The quality and effectiveness of marketing strategy: Effects of functional and dysfunctional conflict in intraorganizational relationships

By examining only dysfunctional conflict and ignoring functional conflict, empirical research in marketing has presented only part of the story. This research offers the first systematic look at the antecedents and consequences of both functionaland dysfunctional conflict in intraorganiational relationships. The authors develop and empirically test a causal model for key organizational antecedents of new product strategy quality and market performance. They find that dysfunctional conflict in the decision-making process has deleterious consequences for quality of strategy and market performance, whereas functional conflict improves both quality of strategy and performance. Specifically, organizational design characteristics such as formalization, interdepartmental interconnectedness, low communication barriers, and team spirit improve new product performance by enhancing functional conflict, whereas centralization and high communication barriers lower new product performance by increasing dysfunctional conflict. A post hoc test for common method bias or variance suggests that bias or variance alone cannot explain these findings. His general research interests focus on strategic issues relating to internal relationships, market learning, and organizational context of marketing strategy. His research has been published in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Advertising, andJournal of Services Marketing, among others. His general research interests focus on strategic issues relating to relationship marketing, firm performance, sustainable competitive advantage, timing of market entry, and information technology. His past research has been published in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Services Marketing, andMarketing Education Review, among others. His research interests are in the areas of marketing research methods, structural equations modeling, cellular automata theories and methods, and Taoist methodologies for marketing strategy. His research has been published in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, andJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, among others.     

Product quality: Impact of interdepartmental interactions

The authors examine the role of organizational factors affecting interdepartmental interactions and their subsequent effects on product quality. Results from a national study suggest that product quality is affected by interdepartmental conflict and connectedness. Importantly, the linkage between interdepartmental conflict and product quality appears to be robust across varying levels of market turbulence and technological turbulence. In contrast, interdepartmental connectedness appears to be more important for product quality under conditions of high market and technological turbulence. The results also indicate that interdepartmental interactions are influenced by leadership characteristics (risk aversion of top managers), reward system orientation, and organization structure (centralization, departmentalization, and hierarchical levels). Managerial implications and directions for future work are proposed. His research interests focus on marketing strategy, marketing management, and new product management. His work has appeared in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, and other journals. His research focuses on implementing and controlling marketing, market/environmental orientation, and customer responses to advertising. His work has appeared in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Review of Marketing, and other journals. His research interests include market orientation, marketing strategy, sales management, and industrial marketing. His work has appeared in a number of journals including theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, andStrategic Management Journal.     

Satisfaction with international marketing channels

This article examines factors leading to a firm’s satisfaction with its marketing channels. The authors build on existing studies of consumer satisfaction and the channels literature. They add a transaction cost factor and use the discrepancy model to examine the determinants of satisfaction. Findings from a survey of Canadian exporters show that a firm’s domestic performance, its previous experience, the uncertainty it faces, and its ability to change channels and monitor channel operations all provide significant explanations for management satisfaction. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Toronto. His research interests are in the areas of international marketing, channels of distribution, and marketing strategy. Professor Klein has published articles in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, andJournal of Marketing Research, andInternational Marketing Review. He received his Ph.d. degree from the University of Toronto. His research interests are in the areas of new product development, satisfaction research, and retailing. Professor Roth has published articles in theJournal of Marketing Research, theServices Industry Journal, andInternational Marketing Review.     

