The Impact of Salesperson Perception of Firm Market Orientation on Behaviors and Consulting Effectiveness

The purpose of this study was to study market orientation as an antecedent of salespersons' behaviors that should, in turn, influence the ability of the salesperson to add value to the product or service. There have been many studies of personal antecedents of salespersons behaviors and performance, with little predictive success. But there are few studies of firm-level influences on salesperson behaviors and their outcomes. A survey was sent to non-retail salespeople utilizing previously validated scales for all constructs of interest. The survey responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling to test hypotheses. Results suggest that market orientation has an indirect influence on salesperson consulting through adaptive selling and active listening behaviors. Active listening fully mediates the relationship between customer orientation and salesperson consulting, while salesperson consulting fully mediates the relationship between active listening and consulting effectiveness. Half of the influence of market orientation on salesperson consulting effectiveness is direct, while the other half of its influence is indirect through those salesperson behaviors. The author provides explanations for these results and implications for managers and researchers.     

SEO领导风格对绩效影响的研究——基于创业导向视角的实证分析

近些年,采用创新方法解决社会问题的社会创业组织(SEO)不断在全球兴起,并引起国内外社会科学有关学者们的关注和研究兴趣.其中,社会创业组织领导风格对SEO价值创造过程以及绩效的影响问题成为重要的研究课题之一.目前,国外在这一方面的研究取得初步成效.但是,在中国,该方面的实际研究处于空白.本文研究试图对此做一些弥补:一方面以Covin和Slevin(1991)开发的量表为基础,再借鉴H.Morris(2011)对创新性、超前行动和风险承担在社会创业情境下的界定,对创业导向的测量题项进行了修订,以反映社会创业与传统创业相区别的特征;另一方面,选取中国开展社会创业一年以上的个体或非营利组织为研究对象与样本开展中国本土化的实证研究.本研究发现,变革型领导对创新、风险承担和超前行动三个变量具有积极影响,以及创新和超前行动与社会创业组织绩效具有正向关系.     

论＂无为而无不为＂命题的伦理依寓

＂无为而无不为＂命题只有依寓在道德王国里才能获得现实可能性。该命题的行为主体所指——圣人内涵着对崇高品性追求的伦理预设,其前提条件＂无不为＂和＂无为＂必然关涉到圣人＂为天下式＂和＂功遂身退＂的道德内蕴,＂圣人之道为而不争＂决定了该命题的语境性质全在伦理一维。     

桂林银行市场定位比较优势与差异化发展策略探析

本文通过对桂林银行的市场定位、比较优势及差异化发展策略进行深入调研剖析,努力探索其在新形势下,如何实现经营模式转型和增长方式的转变,力争总结出城商行发展的普适性规律,并为行业发展提供相应的思路参考.     

Channel Collaboration,Market Orientation and Performance Advantages: Discovering Developed and Emerging Markets

Abstract

Channel collaboration has occupied an increasingly prominent role in contemporary business strategy, and has been considered a key driver for providing value for the partnering firms involved. Drawing on the resource based theory of the firm, the present study aims to explore the effects of collaborative capability and market orientation on firms' performance advantages in the context of marketing channels. We also investigate whether the firms in developed and emerging markets significantly differ in their capability profiles. The data consists of 545 responses to a survey of small, medium-sized and large companies representing the grocery goods sector (manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers) in nine countries. In line with the theory, channel collaboration enhances positional and performance advantages of firms, and this collaboration is shaped by the type of economy adopted.     

Customer orientation,engagement, and developing positive emotional labor

Frontline employees must deal on a daily basis with emotionally demanding customer interactions. Such interactions, when coupled with organizational directives to focus upon exemplary customer service, can prompt employees to express feelings and emotions that are not genuine. Such ‘surface acting' has been found to create stress in frontline personnel, but an understanding of how this negative aspect of emotional labor may be minimized is lacking in the services literature. How a frontline employee's individual attributes might interact with a service work context to build deep, as opposed to surface, acting is the current focus. Applying job demands–resources theory, this study investigates how a frontline employee's customer orientation helps to develop positive work engagement, even in the face of contextual demands. Engagement is then linked positively to the beneficial behavior of deep acting which, in contrast to surface acting, has been identified as a less stressful form of emotional labor.     

Exploring the international student recruitment industry through the Strategic Orientation Performance Model

Abstract

International education is an important, and expanding, global industry. However, much remains unknown about the international student recruitment (ISR) industry, its key variables, and its performance outcomes. This study addresses this lack of understanding by developing and empirically testing a conceptual model that investigates ISR performance indicators. The Strategic Orientation Performance (SOP) Model is proposed as an investigative framework. The model is a conceptual representation of the relationships proposed to exist between market orientation, learning orientation, innovativeness, perceived external market effects, and perceived organisational performance. The study adopted a quantitative methodology using a self-administered questionnaire delivered to ISR practitioners via e-mail. Analysis, via partial least squares (PLS), provided support for the SOP Model in the ISR context. The SOP Model extends previous orientation-performance models. Additionally, within a discordant body of market orientation literature, this study aligns with one of the dominant paradigms and, thereby, provides a strong impetus for further research. Furthermore, future research will benefit significantly through the use of the SOP Model as a solid foundation for further discovery in this important research domain.     

Choice of Market Entry Mode in Emerging Markets

Summary

This study explores the antecedents of market entry strategy in emerging markets and examines the market environmental, transaction-specific, competitive strategic factors and organizational capability that influence the choice of market entry mode. Empirical results based on a survey of Japanese companies support the combined relevance of their factors on choice of market entry mode in an emerging market. Although most of the mode of entry research assumes that the firm has the option to choose any entry mode in a given market, this study examines the impact of the factors in the internationalization process of firms. The results suggest that experiential knowledge has an immense impact on the choice of entry mode in China, an emerging market with high environmental uncertainty, but also high market potential. The empirical findings also show the important influences of risk-absorption capability and risk-dispersion mechanism on the choice of entry mode into the Chinese market.     

Selling to the urban Chinese in East Asia: Do CSR and value orientation matter?

Most multinationals have a presence in the East Asian region and target the urban Chinese population. In an effort to win over the loyalty of consumers, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been used increasingly as a marketing strategy. This paper explores how personal values influence the attitude and behavior towards CSR among Chinese consumers. By collecting data from three major East Asian cities — Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore, and employing factor, cluster, conjoint and correspondence analyses, the authors demonstrate that Confucian value orientation can be a powerful antecedent of CSR support.     

Efficiency and effectiveness of small retailers: The role of customer and entrepreneurial orientation

While it is generally agreed that a customer and entrepreneurial orientation enhance company performance in large multi-national organizations, relatively little is known about how these variables influence the small retailers that form a substantial part of national economic well-being. This study investigates the potential influences of these factors on the performance of small retailers in Switzerland, because this nation has long had a reputation for creativity, innovation and a customer focus. Performance is viewed as a two dimensional concept including an effectiveness and an efficiency perspective. Data for this study were collected through personal interviews from 261 SMEs. While customer orientation is found to be positively related to both efficiency and effectiveness, results only show a positive impact from entrepreneurial orientation on effectiveness. At the same time, entrepreneurial orientation is found to be a driver of customer orientation, and thus having an indirect impact also on efficiency for the small retail firms. All in all, the study shows that small retailers do indeed put an emphasis on both customer and entrepreneurial orientation in spite of their limited resources. It also stresses that this will increase their competitive advantage. In the light of existing literature, limitations and future research directions are subsequently addressed.