Customer portfolio planning in a business network context

In an increasingly globalised business environment, it is no longer adequate to analyse and develop supplier-customer relationship portfolios without consideration of a firm's network relationships. While research in business relationships has examined resource allocation and strategy development in the context of a dyadic relationship, portfolios and network relationships, little is known about the network effects of a focal firm's relationships on its performance particularly from both supplier and customer evaluations. The present study attempts to fill this gap by developing a customer portfolio framework that includes four levels of business relationships, and integrates a resource-based view and industry determinants of competitive advantage. The proposed framework is applied and analysed using data of UK-based food service companies. The main results show that a focal relationship performance is influenced by both industry and resource-based advantages in a business network context. The results also suggest that a focal firm can better enhance its competitive position with the knowledge of network effects and interdependence of strategic actions in a business network context.     

Small firm start-up by composers in the recording industry

The paper examines new record company formation by music composers. In particular, it addresses their decision to release a record i.e. either to contract their music to record companies or to start-up their own company. In so doing, the research entails the collection and analysis of new data on the behaviour of musicians in the intermediate market for music. The research finds that musicians regard incumbent record companies to have a first mover advantage and that they generally aspire to secure a record contract rather than set-up their own company. Composers who start-up their own company usually do so because of push rather than pull factors and hence usually represent artistic enterprise which has been rejected by incumbent firms. In this manner, new firm formation by composers does not appear to represent the seeds of future industry.     

How are young music artists configuring their media and sales platforms in the digital age?

Abstract

Research on how music artists generate sales from their content through different platforms is scant. In this study, configuration theory is used to show that different market access configurations are viable simultaneously and that young musicians differ significantly in how they generate revenues. Using data on the media and sales performance of 338 young musicians in the Netherlands, we show that there is an ‘Emerging Star’ group (7–13% of artists depending on regional scope) and that record labels play an important role in this configuration providing broad media access on all platforms, both old and new. Digital age ‘Independents’ (14% of young artists), mostly without a record label, seem to benefit from the use of social media while exploiting synergies around live music. All artists in the remaining groups ‘Question Marks’ and ‘Hobbyists’ experience low to very low performance on all platforms. This study shows that configuration theory can provide detailed insight into viable and unviable marketing strategies. In particular, it shows that the globally declining music CD platform can still be very important for specific artists that exploit synergies between live performances, on-site CD sales and social media fan relationship management. The implications for marketing theory and young music artists are discussed.     

关于高校电子商务专业课程设置的思考

本文探讨了当前高校电子商务专业的设置问题,指出计算机和网络课程应该是专业课程体系的核心。然后,本文详细叙述了相关计算机和网络课程的背景和主要内容,并提出了应该开设哪些文科课程的建议。     

How consumers contribute to the development and continuity of a cultural market

This article examines the “indie” music industry in South Korea. It describes a consumer-led market where network of consumers aided by social media take responsibility for its maintenance and development, specifically the market for indie music in South Korea. With the emergence of digital technology and a participatory culture, the roles of consumers have expanded. Through their commitment and passion for independent music, aided by social media, these consumers have developed a virtual indie music community, which uses a variety of mechanisms, such as producing podcasts, to promote its music. These non-traditional producers regard indie music as an important part of their lives and their existence, which is why they take responsibility for developing the indie community rather than leaving this to a profit-orientated music industry. Therefore, we demonstrate how in South Korea the production of indie music has ceased to be dominated by traditional actors, such as record labels, and is driven by the enthusiasm of music fans. Previous research on cultural markets suggests that consumers play critical roles in the formation and evolution of the market. This study sheds light on this process by depicting a cultural market that is governed by pro-social consumers (rather than anti-market resistance) who pursue a balanced approach between resistance to and negotiated harmony with commercial and social norms rather than drawing a simple boundary between “us” and “other”.     

