THE IMPACT OF INTERNAL MARKETING EFFORTS IN DISTRIBUTION SERVICE OPERATIONS

Marketing efforts can offer firms a greater competitive advantage by overtly stimulating the impact of frontline logistics employees on customer value creation. In such a situation, internal marketing becomes the strategy of choice in both service and product support contexts. A broad marketing mix framework is introduced shifting the traditional application from marketing products to marketing the workplace to logistics distribution employees. Research findings support a multidimensional operationalization of internal marketing. Holistic tests indicate that internal marketing on an interpersonal level is associated with satisfied and higher performing distribution center employees and increased interdepartmental customer orientation.     

Enhancing frontline employee support during a product-harm crisis: Evidence and strategic managerial implications for firms

Product-harm crises can negatively affect a firm's corporate image, reputation, and credibility. This research investigates antecedents and factors that can impact the extent to which frontline employees will be supportive of their organization when the firm faces such a crisis. Leveraging social exchange theory and its focus on reciprocal exchanges, we theorize and test processes using regression models, which shed light on how managers can solicit employee support during crises situations by providing the frontline employees with ethical and supportive working conditions. To offer convergent validity across multiple methodologies, we also test the influence of experimental effects of the relative severity of a crisis and whether a firm was quick or slow in its response on frontline employee support. Furthermore, our research demonstrates that the firm's strengths in corporate social responsibility, the employees' organizational citizenship behavior, and employee organizational identification serially mediate the supportive relationship, which provides a unique contribution to the marketing literature. Finally, we provide managerial implications to further enhance frontline employee support.     

全渠道模式下农产品供应链整合的理论框架与保障机制

全渠道模式下农产品供应链整合本质上体现为以全渠道营销逆向驱动农产品供应链整合的过程。推进全渠道模式下农产品供应链整合，一方面应结合全渠道模式发展对供应链的影响，并针对全渠道模式下农产品供应链整合的运作特点，从组织层面、资源层面、信息层面对农产品供应链进行深度变革与重构,推动形成以消费需求为核心、以全渠道能力为支撑、以信息技术为手段的农产品全渠道供应链网络和生态系统。另一方面，还必须建立一套以需求分析与反馈 机制、物流配送与追溯机制、信息共享与管理机制、利益协调与分配机制为核心的运营保障机制，以确保农产品供应链整合活动的有效进行。     

The Language Backfire Effect: How Frontline Employees Decrease Customer Satisfaction through Language Use

Extant marketing research holds that customers prefer frontline personnel to speak the customers’ first language. Furthermore, current managerial practices instruct frontline employees to either use the customers’ first language or, in international settings, to use English. Through five studies in different retail and service contexts, we identify situations where the opposite is true. The results of the first two studies suggest that if customers initiate contact in a second language, the frontline employee’s switch to the customer’s first language constitutes an identity threat leading customers to feel less satisfied; an effect we term the language backfire effect. Our third study extends these results to a domestic context to test for the impact of linguistic acculturation on how immigrant customers perceive frontline employees’ language switch. The fourth study replicates the findings in a real-life retail context. These results present a paradox for marketing research: although frontline employees switch to customers’ first language to accommodate them, these actions might not have the desired consequences. Having identified and described the problem of the language backfire effect, our final study introduces and verifies a managerially actionable solution: combining the language switch with a language proficiency compliment offsets the language backfire effect.     

How uncivil customers corrode the relationship between frontline employees and retailers

This study investigates the effects of customers’ uncivil treatments on frontline retail employees’ emotions, deviant behaviors and relationship with the retail organization. Our theoretical model is based on both marketing and personnel management literatures. 415 frontline retailing American employees answered our questionnaire. Employees treated uncivilly by customers feel angry but have to hide their negative emotions, which leads them to emotional exhaustion and deviant behaviors. Paradoxically, employees’ strong commitment to their retailing organization brings about more deviant behaviors. We propose some managerial strategies to cope with uncivil customers, as well as future research on this important and under-researched topic.     

