Business Commons^™

Marketing Strategy Implementation Impediments And Remedies: A Multi-Level Theoretical Framework Within The Sales-Marketing Interface, Avinash Malshe, Douglas E. Hughes, Valerie Good, Scott B. Friend

Peer Reviewed Articles

Why do marketing strategies fail? This persistent question attracts significant attention and resource investments given its associated performance implications. Existing research suggests that most marketing strategies suffer due to poor implementation; however, the nuances of strategy implementation impediments and their accompanying remedies remain underdeveloped. To contribute to this line of inquiry, the authors use multi-level qualitative data to capture cross-functional dynamics that traverse the organizational hierarchy and are critical to marketing strategy implementation. The data collection procedure consisted of depth interviews with 48 informants within eight organizations, constituting sales-marketing dyads at three hierarchical levels (senior, middle, and frontline) within each …

More Than Money: Establishing The Importance Of A Sense Of Purpose For Salespeople, Valerie Good, Douglas E. Hughes, Hao Wang

Peer Reviewed Articles

Much of the current research on salesperson motivation focuses on extrinsic reward expectancy related to compensation, contests, incentives, and quotas. We find that while salespeople want to make money, they also want to make a difference and contribute to society through their work. In Study 1, the qualitative findings reveal that a sense of purpose–the belief that one is making a contribution to a cause greater and more enduring than oneself–is a significant motivator for salespeople. Hence, in Study 2 we develop a measure for sense of purpose and distinguish it from related constructs. Finally, in Study 3 we use …

Understanding And Motivating Salesperson Resilience, Valerie Good, Douglas E. Hughes, Alexander C. Labrecque

Peer Reviewed Articles

Prior research has shown that approximately half of salespeople fail to achieve their targets each year. Not only is the role difficult but also sales jobs are often marked by high levels of stress, rejection, and burnout. Thus, salesperson resilience is critical. However, a gap remains in our understanding of how resilience influences performance and how managers can motivate salespeople to be more resilient. To answer these questions, we collected survey data from 110 salespeople from a large firm based in the Midwest, along with objective effort and performance data provided by the company prior to and following a poor …

Supply Chain Management For Circular Economy: Conceptual Framework And Research Agenda, Daniel Pellathy

Peer Reviewed Articles

Purpose – Circular economy (CE) initiatives are taking hold across both developed and developing nations. Central to these initiatives is the reconfiguration of core supply chain management (SCM) processes that underlie current production and consumption patterns. This conceptual article provides a detailed discussion of how supply chain processes can support the successful implementation of CE. The article highlights areas of convergence in hopes of sparking collaboration among scholars and practitioners in SCM, CE, and related fields.

Design/methodology/approach – This article adopts a theory extension approach to conceptual development that uses CE as a “method” for exploring core processes within the …

Doing Good When Times Are Bad: The Impact Of Csr On Brands During Recessions, Valerie Good

Peer Reviewed Articles

Purpose – This paper aims to determine what the brand performance consequences of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities would be during times of recession for well-known brands.

Design/methodology/approach – Based on signaling theory, this paper investigates if CSR activities serve to signal higher brand value for consumers via perceptions of better quality and greater differentiation, specifically during recessions. This study incorporates a representative longitudinal sample of known US firms for the analyses, which is accomplished through generalized method of moments estimations.

