Using CRM to Model Firm Performance in a Business-to-Business Market

Customer relationship management (CRM) is the widely accepted approach for gathering, examining, understanding and translating information related to customers into managerial action. CRM is investigated in the context of new product performance (NPP). CRM enhances NPP as well as firm performance. This study investigates the impact of CRM on NPP through the moderation of top management support and an innovative culture, as well as the impact of CRM on firm performance through the mediation of NPP. A questionnaire survey is used for data collection from marketing managers of 159 firms in Pakistan in the B-to-B market. Hypotheses were tested using SEM in SMART PLS. This research shows that CRM directly affects firm performance, while NPP partially mediates the relationship of CRM and firm performance. These findings have significant implications for the practitioner. This study delivers insights to managers and academicians about the role of CRM in enhancing NPP and improving firm performance. In general, the study provides new insights into CRM by integrating top management support and an innovative culture. The research extends our understanding that top management support and innovative culture do not moderate the relationship of CRM with new product performance in a B-to-B context.     

Paths of economic development: A global evidence for the mediating role of human capital

ABSTRACT

This paper revisits the roles of institutions and human capital in the development process by using structural equation modeling with a latent construct. Two models are constructed by using the data of 143 countries with 14 publicly available indicators; non-mediated (Model A) and mediated one (Model B). A path between institutional quality and economic development is identified in Model A and found as significant. When human capital is added into the Model B as a mediator, the direct relationship between institutional quality and economic development which is confirmed in Model A becomes insignificant. This evidence contributes to the debate by explaining the roles of institutions and human capital in the development process, based on the existing level of institutional quality that determines conditions on decisions for starting or sustaining the development process. In other words, (a) improving institutions in addition to human capital is needed for the countries with low level of institutional quality to start development process and; (b) on the other hand, since the human capital develops immunity on the quality of the institutions, human capital plays a more basic role to sustain the development process for the countries with a high level of institutional quality.     

Innovativeness,exploratory behavior,market mavenship,and opinion leadership: An empirical examination in the Asian context

The market maven construct, developed by Feick and Price (1987), has been used in empirical studies in the USA, South Africa, Germany, Poland, and Hungary. This study extends previous research by being the first to use the general mavenship concept in an Asian country (Israel). Furthermore, the study examines market mavenship and opinion leadership as outcome concepts arising from exploratory behavior or innovativeness tendencies. Additionally, the impact of a three‐dimensional exploratory behavior concept is compared to the impact of a unidimensional innovativeness concept on opinion leadership and market mavenship. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the two nomological models based on a sample of 142 adult Israeli consumers. Although both exploratory behavior and innovativeness affect market mavenship and opinion leadership, the impact of the former is stronger. Additionally, the impact of the “new brand trial” facet of exploratory behavior on market maven was comparable to that of innovativeness, whereas its impact on opinion leadership was weaker than the impact of innovativeness. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Market Orientation: Scale Invariance and Relationship to Generic Strategies Across Two Countries

This article presents a scheme for investigating scale invariance for the market orientation construct across different countries by examining the psychometric properties of the operationalisation of market orientation (Narver and Slater, 1990). We investigate the measurement of market orientation in two countries (Australia and Zimbabwe—one being an example of a developed economy, the other of a developing economy). We then proceed to test the relationship between market orientation and Porter's (1980) generic strategies. The results suggest that the psychometric properties of the market orientation construct differ in important respects across countries. However, tests for convergent, predictive and discriminant validity using the generic strategies are fully supported for Zimbabwe while for Australia they are supported mutatis mutandis.     

Exploring the international student recruitment industry through the Strategic Orientation Performance Model

Abstract

International education is an important, and expanding, global industry. However, much remains unknown about the international student recruitment (ISR) industry, its key variables, and its performance outcomes. This study addresses this lack of understanding by developing and empirically testing a conceptual model that investigates ISR performance indicators. The Strategic Orientation Performance (SOP) Model is proposed as an investigative framework. The model is a conceptual representation of the relationships proposed to exist between market orientation, learning orientation, innovativeness, perceived external market effects, and perceived organisational performance. The study adopted a quantitative methodology using a self-administered questionnaire delivered to ISR practitioners via e-mail. Analysis, via partial least squares (PLS), provided support for the SOP Model in the ISR context. The SOP Model extends previous orientation-performance models. Additionally, within a discordant body of market orientation literature, this study aligns with one of the dominant paradigms and, thereby, provides a strong impetus for further research. Furthermore, future research will benefit significantly through the use of the SOP Model as a solid foundation for further discovery in this important research domain.     

