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.     

Bringing meaning to the sales job: The effect of ethical climate and customer demandingness

Top performing salespeople are attracted to organizations that provide opportunities to make full use of their abilities. Responses from 1450 sales directors from a leading direct selling organization were used to examine salesperson's experienced meaningfulness. Results show that experienced meaningfulness is critical to sales because it impacts salesperson's performance, turnover intentions and felt stress. Further, ethical climate and customer demandingness influence experienced meaningfulness perceptions.     

The Link Between Organizational Ethics and Job Satisfaction: A Study of Managers in Singapore

Based on a survey of 237 managers in Singapore, three measures of organizational ethics (namely, top management support for ethical behavior, the organization's ethical climate, and the association between ethical behavior and career success) are found to be associated with job satisfaction. The link between organizational ethics and job satisfaction is argued from Viswesvaran et al.'s (1998) organizational justice and cognitive dissonance theories. The findings imply that organizational leaders can favorably influence organizational outcomes by engaging in, supporting and rewarding ethical behavior.     

基于领导—成员交换视角的组织公平与组织认同关系研究

目前,组织认同已经被越来越多的学者和企业家所关注.然而,对于其形成机制的研究还有待进一步的扩展.文章选取组织公平这一角度来研究组织认同形成的机理.检验了在中国情境下组织支持感在组织公平与组织认同关系中的中介作用,尤其重点探讨了公平感与组织认同关系链中领导-成员交换的调节效应和直接效应.文章以北京市6家企业的294名员工作为样本收集数据,进行统计检验.研究结果发现:组织公平促进员工组织支持感的形成,进而培育起员工的组织认同;领导-成员交换质量高时,组织公平更容易形成组织认同;领导-成员交换质量的改善会直接促进组织认同的形成.最后,讨论了文章研究的理论意义和对当前管理实践的启示和建议.     

The demand for and the supply of distribution services: A basis for the analysis of customer satisfaction in retailing

This paper brings together two bodies of literature. One of them is a literature on the special role of the consumer in retailing. The other one is the literature on customer satisfaction. This joining of literatures is accomplished by identifying distribution services as outputs of retail firms and fixed inputs into the production functions of consumers and relaxing the standard assumption that the demand for these services is always equal to the supply of these services. The result is a new conceptual framework for the analysis of customer satisfaction in retailing. This framework extends the basic ideas on customer satisfaction developed for manufacturing in a homogeneous single product setting to the heterogeneous multi-product setting relevant for many retailers. The paper illustrates one approach to the implementation of this framework with data for a set of supermarkets in Pamplona, Spain, that measure distribution services by asking consumers questions explicitly identifying these services. The five main categories of distribution services identified by the conceptual framework and measured in the data are economically important and statistically robust determinants of customer satisfaction with supermarkets. These results are obtained controlling for other variables typical of the customer satisfaction literature and measuring customer satisfaction in a manner consistent with that literature. The results are robust to corrections for sample selection and alternative estimation methods. Perhaps our most interesting novel result is that the effect of the determinants of customer satisfaction on future purchase intentions in the supermarket case is different when measured directly in a one stage process than when measured indirectly in a two stage process through the attributes/satisfaction/ purchase intentions chain.

When the customer has left the store: An examination of the potential for satisfaction rub-off effects and purchase versus no purchase implications

Two lacunae in the relationship marketing literature are examined in this paper: (1) effects of satisfaction stemming from one particular store visit on the customer׳s relation to other stores (the existing literature typically focuses on the customer׳s relation to one satisfaction-creating store), and (2) the extent to which the impact of customer satisfaction on future intentions is moderated by what happens during the satisfaction-creating visit in terms of purchase versus no purchase (the existing literature typically assumes that the customer subject to satisfaction has purchased something, despite the fact that the reality of retailing consists of many customers leaving stores without purchases).     

Affect versus Cognition in the Chain from Perceived Quality to Customer Loyalty: The Roles of Product Beliefs and Experience

To support managerial practice and help improve analytical models in retailing, this article extends the literature on processes in the psychological chain of effects from perceived quality to customer loyalty by making three original and fundamental contributions. Based on multilevel structural equation modeling of consumer data from Bolivia, Japan, and the USA, it shows that product beliefs mediate this chain of effects and that cross-over effects connect rational and emotional processes within this chain. Moreover, it elucidates conditions moderating the strength of these emotional and rational processes. Breadth of experience positively moderates the mediating role of product beliefs. Relative price positively moderates the effect of hedonic product beliefs on affective customer satisfaction and negatively moderates the effect of utilitarian product beliefs on cognitive customer satisfaction. Time since purchase positively moderates the role of emotional processes and negatively moderates the role of rational processes. The moderating effects of sensory, affective, and intellectual brand experience support the predictive validity of the research model. Further analyses illuminate how social recognition, customer value co-creation through product usage patterns, and product-service bundling affect product beliefs, as well as how affective and cognitive customer satisfaction influence positive word-of-mouth.     