Findings – The findings empirically demonstrate that CSR initiatives during recessions are actually associated with increased perceptions of brand …

Beyond Warm Glow: The Risk-Mitigating Effect Of Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr), Abhi Bhattacharya, Valerie Good, Hanieh Sardashti, John Peloza

Peer Reviewed Articles

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) positively impacts relationships between firms and customers. Previous research construes this as an outcome of customers’ warm glow that results from supporting firms’ benevolence. The current research demonstrates that beyond warm glow, CSR positively impacts firms’ sales through mitigating their customers’ perceptions of purchase risk. We demonstrate this effect across three conditions in which customers’ perceived risk of purchase is heightened, using both secondary data and two lab experiments. Under conditions of greater purchase risk (i.e., recessions, a service context, and longer-term consumer commitments), CSR positively impacts both sales and customer purchase intentions to a greater …

Improving The M&A Success Rate: Identity May Be The Key, Carol M. Sanchez, Mahendra Joshi, Paul Mudde

Peer Reviewed Articles

Every year companies spend over $4 trillion on mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in spite of the fact that between 70% to 90% of these M&As fail. Both practitioners and scholars are puzzled by these intriguing statistic and have tried to identify the causes of M&A failures. Factors such as inaccurate assessment of financial and operational synergies, lack of clarity in the execution of the integration process, negotiation errors, lack of backup plans, and cultural issues are only a few of the long list of reasons that may lead to such high rate of failure. Evidently, some of these factors have …

Managing The Global Virtual Workforce: Reducing The Liability Of Foreignness, Carol M. Sanchez, Rebekah Arndt

Peer Reviewed Articles

Effective management of global virtual workforces may reduce the liability of foreignness. As more organizations do business across borders, global workforce effectiveness is critical given logistic, language and cultural distances. Based on theories of global workforces, virtual technology use, cultural differences, and common language policy, we posit that global virtual workforces will better succeed if organizations (1) select appropriate communication technology, (2) train members to navigate cultural differences, and (2) adopt a language policy. We highlight strategies with examples from conversations with managers of several organizations, and we emphasize unexpected benefits to organizations that successfully manage their global virtual workforce.

When To Outsource The Sales Force For New Products, Valerie Good, Roger J. Calantone

Peer Reviewed Articles

Executives and researchers continue to seek factors that lead to new product success. While prior research has suggested that outsourcing the selling function can help make the innovation process leaner and limit future liability, outsourcing can also pose risks in terms of safeguarding both customer relationships and confidential innovation capabilities. Moreover, examining the effects of outsourcing has been identified as a key research priority in recent marketing literature. Thus, using privileged access to managers in the biochemical industry, we employed a multi-group analysis of 229 new products to investigate the effect of outsourcing the sales force on new product success. …

Failing To Be Family-Supportive: Implications For Supervisors, Benjamin M. Walsh

Peer Reviewed Articles

Family-supportive supervision benefits employees in many ways. But what are the implications for the supervisors themselves, particularly when this support is not extended? Drawing on social exchange theory, we frame family-supportive supervision as a desirable resource that when withheld may trigger negative social responses from employees. We hypothesize that workplace ostracism is a mechanism through which employees sanction supervisors who fail to be family-supportive, thereby harming supervisor well-being. Study 1 captured the employee perspective and utilized an experimental design to understand whether employees engage in ostracism in response to a lack of family-supportive supervision. In Study 2, we captured the …

The Unbearable Heaviness Of Leadership: The Effects Of Competency, Negatives, And Experience On Women’S Aspirations To Leadership, Carol M. Sanchez, Kevin Lehnert

Peer Reviewed Articles

Competent women should aspire to leadership, but they may choose not to. We asked men and women at seven U.S. universities if competence, negatives of leadership, and experience affect their aspirations to leadership. Surprisingly, competent women with more work experience are less likely to aspire to leadership than men, while competent women with less work experience are more likely to aspire to leadership than men. The more women associate leadership with negative aspects, the less they aspire to leadership, compared with men. For both, the less competent they think they are to be leaders, the less they want to be …

Middle-Range Theorizing On Logistics Customer Service, Daniel Pellathy, Joonhwan In, Diane A. Mollenkopf, Theodore P. Stank

Peer Reviewed Articles

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how a systematic application of middle-range theorizing, which pays particular attention to contexts and mechanisms, can be used to extend current knowledge on logistics customer service (LCS) in a number of critical areas.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies Stank et al.’s (2017) framework for middle-ranging theorizing in logistics to develop a research framework and agenda that can guide future LCS research. Results are generated through a review of the LCS literature and an application of the main concepts of middle-range theorizing.

