Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing Part I: Subject Listing

The Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing (JBBM), an important thematic journal within the field of marketing, serves as a vital venue for both academicians and practitioners interested in business-to-business marketing phenomena. Articles cover a broad spectrum of topics related to business marketing management. A subject-based listing classifies these articles into sixteen categories according to their key research issues. Those categories are: Advertising and Communication, Brand Management, Buyer-Seller Dyad and Relationships, Channels, Customer Relationships, Education, International Issues, Literature Reviews, Methodology, Networks and Strategic Alliances, Organizational Buying Behavior, Pricing and Value, Product Development, Segmentation, Selling and Salesforce Management, and Technology. After the subject listing, titles and abstracts of all articles appearing in the first fifteen volumes of JBBM are listed in volume/issue order. We hope that this index will provide a useful tool for academicians and practitioners who are interested in business-to-business marketing research     

基于企业营销能力的营销组织创新研究

本文认为,随着消费者需求的个性化与多样化、市场的国际化与微型化、信息技术的高速发展及市场竞争的日益激烈,企业的营销能力已超越生产能力和研发能力成为最重要的企业能力,而企业营销能力的高低取决于企业营销组织的合理性。要提高企业营销能力,必须构建适应环境、符合企业发展战略的营销组织,通过营销组织创新,建立市场驱动型的企业组织,培育、维护和更新企业可持续的竞争优势。当前营销组织创新的重点是营销组织概念创新、营销组织结构创新、营销流程创新、营销沟通创新及营销组织绩效考核创新。     

The Earth Is Flat,Almost: Measuring Marketing Standardization and Profit Performance of Japanese and U.S. Firms

ABSTRACT

Globalization has fostered greater interest in all aspects of standardization theory, including the four Ps (product, price, place [distribution], and promotion) of the marketing mix. The study researches the firm's strategy of marketing standardization as it correlates to the firm's profit. Multinational firms from Japan and the United States operating in a global environment were studied in order to correlate marketing standardization to profit performance. The results indicate there is increasing support for a strategy of standardizing marketing mix components and contributing to a firm's profit performance.     

Conceptualization and Integration of Marketing Intelligence: The Case of an Industrial Manufacturer

Purpose: The primary goal of this article was to conceptualize a systematic marketing intelligence process for industrial manufacturers because, up until now, such concepts have only been focused on consumer goods settings. Hence, this article investigates how marketing intelligence activities are developed and managed effectively in industrial markets.

Methodology/approach: The authors conducted a case study of Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen, a German based manufacturer of regulation technology for power transformers.

Findings: We found that a systematic marketing intelligence process should be based on the resource- and market-based view of strategy as well as on the market orientation construct. When implementing marketing intelligence, the integration of the sales force within the whole process is the crucial lever for an industrial company. The formalization of the process is necessary to ensure its continuity and acceptance; however, the varying intensity allows the necessary flexibility of the process.

Research implications: The constraints of the decisive process steps of marketing intelligence have to be further enhanced for industrial markets. It is important to find out how the integration of the sales force can best be designed to incorporate reward systems and motivation structures, and how to establish a corporate marketing-minded culture throughout the organization.

Practical implications: The important steps for a well implemented marketing intelligence process are a preparation phase, followed by the gathering, analysis, and dissemination of information. This article highlights the success factors for each process step. Above all, managerial and organizational commitment is necessary for the implementation of the whole process.

Originality/value/contribution: By focusing on the industrial manufacturing business, this study provides deep insights into a neglected area of research. Light needs to be shed on marketing intelligence in industrial markets, where the lack of traditional market research has to be compensated.     

Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing Part III: JBBM Book Reviews

A total of 143 books were reviewed over the period 1993–2008 in the Book Review section of the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing. The books encompassed a broad array of topics, including the basic marketing mix elements of business-to-business marketing, purchasing, buyer-seller relationships, global marketing, Internet and e-commerce, organization studies, research methodology, strategy and general management, and education. During this period, five review essays provided thematic and comparative evaluations of a set of books.

This cumulative index is divided into two sections. The first provides a subject listing of books reviewed and the second is a chronological listing. All book reviews are located at the end of each issue of the journal.     

Antecedents and Consequences of Perceived Importance of Ethics in Marketing Situations: A Study of Thai Businesspeople

Building on an existing framework concerning ethical intention, this research explores how Thai business people perceive the importance of ethics in various scenarios. This study investigates the relative influences of personal characteristics and the organizational environment underlying the Thai business people’s ethical perception. Corporate ethical values and idealism are shown to positively influence a Thai manager’s perceptions about the importance of ethics. While their ability to perceive the existence of an ethical problem is negatively influenced by relativism, it is positively impacted by their existing perceptions about the importance of ethics. Results also suggest positive relationships between perceived importance of ethics and perceived ethical problems with ethical intention. These results extend research in understanding the relationship between the antecedents and consequences of perceived importance of ethics within an economically growing non-Western culture.     

