Developing marketing capabilities for customer value creation through Marketing-Sales integration

The capacity to create superior customer value stems from the marketing capabilities a company possesses. A considerable body of research has indicated that market oriented companies have distinctive marketing capabilities which lead to superior organizational performance. Although it has been widely recognized that the development of marketing capabilities requires the joint effort of Marketing and Sales departments, almost no attention has been devoted to investigating the integration of these two functions. This study reports on an exploratory effort to use the means-end theory in explaining Marketing-Sales integration. Findings show that Marketing-Sales integration is a multi-faceted construct made up of different components that impact different marketing capabilities and highlight its antecedents and consequences.     

Creating value offerings via operant resource-based capabilities

There is growing recognition that leveraging firm resources appears to be an essential precondition for securing a competitive position in the marketplace and also for creating value for the customer. In moving forward within the new dominant logic as espoused by Vargo and Lusch, with its focus on operant resources, this research empirically examines the role of operant resource-based capabilities as antecedents to a firm's value offering. The findings show that firms seeking to create a superior value offering for customers should invest in and nurture operant resources-based capabilities. The heterogeneity of operant resource-based capabilities helps explain value offering differentials in which firms that emphasize strongly innovation-based capability as a dominant operant resource-based capability appear to create a superior value offering compared to those emphasizing marketing-based capability, while firms that focus strongly on production-based capability create little for the customer in value offering.     

Marketing capabilities and innovation-based strategies for environmental sustainability: An exploratory investigation of B2B firms

While emerging literature on sustainability shows that environmentally responsible strategies can contribute to competitive advantage and enhanced financial performance, little is known about specific marketing capabilities that lead to sustainable consumption behavior, and whether implementing such strategies leads to firm competitive advantage. Using the case method approach, this study explores marketing-related strategies and practices pertaining to sustainable consumption as reported by leading sustainable firms in the B2B context. We examine case studies of forty seven B2B firms and identify key marketing capabilities that tie to innovation-based sustainability strategies, sustainable consumption behavior and firm performance. We use our findings to develop a conceptual framework linking marketing capabilities to innovation strategies for firm sustainability, sustainable consumption behavior and firm competitive advantage, and put forward propositions for future research.     

CEO championing of pricing,pricing capabilities and firm performance in industrial firms

CEOs uniquely shape activities within the firm. Among potential activities, pricing is unique: pricing has a direct and substantial effect on firm performance. In what may be the first quantitative study in industrial marketing polling exclusively CEOs globally we examine to which degree CEO championing of pricing influences pricing capabilities and firm performance. Our sample consists of 358 CEOs of industrial firms. Our results suggest that the level of championing of pricing by the CEO positively influences decision-making rationality, pricing capabilities, and collective mindfulness thereby leading to a significantly higher firm performance. This study also documents a relationship between decision making rationality and pricing capabilities (but not firm performance) thus suggesting that intuition in pricing decisions could drive firm performance.     

Technological capabilities and firm performance: The case of small manufacturing firms in Japan

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between technological capabilities and firm performance. We divide technological capabilities into two types—refinement capability, which involves the improvement of the existing asset portfolio, and reconfiguration capability, which involves the restructuring of the asset portfolio through the integration of new assets. The results of an analysis of a sample of 302 small and medium-sized manufacturing firms in Japan suggest that refinement capability relates more positively to operational efficiency than does reconfiguration capability, and that reconfiguration capability relates more positively to strategic performance than does refinement capability. The results also suggest that firms with superior refinement capability tend to possess superior reconfiguration capability. Our findings show that both external and internal factors, such as technological volatility, inter-firm collaboration, and firm age and size, are significantly associated with the level of refinement and reconfiguration capabilities possessed by a firm.

