behavioral tracking of 497 complete shopping trips reveal more transaction costs for quick shopping trips than for regular shopping trips, which demonstrates friction between retail and consumer transaction costs for quick trips.     

Postauditing capital assets and firm performance: An empirical investigation

The argument presented in this paper is that the adoption of sophisticated postaudit procedures should be associated with improved firm performance. Based on a matched-pair experimental design, utilizing the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test and a newly developed statistic to test for a change point, empirical evidence is provided to support this argument.     

The theory of the marketing firm

The theory of the marketing firm locates the rationale of the modern business enterprise that lies in its responding profitably to the imperatives of marketing orientation. Economic theories of the firm generally fail to recognize these imperatives, enhanced consumer choice and sophistication, which entail marketing orientation as the rationale of the firm. The paper propose a competence theory of the firm as a metacontingency and examines the bilateral contingencies by which firms link to their consumerates, which indicate their capacities for customer orientation. The marketing firm emerges as a means of encapsulating entrepreneurship, economizing on transaction costs, and enabling the management of marketing specialization.     

营运资本管理与企业绩效关系实证研究

本文研究了营运资本政策与经营绩效的关系,通过对中国零售业、制造业（以家电业为例）、建筑业中的上市公司分不同行业进行实证分析和检验,发现：流动资产、流动负债所占比例与企业绩效的关系分行业有所不同;企业的流动资产周转率与企业绩效的相关性大小,主要取决于总资产周转率封企业业绩的作用大小以及流动资产占总资产的比重;营运资本政策对总资产主营业务利润率的影响较显着;营运资本政策越激进企业绩效也越好。但也有一些例外行业。不同行业的企业所选营运资本政策存在显着的差异性。     

The content of manufacturing strategy: An empirical study

While there has been an extensive literature written on manufacturing strategy since the 1960s, little empirical research has been done. This article reports on a study of manufacturing strategy in thirty-nine companies based on questionnaire responses received from manufacturing managers.The study indicates that things are not as bleak as the literature might suggest. About one-third of the companies appear to have a well-developed manufacturing strategy. In those cases where the manufacturing strategy exists it is consistent with the business strategy and internally consistent among mission, objectives, policies, and distinctive competence.The term “manufacturing strategy” is not well understood by the managers surveyed. When asked to state their manufacturing strategy, they gave statements about what manufacturing should be, what it should do, how it should do it, and why it should do it. Apparently, the terminology itself is confusing. Frameworks for stating both business strategies and the elements of manufacturing strategy need to be strengthened and some specific suggestions are given in the article for doing so.Even though two-thirds of the companies did not have well-developed manufacturing strategies, 80% of the managers felt that manufacturing had lent competitive strength to the business. This was being done through the development of a distinctive competence in manufacturing that provided competitive advantage.Manufacturing strategies seemed to follow from business strategy. This is contrary to the literature, which indicates that manufacturing strategy is missing, or, at the very least inconsistent with business strategy and marketing strategy. Perhaps a stronger relationship exists than was previously thought. This article provides some evidence for establishing this premise and also provides data on the general status of strategy in manufacturing today.     

How supply chain architecture and product architecture impact firm performance: An empirical examination

In order to enhance performance, manufacturing firms are building various capabilities and utilizing supply chain networks that are geographically dispersed around the globe. This study examines how decisions related to supply chain architecture and product architecture influence organizational competitiveness. Building on the co-specialization perspective, we evaluate the performance implications of product modularity and supply chain agility. While, product modularity constitutes a product configuration related to sourcing and assembling of products, supply chain agility is a supply chain configuration related to velocity (sensing, comprehending, and responding) and visibility (supplier network, internal operations, and external environment). Both the product and supply chain architectural decisions can impact performance, individually and in conjunction with each other. We empirically test the hypothesized relationships using data collected from 103 manufacturing firms. Results show that supply chain agility and product modularity directly enhance responsiveness and enable organizations to reduce cost. Furthermore, supply chain agility partially mediates the relationship between product modularity and both responsiveness and cost reduction. We elaborate on the key contributions of this study for both research and practice, discuss limitations, and also offer various avenues for further research.     

The value of legal housing titles: An empirical study

This paper estimates the value of legal housing titles using a Costa Rican urban housing survey conducted in 1997. The general results obtained regarding the value of legal titles to the average individual are consistent with past estimations found in the literature, but the implications for policy are new; as some groups are shown to value legal titles more than others. The criterion used to create these groups was inspired by the theoretical guidelines provided by past literature and could be easily reproduced by policy makers who may wish to target these types of individuals.     