前瞻型环境战略对企业绿色创新绩效的影响研究--绿色智力资本与吸收能力的链式中介作用

近年来,将环境问题置于企业战略层面已得到普遍认同,绿色创新是我国经济新常态下解决环境问题实现可持续发展的关键。基于自然资源基础观理论、知识管理理论和吸收能力理论,本文对长三角地区249家制造业企业进行实证研究,验证前瞻型环境战略对绿色创新绩效的作用过程与影响机理。实证结果表明,制定前瞻型环境战略的企业可以通过积累绿色智力资本和增强吸收能力来提高企业绿色创新绩效。通过Bootstrap检验发现,绿色智力资本对吸收能力有积极影响,二者在前瞻型环境战略与绿色创新绩效间有链式中介作用,并在对比中发现链式中介效应与单独中介效应具有显著差异。研究为企业制定环境战略和提高绿色创新绩效提供了理论指导与管理启示。     

Customer Participation and Project Performance: The Mediating Role of Knowledge Sharing in the Chinese Telecommunication Service Industry

Purpose: Extant literature has devoted more attention to customer value co-creation and knowledge sharing, not only in business-to-customer (B2C) markets, but also in business-to-business (B2B) markets. This study explores and examines the antecedents and consequences of customer knowledge sharing in the context of B2B markets by applying the motivation-opportunity-ability (MOA) framework.

Methodology/Approach: This empirical study involves two structured surveys of project managers from both suppliers (n = 213) and customers (n = 312), which were conducted in the context of the Chinese telecommunication service industry. The conceptual model of this study was subsequently tested by developing Partial Least Squares (PLS) based structural equation models.

Findings: It was found that customer knowledge sharing is facilitated by four MOA factors: customer orientation, customer perceived benefits, customer socialization, and customer technological capability. It was determined that knowledge sharing has a direct and significant effect on project performance. Furthermore, the study revealed that such relationships vary across suppliers and customers.

Research Implications: This study extends the existing research stream of interfirm knowledge sharing by examining the antecedents and consequences of customer knowledge sharing from dual perspectives of customers and suppliers, and sheds light on the benefits of customer knowledge sharing. The dyadic perspective embodied in this design facilitates our understanding and management of knowledge sharing between organizations.

Originality/Value/Contribution: This article provides an important contribution to the existing literature of customer knowledge sharing by revealing how to effectively facilitate interorganizational knowledge sharing, particularly knowledge from customers to suppliers, and discovers conditions under which customers are more likely to exchange information, and share knowledge with their suppliers from the dyadic perspective.     

High Performance Firms in a Complex New China

SUMMARY

A study published in the Journal of Global Marketing(Deshpandé and Farley 2000) found that, for a representative sample of Shanghai firms competing in business-to-business markets, success was related to innovativeness, a high level of market orientation, and outward-oriented organizational cultures and climates. Because of the great cultural diversity of China, questions were raised at that time and subsequently as to whether these results generalize to other parts of China. To the extent that the Shanghai results do generalize, the development of a more general strategy for dealing with Chinese business-to-business markets will be feasible. We compare organizational cultures and personal values of managers in representative samples of firms in six Chinese cities. There are indeed systematic differences among the cities- Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Shenzhen and Wuxi. Shanghai firms seem the best-positioned for transformation to a more market-oriented economy in terms of innovativeness and market orientation. There are also some differences among State-Owned Enterprises, Joint Ventures, Village-Based Enterprises and Wholly-Owned Foreign Subsidiaries. There are, however, clear patterns of similar response among firms which perform well in terms of high levels of innovativeness and market orientation, plus organizational cultures relatively open to outside influences. All kinds of firms seem to draw their managers from a pool of people who hold much the same kinds of values.     

企业营销创新中真实型领导与创新绩效的关系研究

本文在相关文献研究与实际调研的基础上,建立了企业营销创新中包含真实型领导、组织氛围、隐性知识共享以及创新绩效之间相互关系的结构方程模型,并以246家企业为样本对其进行了实证检验。研究发现,企业营销创新中真实型领导对组织氛围和隐性知识共享有正向的显著影响,组织氛围对隐性知识共享有正向的显著影响,组织氛围和隐性知识共享对创新绩效有正向的显著影响,组织氛围及隐性知识共享在真实型领导和创新绩效之间发挥了完全的中介作用。这一结论进一步丰富了真实型领导理论,为企业真实型领导的实施提供了一种新思路。     

市场营销物流及其技术应用

文章指出,市场营销物流管理对于创造企业竞争价值具有重要战略意义。为实现生产物流和营销物流的无缝连接,文章提出,应将计算机技术、统计学和运筹学管理方法应用到营销物流过程中,打破生产和营销组织的边界,将以功能为核心的组织结构转变为以流程为核心的组织结构;建立一体化的物流业务流程,实现信息的实时共享及业务规划的动态调整;使供应链和营销服务链协调统一,为顾客提供最优价值链;建立服务响应物流,为顾客提供高效良好的服务。     

A Taxonomic Analysis of Export Marketing Strategy:

This study focused on a taxonomic analysis of export marketing strategy pursued by U.S. electronics exporters, and identified six distinct strategy types, i.e., innovative differentiation, low price leadership, promotion- and technology-based differentiation, low price leadership with deemphasis on technology, marketing differntiation with product adaptation, and "stuck in the middle." The study also identified the significant impact of export marketing strategy on export performance. Two strategy types, i.e., low price leadership and innovative differentiation, were found to be particularly successful.     

