Factors that influence the length of industrial channels

This article is concerned with the length of channels utilized to market industrial products. Several marketing scholars have proposed that the appropriate channel structure is a function of conditions associated with the market for the product, the nature of the product itself, and characteristics of the producer and middlemen. By means of a survey of industrial product manufacturers, this study identified six characteristics of middlemen, industrial markets, and industrial customers that appear to be significant influences on the length of channels used to distribute industrial products.     

Realigning industrial marketing channels

Dramatic changes are occurring in industrial patterns of distribution. This article provides a structure for analyzing realignments in industrial marketing channels. Specifically, the analysis centers on the channel efficiency and effectiveness dimensions that were generated by a shift from industrial distributors to a public warehouse.     

企业金融化对工业企业风险承担水平的影响 ——基于中介效应和门限效应分析

本文以2007~2019年中国沪深A股上市工业企业的财务数据为样本,探究企业金融化对工业企业风险承担水平的影响。结果表明:(1)企业金融化的“投机-挤出”效应大于“储蓄-维稳”效应,总体上增加了工业企业风险承担水平,且非国有工业企业金融化对其风险承担水平影响更大;(2)作用机理分析发现企业金融化主要通过资产渠道和收益渠道作用于工业企业风险承担水平,即“工业企业金融化——主营业务投资减少/金融资产收益占比增加——企业风险承担水平上升”;(3)进一步分析后发现企业金融化对工业企业风险承担水平的影响存在基于企业风险承担能力和财务杠杆率的门限效应,企业风险承担能力的门限效应使得工业企业金融化的边际影响依门槛值减弱,且国有工业企业的门槛值要低于非国有工业企业;而财务杠杆率的门限效应使得工业企业金融化的边际影响依门槛值增强。     

Performance implications of distributor effectiveness, trust, and culture in import channels of distribution

Recent research has highlighted the need to examine international channels of distribution from the viewpoint of the industrial distributor, with a focus on how distributors may add value to their channel relationships. The present research responds to such calls and focuses on the value added in terms of the extent of channel functions undertaken by the distributor on behalf of export-manufacturers. Trust is also examined as a source of added value that may be particularly important for cross-cultural relationships. Trust is investigated for its mediating effects on otherwise detrimental effects of cultural value differences. We also examine the presence of explicit legal contracts used to govern channel relationships and find that the use of such contracts may also hinder distributor perceptions of performance.     

Sales channel integration after mergers and acquisitions: A methodological approach for avoiding common pitfalls

This article addresses the integration of sales channels after mergers and acquisitions (M&A) by appraising the strengths, weaknesses, and biases associated with the four most common frameworks for evaluating sales channels (sales management, historical performance, strategic fit, and customer choice) for their appropriateness in a post-M&A context. The authors develop a methodological approach that uses a balanced-scorecard framework to guide managers through the sales channel integration process, and then apply this approach to the merger of two industrial firms' sales organizations across 21 territories. In so doing, they reveal various pitfalls and propose and test some analytical corrections. Longitudinal performance data support comparisons across the different evaluative frameworks; in particular, the sales management and customer choice frameworks provide the most insight into channel partners' post-integration performance. The results support the premise that channel integration can be improved by accounting for factors unique to the M&A context and using an approach that triangulates multiple perspectives.     

国有垄断边界、控制力和绩效关系研究

本文以第二次产业为样本,研究了国有企业战略性重组之后国有控制力与绩效的关系。结果表明重组后,第二产业国有经济部门利润分布并没有发生显著变化,高利润主要来自于垄断性的国有控制部门,而不是综合要素生产率,非垄断性部门受到综合要素生产率和资本的影响,但其利润水平对全部产业贡献率较低,国有控制力与国有企业的利润呈显著正相关,与非国有企业的利润呈微弱正相关,表明高利润更多地来自于行业的行政性壁垒。论文最后从经济、法律和市场等角度讨论了改善产业绩效的途径和方法。     