Customer retention in sports organization marketing: examining the impact of team identification and satisfaction with team performance

Over the past two decades, relationship marketing efforts have assumed a prominent role in sports organization marketing. A sports organization that successfully implements relationship marketing programmes is able to develop long‐term relationships with its fans, thus increasing the likelihood of customer retention. This study examines customer retention in sports organization marketing by considering the impact of team identification and satisfaction with team performance on four fan consumption behaviours: in‐person attendance, media‐based attendance, purchase of team merchandise and word‐of‐mouth communication related to the team. Survey data were collected from 300 fans of more than 40 professional and collegiate teams involved in seven sports. Results suggest that both team identification and satisfaction with team performance impact multiple consumption behaviours, as represented by fans' intentions to engage in future consumption. Team identification was found to have the greater impact on consumption behaviours, suggesting that a sports organization's continuing efforts to bond with its fans may provide greater benefits than efforts to improve the team's competitive performance.     

职业经理人可信行为与员工组织认同:信任与心理安全感的作用

组织认同是影响员工一系列组织行为的重要态度变量,研究其影响因素以及这些因素与组织认同间的作用机理很有现实意义。作为企业重要管理者,职业经理人的行为是影响员工组织认同度的重要因素,研究发现职业经理人可信行为与员工组织认同显著正相关,员工对经理人的认知和情感信任在二者间均发挥了部分中介作用,心理安全感对职业经理人可信行为与员工组织认同的关系起调节作用,据此提出了提升员工组织认同度的建议。     

Weathering consumer pricing sensitivity: The importance of customer contact and personalized services in the financial services industry

In a low-cost switching environment, certain firm actions undertaken by service employees can improve consumer loyalty, satisfaction and reduce price sensitivity. Interestingly, consumers' satisfaction levels can actually increase when experiencing a price increase. Counterintuitively, when consumers experience a price decrease, their loyalty decreases, suggesting that it might be in the firm's best interest to not offer such pricing discounts as these customers may be hypersensitive to price. Overall, it appears much easier for service employees to positively influence customer satisfaction than customer loyalty; satisfied consumers do not necessarily become loyal consumers.     

The role of mentoring in promoting organizational commitment among black managers: An evaluation of the indirect effects of racial similarity and shared racial perspectives

Due to the effort and expense of recruiting black managers, there is a need to maximize the chances of retaining those that are most productive. Effective mentoring may be one avenue to reach this objective by enhancing job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Using the responses of 139 members of the National Black MBA Association (MBMBAA), this study explored the indirect or mediated effects of demographic (i.e. white mentors-black protégés vs. black mentors-black protégés) and attitudinal (i.e. perceived complementary racial perspectives) similarity on the affective commitment of black managers. The results suggest that attitudinal similarity is a more critical factor than demographic similarity in enhancing mentoring-driven affective commitment among black managers. In addition, the results reveal that in certain circumstances demographic similarity can actually have an adverse impact on the career benefits realized from mentoring relationships.     

Knowledge management and organizational performance in the service industry: The role of transformational leadership beyond the effects of transactional leadership

This study examines a comprehensive model comprising of various relationships between transformational and transactional leadership, knowledge management (KM) process, and organizational performance. Data are collected from human resource managers and general managers working in 119 service firms. Exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis are used to analyze the proposed hypotheses. The results indicate that transformational leadership has strong and positive effects on KM process and organizational performance after controlling for the effects of transactional leadership. Further, KM process partially mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational performance after controlling for the effects of transactional leadership. Implications and directions for future research are also discussed.     

Take This Job and Shove It: Examining the Influence of Role Stressors and Emotional Exhaustion on Organizational Commitment and Identification in Professional Truck Drivers

Professional truck drivers experience many challenges in the course of performing their jobs. Drivers must meet the needs of their company, shippers, and receivers as well as comply with safety regulations. It is well documented that truck drivers are prone to physical exhaustion; however, they may also be subject to emotional exhaustion, which can impact their decision to remain with a company. This research examines the influence of job stressors, such as role conflict and role ambiguity and their relationship to emotional exhaustion in professional truck drivers. Furthermore, the effect that job stressors and emotional exhaustion have on the efforts of a firm to build corporate identification, collective mind, and commitment among truck drivers is examined. Using qualitative and quantitative data from 435 professional truck drivers, a conceptual model is developed and tested using structural equation modeling. Findings are discussed and implications for managers in improving driver retention rates are offered.     