A Simulation Model Of Multi‐Echelon Retail Inventory With Cross‐Channel Product Returns

This study explores the relationship between a retailer's product returns processing structure and Multi‐Echelon inventory system performance under cross‐channel and same‐channel product returns policies with nonstationary demand. Our research contributes to the growing body of reverse logistics literature, offering insight into how a retailer's logistical returns management strategy can impact inventory effectiveness in cross‐channel retail environments. Adopting a contingency framework, we develop research hypotheses which we test through experimentation on a Multi‐Echelon retail inventory system within a discrete‐event simulation. Model parameters are derived from data collected from a large U.S. retailer of consumer durable and nondurable goods. We find an amplifying effect of a cross‐channel returns policy on the positive relationship between a decentralized returns processing structure and inventory effectiveness. Further, through our analysis of nonstationarity in demand and resulting returns, we uncover strong main and interaction effects that seasonal demand variation can have on inventory outcomes, even under only moderate levels of seasonality. Our results highlight the need for firms to align logistical structures for returns processing with the returns policy and the external environment, while also lending credence to calls within the logistics literature for improved modeling of nonstationary demand in inventory management research.     

网上零售影响社会物流发展的定量分析

通过多元线性回归等方法分析,在其他因素不变情况下,发现网上零售交易规模的边际社会物流需求大于零并且呈现递减规律,网上零售市场发展可促进高效率物流对低效率物流的替代作用。     

Driving In-Role and Extra-Role Brand Performance among Retail Frontline Salespeople: Antecedents and the Moderating Role of Customer Orientation

The organizational frontline in retail represents the frontline for an entire supply chain. This channel structure distances the branded supplier from the end consumer and makes the supplier dependent on a retail frontline salesperson that (1) it does not control and (2) also represents competing brands. This study reveals mechanisms that the supplier may use to influence retail frontline salespeople. We demonstrate the importance of consumer marketing programs and supplier representatives in building brand identification between the manufacturer’s brand and the retail frontline employee that translates into increased brand sales, while also revealing the role of rewards programs in stimulating brand-specific extra-role behaviors. Interestingly, retail frontline customer orientation, built by the retailer, diminishes the effect of brand extra-role behaviors toward the focal brand on the focal brand’s sales, providing an informal control mechanism for retailers to protect its objectives. The results of this study have powerful ramifications for both retailers and suppliers in achieving both their mutual, and sometimes differing, objectives related to the retail frontline.     

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO LOGISTICS,MARKETING, PRODUCTION,AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

The renaming of the Council of Logistics Management (CLM) to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) ushered in some interesting definitional dialogue and debate within the practitioner and academic communities. Inherent in emerging definitions is the notion that SCM encompasses activities traditionally considered aspects of production, logistics, marketing, and operations management. Defining SCM in such a broad scope (i.e., a “within” and “across” functions perspective), while considered by many scholars as the true representation of the essence of SCM, creates confusion regarding the appropriate organizational level within a business that is best suited for managerial decision making regarding the phenomenon. This paper contributes to the emerging SCM dialogue by highlighting the functional spaces (the “within” function perspective), relationships, and conceptual overlaps (the “across” functions perspective) between marketing, logistics, production, operations, and supply chain management. By comparing and contrasting the literature‐based conceptual boundaries of each discipline, a framework is proposed that more clearly captures the essence of the SCM decision making sphere. Managerial insights and future research implications are presented.     

Developing a New Theory of Frontline Manufacturer-Retailer Relationships for Consumer Packaged Goods

Purpose: Frontline employees from consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers, and the retailers’ employees who they interact with, play a crucial role in the in-store execution of product promotions and in ensuring that products are available for shoppers. This article investigates the development of interpersonal relationships between these frontline actors at the store-level of analysis and how these relationships influence in-store processes. We consider the theoretical and practical implications of our findings for sales force recruiting and sales management in the CPG retail channel.

Methodology/approach: Frontline relationships and in-store execution remain relatively under researched fields in the sales management and retail literatures. Given the lack of a well-established theoretical framework, we conducted a qualitative study in the grounded theory research tradition. We interviewed frontline personnel from manufacturers and retailers, their immediate managers and headquarters personnel and other industry experts. We took a holistic approach to data collection; also gathering other types of written, photo and video data for the purpose of iterative data analysis and developing a mid-range theory of relationship development between manufacturer representatives and retailer employees, the frontline employees tasked with executing marketing and merchandising strategies in the store.