Interdisciplinary Research Within a Modified Competing Values Model of Organizational Performance

Abstract

An interdisciplinary model of firm performance based on a modified and extended Competing Values Model of Organizational Culture combines elements drawn from three different research traditions-organizational culture and climate from organizational behavior, innovativeness from economics, and market orientation from marketing. The model has been used to analyze firm performance in business-to-business markets in a number of countries in the industrial and the industrializing worlds. In general, successful firms are found to be innovative, market oriented, and to have organizational cultures and decision-making climates which are externally oriented. In most countries, there are also identifiable national culture-specific patterns. In this paper, we focus on the inter-relationships among the streams of research upon which the model is built. Using Brazil, previously unstudied in this context, we attempt to identify a structure among the model elements to test hypotheses about (1) the inter-relationships of the explanatory variables, and (2) the relationships of the explanatory variables to each other and to firm performance. We find that the contributing disciplines produce interpretable results, and that performance is improved by achieving good results simultaneously along several inter-related dimensions.     

Unpacking the “skill – cross-cultural competence” mechanisms: Empirical evidence from Chinese expatriate managers

International management (IM) literature identifies several important skill sets (namely, self-maintenance, perceptual, interpersonal, language and communication skills) that are important for expatriates’ cross-cultural management. However, how skills influence each other and work synergistically towards expatriate competence has not been well examined. Based on the theoretical perspectives of learning, social dynamics and the IM stream, we develop an integrative model to investigate the joint effects of skills on cross-cultural competence (CCC), by surveying and interviewing Chinese expatriate managers. We find that self-maintenance skills, interpersonal skills, and language skills do not relate to CCC directly, while perceptual skills contribute to CCC mainly through communication skills. Our study demonstrates that competence goes beyond understanding local culture and lies in the ability to effectively interact and communicate within the host context. This study contributes to expatriate literature not only by revealing the skill – CCC mechanisms, but also by extending knowledge into an emerging market context which provides theoretical and practical guidance for competence-building of expatriates from China.     

Implementing the Marketing Concept One Employee at a Time: Pinpointing Beliefs about Customer Focus as a Lever for Organizational Renewal

This paper revisits the literature on organizational culture to motivate new theorizing about implementation of the marketing concept. We propose an individual-level construct, conceived as an alternative to the SBU-level conceptions featured in current theorizing about market orientation, and ground it in the organizational cognition perspective on culture. Our alternative construct—customer focus—is defined as an individual's beliefs about the value of direct customer contact for achieving desired performance outcomes in his or her own job. A measure for the construct is presented and its predictive validity is demonstrated with respect to individuals' interactions with customers. As a parsimonious and functionally-unbounded construct, customer focus can motivate theory development through identification of its unique antecedents and consequences. A preliminary nomological network is offered to suggest avenues for future research and indicate the potential role of customer focus in effecting organizational change and vitality.     

Does maturity matter? The case of treasury futures volume

We find that Treasury futures volume contains information about future economic and financial market conditions. Short- and long-term volumes are economically different: A relatively higher volume in short-term (long-term) Treasury futures is counter-cyclical (procyclical), preceding worse (better) economic and financial conditions. Further, we construct a single factor from futures volumes of different maturities that forecasts the performances of Treasury securities and the corporate debt and equity markets, as well as macroeconomic conditions. Our results are consistent with the notion that futures volumes from different market segments reflect differences in beliefs and contain different information about future financial and economic activity.     

When Marketing Dare Not Speak Its Name: Understanding Market Orientation in Chinese NGOs

ABSTRACT

The market orientation construct has proven to be of value to profit-seeking firms. It ought to be of value to NGOs too. Some previous research has been done to facilitate understanding of market orientation in NGOs, but the methodologies used have mostly been quantitative, and nothing is known about the market orientation of Chinese NGOs. To address this research gap, a qualitative case study methodology was used to develop a deeper understanding of how market orientation is practiced among NGOs in Hong Kong (China). Mapping with previous studies, the research found that three factors together explained the varying degrees of market orientation in the NGOs studied: senior management factors, organizational and institutional factors, and structural and system factors. But more importantly, an NGO’s funding base was found to moderate the relationship between these antecedents and an organization’s market orientation. The more that the NGO relies on public funding or a small number of funders the weaker the influence of the antecedents on market orientation. The more that the NGO relies on private funders, a diversified group of funders, or self-funding, the stronger the influence of the antecedents on market orientation, and the closer its understanding of market orientation is likely to be to that of a commercial entity. The article finishes with a substantive theoretical model for market orientation in the Chinese NGO context.     

