Marketing with integrity: ethics and the service-dominant logic for marketing

This paper examines a tendency within existing marketing scholarship to compartmentalize ethical issues. It also shows how this tendency can cause ethical tensions and conflicts in marketing practice. The emerging service-dominant (S-D) logic for marketing, as proposed by Vargo and Lusch, is explored as an example of an approach to marketing that overcomes this tendency. The S-D logic is found to be a positive development for marketing ethics because it facilitates the seamless integration of ethical accountability into marketing decision-making. Specific recommendations are made for improving the ethical climate in marketing using marketing performance measurement theory and practice.

The service-dominant logic and a hierarchy of operant resources: developing masterful operant resources and implications for marketing strategy

Marketing’s evolution toward a new dominant logic requires the focus of marketing to be on the intangible, dynamic, operant resources that are at the heart of competitive advantage and performance. First, building on resource-advantage theory’s notion of basic resources and higher-order resources, this article proposes a hierarchy of basic, composite, and interconnected operant resources. Second, reviewing research on business strategy and marketing strategy, several resources that correspond to the proposed hierarchy are identified and discussed. Third, the notion of developing masterful operant resources is introduced. Fourth, based on the proposed hierarchy and the notion of masterful operant resources, some exemplars of potential research avenues for marketing strategy are provided. Finally, the article concludes with the discussion of implications for marketing practitioners, researchers, and educators. In sum, this article extends and elaborates the concept of operant resources in the service-dominant logic of marketing.     

Extending the service-dominant logic: from customer centricity to balanced centricity

This is a contribution to the reorientation of marketing. It aligns the service-dominant logic with other developments in marketing and management. It claims that the marketing concept and customer-centricity are too limited as a foundation for marketing and have not—and cannot—but partially be implemented in practice. It urges marketing scholars and educators to accept the complexity of marketing and develop and teach a network-based stakeholder approach—balanced centricity—epitomized by the concept of many-to-many marketing.     

The evolving brand logic: a service-dominant logic perspective

The meanings of brand and branding have been evolving over the past several decades. This evolution is converging on a new conceptual logic, which views brand in terms of collaborative, value co-creation activities of firms and all of their stakeholders and brand value in terms of the stakeholders’ collectively perceived value-in-use. The authors argue that this new logic parallels and reflects the related, evolving service-dominant (S-D) logic in marketing. They provide an historical account of the branding literature, organize it into eras, and connect it to the evolution in marketing as captured by S-D logic. The analysis provides further support for the S-D logic of marketing and suggests a related research agenda for furthering the understanding of brand and branding. It also suggests that marketing managers might benefit from investing resources in building strong brand relationships with all of their stakeholders and a service-dominant firm philosophy built around brand value co-creation.     

Reconfiguration of the conceptual landscape: a tribute to the service logic of Richard Normann

This article is a tribute to the late Richard Normann, whose call for a “service logic” (Normann, Reframing Business: When the Map Changes the Landscape, Wiley, Chichester, p. 99, 2001) both parallels and enriches service-dominant (S-D) logic (Vargo and Lusch, J. Mark, 68:1–17, 2004a). Like Vargo and Lusch, Normann shifted the focus of the offering from an output to a process of value creation and perceived the firm as an organizer of this process, with the customer as a co-producer, rather than a receiver of value. He also argued that offerings are “frozen knowledge,” similar to Vargo and Lusch’s contention that the basis of exchange is applied operant resources (service) and suggested that the ‘dematerialization’ of resources increases their ‘liquidity’, which allows increased “density” for value creation. Thus, he suggested that firms need to “reframe business”—rethink the logic of value creation—to reveal opportunities in reconfiguring the value constellations of which they are part. This tribute explores these and other similarities and differences between Normann’s work and the evolving S-D logic.     

On the importance of matching strategic behavior and target market selection to business strategy in high-tech markets

Business strategy is fundamentally concerned with the actions required to create superior customer value in the firm’s target markets with the ultimate goal of achieving superior performance. Marketing theory suggests that two critical marketing activities required to achieve this end are: (1) the adoption of appropriate strategic behaviors (i.e., customer-oriented, competitor-oriented, technology-oriented) and (2) targeting of the appropriate market segments (i.e., innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards). This study builds on prior research which demonstrates that the strategic behavior—firm performance relationship is contingent on the firm’s strategy by examining this relationship in high tech markets and by considering the incremental contribution of appropriate target market selection. Responses from 160 senior marketing managers in high-tech firms reveal strong support for our framework. Thus, this study provides useful guidance to executives and managers in high-tech firms regarding the steps that they should take to increase their probability of success.