The nature and determinants of customer expectations of service

A conceptual model articulating the nature and determinants of customer expectations of service is proposed and discussed. The model specifies three different types of service expectations: desired service, adequate service, and predicted service. Seventeen propositions about service expectations and their antecedents are provided. Discussion centers on the research implications of the model and its propositions. Her research interests include services marketing and consumer perceptions of price and quality. Her articles have appeared in theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Journal of Retailing, andManagement Accounting. She is co-author (with Len Berry and Parsu Parasurman) ofDelivering Quality Service: Balancing Customer Perceptions and Expectations (The Free Press, 1990). Leonard L. Berry holds the J. C. Penney Chair of Retailing Studies, is Professor of Marketing, and is director of the Center for Retailing Studies at Texas A&M University. He is a former national president of the American Marketing Association. His research interests are services marketing, service quality, and retailing strategy. He is the author of numerous journal articles and books, includingMarketing Services: Competing Through Quality (The Free Press, 1991), which he wrote with A. Parasuraman. His research interests include services marketing, sales management, and marketing strategy. He has written numerous articles in journals such as theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Business Research, Sloan Management Review, andBusiness Horizons. He is the author ofMarketing Research (Addison-Wesley, 1991) and coauthor (with Leonard L. Berry and Valarie A. Zeithaml) ofDelivering Quality Service: Balancing Customer Perceptions and Expectations (The Free Press, 1990).     

Firm-level export performance assessment: Review, evaluation, and development

Export performance is one of the most widely researched but least understood and most contentious areas of international marketing. To some extent, this problem can be ascribed to difficulties in conceptualizing, operationalizing, and measuring the export performance construct, often leading to inconsistent and conflicting results. This study reviews and evaluates more than 100 articles of pertinent empirical studies to assess and critique export performance measurements. Based on gaps identified in this evluation, guidelines for export performance measure development are advanced, suggesting, however, a contingency approach in their application. Several conclusions and implications for export strategy and future research are derived from this analysis. Constantine S. Katsikeas holds the Sir Julian Hodge Chair in Marketing and International Business at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University. His main research interests lie in the areas of international marketing and purchasing, global strategic alliances, and competitive strategy. He has published widely in these fields and his articles have appeared inJournal of International Business Studies, Journal of International Marketing, (formerly Columbia)Journal of World Business, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, andManagement International Review, among others. Leonidas C. Leonidou is associate professor of marketing at the University of Cyprus. He obtained his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Bath, and has research interests in international marketing, relationship marketing, strategic marketing, and marketing in emerging economies. He has published extensively in these fields and his articles have appeared in various journals includingJournal of International Business Studies, Journal of Business Research, Journal of International Marketing, andManagement International Review. Neil A. Morgan is assistant professor of marketing in the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His research interests focus on strategic issues concerning marketing resources and capabilities, and marketing planning and implementation processes and their links with business performance. His work has appeared inJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, British Journal of Management, European Journal of Marketing, and other journals.     

An assessment of country of origin effects under alternative presentation formats

Empirical research concerning the effects of country of origin (COO) on consumers’ evaluative reactions to products has produced mixed and sometimes inconsistent results. Potential explanations for this situation include differences in the countries considered, populations sampled, products investigated, availability of product cues other than COO, the format in which the product cues were presented to the subjects, and the types of evaluative reactions considered. The authors present the results of three experiments designed to investigate the impact of three presentation formats (i.e., single cue, explicit multiple cues, and implicit multiple cues) on COO effects for four evaluative reactions (i.e., perceived quality, product evaluations other than quality, affect, and purchase intentions). COO effects were strongest for the single-cue format and weakest for the implicit multiple-cues condition. Perception of product quality was most strongly affected by COO, followed by product evaluations other than quality; COO had its smallest effect on purchase intention. Implications of these results and future research directions are discussed. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from Indiana University. His work has appeared in many journals including theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, International Marketing Review, Management International Review, Psychology and Marketing, andJournal of Health Care Marketing, as well as conference proceedings. His research interests include consumer inference and decision-making processes, research methods, export marketing, and competitive strategy. He received his MBA from Notre Dame and his Ph.D. from Indiana University. His research interests include consumer choice processes, consumer response to advertising, and marketing communications. His work has been published in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Psychology and Marketing, and elsewhere. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Administration from Purdue University. His research interests include buyer-seller negotiations, channel relationships, and marketing strategy. His work has appeared in theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, andJournal of Consumer Research.     

