Industrial life cycles and learning curves: Interaction of marketing and production

The price-oriented experience curve has been widely utilized as a model to design marketing strategies. Yet, it is cost over which many firms exercise the most control. This article explores the cost-oriented learning curve in conjunction with the product life cycle model as joint strategy constructs. Implications of variations in the learning curve parameters are examined.     

Industrial marketing firms and knowledge transfer: Toward a basic typology of community structures

Industrial firm boundaries are dynamic, changing with every new alliance or acquisition. As boundaries evolve, managers must develop organizational structures that effectively leverage knowledge. This paper presents and explains the analytical foundation of a typology of community structures, featuring the basic structures of Crew, Séance, and Guru. This typology is applied to three examples of knowledge transfer in industrial marketing. A competence exploitation example examines knowledge transfer between a firm and a subsidiary established primarily for increasing existing product sales in a new market. A competence creation example examines the community structures for utilizing the product and market knowledge of a subsidiary to benefit the firm's new product development decisions. The final example examines the “tech vs. touch” tradeoffs in interpersonal communication and knowledge transfer. The back-to-basics typology of community structures helps stimulate strategic thinking, and facilitates future explorations of knowledge management in industrial marketing.     

Persistent myths about emergency seed aid

Seed interventions are the major agricultural response during emergency and recovery phases of humanitarian relief. They are implemented by diverse agencies, and widely promoted: for instance the FAO alone managed 400 such projects between 2003 and 2005. However, seed aid suffers from a lack of critical attention, perpetuating widespread myths among practitioners, policymakers, and the larger humanitarian community. This paper challenges five predominant myths about seed aid: (1) seed aid is needed whenever food aid is; (2) seed aid can do no harm; (3) disasters wipe out seed systems; (4) effective implementation is a straightforward logistical exercise, and; (5) improved seed is the best form of aid. These myths are juxtaposed with recent empirical work across a range of countries, particularly in Eastern and Southern Africa. The perpetuation of such myths highlights a serious absence of scrutiny of emergency seed aid, and helps explain why such aid is repeated year after year in many sites, with little apparent positive effect. The paper argues that the invisibility of seed aid is a major cause for the lack of oversight and concludes that donors and farmer beneficiaries must become centrally involved in seed aid governance.     

A framework for offshoring marketing processes in business-to-business marketing relationships

Outsourcing has been a prominent aspect of business strategies in the last three decades. Outsourcing of manufacturing processes is now complemented with outsourcing of various marketing process as well. More importantly, outsourcing to foreign locations — offshoring — has increased for marketing processes in recent years. In this context, the present paper develops a model that identifies the types of marketing interactions and processes that can be offshored in business-to-business markets. We suggest that the decision to offshore marketing processes and interactions depend upon the interaction process that is preferred and the importance of interaction process itself. Marketing interactions that are not critically important and/or those that can be performed through technology can be easily offshored. However, other marketing processes need to be examined in depth before being offshored. Implications for research and practice in the area of offshoring, as well as in the broader area of outsourcing, are also highlighted.     

Increasing the role of direct mail marketing in industrial marketing strategy

Direct marketing has long been a dominant factor in the distribution strategy of industrial goods and services. Yet frameworks for strategy formulation in this area are nearly nonexistent in the literature. Much that has been written focuses on successful techniques, such as how to use a specific type of sales letter to improve results. This article outlines a set of key perspectives that industrial marketers may use to evaluate the potential effectiveness of direct marketing strategies.     

Introduction to the IMM special issue on ‘Project marketing and the marketing of solutions’ A comprehensive approach to project marketing and the marketing of solutions

This introduction to the special issue on ‘Project Marketing and the Marketing of Solutions’ starts by highlighting the major contributions made in the field of project marketing during the last decade. Then it points out the emergence of integrated solutions and details the major challenges facing the marketing of solutions. It concludes on the possible synergies between the marketing of solutions and project marketing.     

Alienation of marketing executives

Marketing executives form a distinct group for a study of alienation from the marketing system because of their conflicting roles. They are consumers of goods and services from the system. They contribute to its design and functioning. Based on a sample of 128 marketing executives in Singapore, this study found a strong relationship between alienation from the marketing system and approval of greater government intervention in it. It was also found that alienated executives felt that ethical standards of marketing had declined.Subhash C. Mehta is a Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India. Currently, he is a visiting Senior Teaching Fellow at the School of Management, National University of Singapore. Kau Ah Keng is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Management. National University of Singapore.     

高档丝绸标志:推广才是硬道理

从中国古诗句"遍身绫罗者,不是养蚕人",到中世纪法国贵族以能拥有丝绸品为荣,丝绸始终保持着高贵的身份,正是这种高贵足以让细腻柔软的中国丝绸铺出一条"丝绸之路"来.而中国这个"丝绸之路"的起始国现今却连一个国际知名品牌都没有,国内一些大型丝绸企业也只是为国外做贴牌加工.此时,高档丝绸标志的推出,能够为中国丝绸带来怎样的突破?丝绸产业能否靠这项标志得以升级?从推出到实现效果的关键又在哪里?     

健全市场营销管理体系 加强企业营销队伍建设

市场营销管理，是企业为了实现组织目标，对旨在创造、建立和保持与目标顾客之间有益的交换关系的方案进行分析、计划、实施和控制的过程。现代市场营销的特点，要求企业以顾客为导向，按顾客要求提供产品和服务，在顾客满意的基础上获得利润。搞好市场营销，对于增进企业效益，推动企业改革和快速发展具有特别重要的意义。传统营销的渠道大致有：（１）生产者→顾客；（２）生产者→零售商→顾客；（３）生产者→批发商→零售商→顾客；（４）生产者→代理商→零售商→顾客；（５）生产者→代理商→批发商→零售商→顾客。其主要特点是：中…     

Business marketing in BRIC countries

This paper highlights the increased importance of the BRIC countries (i.e., Brazil, Russia, India, and China) in the world economy. The BRICs are not only among the best economic performers but are responsible of a considerable part of the goods and services consumed globally and intensely trade one another. This means significant business interaction that existing research fails to explain. Hence, this special issue was prepared to encourage publication of empirical research of business marketing that involves one or more BRIC countries. This paper briefly introduces to the eleven research papers included in this special issue.     

Factors influencing the relative importance of marketing strategy creativity and marketing strategy implementation effectiveness

It seems logical that performance is maximized when a business produces a creative marketing strategy and achieves marketing strategy implementation effectiveness. However, cultural tensions and resource competition may make it difficult, or impossible, to achieve both. Contingency theory suggests that market and/or firm level influences may exist that make one or the other more important. Thus, it is important for researchers to investigate those conditions so that we can provide managers with guidance regarding where to allocate their resources. The study reported in this article assesses the impact that environmental conditions and business unit strategy have on the relative importance of marketing strategy creativity and marketing strategy implementation effectiveness. We discuss implications for managers and scholars.     

Social auditing for marketing managers

A general framework is suggested for use by the marketing manager in maximizing efforts to safeguard consumer rights by thoughtfully preparing for his part in the corporate social audit. He can adapt a suggested audit preparation sequence to the needs and resources of his individual company.