An analysis of e-business adoption and its impact on business performance

Across industries, firms have adopted e-business initiatives to better manage their internal business processes as well as their interfaces with the environment. In this study, a unified framework that captures the antecedents of e-business adoption, adoption intensity, and performance outcomes is proposed and empirically tested using data collected from senior managers in four technology-intensive industries. Applying a framework that captures the intensity of e-business adoption across four business process domains, the authors find that the antecedents and performance outcomes of e-business adoption are best studied in a process-specific context. They find, for example, that while the communication and internal administration aspects of e-business positively affect performance outcomes, the more high-profile activities related to online order taking and e-procurement do not. The authors' findings provide the foundation for a more rigorous study of e-business. Fang Wu (fangwu@msu.edu) (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is an assistant professor of marketing at the Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University. Her current research interests include e-business adoption strategy, knowledge transfer in new product alliances, interfirm learning dynamics, and marketing knowledge management. Vijay Mahajan (vijay.mahajan@bus.utexas.edu) (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is the John P. Harbin Centennial Chair in Business and a professor of marketing at the McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin, and dean of the Indian School of Business at Hyderabad, India. He has written extensively on product diffusion, marketing strategy, and marketing research methodologies. He has written and/or edited eight books. His research appears in journals such as theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Marketing, Marketing Science, Management Science, andHarvard Business Review. He has received the Best Research Paper Award from theJournal of Retailing (1982, 1985), theJournal of Marketing (Maynard Award, 1990), and theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing (Prentice Hall Award, 1995). He also received the American Marketing Association (AMA) Charles Coolidge Parlin Marketing Research Award (1997) and the AMA Marketing Research Special Interest Group Gilbert Churchill Award in 1999, recognizing lifetime achievement in marketing research. Sridhar Balasubramanian (balasubs@bschool.unc.edu) (Ph.D., Yale University) is an assistant professor of marketing at Kenan-Flagler, the University of North Carolina Business School. His research interests cover multiple areas including marketing strategy, channel portfolio management, e-commerce and m-commerce, direct marketing and customer relationship management, game theory and the management of competition, digitization, and strategic compensation. His research has been published or is forthcoming in journals such asMarketing Science, Management Science, Statistica Neerlandica, theInternational Journal of Electronic Commerce, Decision Support Systems, and theJournal of Retailing. He received the John D. C. Little Award for 1998 from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Science (INFORMS) for the best marketing paper inMarketing Science andManagement Science. He has worked as a marketing strategy adviser to start-up companies and served as guest coeditor of the Centennial Issue of theJournal of Retailing.     

Institutionalization of ethics and its consequences: a survey of marketing professionals

Because of increasing ethical problems in business, organizations have tried to control these problems by institutionalizing ethics, such as by creating new ethics positions and formulating codes of ethics. In this study, the authors develop a scale for measuring the institutionalization of ethics in organizations and assess it for dimensionality, reliability and validity. Two separate studies are conducted, both using samples drawn from an American Marketing Association practitioner population. In Study 1, using a sample of 126 marketing practitioners, we performed exploratory factor analysis on 44 institutionalization items resulting in two separate dimensions of the institutionalization of ethics construct: implicit and explicit institutionalization. Using a national sample of 306 marketing practitioners in Study 2, we performed confirmatory factor analysis on these two dimensions and investigated the effects of these dimensions on perceived importance of ethics, job satisfaction, esprit de corps and organizational commitment. Implicit institutionalization had a significant direct affect on all four of these constructs. On the other hand, explicit institutionalization significantly influenced only the perceived importance of ethics.     

哲商理念对传统经商之道的创新

哲商是以高度的哲学智慧指导企业经营的新型企业领导者,即"哲人 商人"。哲商是工商业迅速发展、商人社会地位不断提高的产物,也是企业管理从制度化到人性化发展的必然结果。黄福华的《哲商》让我们看到,哲商从形式、内容、价值观念、法制观念、传播功能等方面创新了企业经营管理科学。     

创业战略类型研究:一般创业与制度创业的整合

创业战略处于创业研究和战略管理的交叉领域,是一个涉略较广且难以界定的概念,由此造成了其制定过程黑箱及具体战略类型选择的碎片化研究。这些问题在一定程度上阻碍了后续创业战略研究的发展。文章基于文献研究和理论探索,主要有两方面贡献:一是对创业战略构念及类型的系统文献回顾,界定了创业战略的概念并对以往创业战略类型研究经典模型进行了比较和总结;二是首次明确将制度创业的概念引入创业战略,指出一般创业战略以竞争战略为主,而制度创业战略则更多地考虑合法性问题,并据此初步构建了创业战略的整合框架。     

不确定性、风险与相机财务论——一个财务行为选择的分析框架

以不确定性和风险作为逻辑起点构建了相机财务的基本概念结构与相机财务行为选择的分析框架。阐释了相机财务的假设、目标、本质、职能、对象、内容与原则,并提出了在不确定性条件下,企业应根据财务机会识别与财务状态评判的结果选择适应性的财务政策与财务行为,建立健全财务治理机制以实现利益相关者对风险的有效分担和对收益的共同分享之观点。     

SERVCON: development and validation of a multidimensional service convenience scale

As customers have demanded greater convenience in service exchanges, researchers have responded by incorporating the convenience construct into their conceptual models and empirical studies, but a comprehensive, formally validated measure of convenience remains lacking. This study conceptualizes service convenience as a second-order, five-dimensional construct that reflects consumers’ perceived time and effort in purchasing or using a service. Service convenience dimensions are salient at different stages of the purchase decision process. Given this conceptualization, the study presents the development and validation of the SERVCON scale, a comprehensive instrument for measuring service convenience. The five dimensions are independent within a nomological network that illustrates distinct antecedent and consequent effects, and the results reinforce the multidimensional representation, offering insight into the distinctive relationships between each service convenience dimension and its antecedents, such as competitive intensity, and consequences, such as repurchase behavior. The findings help researchers and managers understand a fully conceptualized convenience construct and facilitate the measurement of convenience in future empirical studies.     