Networks and business development: Convict businesspeople in Australia, 1817–24

This article uses social network analysis to examine accounting records in order to establish and analyse business relationships. It applies this methodology to accounting transactions recorded at Australia's first bank, the Bank of New South Wales (BNSW) in order to establish whether a business network existed among ex-convict businesspeople in Sydney during 1817–24. Uncertainty regarding distance from suppliers and credit facilities, lack of markets and business connections plus the social stigma of ‘convictism’ meant that it was difficult but not impossible for ex-convicts to establish businesses. The network among BNSW shareholders and depositors served the purpose of pooling of resources and information and alleviating uncertainty.     

The Evolution and Nature of Young Firm Networks: a longitudinal Perspective

This paper describes the evolution of networks during the first three years after start-up and puts forward explanations of the nature of networks of young firms after three years. We extend current research on networks by explicitly including both temporal change and spatial variation in our analyses of the longitudinal dataset. In this paper we define networks as: the main business relationships with respect to sales, supply, outsourcing and cooperation. The nature of these business relationships is specified by four main characteristics: type, number, source, and location. The longitudinal network analysis is therefore at the micro-level: the individual young firm and the characteristics of its most important business contacts are central. In contrast to the literature our analyses show that sales relationships become increasingly social in source during the first three years after start-up. We also find a persistent geographical concentration strategy in the main business relationships. It seems that extra-regional relationships are losing ground to intra-regional relationships over time: firms are narrowing their spatial scope in their first three years. In addition, we trace important effects of gender, education, innovative firm behaviour, region and sector on the nature of young firm networks three years after start-up.     

Commentary on leveraging knowledge based resources: The role of contracts

The commentary first discusses the main argument of Mouzas and Ford. The commentary then addresses how contracts can be understood in business networks by relating the concept to the three main IMP models. The conclusion is that the article is an important step in linking ideas of business contracts and resource interaction in relational settings. Mouzas and Ford examine how contracts are used to leverage knowledge based resources through interaction with other idiosyncratically capable firms. In particular, they empirically investigate the use of umbrella contracts as manifestations of joint consent in manufacturer — retailer relationships as a specific form of contract for this purpose. The authors take an industrial networks perspective, making (forms of) contracts resources within a relational, interactive frame of exchange. This in itself is valuable, as contracts in an industrial networks perspective may easily be viewed as one out of many contextual parameters to transactions carried out within business relationships. There are three general models or frameworks in IMP that may be used to analyse the role of contracts within an interactive and relational frame of exchange. These are the interaction model (Håkansson, 1982), the actors-resources-activities (ARA) model (Håkansson & Snehota, 1995) and the 4 resource model (Håkansson & Håkansson and Waluszewski, 2002).     

International heterogeneity in the associations of new business models and broadband Internet with music revenue and piracy

Broadband Internet has fundamentally changed business models in many industries. In the music industry, for instance, old business models were challenged by illegal competitors, and broadband Internet has enabled value creation through new business models. The changes that established business models experienced in the wake of broadband Internet, however, differed vastly across national markets, and these differences are not well understood. We build a conceptual framework and study the extent to which differences in economic and cultural factors are associated with different market outcomes in the wake of the proliferation of broadband Internet. Thus, we compile two unique data sets from the music industry, comprising (1) revenue data for 36 countries and 22 years and (2) piracy data for 47 countries and >2 years. We use a Bayesian multilevel model to explore between-country heterogeneity in the associations between these variables and broadband Internet adoption and business model innovations. Our results show that the negative association between broadband Internet penetration and music revenue is weaker in high-income countries, where income restrictions are less likely to drive demand towards illegitimate piracy services. In terms of cultural factors, we find that a market's response to the introduction of broadband Internet is less negative in countries scoring high on Hofstede's individualism and uncertainty avoidance dimensions. Furthermore, we find that overall revenues only recover after the latest generation of streaming services (e.g., Spotify) has been introduced, and the adoption of these services is associated with lower levels of online music piracy.     

British corporate networks, 1976–2010: Extending the study of finance–industry relationships

Abstract

Using an extensive and unique data set that has been created to record the composition of the boards of directors of the top 250 British firms between 1904 and 2010, this article builds upon a previous study by the authors on the corporate network to 1976 by extending the study to 2010. The analysis revolves around three key observations: the nature and depth of the corporate network; the distinct stages in corporate connectivity between 1976 and 2010; and the 1980s watershed in the relationship between financial and other sectors, following which financial institutions withdrew from the corporate network. The article concludes with an analysis of how the data set has changed our perceptions of British corporate networks, wider changes in British business, and a discussion of implications for future research.     