Sustainable product attributes and firm performance: The moderating role of marketing resource intensity

This paper aims to study the performance implications of sustainable product attributes (SPA) of US manufacturing firms. Specifically, it analyzes the influence of aggregate and disaggregated SPA on firm profitability. The study further explores the moderating influence of marketing resource intensity on aggregate and disaggregated SPA and firm profitability relationships. The fixed-effect regression analysis of 433 US manufacturing firms' panel dataset reveals that aggregate and disaggregated SPA positively influence the firm profitability. The moderation analysis also confirms the positive influence of marketing resource intensity on aggregate and disaggregated SPA and firm profitability relationship. The current paper contributes to the triple-bottom-line and theory-of-the-firm literature streams by empirically studying the influence of aggregate and disaggregated SPA on firm profitability. Furthermore, this study uses the resource-based view to complement theory-of-the-firm model of SPA and empirically study the moderating role of marketing resource intensity between aggregate and disaggregated SPA and firm profitability. Finally, the findings inform the managers of the increased firm profitability by aggregate and disaggregated SPA, and the pivotal role of marketing resource intensity in strengthening the positive influence of aggregate and disaggregated SPA on US manufacturing firms' profitability.     

An empirical investigation of environmental performance and the market value of the firm

This paper analyzes the shareholder value effects of environmental performance by measuring the stock market reaction associated with announcements of environmental performance. We examine the market reaction to two categories of environmental performance. The first category includes 417 announcements of Corporate Environmental Initiatives (CEIs) that provide information about self-reported corporate efforts to avoid, mitigate, or offset the environmental impacts of the firm's products, services, or processes. The second category includes 363 announcements of Environmental Awards and Certifications (EACs) that provide information about recognition granted by third-parties specifically for environmental performance. Although the market does not react significantly to the aggregated CEI and EAC announcements, we find statistically significant market reactions for certain CEI and EAC subcategories. Specifically, announcements of philanthropic gifts for environmental causes are associated with significant positive market reaction, voluntary emission reductions are associated with significant negative market reaction, and ISO 14001 certifications are associated with significant positive market reaction. The difference between the market reactions to the CEI and EAC categories is statistically insignificant. Overall, the market is selective in reacting to announcements of environmental performance with certain types of announcements even valued negatively.     

The economic impact of superfund’s litigation on the value of the firm: An empirical analysis

The authors use a standard event-study methodology to evaluate the capital market reaction to superfund lawsuits brought against firms between 1980 and 1990. The results of the time series study indicate that the firms, on the average, suffered a statistically significant loss of 1.30 percent ($30.17 million) of their market value over the two-day event interval. The magnitude of the penalty varies among the industries examined, with the greatest impact falling on the pollution management industry. The lawsuit appears to have significant information effect, with the losses providing some indication that the lawsuits could impose costly constraints on the firms.     

Turning corporate environmental ethics into firm performance: The role of green marketing programs

In this study, we develop a better understanding of the mechanisms by which corporate environmental ethics influences performance through the adoption of substantive actions. The empirical results of a moderated mediating analysis show that firms with higher environmental ethics are more likely to implement green marketing programs, consisting of the green production, pricing, distribution, and promotion programs and then improve firm performance. It is also observed that closure mechanism negatively moderates the mediation effect of green marketing programs because it leads to low trust and unwillingness to internal cooperation. These findings indicate that the value of corporate environmental ethics could not be determined in a vacuum, both strategy and people do matter when pursuing environmentally driven performance.     

Labour supply and commuting time: An empirical study

We estimate a simple labour supply model that incorporates commuting time in a utility maximizing framework. Housing prices are assumed to vary with commuting time, and the elasticity of housing prices with respect to the latter is estimated to be about 10 percent. Using this elasticity estimate the price of commuting time averaged over all individuals is $3.22 while the wage rate is $4.72; thus commuting time is implicitly valued at about two-thirds of the wage rate on average. As far as work hours are concerned, almost all individuals are on the backward bending part of their labour supply curve.     

Forecasting methods for marketing: Review of empirical research

This paper reviews the empirical research on forecasting in marketing. In addition, it presents results from some small scale surveys. We offer a framework for discussing forecasts in the area of marketing, and then review the literature in light of that framework. Particular emphasis is given to a pragmatic interpretation of the literature and findings. Suggestions are made on what research is needed.     

The role of organizational control in outsourcing practices: An empirical study

Recent case study research has examined the role of organization control as a critical component of outsourcing performance (Kang et al. 2012a. Journal of Business Research 65, 1195–1201). In contrast to case study methodology, this paper aims to empirically examine the relationships among outsourcing strategies and organizational control in the Chinese context and refine the theoretical and managerial implications of the current research model. Based on data collected from 158 firms operating in China, this paper examines the impact of two types of outsourcing strategies on different organizational control measures. Our findings suggest that for efficiency-seeking outsourcing, output control and process control are appropriate in creating successful outsourcing practices. As for innovation-seeking outsourcing, social control and process control are the most effective options. Theoretical and managerial implications for strategic outsourcing are also discussed.     

