Customer relationship management in competitive environments: The positive implications of a short-term focus

Researchers and business thought leaders have emphasized that firms must think and act with a long-term horizon when managing customer relationships. We demonstrate that, in contrast to this widely held view, profits in competitive environments may be maximized when firms ignore the future and instead maximize period-by-period profits from customers. Intuitively, while a long-term focus yields more loyal customers, it greatly increases short-term price competition to gain and keep customers. Consequently, overall firm profits and customer lifetime value may be lower when firms directly maximize multi-period profits from customers. Specifically, we analyze a model with segment-level pricing where firms in a duopoly can choose between period-by-period and multi-period profit maximization and demonstrate that, in many cases, a symmetric focus on period-by-period profit maximization emerges as the Pareto-dominant Nash equilibrium. We extend the model in two directions. First, we demonstrate that this superiority of the short-term focus endures even when a revenue expansion effect applies—that is, when customer loyalty leads to enhanced revenues. Second, we examine the case where customers are strategic and incorporate the long-term implications of their choices into their decision-making. Here we demonstrate that it may pay for firms to be myopic even when customers are strategic. The focus on multi-period surplus makes customers less price sensitive to price variations at the early stage of the game. Consequently, the focus on maximizing period-by-period profits enables the firms to charge higher upfront prices and leverage this lower price sensitivity into higher profits. Overall, our results highlight the paradox that, when it comes to managing customer relationships in competitive environments, a short-term focus may constitute the optimal long-term strategy.

The Hunt–Vitell General Theoryof Marketing Ethics: Can it Enhance our Understanding of Principal-Agent Relationships in Channels of Distribution?

This paper advances the Hunt–Vitell General Theory of Marketing Ethics as a framework for enriching current understanding of both long-term marketing relationships in general, and principal-agent associations specifically. Under economic models of agency theory, manufacturer-distributor relationships are conceptualized as principal-agent associations where both parties are assumed be motivated exclusively by short-term financial self-interest within the logical constraints of zero-sum game conditions. As a general model of ethical decision making and behavior in marketing, the Hunt–Vitell theory illustrates how ethical decisions are predicated not only upon estimations of potential benefits or outcomes (using teleological criteria), but also deontological evaluations which invoke norms and values. Furthermore, the recent ideas advanced in "relationship marketing" perspectives suggest that distribution channel associations premised upon non-zero-sum or symbiotic assumptions may be more effective and more jointly profitable. Based upon the Hunt–Vitell model, propositions are formulated that complement the understanding of agency theory within the context of marketing channel relationships, and thus, may represent a basis for more effective agency selection and interaction in marketing practice.     

Case Study of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the On-Line Affluent Financial Services Market

ABSTRACT

In the current period of constrained economic conditions, this study initiates an analysis of customer relationship management (CRM) on the Web sites of financial service businesses. Customer relationship management is a critical differential that enables competitive edge for businesses focused on the affluent customer market. Though investment in marketing, sales and service innovation is limited under existing conditions, the analysis of the study on large financial businesses indicates that the businesses enable higher commerce, content and context, but lower and generally inadequate communication, community, connection and customization design on their Web sites. The analysis, conducted as an assignment by adult graduate students in an information systems course, contributes important insight into the competitive dynamics of customer relationship management for Web empowered financial service businesses striving to service the demanding affluent market. This study furnishes an expanded framework to research customer relationship management of financial service businesses competing in the paradigm of the Web.     

基于企业不同发展阶段的关系营销模式探讨

随着市场经济的发展,关系营销模式正在企业的广泛应用中得到不断发展。关系营销的核心在于保持顾客,为顾客提供高度满意的产品和服务价值,从而建立以客户关系为导向的利润模式,结合企业发展的三个阶段探讨以客户关系为利润导向的发展模式。     

Multimarket Contact and the Use of Power in Buyer–Supplier Relationships

Buyers and suppliers often have multiple business relationships with each other across different geographical and product markets, forming a potentially complex web of connections. What happens between the firms in one geographical or product market may influence their interactions in others. Prior research in strategic management has found that similar multimarket contact in horizontal relationships between competitors has important consequences for the firms’ use of market power. However, the consequences of multimarket contact in vertical buyer–supplier relationships remain unexplored. Building on resource‐advantage theory, this study proposes that multimarket contact between buyers and suppliers is linked to their respective propensity to use three types of mediated power in their relationships (i.e., reward, coercion, and legal legitimate) and that the effects of multimarket contact differ between buyers and suppliers. A vignette study with 143 purchasing managers and 137 business‐to‐business sales managers tests the developed hypotheses. The findings show that a higher level of multimarket contact encourages suppliers to use legal legitimate power to a greater extent and encourages buyers to use reward power to a greater extent but legal legitimate power to a lesser extent.     