A framework for market-based organizational learning: Linking values, knowledge, and behavior

The authors review the concept of organizational learning and present a broad conceptual framework for its modeling. Within this framework, one specific process for market-based organizational learning is postulated. An empirical test of this model leads the authors to conclude that a more positive learning orientation (a value-based construct) will directly result in increased market information generation and dissemination (knowledge-based constructs), which, in turn, directly affects the degree to which an organization makes changes in its marketing strategies (a behavioral construct). Managerial implications are discussed. His research interests lie primarily in the areas of organizational information use and market-based organizational learning. His work has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Business Research, andJournal of Marketing. His research interests include both individual and organizational learning. He has published in the areas of consumer decision making, advertising effectiveness, and market-based organizational learning. His research interests include organizational marketing and marketing channels. His work has been published in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Journal of Business Logistics, Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management, andJournal of Health Care Marketing.     

Marketing,market growth,and endogenous growth theory: An inquiry into the causes of market growth

Market growth plays a central role in virtually all strategic marketing models developed in the past 30 years. Although marketing scholars seem implicitly to assume that marketing efforts contribute in some way to market growth, market growth per se remains a conceptual black box in marketing. Using new developments in endogenous growth theory, this article explores the link between marketing actions and market growth. In particular, the authors develop a conceptual model arguing that the effect of endogenous actions on market growth is mediated by knowledge creation, matching, and diffusion. Propositions are proposed to guide future research. The authors discuss the implications for marketing strategy at both business discipline and public policy levels. Sundar Bharadwaj (Sundar_Bharadwaj@bus.Emory.edu) is an associate professor of marketing in the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. He received his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. His research interests focus on marketing strategy, performance, and risk. His research has appeared in theJournal of Marketing, Management Science, and theitJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, among others. Terry Clark (tclark@cba.siu.edu) is a professor and chair in the marketing department at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He received his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. His research interests include the intersection of international marketing and marketing strategy. His research has appeared in theJournal of Marketing and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, among others. Songpol Kulviwat (mktszk@hofstra.edu) is an assistant professor of marketing and international business at Hofstra University. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from Southern Illinois University. His research interests include Internet marketing, hightech marketing, international business (sncross-cultural research), and information technology. Prior to his academic career, he worked in the area of international sales management in Thailand.     

Perception of marital roles in purchase decision processes: A cross-cultural study

Following the approach of the classic 1974 marital-role influence study of Davis and Rigaux, the present study focuses on differences in decision making (i.e., joint, husband dominated, wife dominated) across 24 product categories as a function of two key factors. These factors are stage of the decision process (i.e., problem recognition, information search, and the final decision) and culture (People’s Republic of China and the United States). The Jacobson Marital-Role Egalitarianism Scale is included to further assess individual differences in husband and wife traditionality-modernism. The major findings are that emphasis on joint, husband-dominated, and wife-dominated decisions vary by stage and by stage-culture interaction. Practical implications are presented with suggestions for future research. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 1985 with a Ph.D. in marketing. His research interests include global strategic market planning and cross-cultural research issues and methodologies. He has published in such journals asJournal of Advertising Research, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Columbia Journal of World Business, International Marketing Review, Journal of Business Strategy, andJournal of Consumer Marketing. He graduated with honors in 1986 from the University of Mississippi with a Ph.D. in marketing. His research interests include cross-cultural consumer behavior and emotional responses to advertising stimuli. He has published in such journals asJournal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Psychology and Marketing, Journal of Health Care Marketing, andInternational Marketing Review. He graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1986 with a Ph.D. in marketing. His research interests focus on cross-cultural consumer behavior. He has published in such journals asJournal of Advertising, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Health Care Marketing, Psychology and Marketing, and theInternational Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management.     