产业链类型与产业链效率基准

在现代经济中，产业链控制策略已成为市场竞争的重要手段，相应的经济规制也是产业组织理论中的热点论题．但现有理论对于市场绩效及经济规制的研究是建立在单个市场效率基准的基础上的．因而严重削弱了其对经济现实的解释能力和政策指导意义。本文首先根据产品本身特性与技术条件对产业链类型进行划分，进而在此基础上建立起以产业链整体效率为对象的产业链效率评判基准。这将为基于产业链的市场竞争策略以及相应的经济规制的理论研究提供概念性基础。     

Supply chain integration and service oriented transformation: Evidence from Chinese equipment manufacturers

This study builds a conceptual model to describe the relationships among operational integration and strategic integration of supply chain, product-based and customer action-based service provided by industrial manufacturers, and firm performance. Using sample data from Chinese equipment manufacturers, this study finds that operational integration of supply chain has positive direct effect on product-based service, while strategic integration has positive direct effect on customer action-based service. Furthermore, product-based service is the basic transformation strategy for industrial manufacturing companies and it has not only positive direct effect but also indirect effect through customer action-based service on firm performance.     

Exclusive territories and performance dimensions in industrial distribution channels

There are two main approaches to studying vertical restraints in distribution channels: the anti-competitive and the efficiency approach. This article sets out to analyze the effects of exclusive territories agreements on performance levels in the distribution channel by proposing a number of hypotheses based upon these two approaches and by testing them with paired data from a sample of 116 manufacturer-dealer relationships from the Spanish industrial market. Results show that manufacturers and dealers perceive higher role performance levels in their partners in relationships characterized by exclusive territories. In a similar way, both manufacturers and dealers obtain higher levels of business performance in exclusive territories relationships, but we found no support for a direct effect of this vertical restraint on business performance. Instead, this effect is completely mediated by the higher levels of role performance associated with the exclusive territories agreement. Thus, empirical findings suggest that the economic outcomes achieved in ET relationships are due not to the presence of monopoly rents, but rather to the better role performance of the participants.     

Revitalizing weak industrial products

The study reported in this article focuses on the policies and practices of industrial goods companies to revitalize weak products. The decision was found to be a multiple-stage sequential process that begins with “diagnostic” routine to identify the causes of a product's unsatisfactory performance and ends with the implementation of a corrective action that management believes could restore the product's health.     

Marketing research by a small industrial firm: A case study

There is a growing need today for industrial marketers to conduct marketing research and use the results in making profitable business decisions. This paper describes a marketing research study conducted by a small industrial firm and discusses the nature and extent of its impact on the firm's operations. Several implications and practical guidelines are derived for industrial marketers in general, based on the firm's marketing research experience.     

Direct mail response factors for an industrial service

This article addresses the lack of quantitative research on industrial services marketing communications by providing a quantitative study of a direct mail promotion for an industrial service. Prenotification, the structure of the letter, the ethnic background of the signatory, personalization, and prequalifying the respondent were tested as factors influencing the response rate in the direct mail promotion. The results are useful as baseline information for current practitioners and to provide insights for the future development of theories of marketing communications for industrial services.     

A sales mix model for effective industrial selling

The purpose of this article is to focus on one aspect of the marketing mix for industrial firms. Specifically, the control of promotion centers on the promotional mix, which includes personal selling, advertising, and sales promotion. The personal sales mix model (Figure 1) highlights those factors that are controllable by the industrial sales representative. Also, the uncontrollables involved in industrial selling are discussed. An understanding of the personal sales mix model should aid industrial marketers in satisfying buyer's needs through effective selling.     

Buyers differ in evaluating suppliers

This article discusses the industrial buyer's vendor evaluation in light of past vendor performance. A conjoint analysis approach was used to determine the relative importance of factors and the levels of performance. This evaluation indicated that industrial buyers can be classified into classical decision model categories.     

