Bidirectional Information Transfer: An Imperative for Network and Marketing Integration in a Canadian Telecommunications Firm

Market intelligence helps ensure that R&D efforts are focused on customer needs. In turn, R&D supplies the information necessary for gaining competitive advantage through advances in product and process technology. However, improved R&D–marketing integration means more than simply involving additional marketing personnel in product development. We must focus on identifying and achieving the desired level of integration. Jozée Lapierre and Brigitte Hénault present the results of a study examining the R&D–marketing interface in a large Canadian telecommunications company. Their study explores managers' perceptions of interfunctional integration during the planning and implementation of new services. The goal of this study is to identify the critical integration areas and managers' satisfaction with the organization's current level of integration. Network (i.e., technical) and marketing managers differ substantially in their perceptions of the required level of integration. However, they agree on the five most important areas of interfunctional integration: marketing involvement in establishing service development schedules; information transfer from marketing to network on competitors' moves; information transfer from marketing to network on customer requirements for new services; information transfer from network to marketing on network availability for providing evolved services; and information transfer from network to marketing on network restrictions affecting performance, after-sales servicing levels, and service pricing. In other words, network and marketing managers view information transfer between their groups as requiring the highest integration level. Both groups agree that their budgeting activities do not require as much integration as other activities. Managers from both groups are generally dissatisfied with the current level of interfunctional integration. Marketing managers are far more dissatisfied than network managers in most areas of integration explored in this study. However, network managers are more dissatisfied than their marketing colleagues in all areas involving the transfer of information from marketing to network.     

Business models: Impact on business markets and opportunities for marketing research

Business models have evolved in the context of new venture creation. By offering an entrepreneurial perspective to established marketing elements such as value propositions, value capturing and value networks, business models provide marketing discipline with both challenges and opportunities to engage with entrepreneurial environments. In particular, business models call for approaches that elucidate value-in-use of marketing offerings, reveal the performance of contracts in orchestrating value networks and identify the performance of network configurations. In this article we present some implications of and opportunities for business models for marketing research.     

社会网络分析在市场营销学中的应用

作为一种日益成熟的研究范式,社会网络分析已经引起了多个学科的关注和应用,也为市场营销学提供了崭新的思想、方法和借鉴工具。文章首先阐述了社会网络分析的基本思路,在此基础上比较了社会网络分析的两种具体研究方法——自我中心网分析和整体网分析。讨论了社会网络分析在市场营销学的应用,重点指出了社会网络分析在发掘意见领袖和重估顾客价值方面的独特作用。对社会网络分析在市场营销学中的应用进行了简要评述,并指出了其局限性。     

浅析我国奢侈品网络营销现状及对策

近年来,中国的奢侈品网络消费市场呈现迅猛的发展势头,奢侈品营销也随之悄悄改变,网络营销已成为新的营销方式。本论文首先阐述了我国奢侈品网络营销的现状,并对奢侈品网络营销的优势及所存在的问题进行了分析,最后提出奢侈品网络推广方式需整合和创新,来达到更好的网络推广效果。另外,针对奢侈品网络销售的提升和服务的改善,品牌商需结合消费群体的差异性,针对不同的消费群体制定不同策略。     

Networks of mind and networks of organizations: The map metaphor in business network research

This paper examines the definitions and uses of the network picture metaphor in industrial marketing research. Conceptually, the paper extends our understanding of networks and of representations of networks among researchers and practitioners as pictures or maps. A threefold interpretation is proposed of network pictures as representationalist, mentalist and situated. The representationalist use has dominated business-to-business network research while the mentalist use is prominent in strategic management and has recently made an entrance into industrial marketing research. The representationalist version of pictures, despite its apparent innocence, can either imply or leave unexamined the mentalist version, but mentalism stands in contradiction to much network thinking. This paper seeks to resolve the emerging contradiction of representationalist and mentalist versions of network pictures by advocating a situated version. Seeing network pictures as situated in use is helpful in grasping cognitions and actions in a manner consistent with networks. The paper concludes by developing the situated version of network pictures as ‘actants’ and sketches the benefits and implications for business researchers and practitioners.     

Towards a typology of collusive industrial networks: Dark and shadow networks

The prevailing understanding of collusive B2B networks is primarily based on the theories of industrial economists and organizational criminologists. ‘Successful’ collusive industrial networks (such as price-fixing cartels) have been seen to endure due to formal managerial structures of coordination and control. In this paper, we seek to transcend and challenge the understanding of these illegal forms of co-opetition by drawing on evidence from an in-depth examination of four price-fixing cartels that were facilitated chiefly by marketers. Our contribution introduces the notion of ‘shadow networks’ (networks where although attempts are made to ensure secrecy, multilateral modes of network structure dominate akin to ‘normal’ managerial endeavours such as joint ventures) and ‘dark networks’ (networks which appear more opaque and secretive through the adoption of bilateral modes of network structure and limited bureaucracy) to illustrate the types of collusive network forms that may exist. In addition, this allows us to build a deeper understanding of collusive network forms and related inter-firm interaction for an industrial marketing audience. We provide implications for marketing practice, theory, and policy. Specifically, we outline how organizations and the marketing function can perform self-administered antitrust audits in order to help avoid breaches of antitrust. Further, we consider the importance of the two forms of collusive inter-firm networks uncovered where marketers have attempted to render these secret from antitrust agencies, introducing a relatively new line of inquiry to the industrial marketing literature.     