The effects of price on brand extension evaluations: The moderating role of extension similarity

This research explores the effects of price information on brand extension evaluations across different levels of similarity. Brand extension similarity is proposed as a moderator of the effects of price on brand extension perceived quality, perceived value, and purchase intentions. Specifically, price is hypothesized to have a larger positive impact on perceived quality evaluations of dissimilar extensions, but a larger negative impact on perceived value and purchase intentions for similar extensions. Results indicate that a high-price introductory strategy used to suggest a high-quality product will likely be more effective for dissimilar extensions than similar extensions. The results of this research suggest a number of implications for new product pricing. Directions for subsequent research are offered as well. Valerie A. Taylor is an assistant professor of marketing in the College of Business Administration at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She received her Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. Her research interests include product branding strategies, and consumer perception and use of quality cues and signals, and health communication issues. Her research has been published inAdvances in Consumer Research andAmerican Marketing Association Educator's Proceedings. Her teaching interests include marketing communications, marketing strategy, consumer behavior, and marketing research. She has also held positions in the telecommunications industry. William O. Bearden is the Bank of America Chaired Professor of Marketing in the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. He is on the editorial review boards of theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research (JCR), theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Retailing, and theMarketing Education Review and is currently serving as an associate editor forJCR. He has published frequently in theJournal of Marketing Research andJCR, and has a number of publications in other marketing and consumer research journals. His teaching and research interests include consumer behavior, marketing research, and the evaluation of marketing promotions.     

Alliance orientation: Conceptualization, measurement, and impact on market performance

Interfirm collaborations have inspired a rich literature in marketing and strategy during the past two decades. Building on this extant work, the authors developed a new construct, alliance orientation, and explored its influence on firms’ alliance network performance and market performance. The authors drew on data collected from 182 U.S. firms with extensive experience informing, developing, and managing strategic alliances in marketing, new product development, distribution, technology, and manufacturing projects. Using structural equations modeling, the authors demonstrate that alliance orientation significantly affects alliance network performance, which in turn enhances market performance. The findings also suggest that market turbulence exerts a significant moderating influence on the relationship between alliance orientation and alliance network performance, whereas the moderating role of technological turbulence on that relationship does not appear to be significant. The study provides evidence that firms’ alliance orientations positively affect their performance in strengthening their alliance network relationships and in managing conflicts with their alliance partners. Destan Kandemir (kandemir@msn.edu) is a research associate in Center for International Business Education and Research at Michigan State University. She earned her PhD in marketing and international business from Michigan State University. Her articles have appeared in theJournal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Industrial Marketing Management, theJournal of International Marketing, and theJournal of Management. Her research interests include firm resources and capabilities, market-oriented knowledge management, and global alliance management. Attila Yaprak (attila.yaprak@wayne.edu) is a professor of marketing and international business at Wayne State University. He received his PhD from Georgia State University. His research interests include cross-national consumer behavior, global marketing strategy, and international alliances. His research has appeared in theJournal of International Business Studies, theJournal of International Marketing, theJournal of Business Research, andPolitical Psychology, among others. S. Tamer Cavusgil (cavusgil@msu.edu) is University Distinguished Faculty and the John W. Byington Endowed Chair in Global Marketing in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, Michigan State University.     

Exploring the implications of the internet for consumer marketing

Past commentaries on the potential impact of the Internet on consumer marketing have typically failed to acknowledge that consumer markets are heterogeneous and complex and that the Internet is but one possible distribution, transaction, and communication channel in a world dominated by conventional retailing channels. This failure has led to excessively broad predictions regarding the effect of the Internet on the structure and performance of product and service markets. The objective of this article is to provide a framework for understanding possible impacts of the Internet on marketing to consumers. This is done by analyzing channel intermediary functions that can be performed on the Internet, suggesting classification schemes that clarify the potential impact of the Internet across different products and services, positioning the Internet against conventional retailing channels, and identifying similarities and differences that exist between them. The article concludes with a series of questions designed to stimulate the development of theory and strategy in the context of Internet-based marketing. Robert A. Peterson holds the John T. Stuart III Centennial Chair in Business Administration and is the Charles E. Hurwitz fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. A former editor of theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science andJournal of Marketing Research, he currently chairs the board of governors of the Academy of Marketing Science. His research interests include the competitive and cooperative interface between electronic and traditional retail channels, customer equity modeling, and the application of options theory in marketing. His research interests are psychological models of economic behavior, consumer choice and choice protocols, and advertising. His work has been published in theJournal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Service, andR&D Management.     