Britain and EMU: Assessing the Costs in Macroeconomic Variability

Stochastic simulations are used on the Liverpool Model of the UK to assess the effect of UK euro entry on macroeconomic stability. Instability increases substantially, particularly for inflation and real interest rates. A key factor is the extent of the euro's instability against the dollar; by adopting a regional currency the UK imports this source of shocks, as well as losing its control of interest rates. The results are not highly sensitive to changes in assumptions about the degree of labour market flexibility, the use of fiscal policy, and increased convergence of monetary transmission.     

Reviewing half a century of measuring cross-cultural competence: Aligning theoretical constructs and empirical measures

We provide a comprehensive review of how cross-cultural competence (CCC) has been measured over the past half-century in order to more closely align theoretical constructs and empirical measures. Based on a content analysis of 68 academic and commercial CCC instruments and a supplemental survey of 160 experts, we review the approaches used in these instruments to conceptualize and quantify CCC, discuss their limitations, and recommend best practices and directions for future researchers and practitioners when selecting and using CCC instruments or developing new alternatives.     

资本资产定价模型有关假设的逻辑分析

资本资产定价模型 (CAPM)假设投资者具有一致预期 ,关于资本资产各项特征的判断完全相同 ,投资者会选择同一个更优的组合。这样 ,所有投资者最终会同时买入 (或卖出 )某一项资产 ,而不存在相应的卖出 (或买入 )者 ,这说明模型假设存在逻辑上的悖论。市场有效性决定了投资者不可能运用历史数据对当前和将来趋势作出准确判断 ,CAPM模型所提供的最优组合只是对过去不同时期优化值的平均 ,有关假设忽视了投资者对资本资产预期价值判断的多样性。投资者不会统一按照CAPM给出的唯一组合来选择风险资产 ,CAPM的最优投资组合可行集实际上是投资组合可能集合的前沿曲线的渐近线 ,而不是前沿曲线的切线。     

Mismeasurement of market returns

Virtually all empirical tests of the Capital Asset Pricing Model have assumed (usually implicitly) that returns of some New York Stock Exchange index measure the returns of the “market factor” without error. However, recent theoretical developments suggest that this assumption may be inappropriate. In this effort, an obverse tack is adopted — the asset pricing model is assumed correct and attention is focused on the impacts of incorrect specification of market returns. A simple errors-in-variables econometric technique is used to reevaluate the oft-cited study of Black, Jensen, and Scholes. The conclusion is reached that incorrect measurement of the market is itself an onerous and unreconciled problem which adds marked bias to tests of asset pricing mechanisms.     

The Conceptualization and Measurement of Suppliers' Reputation Display in Asymmetric Marketing Relationships

In asymmetric buyer-supplier relationships, suppliers typically possess more information about the object of an exchange. To ameliorate customers' evaluation problems, suppliers use signals to promise the delivery of a certain quality level to the market. A commonly used supplier signal in asymmetric markets is the manner in which reputation is displayed to buyers. While the marketing literature recognizes the role of reputation in structuring such asymmetric buyer-supplier relationships, relatively little research effort has been directed at the conceptualization and measurement of suppliers' reputation display. To address this gap, I adopt an interdisciplinary perspective and conceptualize suppliers' reputation display as a multi-dimensional construct. Specifically, I argue that suppliers' reputation display represents a latent consisting of three distinct dimensions; (i) specific investments, (ii) advertising intensity, and (iii) certification. The preceding conceptualization implies that reputation display signals a suppliers' past and future conduct to the marketplace. For example, by displaying certification, suppliers expect the market to infer certain firm attributes based on past actions. Likewise, suppliers' investments in advertising and specific assets may provide a signal of future honest behavior to the marketplace. I empirically validate this three factor conceptualization of reputation display by utilizing the technique of Latent Variable Structural Equations Modeling (LVSE). Empirical tests conducted on data obtained from 287 automotive service managers via mail survey support the three factor model of reputation display.     

