Customer information resources advantage,marketing strategy and business performance: A market resources based view

Chief among a firm's market-based resources are its relational resources such as brand equity, customer equity and channel equity that result from its interactions with customers and marketing intermediaries, and intellectual resources – accumulated knowledge about entities in the market environment such as consumers, end use and intermediate customers and competitors. In the evolving digital data rich market environment, customer-based resources, a subset of a firm's market-based resources, are becoming increasingly important as potential sources of competitive advantage. Customer information assets refer to information of economic value about customers owned by a firm. Information analysis capabilities are complex bundles of skills and knowledge embedded in a firm's organizational processes employed to generate customer knowledge from customer information assets. Customer insights or knowledge is a firm's extent of understanding of customers that informs its business decisions. Building on the resource-based, capabilities-based and knowledge-based views of the firm, resource advantage theory of competition, and the outside-in and inside-out approaches to strategy, this article presents a market resources-based view of strategy, competitive advantage and performance. The article presents a framework delineating the relationship between a firm's customer information based resources, marketing strategy and performance, and discusses implications for theory, research and practice.     

Customer approaches to product development with suppliers

It has long been accepted that a realistic view of what happens between customer companies and their suppliers cannot be achieved by examining single purchases alone. Instead, a single purchase can only be understood as part of a supplier-customer relationship which both affects and is affected by it. Also in business markets, a customer's purchase behaviour is not simply a passive response to the marketing actions of a supplier, but part of the interaction between an active customer and supplier. A major element in this interaction is likely to arise from the efforts of the customer to develop its own products interactively with a network of suppliers. This paper reports on a study into the ways in which customers employ the skills of their network of suppliers and attempt to direct that network in product development projects. The paper suggests that customers are likely to use either of two alternative strategies for product development, that we term “network delegation” and “network intervention”. The paper draws on four in-depth case studies to highlight the types of situation where customers are most likely to employ each of these strategies and draws conclusions for marketers about the implications of each approach.     

Management of development projects: how to meet corporate business goals?

Two contradictory elements affect development projects in the modern era. New advanced development projects require huge resources and long schedules. On the other hand, the resources available for development projects are decreasing, and intensive competition between companies results in increased required performance and new products which must be developed with short schedules. Development projects have a significant effect on a company's business goals, and therefore attract the attention of corporate managers. A significant part of managers' time is devoted to the control of development projects. Support tools are therefore developed and used to assist managers in controlling their projects. This paper describes a control tool to help managers make decisions on development projects. The tool described is based on Microsoft's 'Project' software package, and was developed in-house. The package performs real-time calculations and simultaneously presents several control parameters. These parameters provide a comprehensive picture of project status. The major benefits of the control tools described are: (1) The 'Project' package provides the ability to work with small and combined work packages. It allows attention to be focused on small programs as well as on entire programs. (2) It complies fully with modern decentralised computer systems consisting of a central computer, local computerised networks, parallel PCs and work stations. It provides an interactive quick response ability to follow changes in project status, which result from design changes or progress updates. The control system was implemented by RAFAEL's Missiles Division two years ago, and impressive results in terms of project efficiency were achieved. These achievements play a major role in meeting the Division's business goals. The control tools described are general and can fit a large variety of projects and companies.     

Videotex for news and business data: Comparison of user response to two information retrieval applications

An empirical comparison of user response to two information services offered by a prototype videotex system indicated that the business (ie farm market data) service was rated as more efficient and that users browsed more in that service than in the consumer (ie news) service. Further, both efficiency ratings and amount of browsing were more strongly correlated with amount of service use, ratings of service value and ratings of dependence upon the service for the business service than for the consumer service. Browsing thus seems to be a utitarian surveillance behaviour rather than a communication play behaviour in this setting.     

Executive preferences for governance modes and exchange partners: An information economics perspective

This study investigates how executives address information asymmetry and adverse selection surrounding international joint ventures (IJVs) and acquisitions. We argue that executives can address such exchange hazards not only through their governance decisions, as prior research indicates, but also through their selection of exchange partners. Our experimental design complements prior research on firms' governance choices in three ways: (1) by incorporating multiple potential exchange partners rather than taking a single partner as given for a realized transaction; (2) by accommodating multiple potential entry modes to address interdependencies across governance structures; and (3) by providing direct evidence on executives' assessments of IJVs and acquisitions. We join together organizational governance research and decision‐making research on IJV partner selection, two literatures that have largely developed separately. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Customer participation in knowledge intensive business services: Perceived value outcomes from a dyadic perspective

Knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) are considered a cornerstone of contemporary developed economies. Successful production and delivery of these services, and thus their perceived value outcomes, highly depend on customer participation (CP) in the service processes. However, the extant understanding of the perceived value outcomes of CP, which is crucial to the appropriate inducement and integration of organizational resources in service processes, is limited. Through the exploratory investigation of three dyadic cases, each comprising one customer and one service provider organization engaged in a knowledge-based service project, this study addressed this crucial topic. Results indicated four categories of perceived value outcomes emerged through CP: functional, economic, relational, and strategic values. The study provides insights on the evolution of value perceptions over time, the individual value components within each value category, and perceptual similarities and differences between customer and provider organizations. Further, these results indicate that various value outcomes of CP receive divergent levels of attention from personnel in different organizational hierarchies. The paper provides useful and applicable suggestions for managers, especially in the context of technology-based KIBS and solutions.     

构建和谐企业与企业生存发展

当代的市场经济要求企业同时履行经济效益、社会、环境保护三大责任,与利益相关者和谐共融、合作共赢,推进社会进步发展.企业能否持续生存与发展,决定因素在于能否建立有凝聚力的和谐、共进、融洽的内部关系,建立能够不断自我完善、适应生存环境变化、易于与环境相融合、有很强持续发展能力的企业内部体系.构建和谐企业是企业基本形态、功能定位、管理方式、基础建设、企业文化、整体素质的全面升华与本质性变革.构建和谐企业是以培育了大庆精神的中国石油为代表的当代国有大型企业的历史责任,也是全面提升企业素质、寻求企业自身持续发展的历史机遇.     

Information systems in fast cycle development: identifying user needs in integrated automotive component development

Product development literature strongly emphasizes the need for open communication between suppliers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). There is a widespread expectation that computer-aided communication networks will enable organizational members to work more flexibly, to share knowledge and competencies, and to span functional and company boundaries. However, few studies merge the possibilities of new information technologies and the operational needs of specific groups of users, for example product development engineers. The research reported in this paper aims to fill that gap. Through in-depth case studies of two development projects involving one auto OEM, one of its systems suppliers (working directly with the OEM) and five medium-sized expert suppliers (working either directly with the OEM or through the systems supplier), we identify three groups of user needs that are not currently satisfied by existing information system solutions: improvement of coordination and communication; enhancement of the access to new technological information; and support for the development of an organizational memory. We then explore what kind of information systems might help satisfy the above-mentioned needs. Potential barriers to efficient implementation of information systems in terms of the motivation of people using the systems, the reliability of the information, and the willingness to render information more transparent are discussed. It is concluded that when implementing information systems to support operational development work, it is essential to ground the system specification in clearly identified user needs that reflect the double nature of product engineering, namely the continuous interplay between routines and cognitive processes.     

Interpreting and responding to strategic issues: The impact of national culture

Perceptions of environmental uncertainty and organizational control influence strategic behavior. As national culture influences these perceptions we expect to find cultural differences in interpretation and response to strategic issues. Given a case describing an issue concerning deregulation of the U.S. banking industry, managers completed questionnaires rating interpretations and responses to that issue. National culture was found to influence interpretation and responses. In particular, Latin European managers when compared with other managers were more likely to interpret the issue as a crisis and as a threat. Latin Europeans were also more likely to recommend proactive behavior. This study indicates that different cultures are likely to interpret and respond to the same strategic issue in different ways. These differences may help to explain and predict different responses of European countries to ‘1992’.     

Strategic flexibility, rigidity and barriers to the development of absorptive capacity in business markets: Themes and research perspectives

The marketing and strategy literature hail strategic flexibility as a key success factor in creating continuously customer value and generating competitive advantage. However, empirical evidence indicates that rigidity in market strategies and actions is more the rule than the exception in organizations. The focus of this special issue is on better understanding rigidity and flexibility in business markets. This lead article seeks to elaborate on why companies face rigidity and how they can create flexibility. To do this, we relate rigidity in organizations to the concepts of dominant logic, industry recipe and persistence. The case illustrations highlight barriers to the development of absorptive capacity in business organizations. Identifying such barriers is a first step in better understanding how companies can remain agile and flexible in demanding and fast changing markets. The paper then proceeds with a brief introduction to the other contributions of this special issue and concludes with a research agenda.     