Pricing,greening, and transparency decisions considering the impact of government subsidies and CSR behavior in supply chain decisions

In this paper, we analytically model different government subsidy strategies in a supply chain manufacturing and selling a green product. We model the interaction between greening degree and transparency level set by a manufacturer and its impact on not only the supply chain, but also consumers and the government. The supply chain is composed of a manufacturer and a retailer. The manufacturer can choose two different strategies. First, he only cares about his production profit; and second, he concerns with CSR in addition to his production profit. We develop a new transparency-based index of consumer satisfaction to model how the market reacts to manufacturer CSR decisions. The government decide three different subsidy strategies. A three-stage Stackelberg game model is developed and solved to analytically derive managerial insights. As a result, if the transparency cost coefficient is sufficiently high, the greening degree and transparency level in CSR concerns strategy are higher than when the manufacturer is not concerned with corporate social responsibility. In addition, when the transparency cost coefficient is sufficiently high, the profit of supply chain members and government are equal in both strategies. We give a real-world example of Iranian brick industry.     

Customer Relationship Management in Electronic Markets

Abstract

Customer relationship management, or CRM, has found increased attention in both the academic and managerial worlds of marketing in recent years. While the Internet has greatly enabled the application of CRM in fostering loyal customers, the preliminary results on the effectiveness and efficiency of technology-based CRM has been far from discouraging. The authors identify various contentious issues behind the various key concepts of relationship management and identify several areas that deserve closer academic scrutiny and managerial inspection. The paper also comments on the extent to which Internet technology can bring about closer relationships with a firm's customers.     

Emergent Internet Technology Applications for Relationship Marketing

Abstract

In this paper we bring together the concepts of Relationship Marketing (RM) in the marketing literature and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in Information Systems (IS) literature to identify and assess emergent Internet-based Information Technologies (IT) that add value for consumers. We focus on the customer's perspective by identifying the key benefits consumers seek when they enter into IT-mediated interactions with sellers. We review the IS-CRM literature and identify 8 critical IT categories that have the potential for changing how buyers and sellers establish and maintain relationships in the Internet era. Subsequently, we introduce a conceptual model, which considers the nature of the consumer's involvement with sellers through emergent Internet-based technologies in juxtaposition to potential technology-based benefits to consumers. We then discuss the implications of this proposed direction. Finally, we discuss a future research agenda, which considers the use of IT in relationship management.     

我国管理层收购(MBO)中的问题与对策研究——一个博弈论的解释

管理层收购作为国资管理体制改革的一种重要方式以及企业比较热衷的股权运作技术 ,在近年来的实践操作中有许多不规范之处。结合行为选择理论及MBO固有特性 ,通过构建博弈模型 ,从博弈论的角度探讨了我国企业管理层收购过程中资方与收购方之间的关系 ,指出了其中存在的问题 ,并提出了相应的对策及建议     

商业批发企业如何建设实用高效的管理信息系统

EMIS是商业企业谋求21世纪商业竞争优势的一种先进管理手段,商业批发企业在建设企业管理信息系统时应从确定开发目标、设计原则入手,合理设计企业管理信息系统的组成和内容,一些案例说明,建设一个成功的企业管理信息系统,可以为企业带来较好的效益,以适应日趋激烈的市场竞争。     

Divergent and Convergent Idea Generation in Teams: A Comparison of Computer-Mediated and Face-to-Face Communication

Many tasks and decisions in business, including management consulting, are performed in group settings. Computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools (e.g., Lotus Notes) are increasingly being used by businesses to support teams in a variety of settings. Considerable research in information systems has demonstrated the advantages of electronic brainstorming (EBS) for generic tasks involving only divergent thinking. However, it is unclear whether the benefits of CMC extend to tasks that require both divergent and convergent processes. Per task–technology fit theory (TTF) (Zigurs and Buckland 1998), the use of computer-based group communication support tools, including chat systems in wide-spread use today, may be less effective for convergent processes than for divergent processes. This study experimentally compares the performance of computer-mediated and face-to-face (FTF) teams on tasks requiring both divergent and convergent processes. Consistent with theoretical predictions, the results revealed that computer-mediated teams outperformed FTF teams in the divergent aspects of the tasks, while FTF teams outperformed computer-mediated teams in the convergent aspects of the tasks.     