Creating a firm-level dynamic capability through capitalizing on market orientation and innovativeness

Drawing on the resource-based view of the firm, this study addresses the dynamic capability-generating capacity of market orientation on firm performance. Whereas prior literature has examined environmental turbulence as a contextual condition shaping the market orientation-firm performance relationship, this study takes an internal approach by focusing on existing stocks of resources within the firm while controlling for environmental conditions. A conceptual model is developed that explains how market orientation can be transformed into dynamic capability when complemented by transformational (reconfig-urational) constructs, such as innovativeness. The empirical results support the authors— theory that the effect of market orientation on firm performance is strengthened when market orientation is bundled together with internal complementary resources, such as innovativeness. The authors discuss the findings in the context of varying stages of the product life cycle and at different levels of market development. Bulent Menguc (menguc@brocku.ca), Ph.D., Marmara University, is currently an associate professor of marketing at Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada. His areas of research interest include sales force management and internal marketing, strategic orientations, and cross-cultural research methodology. His research has appeared in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Retailing, theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Industrial Marketing Management, theJournal of Business Ethics, and theEuropean Journal of Marketing, among others. Seigyoung Auh (sauh@yonsei.ac.kr), Ph.D., University of Michigan, is an assistant professor at Yonsei University, South Korea. His research interests are the application of the resource-based view to marketing strategy, the role of top management teams on marketing strategy, and innovation and organizational learning. He has publications in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, theJournal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, and theJournal of Economic Psychology, among others.     

Generating new product ideas: An initial investigation of the role of market information and organizational characteristics

Although product innovation is widely recognized as crucial to the success of organizations, the literature still contains certain gaps that limit our understanding of successful product innovation. These gaps include a lack of research employing a decompositional approach (i,e., analysis of the drivers at each stage of the process) to studying product innovation and a related lack of research investigating the effect of organizational characteristics on specific stages of the product innovation process. The authors attempt to close these gaps by developing and testing a model examining the moderating effects of organizational characteristics on the relationship between the amount of market information gathered and the number of new product ideas generated by work groups in organizations. The study findings provide insights into the types of organizational structure and climate characteristics that can have an impact on the relationship between amount of market information and new product idea generation. Lisa C. Troy is an assistant professor of marketing at Utah State University. She earned her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. Her research interests include product innovation management, environmental marketing, and international marketing management. Her work has appeared in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science and theJournal of Marketing. David M. Szymanski is the Al and Marion Withers Research Fellow and Director, Center for Retailing Studies in the Lowry Mays College and Graduate School of Business at Texas A&M University. His research interests are in the areas of applied meta-analysis, marketing strategy, personal selling and sales management, product innovation, and retail strategy. Representative research has appeared in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, and theJournal of Retailing. P. Rajan Varadarajan is a professor of marketing and the Jenna and Calvin R. Guest professor of business administration at Texas A&M University. His research interests are in the areas of corporate, business, and marketing strategy. His research has been published in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theAcademy of Management Journal, theStrategic Management Journal, Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, Business Horizons, and other journals.     

Managing trade promotions in the context of market power

The use of trade promotions as a channel-programming tool has increased substantially in the past decade. In focusing on the tactical implications of trade promotions, some firms appear to have underestimated the tendency of poorly planned trade promotions to interfere with the implementation of a marketing strategy. In this article, the authors examine the complex issue of trade promotion use from both long-term and short-term perspectives. Different trade promotions can produce dissimilar types of channel cooperation, consumer responses, and postpromotion channel member behavior, resulting in differences in distribution-programming preferences between suppliers and retailers. The authors argue that the adjudication of these different preference structures is addressed through the market power of the channel participants. Based on an assessment of these channel relationships, an approach for suggested courses of action is forwarded. Jack J. Kasulis is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Oklahoma. He obtained his Ph.D. in marketing from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and has research interests in marketing channels, retailing, and consumer behavior. His articles have appeared in such journals as theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Advertising Research, and various other journals and proceedings. Fred W. Morgan is the Ashland Professor of Marketing at the University of Kentucky. He obtained his Ph.D. in marketing from Michigan State University in East Lansing and has research interests in legal issues in marketing, sales management, and marketing channels. His articles have appeared in such journals as theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing and Public Policy, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Channels, and various other journals and proceedings. David E. Griffith is an associate professor and the Harvey Jones Chair of Marketing at Ouachita Baptist University. He obtained his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Texas in Austin and has research interests in marketing channels, marketing strategy, and ethics. His research has appeared inMarketing Letters, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Channels, and various other journals and proceedings. James M. Kenderdine is an associate professor and director of the Distribution Research Program at the University of Oklahoma. He obtained his D.B.A. from Indiana University in Bloomington. His research interests are in wholesaling, retailing, and marketing channels. His publications have includedThe Changing Economics of Wholesaling: A North American Chart Book, Wholesaling in Transition: An Executive Chart Book, and articles in various journals and proceedings.     