Findings: We develop a model of frontline relationship development and performance consisting of 4 distinct stages: (1) working alongside, (2) building respect, (3) cooperative relationship (helping hands), and (4) collaborative partnership. We compare our findings with existing relationship marketing and relationship management theories. We find that an alternative theoretical framework may suit the particularities of the CPG retail channel better.

Research implications: This article provides insight into a very specific but important type of business-to-business relationships in the CPG retail channel that have seen little scholarly attention. It calls for re-evaluating the relevance of existing relationship marketing and sales management paradigms in the CPG retail channel. Future research could investigate the extent to which our model is applicable in sales environments beyond the CPG retail channel.

Practical implications: The study’s findings contribute to the practice of relationship marketing and sales management in the CPG retail channel. We present a case for a different approach of managing manufacturer-retailer relationships at the store level, a more functional tactic, which seems to deliver higher relationship performance than expected under the relationship marketing paradigm prevalent in sales and retail literatures. This different approach has direct consequences for the recruitment and management of a CPG sales force.     

Measuring the Financial Benefits of Cross‐Functional Integration Influences Management's Behavior

While many have suggested that cross‐functional, cross‐firm integration is beneficial, functional managers will have competing priorities and thus different perceptions of its benefits. Performance measurements tend to reward functional behaviors and are often in conflict across functions. Since senior management is held responsible for financial results, the benefits of cross‐functional integration should be measured in financial terms. The supply chain management literature provides little insight about the behavioral changes that can result when managers are provided with financial measures of the value created with customers and suppliers. Using a case study approach, the authors measured value in perceptual and financial terms using pairs of buyer–supplier relationships. In each pair of relationships, one involved cross‐functional teams and the other did not. Managers perceived that the relationships with cross‐functional involvement were more profitable. However, it was not until managers received financial measures showing the impact of joint initiatives on the profitability of each pair of relationships that their behaviors changed with regard to the implementation of cross‐functional relationships with key customers and suppliers. We developed a conceptual model comprised of five theoretical propositions that characterize the role of financial measurements as an enabler of cross‐functional integration and value co‐creation.     

两级物流服务商参与的供应链最优决策与利益分配研究——基于多种合作模式视角

在两级物流服务商参与的供应链系统中存在一条由制造商与零售商构成的产品供应链（PSC）和另一条由物流服务集成商和物流服务提供商构成的物流服务供应链（LSSC）。通过分析两方合作、多方合作等不同决策模式下的博弈情形，得出在两方合作决策模式下，对于LSSC来讲，集中决策属于占优战略，而当物流服务水平敏感系数与零售价格敏感系数满足一定条件时，PSC会选择集中决策；系统集中决策模式、三方合作决策模式、两方合作决策模式下的系统总利润、物流服务水平和产品销量依次递减；采用Nash谈判模型及最小核心法设计了不同合作模式下的供应链利益分配机制，实现供应链协调；最后，通过数值分析验证了相关命题的研究结论和利益分配机制的有效性，并在此基础上提出了未来可深入研究的领域与方向。     

EXPLORING A GOVERNANCE THEORY OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: BARRIERS AND FACILITATORS TO INTEGRATION

Supply chain management is rapidly growing as both a strategic initiative and an academic discipline. As firms increasingly include their supply chain partners in the development of business strategy, researchers will have to constantly reevaluate the underlying themes and emergent theories of strategic logistics, management, and marketing by introducing new topics and revisiting seminal extant results. As such, this research was developed to explore the important concept of supply chain integration through strategic governance theory development. Since supply chain governance is a relatively new topic, a grounded study of both new and existing integration facilitators and barriers is presented. The study was initiated with a qualitative “managerial” development of scale items followed by a full empirical analysis. The result is an industry based returning to the source methodology for testing current governance related issues in industry. Contributions include the development of multiple dimensions of supply chain governance across facilitators and barriers, an explanation of the interplay between governance facilitators of, and barriers to, integration, a discussion of strategic level managerial implications, and a call for the future extension of governance research into the theory wanting domain of logistics and supply chain management.     

