Information Use in New Product Development: An Initial Exploratory Empirical Investigation in the Chemical Industry*

In‐depth interviews with product developers and product development software providers in a previous qualitative phase of research uncovered eight general types of information that are used across the new product development process (strategic, project management, financial, market and customer, wants and needs, technical, competitor, and regulatory information) and three general approaches to managing information in the process (project‐centric, functionally oriented, and fully distributed). This paper presents a second phase of research trying to understand the role that managing knowledge and information plays in developing new products and achieving NPD success. This research phase empirically investigates use of the eight types of information across three general phases of the NPD process in the chemical industry using 81 mail survey responses from marketing and new product development professionals. Respondents were asked to indicate the degree to which each of the eight information types was used in each of the following general phases of new product development: the fuzzy front end, development, and testing and launch. The respondents also provided information on new product development success, information management system sophistication, and innovation strategy. This research makes several contributions to new knowledge. First, this research suggests that information management in product development is even more complex than initially posited in Zahay et al. (2004) , with each of the eight types of information identified being used in each of the three phases of development. Unexpectedly, for all but one type of information use is higher in later stages of the NPD process, even though use of several kinds of information early in the project is associated with increased success. Thus, managers may need to encourage teams to start gathering information from outside the firm earlier than is currently the norm. Second, the results suggest that more sophisticated information management systems are indeed associated with increased use of various different types of information, as expected. Third, more sophisticated information management systems are more highly associated with success than less sophisticated information management systems. These results are important, as most new product development information management systems are limited in their ability to handle complex and non‐quantitative information such as customer wants and needs, as well as strategic, competitor, and regulatory information. However, being able to transmit information on these issues is associated with increased firm performance and project success from these data. Thus, firms need to figure out how to improve their ability to manage and use non‐quantitative information more effectively.     

Company Support for Employee Volunteering: A National Survey of Companies in Canada

Company support for employee volunteerism (CSEV) benefits companies, employees, and society while helping companies meet the expectations of corporate social responsibility (CSR). A nationally representative telephone survey of 990 Canadian companies examined CSEV through the lens of Porter and Kramer’s (2006, ‘Strategy and society: the link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility’, Harvard Business Review, 78–92.) CSR model. The results demonstrated that Canadian companies passively support employee volunteerism in a variety of ways, such as allowing employees to take time off without pay (71%) or adjusting their work schedules (78%). These Responsive CSR efforts contribute to the company’s value chain by enhancing employee morale, a perceived CSEV benefit. More active forms of support requiring company time or money are less common; for example, 29% allow time off with pay. Companies perceive that support for employee volunteering enhances their public image, a Responsive CSR strategy when employed to ameliorate a damaged reputation or a Strategic CSR strategy when contributing to a competitive position. A minority perceive challenges like covering the workload. Many companies target and/or exclude particular causes and link CSEV efforts with other philanthropic donations, suggesting a Strategic CSR application of CSEV. Where programs exist, they frequently are neither tracked nor evaluated, suggesting that companies are not using these programs as strategically as they might.     

Organizational Learning and CRM Success: A Model for Linking Organizational Practices,Customer Data Quality,and Performance

A high quality customer database is a cornerstone of successful interactive marketing strategies and tactics. Based on the notion that customer data quality is not only a technical but also an organizational problem, this study develops and tests an organizational learning framework of the relationship between organizational processes, customer data quality and firm performance. The findings show that high quality customer data impact both customer and business performance and that the most important driver of customer data quality comes from the executive suite. A large portion of the impact of organizational culture on performance is mediated by customer data quality and data sharing. The results support the presence of a hierarchy of effects for enhancing data quality that runs from organizational learning (committed to a shared vision for CRM data), to cross-functional learning (marketing/IT cooperation, marketing/IT integration) to functional learning (data sharing).     

A tail of two personalities: How canine companions shape relationships and well-being

More people own pets than ever before. Further, people spend more money on pets than they ever have. The increase in pet ownership and spending on pets provides evidence of the importance humans place on the pets in their lives. This study explores the relationships between humans and their animal companions, specifically canine companions. Drawing on decades of research on personality, relationships, and well-being, the current research takes a cross-species approach to examine the influence of pet personalities on human outcomes. Using personality assessments for human and dog, the article examines how both personalities impact relationship satisfaction. The article also examines how human-dog closeness impacts owner well-being. Some findings corroborate results found in the human personality and relationship literature, but others point to some unique aspects of the human-dog bond. These results not only shed light on the human-dog relationship but also suggest some departures from the human relationship literature that could be explored in future research.     