自主创新人才开发与管理策略——以江苏省南京市为例

基于我国自主创新人才素质定位的基础,分析了南京自主创新人才开发与管理的现状,提出自主创新人才开发与管理策略:优化自主创新环境,培养自主创新团队、建立自主创新的人才链条,挖掘自主创新人才潜能。     

创新模式与知识产权保护对医药企业研发创新的影响:国际比较

不同创新模式下医药企业研发创新存在着较大的差距。本文探究了创新模式、知识产权保护及其交互作用对医药企业研发创新的影响。研究表明:(1)加强医药行业知识产权保护对整体医药企业研发创新具有显著的促进作用。(2)不同创新模式对医药企业研发创新的影响不同,英美创新模式与医药行业知识产权保护的交互作用对医药企业研发创新的促进效应依次大于欧洲大陆和中国。(3)英美创新模式下医药行业知识产权保护与医药企业研发人员强度的交互作用对医药企业研发创新的促进作用最大。据此,需要完善中国知识产权保护体系,推动中国创新模式转型,以发挥医药行业知识产权保护与创新模式的协调作用,并通过提升我国医药企业研发人员强度来增强创新活力。     

城市“农改超”:制度创新与市场组织化的耦合分析

当社会经济环境发生变化,现存制度安排下存在无法获得的潜在利润,传统的市场形式不适应组织发展的目标要求,产生了农产品连锁超市经营替代传统城市农贸市场交易的制度创新过程.并且这一过程伴随着市场交易组织的生成和演进,市场组织化的努力和新的制度规则的确立都是通过交易组织的组织规则的确定和组织的绩效的改进实现的.因此,"农改超"的过程表现为制度创新和组织创新,是制度创新与市场组织化彼此耦合的发展过程.     

我国产业自主创新机会窗口与路径——一个基于产业成长曲线的分析

从分析产业生命周期曲线着手,阐述产业发展过程中产品创新、工艺创新的分布以及技术跃迁规律,探究产业演进各阶段的特点以及创新侧重点,提出了产业自主创新过程中存在的四大机会窗口及四种赶超路径。四大机会窗口即在新产业孕育阶段,机会均等,及早进入;利用产业技术升级,捕捉商机;借助共性技术,改造成熟产业;依靠产业重构,塑造成熟产业。四种赶超路径即前瞻基础研究路径;引进、消化、吸收到自主创新路径;产业联动-协同创新路径;产业跨越路径。     

莫让“天使”变“魔鬼”——中国引进外资战略回顾与瞻望

利用外资是我国对外开放战略的重要组成部分.改革开放以来，我国在引进外资方面取得了巨大的成就，但其也出现了许多不容忽视的问题。面对当前国际国内利用外资的新形势，我国应及时调整引资战略和引资重点，强化中国经济的主体意识，改变外资对内资的“挤出效应”，获取利用外资的技术“溢出效应”。     

组织因素与环境因素对企业政治战略的影响:一个研究综述

企业政治战略是企业赢得竞争优势的重要方式,也是战略管理领域的重要研究话题之一。企业政治战略的差异性源于环境因素和组织因素,环境因素是企业政治战略的触发器,组织因素是企业政治战略的过滤器。本文以文献评述的方式探讨了影响企业政治战略的环境、组织因素及其影响机制,从而为我国相关研究提供一点有益的思路与建议。     

创新型企业的创新活动、股权结构与经营业绩——来自中国A股市场的经验证据

本文研究了2006年国家开展创新型企业试点工作后,试点企业创新活动、股权结构以及公司业绩间的关系。以37家试点上市公司为样本,以2001～2008年共8年为时间窗,并为每个样本公司按总资产差异小于30%与总资产收益率差异小于10%的标准,匹配相应的控制组进行比较研究和跟踪研究,研究结果发现：入选试点企业后,企业的创新产出得到显著增加;股权集中度、控股股权性质以及管理层股权激励对创新产出的变化没有显著影响;另外,创新产出增加对公司业绩也没有显著影响。这说明政府的行政干预不利于企业良性创新机制的构建以及长期发展。     

论中小服装企业经营模式创新——基于"海澜之家"运营模式分析

"海澜之家"作为一个新生的民营品牌,在短短三四年间迅速成长。本文通过系统研究其独特的经营方式,对比分析了其创新模式与传统经营模式的区别,认为其成功经验对于我国企业发展具有重要借鉴意义,并就中小服装企业经营模式创新提出了相应建议。