Social comparison among competing firms

Extending social comparison theory to the context of interfirm competition, we investigate whether and under what conditions firms may benefit by deviating from consumers' views concerning firm comparisons. Based on all of the possible dyadic competitive comparisons among the 26 automakers in the United States, we found that: (1) a focal firm enjoys a greater increase in sales than the target firm when it compares itself with a more reputable target firm, even though consumers do not perceive the focal firm to be comparable to the more reputable firm; and (2) a focal firm enjoys a greater increase in sales than the target firm when it avoids comparison with a less reputable target firm, even though consumers compare the focal firm with the less reputable firm. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A framework for key account management and revenue management integration

Key Account Management (KAM) and Revenue Management (RevM) have been widely practiced in the service industries for more than three decades, but the effects of RevM on KAM remain largely unknown. This paper addresses this neglected area of study in the marketing field by presenting a framework for KAM and RevM integration that aligns the potentially conflicting management priorities of the two. The study uses an international hotel company as a research context to investigate, first, how a long-term relational approach to KAM may have been affected by RevM short-term revenue maximization goals, and, second, how KAM could be facilitated by RevM through an integrated approach to yield optimization from perishable products and from key accounts. The proposed framework is the first attempt of its kind to amalgamate KAM and RevM, involving critical analysis to assess comprehensively the revenue and the relationship value of a key account.     

How business customers judge customer success management

In business-to-business markets, customer success management is gaining growing practical importance. The concept comprises customer-related activities that aim at monitoring, securing and enhancing customer success as well as the implementation of the corresponding organizational structures and processes within the supplier firm. In contrast to existing research, this article takes a customer perspective to customer success management and investigates how business customers judge respective supplier activities; first, to reveal the quality dimensions business customers apply when assessing suppliers' customer success management activities, and second, to investigate how the quality of suppliers' customer success management activities leads to business customers' perceived value. Addressing these questions, this research contributes to literature by exploring customer success management from a customer perspective. The findings elucidate that customers' perceived value in use does not simply develop over time. Rather, through the implementation of customer-related activities of customer success management, suppliers can actively influence customers' value-in-use experiences thus fostering customers' rebuy decisions. From managerial perspective, the findings support suppliers in successfully shape their customer-oriented customer success management activities as well as the necessary internal structures and processes.     

Reaffirming the management ethic in industrial firms

These then are the ground rules underlying what I call “the manegement ethic.”They are based on common sense, logic, and a sense of fair play—but then, that is quite simply what good management is all about. There is nothing original about these ideas; nor, as can be seen from the following quotation, is there anything new about them.We trained hard—but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing. And what a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization.     

Investigating the implications of business and culture on the behaviour of customers of international firms

For many years international firms have been leveraging from the consistent growth rate of the Indian economy and, considering forecasts, will continue to do so in the future. This study identifies factors that influence the behaviour of business customers of international firms in emerging markets such as India. Based on the extant literature and in-depth personal interviews with practitioners, combined with a field survey, the authors have tried to understand the impact these factors have on the behaviour of business customers of international firms. The data were useful for testing the model developed using regression analysis and were found to be significant. The model demonstrates that the behaviour of local firms as customers of international firms in emerging markets is governed by factors such as business risk and a propensity to business sustainability. The model will be useful for international firms who wish to operate in emerging markets through local business firms that seek to associate with international firms.     

完善税收征管制度

本文就<中华人民共和国税收征收管理法>及<中华人民共和国税收管理法实施细则>存在的几个突出问题,谈了笔者的看法.     

Strategic cost management across boundaries of firms

In recent years, increasing attention has been placed on how purchasing strategies may contribute to the efficiency of firms. In this paper, a case study illustrates how one firm implemented a supplier base reduction to enable a high involvement strategy in relation to appointed key suppliers. The effects of this change in purchasing strategy were extensive cost rationalisations. The main change in this process was a redefinition of the unit of analysis from individual transactions to buyer-supplier relationships. However, the costs in the relationship are driven not only by internal factors on the two sides of the relationship but also by how the focal relationship relates to other relationships. Therefore, the ways in which the costs are affected by other parties, such as the supplier's supplier, the supplier's other customers, the customer's other suppliers, and the customer's customers, need to be included in the analysis.     