网络时代下的奢侈品营销分析

随着网络时代的科技冲击,越来越多的奢侈品品牌不甘于传统的消费方式,开始进入网络市场。如何顺应潮流,在网络时代的奢侈品营销中胜出,获得消费者的青睐,成为各大奢侈品商家费心解决的问题。结合奢侈品营销分析其网络营销的特点,找出网络营销的利与弊,从而为奢侈品网络营销提供借鉴。     

Managing innovation networks: Exploratory evidence from ICT, biotechnology and nanotechnology networks

This study examines the management of innovation networks which has enjoyed increased recognition in the marketing literature due to its growing prominence and relevance. By testing a causal model relating network factors to outcomes, the study contributes to theory development on managing innovation at the net level of analysis. Consequently, it contributes to the respective marketing literatures on new product development, open innovation, industrial marketing and its emerging network management sub-stream. It also offers a methodological contribution as respondents include key players from businesses, government agencies, research organizations and universities rather than from only one focal organization as studies in extant literature have predominantly done. Findings are based on 219 responses from Australian high technology networks, namely, information and communications technology and biotechnology/nanotechnology. The study offers valuable implications for marketing managers involved in new product development and innovation concerning strategies for managing their inter-organizational innovation initiatives effectively.     

Actor network pictures and networking activities in business networks: An experimental study

In recent years, there has been increasing interest among business-to-business marketing scholars in the processes of managerial cognition. In particular, actors' network pictures, defined as the cognitive representations of managers' business surroundings have attracted much attention. However, there has so far been no empirical research on the impact that network pictures have on managerial behavior. The purpose of this paper is therefore to understand if and how specific pertinent network picture characteristics — namely power, dynamics, broadness, and indirectness — are associated with different behavioral choices, i.e. networking strategies. Based on an experiment with 445 Executive MBA students, all international managers across different industries, we find that managers' choices when managing business relationships, their strategic actions, are affected by the way they perceive their surrounding business network. However, amongst the different theoretical models of networking activities tested, only the power dimension showed significant associations with all four network picture characteristics. This study represents the first to empirically study the connection between cognition and behavior in business-to-business markets, as well as one of the few to apply an experimental design to study a business-to-business marketing related phenomenon. Also, it paves the way for future understanding of the association between network picture characteristics and networking strategies in interaction between actors.     

非物质社会下服装网络营销新模式研究

服装网络营销的发展归根到底是"科技"进步的结果。人们在享受网络营销带来的快捷和便利的同时,生活方式也发生了改变。非物质社会正在逐步形成。而网络营销不仅对于服装业的发展起了巨大的作用,而且对推动整个第二甚至第三产业的发展都产生了巨大的影响。     

An activities-based approach to network management: An explorative study

Over the last few decades, the industrial marketing literature and the business network literature have promoted a holistic approach to marketing and provided a framework for understanding interorganizational networks. However, our understanding of how interorganizational networks govern themselves when developing innovations is still limited. Most network management literature does not focus on the activities employed by network actors and/or does not recognize that there may be different modes of network management. This study explores how, why and in which combination network management activities are employed in a network and in doing so proposes a new conceptualization of network management. Using primary and secondary data pertaining to eleven innovation projects, this study reveals how network management consists of combinations of (rather than individual) management activities undertaken to manage a network. This study identifies three distinct modes of network management: basically coordinated, control-oriented and reward-oriented. Moreover, this study proposes that network actors try to match the management mode to their prevailing mental model as well as the type of network (e.g. in terms of project innovativeness).     

Marketing solutions in accordance with the S-D logic: Co-creating value with customer network actors

In the last ten years industrial companies have gone from offering products to offering products/services and then to offering solutions. At the same time, the theory of marketing has also evolved to provide, under the heading of S-D logic, an enlarged conceptual framework. In this article we apply the conceptual framework of S-D logic to the marketing of solutions. Based on two case studies, we highlight the limits to current offering strategies in terms of co-creation and involving customer network actors. We suggest an approach to co-create value in customer networks based on a switch from customer value proposition to customer network value proposition.     