技术与营销的创新整合途径

根据企业的发展阶段、需求与技术的生命周期、产品的生命周期等特点,对技术、营销、创新等要素进行不同的选择性组合,初步提出了技术+营销,技术+营销创新,技术创新+营销,技术创新+营销创新的整合途径。提高企业核心竞争力。     

Effects of Network Embeddedness on the Relationship Between Environmental Volatility and Interfirm Contracts

Purpose: This study examines the effects of an embedded network on the contractual relationship between exchange parties under conditions reflecting varying levels of environmental volatility and investigates the role of an important network factor—the embedded network—in the contractual relationship between manufacturers and their suppliers.

Methodology: The empirical test was conducted with manufacturing companies in the context of manufacturer–supplier relationships. Construct measures were based on existing measures and previous research. Measurement reliability and validity were established using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and an overall measurement model was assessed with structural equation modeling using LISREL.

Findings: The results of a survey of manufacturers indicate that firms in an embedded network preferred “soft” contracts even when they face volatile environments, whereas those facing volatile environments in a less embedded network preferred “hard” contracts with explicitly specified written requirements. Network partners carefully evaluated embedded networks (a critical factor that has not received enough attention) before forming contractual relationships in a network perceiving interfirm relationships differently.

Originality: The study introduces network embeddedness to explain governance mechanisms in volatile environments and shows that the explicit recognition of embedded network may facilitate the development of contracts with specific provisions as the contractual relationship evolves.     

A Commentary on Business Marketing: A Twenty Year Review and an Invitation for Continued Dialogue

ABSTRACT

This article is a commentary on the literature review conducted by Reid and Plank. The objective of the paper is to both critique and complement the review and to provide a forum for debate as to the future direction of research in business-to-business (B2B) marketing research. The paper begins with a challenge to the reader to think beyond the traditional role of B2B marketing and think about how future B2B research could be more relevant and more strategic in focus. The concept of the new competition is offered as a framework for presenting future research issues. The new competition converges on the role of the extended enterprise as the reference point for thinking about competitive forces in a global marketplace. The implications for B2B marketers are discussed.     

基于创新系统理论的中小企业技术创新支持体系

依据创新系统的结构和特征,构建基于创新系统理论的中小企业技术创新支持体系的设想。完善的中小企业技术创新支持体系应由法律支持体系、联合创新的政策支持体系、技术创新服务支持体系、金融支持体系、财政税收支持体系等构成。     

Realised absorptive capacity,technology acquisition and performance in international collaborative formations: an empirical examination in the Korean context

The research objectives of this paper are twofold. First, it attempts to identify the critical factors facilitating the acquisition of technology from foreign partner firms and performance enhancement in international collaborative formations. Second, it compares these factors across Western and Japanese sub-samples. A new concept, realised absorptive capacity, is employed to achieve these objectives. Using a sample collected through a questionnaire-based survey, our results show that trust and communication are critical components in transforming new knowledge, while active managerial involvement of the foreign firm and the participation of foreign expatriates are the keys to applying it for business operations. In particular, components consisting of the ability to exploit new knowledge (i.e. active managerial involvement of foreign firm, participation of foreign expatriates and provision of training) are closely associated with performance enhancement. In addition, our results confirm that there clearly exist different patterns of learning mechanisms and incompatible behaviours in improving performance between the two sub-samples. Based on the results, the authors suggest implications and future research avenues.     

论我国产业结构升级与技术创新

我国产业结构技术水平偏低 ,高加工度化程度低 ,不利于经济发展和经济增长方式的根本转变。从我国产业结构现状和特点的分析入手 ,看影响我国产业结构升级的制约因素。在此基础上 ,从战略高度找出我国产业结构升级的目标和关键。     

Idea Logics and Network Theory in Business Marketing

ABSTRACT

We argue that the model of relationships and networks proposed by the IMP group in terms of actors, activities and resources (AAR), which forms the basis of much IMP research, needs to be extended to incorporate a fourth dimension of relations and networks, namely that of ideas or schemas. These schemas are the way managers make sense of their world and the interactions taking place with other organizations and represent a different kind of dynamical force shaping relationship and network development. We use an extended longitudinal case study to illustrate the role of firms' schemas in shaping the evolution of a business network and consider the research and management implications arising from this additional network dimension.