Implementing market orientation in industrial firms: A multiple case study

The literature on market orientation is silent on the process of change involved in moving firms to a market orientation. Understanding this process is important for commodity sellers or industrial organizations with a traditional sales focus. We examine the change programs of two New Zealand-based agricultural organizations. Drawing upon Lewin's three-stage change process model (unfreezing-movement-refreezing) we identify that the creation of a market orientation involves uncovering long-held assumptions about the nature of commodity products, the nature of production and marketplace power, and the ‘commodity cycle’. Moving the firm towards a new set of values involves changes in the role of leadership, the use of market intelligence, and organizational learning styles. To refreeze these values, supportive policies are needed that form closer relationships between the organization and the marketplace. The degree of refreezing affects the quality of market orientated outcomes, with less effective refreezing leading to sub-optimal market-oriented behaviors.     

Concurrent learning: How firms develop multiple dynamic capabilities in parallel

Much is known about the importance of dynamic capabilities. Yet, surprisingly little is known about how multiple dynamic capabilities might be developed in parallel, since most existing work explores a particular dynamic capability in isolation. Using rich quantitative and qualitative data on Dow Chemical's acquisitions, joint ventures, and divestitures over the past 20 years, we seek to address this gap. Besides contributing by adding fresh insights about managing growth and the utility of distributed practice, and by shedding light on positive and negative experience transfer, our core contribution is an emergent theoretical framework that develops the concept of “concurrent learning. ” Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring export sales management practices in small- and medium-sized firms

We investigate key sales management aspects in relation to the export involvement stage of the firm. Specifically, an attempt is made to examine the presence of significant differences in export sales management control strategy, export sales organization design and export sales management behavioral attributes between ‘active’ and ‘committed’ exporting firms. We identify several differences among these exporter groups with the main conclusion being that the sales management function is more effectively organized and managed at advanced levels of export involvement. These findings are discussed in the light of existing knowledge, and various conclusions and research implications are also derived.     

Strategic management of small firms in hostile and benign environments

This paper reports the results of a study designed to investigate the effective strategic responses to environmental hostility among small manufacturing firms. Data on environmental hostility, organization structure, strategic posture, competitive tactics, and financial performance were collected from 161 small manufacturers. Findings indicate that performance among small firms in hostile environments was positively related to an organic structure, an entrepreneurial strategic posture, and a competitive profile characterized by a long-term orientation, high product prices, and a concern for predicting industry trends. In benign environments, on the other hand, performance was positively related to a mechanistic structure, a conservative strategic posture, and a competitive profile characterized by conservative financial management and a short-term financial orientation, an emphasis on product refinement, and a willingness to rely heavily on single customers.     

Linking the types of market knowledge sourcing with sensing capability and revenue growth: Evidence from industrial firms

In today's fast-changing digital world, it is more important than ever before to understand the drivers of a firm's continuous change and renewal. Although concepts such as dynamic capabilities help to address this challenge, managerial instructions for achieving a sustainable competitiveness do not often reach beyond the surface. Therefore some researchers suggest investigating the sensing capability, or the capability to recognize market opportunities and threats, which is one dimension of the dynamic capabilities. In this paper, we derive the key market knowledge sourcing determinants of the sensing capability of industrial firms in general, and under high, medium, and low levels of market dynamism and link them to revenue growth. Our results provide industrial (marketing) managers new insights on how to effectively use various sources of market knowledge to sense market opportunities and threats. We use second respondent-validated survey data from top managers at 483 internationally operating industrial firms to test hypotheses and complement it with objective revenue growth data. Surprisingly, while competitor sourcing negatively affects sensing capabilities under low and medium dynamic markets, research institution sourcing positively affects it, particularly under high dynamic markets.     

B2B sales force productivity: applications of revenue management strategies to sales management

Firms should be able to apply the time-based philosophy of revenue management to their sales forces. To do so requires a revision in the way most sales divisions traditionally have viewed salesperson time. Hence, a different type of proposed measure, revenue per available salesperson hour, is proposed to better integrate the value of the salesperson's time as a factor in sales potential and revenue calculation. This article seeks to (1) foster a positive perception of revenue management as a viable sales approach, (2) establish a framework for such a strategy, and (3) set a useful road map for facilitating execution.     