Music as a Service as an Alternative to Music Piracy?

Despite increasing acceptance of digital channels, total sales in the music business decreased by 31 % from 2004 to 2010. Music piracy is still considered one of the main causes for this. However, several studies found no effects or even positive effects of illegal downloading on record sales. In the past, piracy has been counteracted especially by prosecution and legal offers. Music as a Service (MaaS) represents a new, differing distribution approach in digital music. In contrast to the well-known music platforms for so-called à-la-carte downloads, such as the iTunes Store, MaaS possesses two important characteristics: transmission (streaming instead of downloading) and pricing model (flat rate instead of pay-per-download). Therefore, the consumption of music by means of purchasing and downloading is replaced by a monthly payment service (paid MaaS) and an ad-supported (free MaaS) service. First user surveys suggest that many music pirates are making use of these offers. To find out if MaaS is an attractive distribution channel for music pirates, we developed a model to explain the intention to use MaaS based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. To empirically test this model, we surveyed 132 music pirates. Among others, the outcome shows that the intention to use free MaaS is mainly affected by the attitude towards MaaS, while using paid MaaS is predominantly a result of the influence of users’ closest peers. The attitude towards MaaS is positively influenced by the desire to receive music recommendations, the payment type (in the form of a flat rate model), and the relative advantage of MaaS compared to illegal choices.     

How market value relates to corporate philanthropy and its assurance. The moderating effect of the business sector

Corporate philanthropy strategy integrated into the core business constitutes a novel vision and a little‐explored field of study with regard to corporate social commitment. The goal of this study is to analyse how the diverse ways of managing and assuring philanthropy can be considered signals of a firm's social commitment and consequently affect its market value. In addition, the analysis considers whether the business sector moderates those relationships. We aim to provide a comprehensive vision of corporate philanthropy and its effect on market value. From a sample of 965 firm‐years, of 193 firms from 2011 to 2015, we found that the market responds positively to the professional, independent management of philanthropy via a foundation, in preference to donations, and welcomes external assurance of corporate philanthropy as a set of actions that improve the perceived reliability of philanthropic activities. In addition, we observe a moderating effect of the business sector on the relationships among corporate philanthropy, assurance and the company's market value. The main contribution of this study is the provision of new evidence of how corporate philanthropy and its assurance are effective signals that reduce the information asymmetries between firms and investors, affecting company market value positively.     

浅谈网络银行的发展和建议

中国的网络银行起步较晚,但是信息时代,后发优势效应明显。伴随着中国电子商务的发展迅速,网络银行与电商、社交网络的关系密不可分,阿里巴巴的马云曾说过最具未来的两种商业模式,一种是互联网金融,一种是金融互联网。本文的主旨就是结合互联网公司、银行业简要分析网络银行的前景和未来,并提出几点不成熟的建议。     

A Social Marketing Template for Solving the Musicians’ Dilemma Through Nonprofit Healthcare Networks

The Musicians’ Dilemma—the lack of affordable healthcare for the uninsured or underinsured musical entrepreneur—is actually a common problem plaguing not only 33% of musicians, but approximately 19% of the American population as a whole. The current research uses social marketing principles to conceptualize a template for designing a marketing program that meets the healthcare needs of the target market. Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM) is a nonprofit organization that links healthcare providers, local businesses, and community donors in a network providing basic preventive health services to this essential segment of the community. HAAM's business model is analyzed and cast on the social marketing framework so that it can be adapted for use by other music cities. Although the template could also be applied to serve other uninsured populations, it is critical that research be undertaken to understand the specific characteristics and needs of each target market and used to adapt the model to those populations.     

