Product Recycle patterns for new industrial products

A diffusion model that is capable of tracking very different diffusion paths is presented. Based on this model, nine different diffusion classes are proposed. Actual data for a number of products confirm that the full flexibility of the proposed approach is necessary. That is, most classes are represented by at least one product. Possible explanations of class member-ship are proposed. More work is needed to confirm/refute these explanations.     

Getting business-to-business salespeople to implement strategies associated with introducing new products and services

Strategy implementation remains a perennial challenge for firms. While several studies have examined implementation phenomena at the firm level, we know little about what firms can do to get their salespeople to implement strategies for new products and services. Understanding salespeople's individual-level implementation is of particular importance as salespeople are the frontline employees of the firm responsible for implementing strategies with customers. Drawing from motivation, opportunity, and ability (MOA) theory, this examination investigates factors impacting the implementation of strategies associated with introducing new products and services by the salesperson. We use a sample of 277 business-to-business salespeople to test our hypothesized relationships. The findings show both positive and negative moderation among the implementation MOA variables and also provide broad support for their proposed drivers. Additionally, the identified implementation facets of responsiveness and effort are found to positively impact implementation success.     

Product innovation charters: Mission statements for new products

This article presents findings from an exploratory study into the content and impact of product innovation charters (PICs) in 86 North American corporations. The findings demonstrate that managers have some distinct preferences in terms of the items that they choose to include in a PIC and that certain components seem to be more important to mention than others. The findings also make evident the relationship that PICs have with selected performance measures. The results suggest that product innovation charters, like their mission statement 'cousins', may be of more value than most managers realize.     

Effective forms of market orientation across the business cycle: A longitudinal analysis of business-to-business firms

Macroeconomic developments, such as the business cycle, have a remarkable influence on firms and their performance. In business-to-business (B-to-B) markets characterized by a strong emphasis on long-term customer relationships, market orientation (MO) provides a particularly important safeguard for firms against fluctuating market forces. Using panel data from an economic upturn and downturn, we examine the effectiveness of different forms of MO (i.e., customer orientation, competitor orientation, interfunctional coordination, and their combinations) on firm performance in B-to-B firms. Our findings suggest that the impact of MO increases especially during a downturn, with interfunctional coordination clearly boosting firm performance and, conversely, competitor orientation becoming even detrimental. The findings further indicate that both the role of MO and its most effective forms vary across industry sectors, MO having a particularly strong impact on performance among B-to-B service firms. The findings of our study provide guidelines for executives to better manage performance across the business cycle and tailor their investments in MO more effectively, according to the firm's specific industry sector.     

Product selection for newsboy-type products with normal demands and unequal costs

In this paper, we consider two newsboy-type products with unequal prices and costs. Both demands are independent and follow normal distributions with unknown parameters μ and σ. We study the product selection problem which deals with comparing two products and selecting the one that has a significantly higher profitability, in which the profitability is defined to the probability of achieving a target profit under the optimal ordering policy. The statistical hypothesis testing methodology is performed to tackle this selection problem. Critical value of the test is calculated to determine the selection decision. Sample size required for a designated power and confidence level is also investigated. An application example on comparing English-teaching magazines is presented to illustrate the practicality of our approach.     

How to develop great conceptual frameworks for business-to-business marketing

Robust conceptual frameworks are essential to building academic knowledge. Theory development involves high-quality conceptualization that integrates and builds on existing knowledge, possibly using a multi-disciplinary approach. Further, especially in an applied research area such as business-to-business marketing, the emerging theory will have meaningful implications for managerial decision-makers. Insightful conceptual framework development advances theory substantially, not incrementally. Theoretical development can be either purely conceptual or based on empirical data. Nevertheless, there are comparatively few guidelines for the process of conceptual framework development. This editorial discusses pathways to developing conceptual frameworks to support academic research, with emphasis on business-to-business marketing research. As guidelines and conventions are available for data-driven approaches such as grounded theory, we focus on theorizing processes in which existing theory plays a pivotal role.     