河南省物流需求影响因素实证分析

本文基于区域物流需求理论,通过多元线性回归分析分别从河南省经济增长、技术进步、产业结构升级、区位优势等影响因素对河南省物流的需求量进行定量分析。研究结果表明,GDP产值、社会消费品零售总额、第三产业产值、第二产业占GDP的比重、3种主要专利授权数、公路里程与物流需求有显著的关系。     

THE PURCHASING‐LOGISTICS INTERFACE: A “SCOPE OF RESPONSIBILITY” TAXONOMY

To date, integration research has paid little attention to defining and exploring the interface between purchasing and logistics. This research seeks to catalog the set of joint activities that define this interface, and to analyze the way in which this interface is structured, in terms of how companies assign collective responsibility across the activity set. A cluster analysis of a set of 15 boundary‐spanning activities reveals a preliminary taxonomy of three purchasing‐logistics interface structures: (a) Purchasing‐Dominant; (b) Segregated; and (c) Logistics‐Dominant. The analysis also reveals limited evidence that the choice of purchasing‐logistic interface structure has an influence on supply base performance. In addition, the choice of purchasing‐logistics interface structure appears to be influenced by firm size.     

零售企业绿色供应链的构建

随着全球环保意识的增强和供应链管理的广泛应用,零售企业实施绿色供应链管理成为降低成本、挖掘利润、实现可持续发展的有效方法当前我国零售企业实施绿色供应链管理,以零售商为主导的绿色供应链主要包括的四个环节：绿色采购、绿色仓储、绿色营销和绿色逆向物流。     

市场营销物流及其技术应用

文章指出,市场营销物流管理对于创造企业竞争价值具有重要战略意义。为实现生产物流和营销物流的无缝连接,文章提出,应将计算机技术、统计学和运筹学管理方法应用到营销物流过程中,打破生产和营销组织的边界,将以功能为核心的组织结构转变为以流程为核心的组织结构;建立一体化的物流业务流程,实现信息的实时共享及业务规划的动态调整;使供应链和营销服务链协调统一,为顾客提供最优价值链;建立服务响应物流,为顾客提供高效良好的服务。     

线上线下与物流协同的逻辑推演、影响因素与构建策略

线上线下与物流协同是"新零售"发展的核心。总体看来,我国"新零售"发展已跨越初级阶段向中高级阶段进化,也对线上线下与物流协同提出了新的要求。基于"新零售"发展现实,围绕线上线下与物流协同发展的四个阶段对协同发展进行逻辑推演,结合零售系统、物流支撑、技术应用等多要素探讨协同的影响因素。研究发现,从动态视角来看,电商与物流协同和线上线下融合为线上线下与物流协同奠定基础,而线上线下与物流协同要经历由线状协同向网状(立体)协同进化过程,也预示由初级协同向中高级协同的迈进;线上线下与物流协同主要受底层逻辑(线上线下协同融合程度、零售业网状协同水平)、核心支撑(物流网络建设、物流运营管理水平、物流生态体系协同)、升级保障(数智化技术协同应用、供应链整合与创新)三个方面共七类因素的影响,而不同因素又具有不同的作用方向。基于此,线上线下与物流协同要秉承"四化"理念,即以规模化运营为基础,以创新化模式为引领,以数智化技术为依托,以生态化体系为关键,提升协同服务水平和效率,构筑协同系统。     

MARKETING/LOGISTICS RELATIONSHIPS: INFLUENCE ON CAPABILITIES AND PERFORMANCE

Effective marketing/logistics relationships can help to create, develop, and maintain critical capabilities to support long‐term firm success. Recent research focuses on two distinct capabilities—information capabilities and firm‐wide integration. Empirical results are provided confirming the proposed relationship between marketing logistics relationship effectiveness and the two capabilities. Further, the capabilities are shown to positively impact logistics performance.