Does success diminish competitive responsiveness? Reconciling conflicting perspectives

Previous research provides conflicting evidence of the association between the past performance of a business and its competitive responsiveness, with researchers observing both positive and negative relationships. To clarify this issue, the authors test a model using survey data from the retailing industry. The model delineates direct and indirect mediated paths through ability to respond, motivation to respond, and awareness of competitors’ actions to show how past performance can have both positive and negative influence on competitive responsiveness. However, the overall impact of past performance of an organization on its competitive responsiveness is positive. The implications of these findings for research, practice, and theory are discussed. Satish Jayachandran (satish@moore.sc.edu) is an assistant professor of marketing in the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. His research interests are focused on issues related to the market responsiveness of firms. His research has been published in theJournal of Marketing and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science. He was a recipient of the Harold H. Maynard Award for 2001 from theJournal of Marketing. He was nominated a young scholar by the Marketing Science Institute in 2003. Rajan Varadarajan (varadarajan@tamu.edu) is Distinguished Professor of Marketing and holder of the Ford Chair in marketing and e-commerce at Texas A & M University. His teaching and research interests are in the areas of strategy, international marketing, and e-commerce. His research on these topics has been published in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theAcademy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, Business Horizons, theJournal of Business Research, and other journals.     

Marketing norms: The influence of personal moral philosophies and organizational ethical culture

This study develops a scale, using the American Marketing Association’s code of ethics, to measure the marketing-related norms of marketing practitioners. The scale has five dimensions: 1) price and distribution, 2) information and contracts, 3) product and promotion, 4) obligation and disclosure, and 5) general honesty and integrity. The relative influence of personal moral philosophies and organizational ethical climate on the norms of marketers was also examined in this study. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from Texas Tech University. His work has previously appeared in theJournal of Macromarketing, Journal of Business Ethics, Research in Marketing, Business and Professional Ethics Journal, andJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, as well as various other journals and proceedings. His research has been accepted for publication in theJournal of Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management and theJournal of Business Ethics, and has been published in various national and regional proceedings. His research interests include marketing ethics, health care marketing, international marketing, and direct marketing. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Mississippi. His work has previously appeared in theJournal of Macromarketing, Journal of Business Ethics, Business and Professional Ethics Journal, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, andJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, as well as other journals and proceedings.     

