Entrepreneurship: Its relationship with market orientation and learning orientation and as antecedents to innovation and customer value

This paper seeks to address two main problems. First, it evaluates the direct effect of entrepreneurship and business orientations namely, learning orientation, integrated market orientation and human resource practices on innovation and customer value. Second, it examines the interaction effect of entrepreneurship and business orientations on innovation and customer value. Data were collected from small and medium-size hotels in Indonesia and analysed using the structural equation model. The results show that entrepreneurship and human resource management were shown to be the most significant drivers of innovation and customer value. The results further suggest that interaction of entrepreneurship and integrated market orientation as well as human resource practices has significant impact on customer value and innovation respectively. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.     

Small business industrial buyers' price sensitivity: Do service quality dimensions matter in business markets?

One of the major obstacles to effective pricing emanates from difficulties experienced in predicting business buyers' price sensitivity. With a view to obviating these obstacles, this study examines the effect of five key physical distribution service quality dimensions on price sensitivity from the perspective of small and medium retail buyers. Based on a survey of 233 cellular phone retailers in China, the authors articulate how the five salient service quality dimensions exert either direct effects on price sensitivity or indirect impacts through perceived value and customer satisfaction. Theoretical and managerial implications are also provided for effective retailer relationship management, profitability improvement, and customer segmentation in distribution channels.     

Product competence exploitation and exploration strategies: The impact on new product performance through quality and innovativeness

The ability to manage existing assets and capabilities (exploitation) and the development of new capabilities (exploration) are arguably among the most relevant new product success factors. However, while exploitation-related capabilities are based on certainties regarding the efficiency of a company, exploration-related capabilities require the analysis of new technologies and processes. In existing literature, there is a gap concerning the trade-off between the exploitation and exploration of competences. Based on the theoretical background of Resource Based Theory, Dynamic Capabilities Theory and Discovery and Creation Theory, a model is proposed to analyze this gap. In this study, which examines 197 manufacturing organizations, we build on the dualities of the two types of competences and their impact on speed-to-market and market performance. The findings indicate that the choice between exploitation and exploration depends on the goals of new product development. While exploitation increases product objective quality, exploration enhances product innovativeness to the firm. Furthermore, we found that both exploitation and exploration constitute important success factors when it comes to launching new products. Finally, moderate effects of competitive intensity and market turbulence are also examined. High levels of market turbulence improve the results of exploitation, while low levels of competitiveness may encourage exploration.     

Suspicion: Its sources, means of control, and effect on interorganizational relationships

Suspicion in the interorganizational relationship literature has been associated with relationship decay but this literature fails to capture the value of suspicion in maintaining relationships. The authors offer an inventory of propositions, suggesting that the level of suspicion determines whether it has beneficial or harmful effects on channel relationships. Support for many of these propositions is based on a unique attribute of suspicion: Suspicion serves as an antidote to the fundamental attribution error, or the tendency to take behavior at face value without allowing for situational influences. Such an attribute suggests suspicion should have an important influence on interorganizational relationships. Specifically, the authors propose that suspicion can be beneficial at moderate levels, but harmful at very low or high levels. Of particular interest to practitioners, we propose some methods for controlling suspicion.     

Environment-quality management coalignment across industrial contexts: An empirical investigation of performance implications

Quality management (QM) affects many variables related to marketing. Persuaded by the numerous benefits and competitive potential of QM, many firms have decided to implement QM programs. The study examines how the fit between industrial environment characteristics and QM practices impacts financial, operational and employee performance. To test our hypotheses, we surveyed a sample of 273 managers. The findings suggest that the results of implementing QM practices depend on the degree on internationalization of the industrial environment, as well as on the existing level of competence. Findings offer implications for marketing theory and practice as well as for strategic management and QM.     