Network knowledge and business-relationship value in the foreign market

Based on the key assumptions that firms are opportunity seeking and that they gain critical knowledge operating in a network of relationships, this paper focuses on early expansion in foreign market networks. In particular, the paper examines the relation between experience and business-relationship value in a foreign market. While experience and experiential knowledge are central concepts in international business, little has been written about their effects on the value of business relationships. The paper formulates a set of interrelated hypotheses on the effects of international experience, experiential network knowledge and importance of customer and competitor knowledge on the value of business relationships in a foreign market. They are combined in a structural model, which is tested on a sample through LISREL. The main conclusion drawn from the study is that experiential network knowledge and knowledge about the importance of customers and competitors in the network influence the value of business relationships in a foreign market in different ways.     

“Exiled Music Herself,Pushed to the Edge of Existence”: The Experience Of Musicians Who Perform Background Music

In reconsidering music in the background, the authors look to what Adorno said seventy years ago about music as aural wallpaper, as the Muzak corporation put it: “music is there to be listened to but Muzak is there to be heard”. Examining the history of listening, and in particular the influence of romanticism and bohemia, we explore through depth interviews the experiences of musicians who perform background music. This text is enlivened by an accompanying audio presentation which brings to centre stage the voices of the musicians on how they negotiate the romantic experience of music when the audience isn't interested.     

“Relationship marketing” and the “markets‐as‐networks approach”—a comparative analysis of two evolving streams of research

Predating the increased attention by marketing academics on relationship marketing, European marketing scholars developed a network approach to the study of industrial markets that is also based on relationships between seller and buyer as a fundamental concept. This article aims to analyse the similarities and the differences between relationship marketing studies and network studies. After comparative analyses of definitions, empirical and research foundations, attributes related to governance structures and to the marketing mix approach and of major issues addressed in the research agendas, the conclusion is: relationship marketing in its limited interpretation is just a development within the marketing mix approach. Relationship marketing in its extended interpretation is, or rather could become, close to the markets‐as‐networks approach. However the basic attribute in network studies of “embeddedness” is largely missing in relationship marketing. To develop relationship marketing as a generic concept, researchers need to address also the issue of the generic nature of the market. Because when relationships are regarded as the generic governance form for transactions, then the market itself becomes network‐like!     

Interactive resource development in new business relationships

Interaction in business relationships is a significant means of resource development. Studies of these processes have focused on interactive development in long-term relationships between buyer and supplier. This study explores the characteristics of joint resource development in new business relationships, where the two parties have no previous experience of interacting with each other. The study is based on the industrial network model and contains two cases of interactive development of new products with entirely different features. This research shows that joint development in a new relationship is strongly dependent on the resources of other business partners, since no previous adaptations exist between the two focal actors. Access to these resources is achieved through the established business relationships of the two parties. Furthermore, previous interactions with other business partners have a significant impact on the outcome of interactive development in a new business relationship. The main reason for these conditions is that the features of the resources of the two parties have evolved during these interactions.     

The character of bridgehead relationships

A supplier's development of a foreign market can be better understood when examined in the context of bridgehead business relationships between a supplier and a foreign customer. In addition to intrarelationship factors, the network of business relationships connected with a supplier and its foreign customer is also important in understanding the supplier's bridgehead relationships. The results from a LISREL analysis of 142 international business relationships show that the supplier's bridgehead relationships are conditioned by the personal relations with the foreign customer. The supplier's bridgehead relationships are also dependent on mutual commercial dependence between the supplier and the foreign customer. The results show that the supplier views the foreign customer as a conduit for foreign market development and will commit itself to the business relationship for this reason. A further finding is that the network of business relations connected with a supplier and its foreign customer constitutes an important setting for the supplier's bridgehead relationships.     

New Business Development and Industrial Marketing to Estonia-A Network Approach

Industrial co-operation and business-to-business marketing relationships form the core of economic activities that exist today between the Nordic countries and the newly independent Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. The paper focuses on Finnish firms' business development in Estonian industrial markets. Through case studies the process of market penetration and market presence is empirically studied and analyzed from the Finnish counterparts' perspective. Theoretically and empirically the paper adopts a network view of business-to-business markets and marketing and in the analysis of the development of business relationships in this new market.