Relationships among measures of retail salesperson performance

A lack of understanding of the relationships among measures of salesperson performance exists in practice and in the retailing/sales management literature. This article examines the relationships among three commonly used measures—one outcome (sales volume) and two judgmental measures (managerial evaluations and salesperson self-evaluations). We empirically demonstrate that not all judgmental measures are related to outcome measures; that is, salesperson self-evaluations are significantly related to sales volume, but managerial evaluations are not. The study also examines the efficacy of retailers using short outcome-measuring periods for evaluation purposes. The results suggest that outcome measure variance within salespeople for short periods is high and therefore these data should be used with caution. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from The Ohio State University. His research interests are in the areas of retailing, logistics, and sales management. He has published extensively in journals such as the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and Journal of Retailing. He is co-author of Retailing Management. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests are in the area of sales management and organizational behavior. His has published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, and International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management.     

Choosing an optimal channel mix in multichannel environments

In the last two decades, particularly with the advent of the Internet, multichannel strategies have come to the fore in business-to-business marketing. Multichannel strategies allow firms to reach customers in multiple ways, increasing the firms' reach. In addition, multichannels allow customers to reach businesses by using their preferred channel (e.g., Internet, salesforce, or value-added reseller). The advantages of reaching increasing number of customers through multiple channels (e.g., sales, trial, profit) are partially offset by two potential negative effects of multiple channels. First, multiple channels create conflict that may dissuade some channels' members from carrying the firm's product. Second, with an increase in the number of channels carrying the product, the sales derived from each new channel drops making it difficult for a firm to recover its costs. Based on these considerations, the paper provides a framework that will allow firms to develop optimal channel mix in multichannel environments. We test the framework in the context of a software firm and provide academic and managerial implications.     

A NOTE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SYSTEMATIC RISK AND GROWTH IN EARNINGS

This paper provides a simple analytical derivation of the relationship between growth in earnings and systematic risk. Theoretically and empirically it concludes that this relationship is positive.     

A prediction study in perceptual and evaluative mapping

The study tests the ability of MDS model to predict individual preferences for new items introduced into a calibration-type similarities space. Towards this a small scale experiment involving various types of similarities and preference judgments was conducted. The results of the study show that the ideal point model fails to account for subjects' preference rankings of test items. The report discusses the study results and offers directions for future research. The author would like to acknowledge the helpful comments of Professor Paul E. Green in various phases of the project.     

Cash holdings and the bargaining power of R&D-intensive targets

Prior literature suggests that R&D-intensive firms hold large amounts of cash due to financing constraints. This paper examines whether such firms could also use cash holdings as a strategic bargaining tool in M&A transactions. Using a large sample of takeover bids announced between 1980 and 2012, we demonstrate that cash holdings positively impact R&D-intensive targets’ takeover premiums and announcement-period abnormal returns. These effects disappear in non-R&D-intensive firms. Controlling for various endogeneity and financing concerns, we also find that R&D-intensive firms build up cash holdings in anticipation of becoming a takeover target. Further analysis indicates that in R&D-intensive firms, such cash holdings are valued highly by the market. Taken together, our findings shed new light on the strategic bargaining role of corporate cash holdings in the outcomes of acquisitions targeting R&D-intensive firms.     

Marketplace literacy education and coping behaviors among subsistence consumer–entrepreneurs during demonetization in India

We study the impact of marketplace literacy education on marketplace coping behaviors in the face of systemic shock due to demonetization, deriving important implications for consumer affairs from this radically distinct context. We study whether and how such education can have positive impact even in the face of such macrolevel disruption that disproportionately affects those with the least resources and renders them even more vulnerable. Marketplace literacy education encompasses awareness and knowledge about marketing as well as self‐confidence and awareness of rights as buyers and sellers. We examine the influence of marketplace literacy in urban and rural areas on coping behaviors of low‐income women consumer–entrepreneurs during demonetization in India, using a retrospective survey. We derive implications to mitigate the effect of future shocks on consumers and entrepreneurs at the vulnerable end of the income spectrum.