典型工业客户用气行为研究及客户管理发展思路

受当前国家经济发展增速放缓、油电煤三大能源价格持续走低以及近两年来天然气价格多次调整等因素的影响,我国天然气市场由卖方市场向买方市场转变.对所调研18个行业的78家典型工业客户,运用波士顿矩阵法划分为明星类、现金牛类、黑马类和限制类,分析工业客户的用气行为变化、特点和规律,以及客户对于天然气的核心诉求.提出燃气公司应持续优化客户结构;实施有效的客户分级管理,为优质客户在天然气价格、付款方式、资源保障等方面提供更好的服务;通过提供“综合能源解决方案”加大客户开发力度.     

Effects of top management team faultlines in the service transition of manufacturing firms

Manufacturing firms have increasingly begun to offer services in addition to products, a strategy known as “service transition.” Because top management team (TMT) is responsible for implementing and coordinating firm strategy, it is important to understand how the characteristics of TMT affect service transition. The objective of this study is to investigate the differential effects of product-related and product-unrelated service transitions on financial performance and the moderating roles of informational and social TMT faultlines. Analyses of secondary data from 293 manufacturing firms in China between 2003 and 2018 indicate that although product-related service transition increases financial performance (as measured by Tobin's Q), product-unrelated service transition decreases it. Informational faultlines increase these performance implications by enhancing the positive effect of product-related service transition but attenuating the negative effect of product-unrelated service transition. In contrast, social faultlines decrease these performance implications by attenuating the positive effect of product-related service transition but enhancing the negative effects of product-unrelated service transition. These findings contribute to the marketing strategy literature by providing new insights into the differential effects of TMT faultlines on service transition.     

Teleworking practice in small and medium-sized firms: management style and worker autonomy

In an empirical study of teleworking practices in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in west London, organisational factors such as management attitudes, worker autonomy and employment flexibility were found to be more critical than technological provision in facilitating successful implementation. Consequently, we argue that telework in most SMEs appears as a marginal activity performed mainly by managers and specialist mobile workers.     

Growth strategies for service firms

Two characteristics of services—intangibility of the offering and simultaneity of production and consumption—have important implications for strategic planning. Four of these implications are described. Life cycle, experience, and market share, which are the usual determinants of profitability that provide guides for strategic planning are not easily applied to the service firm. Therefore growth strategies need to be revised. In its second part the paper suggests alternative growth strategy paths for service firms. It brings forward three main remarks. First, the service firm should not overuse its delivery system and its image by attempting to serve the needs of too many sociodemographic segments. Second, service development and concentric diversification are not sequential choices; the latter is not so distant from the former as may be commonly perceived. Third, expansion to out-of-country markets represents a risk discontinuity; it should be approached by service firms with considerable flexibility and willingness to interact with different cultures.     

Metaheuristic-based simulation optimization approach to network revenue management with an improved self-adjusting bid price function

Making accurate accept/reject decisions on dynamically arriving customer requests for different combinations of resources is a challenging task under uncertainty of competitors' pricing strategies. Because customer demand may be affected by a competitor's pricing action, changes in customer interarrival times should also be considered in capacity control procedures. In this article, a simulation model is developed for a bid price–based capacity control problem of an airline network revenue management system by considering the uncertain nature of booking cancellations and competitors' pricing strategy. An improved bid price function is proposed by considering competitors' different pricing scenarios that occur with different probabilities and their effects on the customers' demands. The classical deterministic linear program (DLP) is reformulated to determine the initial base bid prices that are utilized as control parameters in the proposed self-adjusting bid price function. Furthermore, a simulation optimization approach is applied in order to determine the appropriate values of the coefficients in the bid price function. Different evolutionary computation techniques such as differential evolution (DE), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and seeker optimization algorithm (SOA), are utilized to determine these coefficients along with comparisons. The computational experiments show that promising results can be obtained by making use of the proposed metaheuristic-based simulation optimization approach.