一种OFDM系统信道密钥生成方法

提出了一种在正交频分复用(OFDM)系统中提取信道频率响应(CFR)表征信道特征,经过探测、量化、协商、一致性确认以及隐私放大生成信道密钥的方法。首先,利用OFDM系统多载波的优势,在各个子信道提取信道特征,并进行量化;然后,采用滑窗密钥生成机制以及分段校验,通过一次位置信息交互,高效地完成协商,生成初始信道密钥;最后,利用隐私放大函数生成信道密钥。所提方法通过滑窗生成大量密钥比特,以一轮协商代替多轮协商;只限定初始密钥最大长度,使得初始密钥在长度及信息两个维度保持随机化。     

Examining the Impact of Customer Relationship Management on Deconstructed Measures of Firm Performance

The aggregate measures frequently used to evaluate customer relationship management (CRM) performance may mask the true impact of CRM activities and make it difficult to tease out which activities might be helping (or hurting) the relationship capabilities of the firm. We posit that examining the impact of CRM on individual firm performance indicators provides better diagnostic value for managers. To test our hypothesis, we examine the impact of 6 CRM activities on 4 dimensions of firm performance and compare the results with the impact of the same activities on a composite score of the 4 dimensions. As expected, the pattern of regression coefficients is different between the equation with composite performance as the dependent variable and each of the remaining 4 equations. Managerially speaking, our results provide direction for marketing and customer managers in decision making related to prioritizing CRM activities. Theoretically speaking, they imply that researchers should consider examining the impact of CRM on individual performance dimensions as well.     

Information asymmetry, pricing strategy and firm's performance in the retailer- multi-channel manufacturer supply chain

In this research paper, we assume a retailer-multi-channel manufacturer (with online and traditional retail channels) supply chain where both the multi-channel manufacturer and the retailer have private information about the state of consumer demand. In this setting, we examine the effect of an information sharing strategy on both firms' performance. Our results show that the multi-channel manufacturer always benefits from an information sharing strategy. When the product is highly compatible with the online channel, information sharing becomes much more valuable to the multi-channel manufacturer. On the other hand, the retailer's performance is not impacted by an information sharing strategy. Thus, a bargaining model is utilized to implement profit sharing for the multi-channel manufacturer and retailer so that an information sharing equilibrium can be reached. Based on our results, we derive optimal market strategies and identify probable paths of future research.     

In the eye of the beholder: Communicating CSR through color in packaging design

Consumers have become much more attentive and demanding about corporate social responsibility (CSR), and companies are now gradually becoming aware that receiving consumer favor could depend on conducting business in a sustainable manner. Moreover, in order to gain returns from their CSR investments, such as company reputation, customer loyalty and customer–company identification, firms must also provide effective communication of their CSR efforts to the consumers. This study explores the potential of packaging color for conveying CSR to consumers, focusing in particular on consumer packaged goods. For this purpose, a quantitative study was conducted on a representative sample of consumers (n = 2000) in the form of a structured questionnaire, administered using face-to-face interviews. Three different stimuli were created through fictitious images of a non-existent brand product. Only the color of the packaging varied, while all the other graphic elements were left unchanged. The results show that, despite the prevailing association of green with the concepts of sustainability and CSR, it is not the most suitable color to clearly and credibly convey a CSR message to consumers. Thus, it is important to examine whether different colors could serve better to improve the clarity and credibility of CSR claims.     

Reducing Disconnects in the Design Agency-Client Relationship

Abstract

Account turnover for smaller agencies, whether an advertising, marketing research or design agency, is a serious financial drain that absorbs disproportionate CRM and managerial energies. Using a web-based survey developed from in-depth interviews, this empirical study investigates the extent to which smaller graphic design agencies follow the classical decision-making “process” when producing a creative product (an advertisement; a new package design, etc.). The global hypothesis is that the greater the degree of adherence to the steps in the management of the ideal relationship management “process” the greater the perceived satisfaction will be with their clients. Results of the analysis partially support the hypothesis and provide valuable directions for future studies.     