Sustainability research in business-to-business markets: An agenda for inquiry

Corporate interest in the topic of sustainability has increased in prominence. Most of the research on sustainability has a business-to-consumer focus, with limited research emphasizing sustainability in the context of business-to-business marketing. The paper examines research on sustainability, published in the journal Industrial Marketing Management, where thirty-eight articles have appeared in the past twenty-seven years, the majority on supply-chain research. Research on sustainability in business-to-business markets is sparse, and some of the fundamental research questions in this area have gone unaddressed. This paper addresses three interrelated research issues associated with sustainability in business-to-business markets. First, what research is available to researchers and practitioners? Second, what framework can be used to examine sustainability research in business-to-business markets? Third, what subareas of sustainability research need focus and deeper examination, and what are the associated research questions? Overall, the findings from this paper suggest the need for additional research in the area because of its substantial implications for theory, research, and practice.     

The development and diffusion of customer relationship management (CRM) intelligence in business-to-business environments

CRM data is among the most important and comprehensive information available to management in many organizations. This is particularly the case in business-to-business marketing, where the firm's extended working relationship with its customers is frequently crucial for the maintenance of a healthy business. However, in many instances management has treated CRM data as highly specific to its client relationships and has therefore neglected to analyze this information across market segments, customer categories, and customer–firm relationship forms in order to draw meaningful conclusions for driving business decisions.     

A framework for offshoring marketing processes in business-to-business marketing relationships

Outsourcing has been a prominent aspect of business strategies in the last three decades. Outsourcing of manufacturing processes is now complemented with outsourcing of various marketing process as well. More importantly, outsourcing to foreign locations — offshoring — has increased for marketing processes in recent years. In this context, the present paper develops a model that identifies the types of marketing interactions and processes that can be offshored in business-to-business markets. We suggest that the decision to offshore marketing processes and interactions depend upon the interaction process that is preferred and the importance of interaction process itself. Marketing interactions that are not critically important and/or those that can be performed through technology can be easily offshored. However, other marketing processes need to be examined in depth before being offshored. Implications for research and practice in the area of offshoring, as well as in the broader area of outsourcing, are also highlighted.     

Impact of outsourcing on business-to-business marketing: An agenda for inquiry

Increasing globalization has made companies focus more on their outsourcing decisions. Moving beyond the tactical companies have begun to incorporate outsourcing as a strategic weapon in their armory. This article expands on this theme by highlighting the need for understanding this key issue from business marketing and sales perspective and pointing to some interesting research issues on the topic. The article also introduces this special issue, briefly discusses the six special issue articles and provides a framework that integrates their contributions to our understanding of strategic outsourcing.     

Knowledge refinement for aircraft design and other processes with long cycle time

This paper is concerned with possible technical processes for collecting and refining knowledge and expertise within the Research and Development and Production and Support functions in the aircraft industry. It is also concerned with processes for facilitating the use of stored knowledge and expertise in providing for example continuity of good practice. Features of humans as processors of information, which will influence the collection and use of relevant knowledge and experience, are considered. The feasibility of 'solving' information processing problems with currently available techniques and hardware and software products is assessed. Indications are given of the kinds of developments that seem to be needed in the context of aircraft design and other activities considered in this paper. Human privacy considerations are identified as a possible problem and are discussed briefly.     

Driving-market or market-driven? A case study analysis of the new product development practices of Chinese business-to-business firms

Our current understanding of NPD processes among Chinese firms is limited. Early evidence suggests that the drivers of new product success in the PRC might be different to those in the West. Much of the more recent (Western) literature implicitly identifies the importance of both driving-market and market-driven approaches to NPD success, although what this translates into in practice is less clear. Drawing on multiple case studies, we identify four types of NPD practice in Chinese B2B firms and explore the reasons for variation in performance between the four. Critically, the most successful firms were found to be those characterised by a driving-market approach, rather than those relying solely on relationships and reacting to changing market phenomena.     