论“共主体”营销话语的建构与践行——关于现代营销近视症的矫治研究

本文针对当前营销理论和实践存在的"外形化"问题,梳理了莱维特提出营销近视症后的营销理论发展进路,得出该近视症并没有得到根治而且有新变异的论断和具有主体中心论特征与弊端的现代营销近视症;认为要根治该近视症,首先应克服"现代营销者研究现代营销"以及由此产生的"营销研究的近视症"局限,以营销研究者的身份、在跨学科和方法论高度与层面去寻求突破性思路和方法。基于这种认识,本文萃取和应用"后现代性"、"主体间性"与"网络嵌入性"等多学科话语作为矫治这种营销近视症的创新方法,重构了具有"消解对立、善待他者、与他者网络化互嵌共生"意蕴的共主体营销新话语,并论述了践行这种营销新话语的方式、机理和愿景。     

Leveraging stakeholder networks with outside-in marketing

The theory of Outside-in marketing (OIM) emphasizes the importance of internal and external partners of a firm to drive strategies for value creation. OIM is based on four key tenets: market sensing and responses, segmentation and targeting, innovation, and employee's learning effort. With this commentary, we apply the theory of OIM to network analysis. By doing so, we identify key stakeholder networks as part of a firm's business ecosystem and discuss the value that can be extracted from different stakeholder networks. Most prior network research in marketing has mainly used customer or employee network data while neglecting other important stakeholder groups. We provide information about how network analysis of stakeholder data can fill gaps in the marketing literature and provide firms with essential knowledge, economic value, and influence over external partners, and improve the value generation process. We first describe each tenet and give examples of stakeholder networks that can be investigated within the realm of the tenet definitions. We then discuss different challenges that social network research can pose, and end with future research questions that can be explored for empirical research studies.     

全网营销我先行

全网营销开始变得有些复杂。以前,敢于吃螃蟹的品牌企业一般都是采用"淘宝开店+淘宝外分销"的路线,两者泾渭分明,梳理起来也容易。但如今,包括京东、当当、苏宁易购、亚马逊、库巴以及重组后的腾讯电商等独立B2C开始做大,人人都在谈开放平台,卯足了劲大举招商,大有群英战淘宝的势头。     

用户感知评估体系的设计与实现

传统的网络性能评估手段无法做到对于用户感知的准确评估,需要采用新的手段,准确地评估手机用户对于网络质量的感知情况,在此基础上进行综合分析,为市场营销提供支撑。"用户感知评估体系"软件是基于GSM网络中A接口信令采集数据,以信令关联技术和数据挖掘的分析方法为基础,设计并实现提升用户感知性能的评估软件。通过用户感知评估体系的设计与实现,从全新的视角分析手机用户和移动市场,从而为移动市场营销及业务推广提供全面支撑,以及针对重点客户群进行感知网络性能的网络优化。     

奢侈品品牌的线上线下营销对比分析

随着中国经济的快速发展,奢侈品对中国消费者来说已不再陌生。互联网的应用给人们消费方式带来了巨大改变。奢侈品行业也逐渐摒弃了固有偏见,开始利用网络这一新兴手段开展营销活动。本文通过对奢侈品线上线下营销策略现状进行分析,并从价格、产品、营销方式、销售渠道等四方面进行对比分析,总结奢侈品在销售过程中应该以线下营销为主线上营销为辅的营销策略,对奢侈品营销的实践具有重要的指导意义。     

基于B2C平台上网络女装品牌营销发展现状分析

本文以B2C电子商务为平台,结合现阶段中国服装行业B2C电子商务发展现状,分析网络女装品牌网络营销中面临的问题,并对未来B2C平台上网络女装品牌的发展提出一些建议,希望能给服装企业作参考。     

The ‘visible hand’ behind cooperation in franchising: A model of franchisor practices that influence cooperation within social networks

Although scholars recognise that social networks within marketing channels can enhance cooperation (the implementation of joint goals), research provides a deficient understanding of how suppliers can efficiently manage them. Our study investigates the ‘visible hand’ behind franchising cooperation by asking: How do franchisors build cooperation within franchise systems? Using multiple case study research on retail franchises recognised for high-quality cooperation, our study builds a model of how franchisor practices maintain and increase cohesive ties that foster cooperation within the franchising community; a type of social network nested within the franchise system. This model is underpinned by social capital theory, self-categorisation theory, and the constructs relational norms and behaviour from research on marketing channels. Our study provides insight into the key organisational, social network, and individual agency drivers of cooperation within branding marketing channels. This provides an understanding of: 1) how centralised organisational practices interact with individual agency to maintain efficient cooperation, and 2) heterarchical processes to improve cooperation efficiency.     

Pharmaceutical marketing through the customer portfolio: Institutional influence and adaptation

This paper discusses the dilemma of managing marketing in institutionalized business contexts. On the basis of a study of pharmaceutical marketing practices it is argued that business aspirations are dependent on understanding institutional influence and adaptation mechanisms on the customer-portfolio level. As relationships are perceived as such mechanisms, understanding network dynamics, institutional co-evolution and actor cognitions are key managerial issues. Furthermore, it is suggested that institutional discontinuities leverage institutional entrepreneurship to a critical extent.