Supporting product innovativeness and customer value at the bottom of the pyramid through context-specific capabilities and social ties

Local firms operating in bottom of the pyramid (BoP) markets face significant challenges in managing their innovation practices and creating value for customers. Operating in resource-constrained environments, local BoP firms need to behave as bricoleurs, deploy capabilities that help creatively combine and leverage their limited available resources to innovate and create value for customers. Employing the capability-based view (CBV) of the firm and social capital theory (SCT), we develop a research model to explain the extent that local BoP manufacturers use bricolage to develop innovative products that create value for BoP customers. Analysis of data obtained from 150 local BoP manufacturing firms (three managers in each firm) and two of their major customer firms shows that the relationship between bricolage and product innovativeness is more complex than previously understood. Results show that the curvilinear relationship is attenuated differently by social ties with government versus ties with civil society organizations. Furthermore, findings also support the contingency role of BoP firms' marketing capabilities in translating product innovativeness into customer value in BoP markets. These findings present specific implications for scholars and practitioners interested in BoP markets.     

Complementarity versus substitutability of dynamic and operational capabilities in B2B firms: A configurational approach

Despite extensive research into dynamic and operational capabilities, understanding of their interplay is still scant. Both complementary and substitutive roles have been proposed in prior conceptual studies, but only limited systematic empirical investigations into the mutual interdependence of these capabilities have been conducted. Drawing on a sample of 219 Hungarian B2B firms, this study incorporates prior literature on dynamic and operational capabilities and employs a set-theoretical approach to examine whether the capabilities complement or substitute each other in producing high levels of business performance. While evidence for both types of interdependency is provided, the findings generally support the view that dynamic and operational capabilities are complementary rather than substitutive. The two types of capabilities also explain business performance better jointly than in isolation. Several effective capability configurations, associated with high business performance, are identified. The findings paint a detailed picture of the complex interplay between dynamic and operational capabilities, thereby contributing to academic and managerial audiences alike.     

Value co-creation in industrial AI: The interactive role of B2B supplier,customer and technology provider

This research explores the interactive role of supplier, customer and technology company in business-to-business (B2B) marketing when they develop and use industrial artificial intelligence (AI). From a value co-creation perspective and following a service-dominant logic, this study aims to identify essential value types that are created collaboratively by B2B professionals (namely suppliers, customers and AI providers), and critical capabilities that contribute to their value co-creation practices. Nineteen in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with three groups of B2B stakeholders in six companies that involved in an industrial AI development and usage project. The data was then analysed using a thematic analysis approach. The results of this research contain a categorisation of four value types and three sets of capabilities, together with the interrelationships between them. This study contributes to the literature of value co-creation, information system and B2B marketing by bridging these three disciplines within the context of industrial AI development and usage.     

Third-party organization endorsement impacts on perceived value and B2B customer loyalty

This research examines how unobservable product quality and information value can be signaled by third-party organization (TPO) endorsement. Furthermore, it explores how TPO endorsement can, in B2B settings, function as an efficient communication tool as well as branding strategy. This study analyzes the following four components: the relationship between expertise and trustworthiness of TPO endorsement, the influence of TPO endorsement on customer firms' perceived value, how perceived value can impact B2B customer loyalty, and how the relationship between TPO endorsement and perceived value is moderated by the parasocial relationship defined as one-sided but enduring relationship between media personae and B2B customers. Collecting data using a survey, the research team gathered a total of 273 usable responses. To examine the hypothesized relationships among variables, researchers applied structural equation modelling. The results show a positive association between the expertise and trustworthiness of a TPO endorsement, and that these characteristics of TPO endorsement positively affect perceived value. A positive association is also found between perceived value and B2B customer loyalty, while the parasocial relationship does moderate the relationship between TPO endorsement and perceived value.     

Beyond invention: the additive impact of incubation capabilities to firm value

Incubation is a process whereby the firm nurtures breakthrough discoveries and inventions to test their potential as new business platforms. The recent emergence of organizational roles associated with innovation incubation shows that internal incubation is becoming recognized as an important organizational capability. This development also suggests that firms that invest in discovery for competitive advantage recognize a need to leverage that investment more fully. While case studies describe incubation activities and note their importance, empirical research linking this capability to firm performance is limited. The current study represents an initial attempt at exploring the relationship empirically. Our main finding is that financial markets have difficulty valuing a firm's exploratory discovery investments and that the presence of an incubation capability positively moderates the impact of such investments on firm market valuation. The implication of this result is that investments in certain types of R&D may be suboptimized if there is not a parallel investment in a capability to incubate the opportunities that arise from potentially breakthrough inventions.     