Web Adoption and Firm Performance in the Fashion Industry: The Moderating Role of Social and Economic Rational Managerial Perceptions

This article draws on an integrated perspective of institutional theory and the resource-based view of the firm by studying the causal relationships among Web technology adoption, social and economic rational managerial perceptions, and firm results. It does so in the context of the fashion industry. The article suggests that both resource-based view and institutional factors may better explain firm performance. Isomorphic rationality as institutional forces of firm homogeneity are proposed as determinants of rent potential that complement and extend resource-based explanations of firm success variation and sustainable competitive advantage in the fashion industry.     

The impact of natural disaster on absenteeism, job satisfaction, and job performance of survival employees: An empirical study of the survivors in Wenchuan Earthquake

Natural disasters cause serious damage to businesses in the stricken areas and greatly affect survivors’ psychology and behaviors. Based on data from 206 survival employees in 33 affected firms in Wenchuan Earthquake, this study analyzes the impact of natural disaster on absenteeism, job satisfaction, and job performance of survival employees. Results indicate that after the earthquake, survival employees’ absenteeism and job satisfaction (including intrinsic, extrinsic, and general job satisfaction) decrease significantly, but their task performance, contextual performance, and overall job performance improve significantly. Employees’ learning and innovative performance have no significant change in comparison with that before the earthquake. The authors thus suggest that the affected businesses need to communicate with the survival employees actively, focus more on job security, compensation and working conditions, in order to maintain these employees’ job satisfaction. In addition, enterprises outside the affected areas should give priority to the recruitment of the survival employees given the same conditions, because it is beneficial to both the employing enterprises and the reconstruction of affected areas.     

Unravelling agency relations inside the MNC: The roles of socialization,goal conflicts and second principals in headquarters-subsidiary relationships

Prior research has advanced classical agency theory to account for various characteristics of headquarters (HQ)-subsidiary relations in the multinational corporation (MNC). In an attempt to contribute to this line of research, in this paper, we propose and test an agency model for HQ-subsidiary relations inside the MNC. Drawing on classical agency assumptions, we develop a baseline hypothesis that links informal controls (i.e., socialization), HQ-subsidiary goal conflicts, and the HQ’s use of formal controls (i.e., behavioral controls). We subsequently introduce an important boundary condition, which reflects subsidiaries’ internal agency relations with subsidiary CEOs as second principals. More specifically, we argue that the baseline relationship only holds under low levels of second principal power. To test our model, we employed a unique study design with three parallel surveys addressing the agents and the two principals involved in 131 agency relations within one MNC.     

The belt and road initiative,cultural friction and ethnicity: Their effects on the export performance of SMEs in China

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has provided Chinese firms with significant incentives to speed up the pace of internationalization. Yet very little international business (IB) research has been found to empirically examine such policy effects. This study explores this important issue using Chinese firms of different ethnicities in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China. We propose that the BRI has a positive formal institutional effect on the export performance of XUAR firms that target the “Belt” countries. Both cultural friction and ethnicity serve as the unique cultural contingencies that moderate the relationship between the BRI and export performance. More specifically, the cultural friction that results from the process of internationalization will negatively affect the export performance prompted by the BRI. The Uygur-owned firms will benefit more from the BRI due to their cultural similarity. Overall, the study takes the lead in investigating both internal conditions and external environments that promote and inhibit the internationalization process of small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in the XUAR that are geographically close to the “Belt” countries. The findings help enrich the understanding of the dual “push” and “drag” effects on the outcomes of SMEs’ international activities due to the government-led initiatives and the understanding of micro-foundation toward internationalization from an ethnicity perspective.     

Implementing an Organizational Ethics Program in an Academic Environment: The Challenges and Opportunities for the Duquesne University Schools of Business

This paper acknowledges the paucity of attention regarding the development of ethics programs within an academic environment and describes in a case study how the Duquesne University schools of business attempted to introduce, integrate and promote its own ethics program. The paper traces the business school’s attention to mission statements, curriculum development, ethics policy, program oversight and outcome assessment. Lessons learned are offered as suggestions for others seeking to develop and implement an ethics program in their school.