Measuring business model innovation: conceptualization,scale development,and proof of performance

Business model innovation is a topic that has received much attention from academia as well as from business practice. After extensive research on the definition and conceptualization of the concept and publication of many case-based results, recently scholars have been calling for more generalizable results, large-scale investigations and greater empirical sophistication. Despite the great importance of measuring business model innovation for various purposes, a validated measurement scale is still not available. I fill this gap by systematically developing a new scale for business model innovation. I follow a rigorous scale development approach to ensure validity and reliability. Specifically, I collected two large-scale samples of 126 and 232 firms to specify and assess the scale. As a result, I provide a hierarchical three-level scale for measuring business model innovation. At the first level, 41 reflective items are provided to measure ten subconstructs of business model innovation. These can be used as formative measures of three dimensions of business model innovation at the second level, namely value creation innovation, value proposition innovation and value capture innovation. At the third level, these three dimensions form the metaconstruct of business model innovation.     

Buyer animosity in business to business markets: Evidence from the French nuclear tests

Academic studies of buyer reaction to unpopular political events in the country of origin of products have focused on consumer markets. This paper aims to extend Klein, Ettenson and Morris' [Klein, J., Ettenson, R., & Morris, M. (1998). The animosity model of foreign product purchase: An empirical test in the People's Republic of China. Journal of Marketing, 62(1), 89-101] concept of consumer animosity to industrial markets by comparing industrial and consumer buyer reaction to the nuclear tests conducted by France in the Pacific in the mid-1990s. It investigates whether firms in the B2B sector were affected more than those in B2C markets, whether entry mode was significant, and examines the way in which firms in the two market sectors responded. The results show that buyer animosity was less pronounced in industrial than in consumer markets. They also show that entry mode can influence the experience of animosity.     

Data networks for business and government: Effective decision making with shared information — the Canadian approach

The author describes a hierarchical computer communications network designed, implemented, operated and controlled by an organization which is itself structured as a levelized network. The network design facilitates dissemination of decision making material collected at the point of action as a by product of transaction processing.     

Anticipated regret and escalation of commitment to failing,new product development projects in business markets

Escalation of commitment, defined as the continuation in a failing course of action, is a persistent problem for decision makers in business markets, especially those involved in new product development (NPD). To address this issue, we use Anticipated Regret Theory to develop a model and then empirically test it to demonstrate how forward-looking emotions can lead decision makers to continue failing NPD projects in business-to-business (B2B) markets. We recognize that there are two countervailing types of anticipated regret (i.e., keep regret and drop regret) and test both in our model by adopting a mixed-methods empirical approach. In a quantitative study, a total of 280 subjects completed a NPD decision-making exercise in which various antecedents of persistence with a losing new, business-to-business NPD project were examined. The results suggest that anticipated drop regret plays a significant role in commitment to a failing course of action, whereas anticipated keep regret actually reduces commitment. In a second, qualitative study, twenty experienced NPD professionals operating in high-technology, B2B markets were interviewed either in-person or by telephone. The results suggest that anticipated drop regret is a more serious problem than anticipated keep regret, supporting the quantitative study.     

APPLE: A dynamic financial simulation of research and development in a technologically based business

This paper describes the present state of development of an abstract, dynamic, financial model of industrial research and development called APPLE. The concept, structure and application of APPLE as a practical tool are presented. The application of APPLE to help strategic planning and to increase understanding of the nature, influence and role of research and development is described.     

Product development in the chemical industry: A description of a maturing business

To help us understand the massive complexity of the chemical industry, Robert A. Linn breaks it down into product/market sectors that show differing business requirements, and hence, differing new product development requirements. This is an important industry that has struggled through the 1970s with sharp changes in external pressures and very little technological excitement. Where are the new product opportunities in an industry such as this? How do you pursue them? On the basis of his years of experience in the industry, Linn offers some suggestions and some challenges for managers.     

Customer response to dissatisfaction: A synthesis of literature and conceptual framework

Business-to-business customers who are dissatisfied with services or products may respond by voicing complaints, by exiting the transaction relationships, by spreading negative word-of-mouth (WOM) about their experiences, and/or by continuing the transactional relationships as they are. The authors synthesize extant customer (dis)satisfaction response behaviors in the organizational buyer behavior literature, and discuss within-firm and third-party recipients of voicing and negative WOM. A model of customer response behavior is disclosed featuring possible influences of exit, voice, loyalty, and negative WOM: number of alternative suppliers, past complaint response behavior, number of years in relationship, and type of purchase. Propositions are provided on the effects of influence variables on response behavior relationships.