Chinese dietary culture influences consumers' intention to use imported soy‐based dietary supplements: an application of the theory of planned behaviour

The over‐saturated dietary supplement (DS) market in developed countries such as the US spurs the need for foreign market expansion, and the Chinese market provides a great potential for the foreign soy‐based DS industry. This study examined Chinese consumers' intention to use imported (US‐made US‐brand) soy‐based DS based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Two alternative models were also examined in which Chinese dietary culture variables, including soyfoods favourability and dining‐out sociability, as well as their interactions with attitudes, were integrated into the TPB model. A cross‐sectional, self‐administered survey was conducted with a sample of 215 subjects (137 females; 78 males) in Shanghai, China. The TPB variables attitude, subjective norm, perceived behaviour control and behavioural intention, as well as the Chinese dietary culture variables: soyfoods favourability and dine‐out sociability were measured. Multiple linear regressions were used to analyze the three models. The statistical results indicated that all three models were statistically significant to predict intention (Model 1: R² = 0.473, P < 0.001; Model 2: R² = 0.505, P < 0.001; Model 3: R² = 0.525, P < 0.001). The results also showed that attitude, perceived behavioural control, and dine‐out sociability were significant (positive) determinants of intention. Soyfoods favourability acted a significant (negative) moderator of the relationship between attitude and intention. Subjective norm had no significant impact on intention. In conclusion, the TPB model was useful to predict Chinese consumers' intention to use imported soy‐based DS, but not all the TPB components weighed significantly in exploring DS consumption in China. The selected Chinese dietary culture variables were much more important predictors than subjective norm. This study makes a significant contribution in the application of the TPB model and in market strategy development for imported dietary supplements in China.     

Market orientation in the context of SMEs: A conceptual framework

A number of studies in the marketing literature have examined the construct of market orientation (MO). These studies generally show a positive link between MO and organizational performance. This paper examines MO specifically in the context of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). An in-depth review of the extant literature is used to develop a conceptual framework by exploring the major antecedents of MO, the MO–Performance relationship, and the key mediators and environmental moderators of this relationship. This paper also examines several studies on SMEs with respect to various aspects of this framework and offers suggestions for future research in order to understand more thoroughly how MO influences SME performance.     

How the poor in a developing country view business' contribution to quality-of-life 5 years after a national economic crisis

This study proposes and tests a three-step model of business' contribution to quality of life 5 years after a devastating national economic crisis in a developing country. The model incorporates both a beneficent dimension of the marketplace (represented by consumer attitude toward marketing — CATM) and a non-maleficent dimension (represented by consumer trust for market-related institutions — CTMRI). This study compares how the poor and the non-poor draw differently on these two dimensions in forming their perceptions about how business contributes to their quality of life. Beginning with the exogenous construct attitude toward changes in marketing practices since the last economic crisis (5 years ago), this study 1) proposes a causal model that introduces a first-order construct — Business' Contribution to My Quality of Life (BCM-QOL), and 2) explains how BCM-QOL serves as a mediator between marketplace perceptions of both beneficence and non-maleficence and quality of life. Results reveal differences between how the poor and the non-poor in a developing country think about the effects of market changes after an economic crisis. Consumers living below the Turkish poverty line, although not within the UN-defined ranks of the global poor (e.g., $2 per-day earnings) tend to see their place in the market in a manner similar to subsistence consumers.     

Keep it vague? New product preannouncement,regulatory focus,and word-of-mouth

This paper aims to examine the interaction between firm's new product preannouncement (NPP) strategies and consumers' regulatory foci on their WOM intention and the underlying mechanisms. In three experiments, we find that (1) the promotion-focused (prevention-focused) consumers have higher WOM intentions for vague (specific) NPP; (2) curiosity (outcome expectancy) mediates the effects of the NPP strategies on WOM intention for promotion-focused (prevention-focused) consumers; and (3) brand familiarity plays a moderating role, such that the interaction effect between NPP strategy and regulatory focus on consumers' WOM intention holds for a low-familiarity brand only. Our research contributes to a better understanding of NPP strategies and provides actionable strategic support for firms to conduct NPP.     

Testing for Unit Roots in Market Shares*

A unique characteristic of marketing data sets is the logical consistency requirement in market share models that market shares are bounded by 0 and 1, and they sum to unity. To take account of this logical consistency requirement, we propose to test for unit roots in individual market share series within the context of a market share attraction (MCI) framework. Our paper offers new contributions in testing for unit roots in market shares. First, a novel feature of our paper is that we propose a new unit root testing methodology designed to deal with the logical consistency requirement in market share models within the context of a market share attraction (MCI) framework. A second novel component of our paper is that we demonstrate how one could use the Johansen (1995) test to identify unit roots. This is implemented using Eviews software. The Johansen test is a system-based test rather than a single equation test; it is more appropriate given the dependencies in the market share relationships. Finally, we demonstrate using simulations that our procedure works well and improves substantially on the univariate Dickey-Fuller procedure. Accordingly, our procedure leads to better unit root inference than the univariate Dickey-Fuller method; the latter is not that reliable when dealing with market shares. We conclude the paper with suggestions for future research.