Brand portfolio, corporate image, and reputation: Managing brand deletions

Brand portfolio management addresses, among other issues, the interrelated questions of what brands to add, retain, or delete. A small number of brands in a firm’s brand portfolio can often have a disproportionately large positive or negative impact on its image and reputation and the responses of stakeholders. Brand deletions can be critical from the standpoint of a firm being able to free up resources to redeploy toward enhancing the competitive standing and financial performance of brands in its portfolio with the greatest potential to positively affect its image and reputation. Against this backdrop, the authors focus on the organizational and environmental drivers of brand deletion propensity, the predisposition of a firm to delete a particular brand from its brand portfolio. The authors propose a conceptual model delineating the drivers of brand deletion propensity and suggest directions for future research, including the related concept of brand deletion intensity. Rajan Varadarajan (varadarajan@tamu.edu) is Distinguished Professor of Marketing and holder of the Ford Chair in Marketing and E-Commerce in the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. His primary teaching and research interest is in the area of strategy. His research on strategy has been published in theJournal of Marketing, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theAcademy of Management Journal, theStrategic Management Journal, and other journals. Rajan served as editor of theJournal of Marketing from 1993 to 1996 and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science from 2000 to 2003. He currently serves on the editorial review boards of theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of International Marketing, theJournal of Interactive Marketing and other journals. He is a recipient of a number of honors and awards, including the Academy of Marketing Science Distinguished Marketing Educator Award (2003), the American Marketing Association Mahajan Award for Career Contributions to Marketing Strategy (2003), and the Texas A&M University Distinguished Achievement Award in Research (1994). Mark P. DeFanti (mdefanti@tamu.edu) is a doctoral student in marketing at Texas A&M University. He received his M.B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin and his B.A. from Amherst College. His current research interests include brand portfolio management, corporate name changes, and business-to-business branding. His teaching interests include advertising, brand management, and marketing strategy. Paul S. Busch (p-busch@tamu.edu) is a professor of marketing in the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. He received his Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. His research has been published in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, Decision Sciences, theJournal of Business Research, andBusiness Horizons. He serves on the editorial review boards of theJournal of Business-to-Business Marketing, theAsian Journal of Marketing, andMarketing Management. His research interests include buyer-seller relationships, business-to-business branding, and brand portfolio management. His teaching interests include promotional strategy and new product development.     

Export channel design: The use of foreign distributors and agents

Because many manufacturers are unable to integrate vertically into global distribution, the nonintegrated market entry modes of foreign distributor and agent are frequently used. Unfortunately, little is known about choosing efficiently between distributor and agent because research has only partially examined the importance of transaction and production costs in determining institutional arrangements. To specify efficient channel design, this article develops and tests hypotheses linking the characteristics of export exchange to the cost-minimizing mode of export channel governance. Based on a sample of 269 manufacturers, results suggest that market diversity, type of transaction-specific asset, and production cost economies all affect the choice between foreign-based agents and distributors. The article concludes with the implications of these results for export management and future export research. He received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University. His research interests include distribution strategy and international marketing. He has published in theJournal of Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, andJournal of Advertising. He serves on the editorial review boards of various professional journals including theJournal of Marketing and theJournal of Business Research. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. Her research interests include buyer-seller relationships and business-to-business marketing. She has published in theJournal of Business Research, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Global Marketing, and in the proceedings of various professional conferences.     

The influence of ethical climate and ethical conflict on role stress in the sales force

Several leading models of ethical decision making include factors contributing to an organization’s ethical climate as significant determinants affecting ethical choice. The relationship of ethical climate to ethical conflict and role conflict is examined in a salesperson context. Results suggest that salespersons’ perceptions of a positive ethical climate are negatively associated with their perceived ethical conflict with sales managers. Implications and directions for future research are provided. He has experience in wholesale and retail sales. His research interests are in sales, sales management, marketing ethics, and consumer behavior. His articles have appeared in theJournal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Business Ethnics, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice, andIndustrial Marketing Management, as well as various national and regional proceedings. He is coauthor ofSales Management: Analysis and Decision-Making. He is currently the president of the Academic Council of the American Marketing Association. He is a Southern Marketing Association Fellow and a Southwestern Marketing Association Fellow. He has published 15 books and more than 50 articles. His books includeMarketing: Concepts and Strategies andBusiness Ethics. His work has appeared inJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, among others. His major research focus is marketing implementation and ethical compliance frameworks for organizations. Before commencing his academic career, he worked in sales, product management, and sales management with Exxon and Mobil. He has received various teaching and research awards, including being named the Marketing Educator of the Year by Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI). His primary research is in personal selling and sales management. His work has appeared inJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, andJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, among others. He is the coauthor of five textbooks, includingThe Professional Selling Skills Workbook, Sales Management: Analysis and Decision-Making, andMarketing Principles and Perspective.