Interactive strategy formation: Organizational and entrepreneurial factors related to effective customer information systems practices in B2B firms

Interactive marketing requires that a firm learn about its customers and remember what the customer has said to personalize communications and customize product offerings to those customers. This type of marketing requires that customer information be actively managed because information from and about the customer is the core of marketing decision-making. In-depth interviews with 17 managers in five firms identified specific organizational and entrepreneurial factors pertinent to the strategic management of customer information. The research suggests that interactive marketing require a company that can itself be interactive with its internal and external environment to create strategies that can succeed in a changing environment.One exemplary company was compared to four others to uncover organizational issues and processes leading to effective management of customer information. Using the Resource-Based View and the importance of the effective management of intangible assets as its starting point, this research illuminated the processes involved with collecting and disseminating information and highlighted the firms' struggle with issues of inter-functional conflict. Perhaps most importantly, from a strategy-formation point of view, customer-centric strategies related to customer information management were found to be developed interactively, as a dialogue between middle and upper management, using customer data and competitive trends.     

Cause‐Related Marketing from the Nonprofit's Perspective: Classifying Goals and Experienced Outcomes

This research examines the cause‐related marketing (CRM) experience from a nonprofit (NPO) perspective, using qualitative and quantitative methods. U.S. NPO managers with direct CRM experience (n = 154) participated. Results demonstrate that NPOs have both first order (immediate financial support) and second order (less tangible, longer term) goals when undertaking CRM, and that they generally realize these outcomes, though not always. NPOs primarily seek event support, networking opportunities and public awareness, followed by funding opportunities, with less emphasis on gaining business expertise. This research extends the framework of Gourville and Rangan (2004 Gourville, J. T. and Rangan, V. K. 2004. Valuing the cause marketing relationship.. California Management Review, 47: 38–57. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) by offering a more precise, differentiated model.     

Corporate Support for Employee Volunteerism Within Canada: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Company support for employee volunteerism (CSEV) is one mechanism whereby businesses meet the escalating expectation for corporate social responsibility (CSR). Institutional theory is applied to examine patterns of convergence and divergence in CSR programs cross culturally, with a particular focus on intra-country cultural differences. Using a national (Canada) survey of businesses, we examine cross-cultural differences regarding CSEV in two regions of Canada—French Canada (Quebec) and English Canada. Our results suggest that cultural differences, rooted in historical conditions, may shape CSEV program implementation in Canada. Quebec companies are less likely to engage in CSEV. If they do encourage employee volunteerism, they may exclude certain cause types from support and appear to focus more on the external benefits of CSEV, such as community perception, than do firms in English Canada. Recognizing that no nation is culturally homogenous, our study illustrates that CSR and CSEV may vary significantly whenever or wherever cultural differences occur. Businesses and nonprofit organizations need to consider culture as an important variable when implementing corporate volunteer programs.     

Exploring conspicuousness in the context of donation behaviour

• The study of donation behaviour has been significant in recent years as charitable organisations realise the value of marketing strategies in order for growth and survival. Consequently, in recent years the growing trend, to increase awareness of charities and generate much-needed funds, has been the sale of empathy ribbons and the like (e.g. red noses etc.). However, it is argued that the motivation behind the purchase of empathy ribbons is largely ostentatious rather than altruistic and, thus, is viewed under the broader umbrella of ‘conspicuous compassion’ (West, 2004). As such, this paper documents a conceptualization of monetary donation behaviour which we term ‘conspicuous donation behaviour’ and, in doing so, we provide a number of research propositions which pre-empt new avenues for future research.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gender matters in the global outsourcing of service work

This paper provides a gendered analysis of the outsourcing of service work to developing economies taking, as illustration, call centres, shared service centres and the general ICT sector. The paper challenges the suggestion that changes in global capitalism, facilitated by ICT-enabled employment, offer new opportunities that benefit women, and suggests a degree of caution is needed before assuming a reduction of gender inequalities.