Retailing in the 21st century: reflections and prologue to research

Retailing in the 21st century will no doubt be very different from retailing in the 20th century, just as retailing in the 20th century was very different from retailing in the 19th century. To understand and explain current retailing phenomena and retailing-related phenomena, and accurately predict such phenomena, it is necessary to have a coherent and consistent definition of retailing as well as comprehensive retailing theories based on this definition. This introduction to the special issue argues for such a definition and related comprehensive theories.     

Toward a telework taxonomy and test for suitability: A synthesis of the literature

The current merging of computer and communications technologies is facilitating the trend towardtelework-remote work arrangements enabled by information technology. Organizations today have ever increasing options in the management and distribution of their work processes. In this study, we review the research on telework conducted in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. We then propose a taxonomy for classifying different types of telework. Using this taxonomy, we examine the spatial, coordination, and temporal structures of different types of telework.Previous research results indicate that the introduction of telework is a complex process and has profound implications for the organization. However, this research critically lacks any guidance for the decision maker in determining the feasibility of implementing telework. We propose a framework for a telework suitability test to determine the appropriateness of telework, in a particular situation. This telework suitability test integrates existing research findings with future research areas.     

Exploring the implications of m-commerce for markets and marketing

Business pundits have enthusiastically prognosticated about a seamless, mobile world where commerce occurs on an anywhere, anytime basis. This type of commerce has been referred to as mobile commerce or, more simply, m-commerce. However, there have been relatively few attempts to systematically explore the opportunities and challenges posed by m-commerce. This article investigates the implications of m-commerce for markets and marketing by means of a formal conceptualization of m-commerce, a space-time matrix that delineates the impact of mobile technologies, and a taxonomy of m-commerce applications. Sridhar Balasubramanian is assistant professor of marketing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His interests generally lie in the areas of marketing strategy, e-business, and game theory. He has published in such journals asMarketing Science, Journal of Retailing, andJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science. His doctorate is from Yale University. Robert A. Peterson holds the John T. Stuart III Centennial Chair in Business Administration and Charles C. Hurwitz Fellowship at The University of Texas at Austin. He is a former editor of theJournal of Marketing Research and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science. His more than 150 publications include nearly one dozen books and award-winning articles. Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa holds the James L. Bayless/Rauscher Pierce Refsnes Chair in Business Administration at the McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin, where she codirects the Center for Business, Technology & Law. She presently serves as the editor ofJournal of the Association for Information Systems. She is a founding member of the Global Round Table on Mobile Commerce Research, which held its inaugural meeting in Tokyo in May 2002.     

Financial contracts,opportunism, and disclosure management

This article shows that if all variables that determine a firm's future cash flows are not contractible, it can be ex ante optimal to design a financial contract that admits debtholders waiving debt covenants on a discretionary basis and firms investing opportunistically subsequent to contracting. Further, as the contractible variable becomes less informative, the contract attaches greater significance to it. Finally, uncertainty in the magnitude of reporting latitude induces aggressive reporting by the firm to avoid violating the covenant or to enhance the chances of a waiver. The debtholders respond by sometimes not allowing the firm to implement mutually beneficial projects.     

On The Log-Linear Analysis Of Multiple Response Data

Log-linear procedures have been recommended for analyzing data that are in the form of counts or frequencies (Iacobucci and McGill 1990). In its current form, the recommended procedure does not deal with multiple response data (i.e., more than one thought per response category). The paper proposes analytical modifications that researchers need to consider when fitting models with this type of data. The problems and recommended modifications are illustrated with two distinct data sets. The first involves consumers' attribution responses to negative word-of-mouth communication about a brand whereas the second pertains to consumers' cognitive responses toward an advertisement. Results in each case indicate that researchers may generate erroneous conclusions about the significance of estimated parameters if the recommendations are ignored.     