Predicting industrial ad readership

This study examined the effect of visual and psycholinguistic elements (such as picture size and the number of adjectives in the headline) on industrial advertisement readership. Multiple regression techniques were used to analyze the data, which were obtained from AD-CHART. AD-CHART is a research firm which specializes in the measurement of industrial ad readership. The analyses showed that visual and psycholinguistic elements are better predictors of industrial advertising readership than more complicated models.     

我国产业结构调整对外部财富的影响机制研究

为研究我国产业结构调整对外部财富的作用影响及其影响机制,本文从贸易传导渠道及金融传导渠道出发,建立理论模型,分析并阐述了双渠道传导下,产业结构调整影响外部财富的作用机理,同时运用时变参数状态空间模型进一步验证。研究结果表明,我国产业结构调整通过贸易传导渠道对外部财富起正向积累作用,并从金融传导渠道对外部财富进行负向削减,两者存在抵消效应。且我国第二产业产值比及第三、二产业产值比的扩大对外部财富存在区别影响。当下正处于全球产业链重构关键时期,本文期望从调整外部财富角度助力于我国产业结构的优化。     

Product vs. customer focused industrial selling

Successfully introducing sophisticated new product innovation in industrial marketing requires a high degree of customer empathy on the part of the salesforce. This article describes a group-oriented exercise designed to improve the performance of the salesforce by their analyzing a specific new product's relative advantages, compatability, divisibility, complexity, and risk as perceived by its customers. A follow-up survey of the salesforce indicated that, as a result of this exercise, greater effectiveness and efficiency in achieving marketing objectives were realized.     

The Impact of Industrial Design Effectiveness on Corporate Financial Performance*

Despite the growing recognition of industrial design's value in creating sustainable competitive advantage, few studies have attempted to quantify the contribution that design makes to company financial performance. This article examines the relationship between industrial design and company financial performance in order to assess industrial design's contribution to this performance. Effective industrial design was evaluated by asking a panel of 138 industrial design experts to rank the industrial design effectiveness of publicly traded firms within nine selected manufacturing industries; the ranking process yielded 93 firms. Based on the rankings, firms within each industry were divided into two groups: those judged as exhibiting high design effectiveness versus those judged as low in design effectiveness. Audited financial data reported to the SEC across a seven‐year period from 1995 to 2001 were used to evaluate financial performance. Using traditional financial ratios senior managers consider essential performance measures, those firms with high design effectiveness were hypothesized to have higher returns on sales, returns on assets, and growth rates of sales, net income, and cash flow than firms with low design effectiveness. High design effectiveness firms further were hypothesized to have higher stock market returns. These comprehensive, corporate financial measures incorporate expenditures made on industrial design (industrial designers' salaries, design consultants' fees, computer‐aided industrial design equipment) and expenditures that designers influence through their design choices (material costs, manufacturing equipment). This analysis reveals that firms rated as having “good” design were stronger on all measures except growth rate measures. These results provide strong evidence that good industrial design is related to corporate financial performance and stock market performance even after considering expenditures on industrial design. Further, the patterns of financial performance over the seven‐year horizon suggest that these effects are persistent.     

A strategic approach to industrial product pricing: The pricing plan

Price planning is one of the most overlooked areas in industrial marketing. Traditionally, emphasis is placed on product development, advertising strategy, and distribution channel formation before any consideration is given to pricing. The result is that industrial pricing decisions are made quickly without the necessary market and cost factors included in the final decision. The pricing decision is at the core of every business plan and impacts directly on the critical components of a company's marketing strategy. In this article, the importance of price planning in industrial marketing is discussed including the major components needed to make an industrial pricing strategy successful.     

Industrial product innovation: An international comparison

This paper presents and discusses the data obtained from a study of 500 industrial innovations introduced in major industrialized countries from 1953 to 1973. The trends in industrial innovation of both the country of origin and the country of market introduction are examined based on the data presented.