Linking intrapreneurship activities to multidimensional firm performance in Turkish manufacturing firms: an empirical study

This study investigates the relationships among the external environment, intrapreneurship and performance of Turkish manufacturing firms. As a multidimensional construct, intrapreneurship is examined in terms of innovativeness, new business venturing, self-renewal, risk taking, and proactiveness. The environmental munificence and hostility are examined as the external determinants of intrapreneurship activities. Firm performance is considered as a multifaceted structure that covers financial and non-financial measures. Based on the data from 331 Turkish manufacturing firms, empirical results showed that environmental factors have statistically significant impact on the intrapreneurship activities of these firms. Profitability is negatively and significantly associated with self-renewal, while it is positively and significantly related with dimensions of innovation and risk taking. Growth is found to be significantly and positively correlated with only new business venturing. Finally, innovation is the only dimension that is positively and significantly associated with both customer and employee satisfaction, which are the main non-financial firm performance measures.     

Ownership structure and firm performance: Some empirical evidence from Spain

The ‘managerial’ and the ‘contractual’ theories of the firm imply different causes and consequences for the relationship between ownership and performance of firms. This paper provides a test of the two conflicting theories, using ownership and performance data from a sample of Spanish family- and non-family-controlled firms. We find evidence in support of the contractual theory of the firm, according to which firms choose their ownership structure maximizing economic value, net of contractual costs.     

Propensity to firm creation: empirical research using structural equations

The identification of the entrepreneurs’ characteristics and the knowledge of the entrepreneurial profile of university students have been assuming a growing importance in the development of educational programs directed towards the entrepreneurship and start-up processes. This study aims to identify the factors that most contribute for the intention to start up a business. The research also tries to identify the profile of a potential entrepreneur student concerning several characteristics: personal attributes, family, demographic variables and motivations. Research findings include the idea that entrepreneurship education is the most relevant factor in what concerns the propensity to business creation. On the other side, personal characteristics have an important role in shaping motivation to start-up a business and perceived hurdles have a negative impact in the intention to start-up. The results may be relevant when developing an adequate educational program directed to the entrepreneurship education and start-up processes.     

Capability hierarchy in electronic procurement and procurement process performance: An empirical analysis

This paper examines the interrelationship between two hierarchically structured functional capabilities pertinent in the organizational procurement process, and the impact of these capabilities on procurement process performance. These functional capabilities operate at different levels in an organization's procurement process. We draw upon resource- and knowledge-based views of the firm to theorize that in this hierarchy of information technology-enabled procurement capabilities, the higher-level capability – procurement integration competence – enables firms to develop and deploy a lower-level capability – digital procurement competence. Further, we theorize that the lower-level capability impacts procurement process performance directly and completely mediates the relationship between higher-level capability and performance. Thus, although performance is impacted directly only by the lower-level capability, the higher-level capability facilitates the development and use of the lower-level capability. Our research model is tested using survey data from a large sample of 412 manufacturing firms. The results provide strong support for the proposed research model. In particular, we find that as hypothesized, the impact of procurement integration competence on performance is completely mediated by digital procurement competence. Our results suggest that when examined at the procurement process level, the impact of higher-level capabilities may be manifested completely through the lower-level capabilities. Theoretical and practical implications of the research are discussed.     

Knowledge processing and ecosystem co-creation for process innovation: Managing joint knowledge processing in process innovation projects

Process innovation drives industrial competitiveness and sustainability but remains elusive since it requires co-creation and the sharing of idiosyncratic design knowledge in ecosystems of providers and customers of process equipment. This paper investigates how firms can manage knowledge processing through co-creation in joint process innovation projects. Analysis of cross-comparative case studies –including nine industrial ecosystem actors – identifies three types of technological challenge (complexity, novelty and customization) that creates knowledge-processing requirements (uncertainty, equivocality) during the value co-creation process. To manage these knowledge-processing requirements, this paper explains how three joint knowledge-processing strategies (joint problem solving, open communication and end-user involvement) help ecosystem partners make sense of the requirements and demands in process innovation. In this context, the procurement approach (such as contracting and relationship development) helps to facilitate higher levels of joint knowledge processing, drawing on the diverse knowledge of ecosystem actors to secure successful process-innovation outcomes. The present study contributes to the emerging literature on co-creation in process innovation by developing a framework that highlights the knowledge-processing dynamics in ecosystem relationships for process innovation. The implications for management extends to a practical tool that guides project managers in ensuring appropriate levels of joint knowledge processing among ecosystem actors.