Supplier traits for better customer firm innovation performance

Previous research on embedded ties with suppliers in an innovation context has ignored the need for customer firms to assess and select suppliers on the basis of market orientation strategies and relationship marketing attributes. To address this void, this study investigates the effects of suppliers' downstream customer orientation and supplier-customer homophily (i.e., similarity of the supplier and the customer) on the customers' innovation performance. Data pertaining to new product development projects with contributions from supplier firms was collected on both sides of the supplier-customer dyad. The analysis shows that downstream customer orientation and supplier-customer homophily have a significant impact on the customer firms' new product efficiency (i.e., project cost and project speed) and new product effectiveness (i.e., innovativeness), which in turn positively influence new product performance in terms of profitability, market share, and growth.     

How B2B suppliers articulate customer value propositions in the circular economy: Four innovation-driven value creation logics

The transition toward the sustainability-driven circular economy is emerging across global markets. The circular economy refers to a regenerative and restorative economic system that aims to optimize resource usage and reduce waste, and offers potential to innovate novel value creation opportunities in B2B markets. However, how the value creation opportunities in circular economy are captured in supplier firms’ customer value propositions (CVPs) remains underexplored. To address this critical gap, we develop a theoretical framework that illustrates the architecture of CVPs, and use it to conduct an extensive multiple-case study across several industries, offering types, and firm sizes, analyzing 74 documented CVPs in the Finnish circular economy. The results reveal that CVPs in the circular economy embody four alternative value creation logics (resurrect, share, optimize, and replace value) that are built on different forms of innovations, and highlight different design elements. This study advances current marketing theory by illustrating how suppliers articulate CVPs in the circular economy, and highlighting the key differences to prevailing insights from linear economy. For managers, this study offers important insights into designing CVPs that resonate with circular economy–oriented customers and broader stakeholders.     

Navigating the demands of increasing customer participation through firm and individual job resources

Many firms are increasing the amount of customer participation required in B2B sales in efforts to improve firm performance. Unfortunately, little is known regarding how increasing customer participation expectations effects the firm's salespeople. To address this issue, using the job demands-resources model, this study examines how increases in customer participation influence salesperson burnout and salesperson investment in resources, while accounting for the job resources of job autonomy and belief in innate selling ability. The potential moderating effects of competitive intensity are also captured. The findings, based upon a survey of 210 B2B salespeople, indicate that increasing customer participation does not increase salesperson burnout, but increases investments in resources aimed to increase salesperson professional development. Further, greater job autonomy was found to decrease salesperson burnout and increase investment in resources, with the latter being moderated by competitive intensity. Belief in innate selling ability, in contrast, was found to increase burnout and decrease investment in resources by salespeople, with the latter being moderated by competitive intensity. This study highlights the multiple positive and negative effects of increasing customer participation in B2B selling, providing new insights for how firms can set policies to enhance salesperson well-being and effectiveness in a B2B setting.     

Interactive strategy formation: Organizational and entrepreneurial factors related to effective customer information systems practices in B2B firms

Interactive marketing requires that a firm learn about its customers and remember what the customer has said to personalize communications and customize product offerings to those customers. This type of marketing requires that customer information be actively managed because information from and about the customer is the core of marketing decision-making. In-depth interviews with 17 managers in five firms identified specific organizational and entrepreneurial factors pertinent to the strategic management of customer information. The research suggests that interactive marketing require a company that can itself be interactive with its internal and external environment to create strategies that can succeed in a changing environment.One exemplary company was compared to four others to uncover organizational issues and processes leading to effective management of customer information. Using the Resource-Based View and the importance of the effective management of intangible assets as its starting point, this research illuminated the processes involved with collecting and disseminating information and highlighted the firms' struggle with issues of inter-functional conflict. Perhaps most importantly, from a strategy-formation point of view, customer-centric strategies related to customer information management were found to be developed interactively, as a dialogue between middle and upper management, using customer data and competitive trends.     