The Categories,Rules, and Demonstrations of Guanxi in Chinese Society

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Guanxi is one of the most important success factors in China. Because of differences in Eastern and Western relationships, it is essential to investigate the system of guanxi in China. Based on the differential mode of association (chaxugeju), the present study aims to construct a framework for the mechanism of guanxi in Chinese society.

Methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey of middle and senior managers was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. A sample consisting of 212 middle or senior managers who worked in China and had direct interactions with business partners was used. The participants were mainly from firms in the pharmaceutical technology, telecommunication, and retailing industries.

Findings: Guanxi categories, guanxi rules, and guanxi demonstrations were found to be correspondingly related. Business partners who had family guanxi applied the rule of need and presented intimacy interactions, whereas partners who had acquaintance guanxi often followed the rule of favor and demonstrated higher levels of reciprocity. These two corresponding paths positively influenced the strength of guanxi: The partners were more willing to sacrifice self-interest for and provide high priority in resource allocation to each other. Business partners who had stranger guanxi used the rule of equity and built trust relationships, which had negative impacts on the strength of guanxi.

Practical implications: Because guanxi affects the performance of companies in China, maintaining guanxi networks with business partners is an important but challenging task for managers, especially for those from non-eastern cultures. The current study suggests that it is essential for managers to identify different types of guanxi (family, acquaintance, or stranger) by differential intimacy and distance, and to apply different rules when interacting with partners with different guanxi. To be specific, managers should follow the rule of need with business partners who have family guanxi, and their guanxi should be demonstrated as intimacy interaction. When doing business with acquaintances and friends, managers should mainly follow the rule of favor, and their guanxi should be demonstrated as reciprocity interaction. When doing business with strangers, managers should follow the rule of equity and emphasize trust. This correspondence also has an influence on how managers make decisions according to the strength of guanxi with different partners based on the guanxi type. In short, guanxi affects the degree of willingness to sacrifice self-interest for, and to prioritize resource allocations to, business partners.     

Aligning corporate transfer intentions and subsidiary HRM practice implementation in multinational corporations

We study HRM practice implementation in subsidiaries of multinational corporations (MNCs) and diverge from extant research by focusing on alignment, which we conceptualize as the degree to which subsidiary implementation of HRM practices corresponds with the subsidiary-specific transfer intentions of corporate headquarters. In explaining alignment we examine different aspects of the headquarters–subsidiary relationship, namely, the extent of formal control, interpersonal relationships and subsidiary strategic HRM capabilities. Based on a sample of 105 subsidiaries from 12 Nordic MNCs, the results highlight the importance of expatriates, trust and the strategic HRM capabilities of the subsidiary HR function. We conduct post hoc analyses to shed further light on (i) the relationship between our independent variables and the two separate components of alignment – corporate intentions and subsidiary implementation, and (ii) two different types of misalignment – excessive and insufficient.     

Building With Bricks and Mortar: The Revenue Impact of Opening Physical Stores in a Multichannel Environment

A crucial decision firms face today is which channels they should make available to customers for transactions. We assess the revenue impact of adding bricks-and-mortar stores to a firm's already existing repertoire of catalog and Internet channels. We decompose the revenue impact into customer acquisition, frequency of orders, returns, and exchanges, and size of orders, returns, and exchanges. We use a multivariate baseline method to assess the impact of adding the physical store channel on these revenue components. As hypothesized, store introduction cannibalizes catalog sales and has much less impact on Internet sales. Also as hypothesized, returns and exchanges increase. Interestingly, transaction sizes of purchases, returns, and exchanges do not change. The “availability effect” produces a net increase in purchase frequency across channels. This more than compensates for increased returns, producing a net increase in revenues of 20% by adding the store channel. Our findings yield a deeper understanding of the revenue relation between channels, and of the dynamic cross-channel effects of marketing actions.     

CRM中主动利用信息不对称性的客户服务模式研究

应用四种客户服务模式,阐述了客户服务涉及的相关主体、各主体间的信息流以及信息的不对称性,参考前人的相关研究成果,综合考虑企业客户服务流程以及客户服务担负的辅助决策功能,建立了包括虚拟客户服务中心、终端客户、中介组织和管理层辅助决策支持四部分的客户服务模式,以降低企业的综合客户服务成本,提高终端客户、内部客户、服务中介组织以及供应商的忠诚度和满意度。