资源循环利用与矿区循环经济发展

文章从理论和实践两个方面证明和阐述了资源循环利用是矿区发展循环经济的有效途径,进而从矿区生态背景调查与分析入手,提出纵向主导产业链设计和横向耦合共生产业链构建的方法,最终形成矿区资源循环利用产业网状体系,从而达到既提高经济效益又从根本上改善生态环境的"双赢"目的。     

Behavioral issues in price setting in business-to-business marketing: A framework for analysis

Business-to-business pricing research has often focused on developing rational and normative frameworks and models for pricing issues, strategies and tactics. However, there has been less attention given to behavioral models that help us understand the realities of pricing and how managers actually set prices. Specifically, there has been less attention given to the various individual and group influences on the price setting process. We apply insights from a steadily increasing body of literature on behavioral decision making to identify some relevant behavioral issues that may affect managerial price setting processes in business-to-business contexts. We conclude with some implications for theory building and practice and an agenda for future research.     

Developing e-commerce marketing capabilities and efficiencies for enhanced performance in business-to-business export ventures

This study builds on resource based view (RBV) theory by examining the effects of e-commerce on exporting performance. Specifically, a framework is developed and tested to determine the e-commerce resources/capabilities–marketing efficiencies–performance relationship. To explore the impact of e-commerce on exporting, a two-stage methodological approach was employed. Results from 15 depth interviews with exporters were used to gain insight into types of e-commerce resources and capabilities and their impact on export marketing efficiencies and performance. Next, the framework was empirically tested using a sample of 340 exporters. The evidence shows that specialized e-commerce marketing capabilities directly increase a firm's degree of distribution and communication efficiency, which in turn leads to enhanced export venture market performance. Overall, the analyses provide support for the need to incorporate e-commerce constructs into existing RBV theory in export marketing. Theoretical and managerial contributions are discussed and directions for future research are offered.     

Corporate brand strategy formation: Brand actors and the situational context for a business-to-business brand

Prior literature on corporate branding in the business-to-business (B2B) context fails to provide insight into the dynamics of corporate brand strategy formation, despite the critical need for industrial organizations to move beyond a traditional understanding of brands. This article examines the corporate brand strategy formation of a European-based industrial organization by drawing on strategy-as-practice research and thereby identifying the brand actors who participate in corporate brand strategy formation, the construction of manifestations that subject the brand values to experience, and the situational context—all within a single, ongoing, recursive interaction process.     

光致变包材料助玩具制造走出低层次

有机光致变色材料是近年来国际上新出现的一类新型功能材料,它不仅已在高科技领域得到应用,而且在民用行业也崭露头角。我国在有机光致变色材料方面的研究,已能小批量生产有机光致变色涂料和染料。     

Product development strategies for established market pioneers,early followers,and late entrants

At the time of entry, market pioneers are known for emphasizing major product development projects. After being in the market for many years, however, do market pioneers, early followers, and late entrants maintain different product development strategies? Data from 2273 established manufacturing businesses reveal that market pioneers have the highest probability of engaging in product development, which covers product R&D spending as well as new product sales. Even so, market pioneers and early followers tend to emphasize minor projects, such as product improvements and line extensions. Late entrants are less likely to engage in product development, but those that do tend to emphasize major development efforts. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A classification of business-to-business buying decisions: risk importance and probability as a framework for e-business benefits

Business-to-business (B2B) markets have been considered an attractive e-business venue for the realization of cost reduction and exchange creation utilities. However, as marketers have long argued, there are different types of buying situations, and the benefits sought in each may vary substantially. The present work builds on the thinking of previous industrial buying typologies by integrating perceived risk concepts into the business buying decision. Specifically, we develop a classification grid of industrial buying situations and then explicitly link likely e-business benefits to the various situations. The proposed framework holds implications for management and research related to supply chain relationships.