Towards a framework of customer value assessment in B2B markets: An exploratory study

This paper examines the key processes and activities of customer value assessment in business-to-business (B2B) markets. Given that an increasing number of B2B firms are providing combinations of products and services, or integrated solutions, the present study examines customer value assessment from the solution supplier's perspective. Specifically, based on an exploratory field study and in-depth interviews with 18 managers in three different firms, the present study identifies five key processes (i.e., value potential identification, baseline assessment, performance evaluation, long-term value realization, and systematic data management) and 11 related activities involved in customer value assessment in B2B markets, and integrates them into a managerially grounded framework. The findings from this study contribute to the literature on customer value and solution research, and provide useful insights for managers on how to assess the value delivered by their offerings to customers.     

The effects of an articulated customer value proposition (CVP) on promotional expense,brand investment and firm performance in B2B markets: A text based analysis

Using text-based analysis, we search for evidence of articulated customer value propositions (CVP), in annual reports of US B2B firms, and then demonstrate that B2B firms that explicitly emphasize a CVP invest more in their brands, have higher future sales and sales per customer. We also find that CVP has a negative effect on the size of their customer base, perhaps because firms who care about a CVP appear to attract more long-term, loyal customers. Firms that pay more attention to CVP also tend to spend less on advertising and promotion. Future performance, particularly among small to mid-size firms, is positively affected when these firms emphasize CVP, and this also holds especially in less competitive markets. Our findings are based on a large dataset of around 12,000 firm year observations for a 14-year period from 2004 to 2017.     

Enhancing firm performance through intra-group managerial experience: Evidence from group-affiliated firms in Korea

Asia Pacific Journal of Management - Although business groups often benefit from tangible and intangible resource sharing across member firms, little is known about whether and how sharing...     

Creating value through mutual commitment to business network relationships

A structural model of business relationship development in a business network context is formulated and tested on data from the European International Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) project. The empirical analysis demonstrates a causal chain from business network connection through mutual commitment and mutual dependence to value creation in the relationship. The results show that mutuality in business network relationships is critical in developing interfirm systems of workflow interdependence that promote the creation of value. This also implies that, through their interaction in business network relationships, firms in business markets organize and share an unbounded structure of interdependent activities, enabling them to achieve greater value than would be the case if they did not engage in relationship development. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Marketing-sales interface configurations in B2B firms

As the body of knowledge on marketing-sales interface expands, there is a greater need to investigate the specific aspects of marketing-sales configurations in B2B firms. Using a qualitative methodology and interview data collected from over 100 sales and marketing professionals from the US, The Netherlands and Slovenia, this study presents a dynamic, evolutionary spectrum of four B2B marketing-sales interface configurations. These configurations are described in detail in terms of structure, communication patterns, information sharing, collaboration, and strategic outcomes. The findings show that no configuration is inherently superior. Our dynamic configuration spectrum offers managers a toolkit to evaluate their firm's marketing-sales interface in terms of current and desired positions, and contribute to their firm's market orientation and business performance.     

Marketing capabilities: Antecedents and implications for B2B SME performance

The study provides a new perspective on SME marketing strategies in the B2B context. Using a resource-based view of the firm, the study develops a structural model linking marketing capabilities and marketing performance. A study of 367 SME Australian firms reveals that two key marketing capabilities, namely branding and innovation, have major performance outcomes in the SME B2B context. This is the first SME study to evaluate concurrently the contribution of innovation and branding marketing capabilities, with innovation capability the strongest determinant of SME performance. The study also finds market orientation and management capability act as enabling mechanisms for building marketing capabilities. Disaggregation tests indicate that the same findings apply to three size categories denoting micro firms (less than 20 staff), small firms (20-99 staff) and medium-sized firms (100-499 staff).