Choosing the right multiple channel system to minimize transaction costs

This paper proposes that firms can use a transaction cost approach to make multiple channel system design related decisions. The author differentiates between two types of multiple channel systems and hypothesizes that transaction asset specificity, behavioral uncertainty and environmental uncertainty lead manufacturers to adopt either a dual channel system or a multiple independent channel system. Furthermore, the author proposes that when all three transaction cost variables match with the type of multiple channel system used, firms can minimize their transaction costs and eventually increase their channel system performance in terms of contribution to firm profitability. The author tests the hypotheses with survey data collected from 229 firms. The results support that the fit between the type of multiple channel mix and the three transaction-cost theory variables results in lower transaction costs and higher contribution to profit. The author presents theoretical and managerial implications.     

The use of information technology tools in new product development phases: Analysis of effects on new product innovativeness, quality, and market performance

Extant research has largely ignored empirically examining how information technology (IT) affects new product effectiveness. Using the knowledge-based theory as a foundation, this study examines if, and how, particular IT tools used in the discovery, development, and commercialization phases of the new product development (NPD) process influence NPD effectiveness dimensions, namely, market performance, innovativeness, and quality of a new product. Based on data collected from NPD managers in the US and Canada, the findings indicate that specific IT tools contribute to various measures of new product effectiveness differently. Moreover, the results show the positive effect of these IT tools in different phases of the NPD process. This suggests that with regard to NPD, a decompositional approach that examines the role of IT within each phase of the NPD process is best. Based on these findings, the authors discuss theoretical and managerial implications of the study and suggest paths for future research. Managerially, some interesting results of our study are that decision support systems, file transfer protocols, and concept testing tools would significantly improve NPD effectiveness regardless of the phase they are used.     

Refining value-based differentiation in business relationships: A study of the higher order relationship building blocks that influence behavioural intentions

Research on the behavioural intentions (BI) of business-to-business customers has focused on the influence and the interactions among constructs driving BI, giving rise to two perspectives for the structural equation modeling of constructs influencing BI. In the first perspective, BI is impacted directly by relationship quality (RQ) and its antecedents such as relationship benefits (RB) and relationship sacrifices (RS). The second perspective suggests that antecedent dimensions of RB and RS may act indirectly through the construct of relationship value (RV), which drives RQ but also directly influences BI. The current study was undertaken to resolve the differences between these two perspectives. The findings indicate that RQ has a strong direct influence on BI while RV has a weak direct influence but a significant indirect influence on BI through the RQ construct. In addition, the constructs of RB and RS influence RQ directly, as well as through the RV construct.     

Understanding the links between technological opportunism, marketing emphasis and firm performance: Implications for B2B

The capability of firms to sense and respond to changes in technologies, called technological opportunism, is of growing importance to managers as a source of competitive advantage. However, exactly how technological opportunism impacts firm performance is still not clearly understood. Furthermore, the role of marketing in this relationship, if any, has yet to be examined. Understanding this relationship is critical for marketing managers not only for determining strategic investments of resources but also for demonstrating marketing return on activities. This paper explores the links between technological opportunism and firm performance. The results show that technological opportunism has a strong positive impact on key measures of performance such as firm sales, profits and market value. Importantly, marketing emphasis is the mechanism through which the technological opportunism-performance relationship is achieved. Finally, the impact of marketing emphasis on B2B firms is different than that for B2C firms, highlighting the importance of these activities for B2B marketing managers.     

A survey of market orientation research (1995-2008)

Since 1990, market orientation (MO) has received considerable attention in the marketing literature. Little research so far provides preliminary and useful information to facilitate good understanding of MO. This study presents a comprehensive survey of extant marketing literature using keyword classification from 1995 to 2008. It serves as a tutorial and aims to help the beginner researcher or practitioner to have access to MO, including its definitions, applications and problem domains. Based on the scope of 514 MO articles, we find that the number of publications on MO has significantly increased since 2001 with steady growth in recent years. In addition, these selected articles are scattered across 153 journals and mostly published in 10 academic journals. The contribution of our paper is to provide a means (i.e., keyword index) to conceptualize and operationalize the coverage of MO. It provides a conceptual framework to organize this vast body of research. This study ends with some discussions and conclusions.