The efficacy of anti‐smoking advertisements: the role of source,message, and individual characteristics

• This research investigates the effects of direct and indirect sources of anti‐smoking messages. Specifically, it examines the direct influence of advertised messages and the indirect effect of the subsequent discussion.
• Two studies examine the role of: (i) Source characteristics (i.e., messages disseminated through mass media and subsequently via discussion by friends or strangers); (ii) Message characteristics (i.e., messages that induce either low or high fear); (iii) Individual characteristics (i.e., gender based differences within the target audience) in attitude formation towards smokers, the act of smoking, propensity to smoke, and the likelihood of being influenced.
• Message efficacy is found to vary by gender, type of ad appeal, as well as group membership of ad discussants. Implications for design of anti‐smoking campaigns are derived.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Citation footprints on the sands of time: An analysis of idea migrations in strategic management

We elucidate the intellectual progression of the strategic management field by examining knowledge flows to and from the Strategic Management Journal (SMJ) during the period 1980–2009. We provide a detailed mapping of the evolution of the intellectual structure of the field and identify its input‐output dependency relationships with other fields. Analysis of citation data using three analytic techniques: log‐multiplicative model, pathfinder analysis, and entropy analysis allow us to discern strategic management's influence on and engagement with other disciplines. The results show that, within the intellectual universe of strategic management, SMJ has played a central role, both as a source and storer of knowledge. We notice that, over time, there has been a decline in practitioner orientation, greater communication with finance and sociology, and increasing linkages with international business and entrepreneurship. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flexible spectrum management for mobile broadband services: How does it vary across advanced and emerging markets?

Demand for wireless data and Internet services are expected to grow exponentially, both in advanced and emerging markets in the near future. While advanced countries have often used centralized planning and coordination methodology to forecast and allocate the associated spectrum blocks to wireless operators for meeting the demand, it is often ad-hoc in emerging markets dictated by market forces. In this paper, Finland and India are taken to represent advanced and emerging markets, respectively. Different policy options and the policy environment in these two countries for spectrum management are explored. A causal model is constructed to represent the different variables that affect spectrum management practices and possible paths forward in these two extreme cases are highlighted. Using the causal model structure, it is hypothesized that (i) the matured markets such as Finland that practice centralized and harmonized spectrum planning are likely to continue their ex-ante policies and opt for the release of digital dividend spectrum and use of spectrally efficient technologies; (ii) the emerging market in India that is characterized by a market oriented ex-poste regulation is a good candidate to introduce secondary markets including flexible opportunistic spectrum access as exemplified by the wide spread adoption of multi-SIM handsets and the practice of national roaming by 3G service providers. Introductions of policies and regulations in these markets to break away from the extant paths are also highlighted.     

Neo‐Rawlsian Fringes: A New Approach to Market Segmentation and New Product Development*

Prior research into the link between new product development and market segmentation has focused on two main approaches: (1) design, segment, and do limited competitive evaluation; and (2) segment first, design second. This paper proposes a third approach, which is to simultaneously design, perform segmentation according to benefit and to evaluate against competitive designs. This research uses a benefit segmentation technique based on conjoint analysis (or other techniques that relate product attributes to consumer utility) in which the segments emerge simultaneously with the design based on certain design principles or “strategies.” Herein a method is proposed to narrow down the many possible feasible designs (combinations of attributes) to a finite set and to examine the appeal of each design. Five distinct design strategies are proposed for modeling and studying competitive reaction. These include “traditional” ones such as differentiation and new ones whose fringe customers have high utility. The paper shows that these five strategies are adequate for modeling competitive reaction using simulation. Another contribution of the paper is the way competitive reaction is modeled. In generating and evaluating a design the desire herein is also to assess the defensibility of the design and include it in the evaluation criteria. These issues are addressed by decomposing the solution procedure into two phases. In the first phase, different optimal designs are created based on predefined product development strategies. In the second, these optimal designs are compared against one another with regard to market share and potential to secure market leadership. This work shows that the nature of competition as well as the variability of customer preferences are critical to how a strategy performs. This process uncovers a surprisingly robust design strategy—developing attributes such that a “lower fringe” is most satisfied—that even achieves market dominance under certain conditions. This methodology is also applied to partworth data on refrigerators, which provides a concrete example of the concepts and demonstrates results consistent with the propositions developed earlier in the paper.