Findings – The paper outlines opportunities for middle-range research …

Liberal Vs. Professional Advertising Education: A National Survey Of Practitioners, Robin Spring, Alex Nesterenko

Peer Reviewed Articles

The issue of liberal vs. professional education is central to the conversation about advertising education. Practitioners influence the development of advertising curricula, so it is necessary to have data representing their views. A national survey was conducted with 366 practitioners in the United States. Findings show that practitioners believe a four-year college degree is important. They also believe that the best educational format includes a balance of liberal and professional education. Practitioners believe soft skills should be taught, though the most attainable entry-level jobs require digital technology skills. Digital technology also is identified as the most significant challenge for the …

New Frontiers In Logistics Research: Theorizing At The Middle Range, Theodore P. Stank, Daniel Pellathy, Joonhwan In, Diane A. Mollenkopf, John E. Bell

Peer Reviewed Articles

Logistics has evolved from a description-based discipline to one based upon theoretical grounding from other business disciplines to define, explain and understand complex interrelationships, resulting in the identification of the discipline’s primary domain and major concepts – the “what’s” of logistics. General theories, however, lack the domain specificity critical to understanding the inner workings within key relationships – the how’s, why’s and when’s – that drive actual outcomes. Middle-range theorizing enables researchers to focus on these inner workings to develop a deeper understanding of the degree to, and conditions under which, logistics phenomena impact outcomes as well as the mechanisms …

Review: Peter Klaus And Stefanie Müller, Eds. The Roots Of Logistics: A Reader Of Classical Contributions To The History And Conceptual Foundations Of The Science Of Logistics (Berlin: Springer, 2012)., Daniel Pellathy

Peer Reviewed Articles

Book Review: Peter Klaus and Stefanie Müller, eds. The Roots of Logistics: A Reader of Classical Contributions to the History and Conceptual Foundations of the Science of Logistics (Berlin: Springer, 2012). Cloth and paperback. 427 pp. ISBN-13: 978-3642439186.

Bending The Chain: The Surprising Challenge Of Integrating Purchasing And Logistics, Theodore Stank, J Paul Dittmann, Chad Autry, Kenneth J. Peterson, Mike Burnette, Daniel Pellathy

Peer Reviewed Articles

Over the last several decades, supply chain (SC) professionals have focused on performance issues that have emerged from a lack of commercial/business alignment with supply chain operations. Significant improvements have been made, and systemic processes (IBP—integrated business planning—and S&OP—sales and operations planning) have been developed to drive a fully integrated business. As business integration has continued to improve, the biggest SC opportunities have shifted.

Every year, the University of Tennessee’s Global Supply Chain Institute networks with hundreds of companies, requesting information on emerging supply chain issues. Our recent research shows that one of the greatest business integration opportunities is found …

2014 M&A Update, Alexandra S. Schmid, Carol M. Sanchez, Stephen R. Goldberg

Peer Reviewed Articles

Market conditions for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) remained positive in 2013. Relative economic growth in the U.S. and within specific industry sectors, and positive economic developments in the emerging markets signaled an optimistic outlook for M&A activity. There was a decline in worldwide M&A transactions in the first half of 2013 following a modest gain in 2012 which resulted in an overall slowdown in M&A activities, yet there are positive signs for future M&A growth. Corporate executives and their boards were selective with their investment choices and sought many of their M&A opportunities in the middle market. In this article, …

M&A Update And Cross-Border M&As: Considerations For Middle-Market Firms, Stephen R. Goldberg, Carol M. Sanchez, Alexandra S. Schmid

Peer Reviewed Articles

Global activity in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) has weakened during the past year and a half. With continued concerns about the recovery of the global economy, many large companies were reluctant to close mega-deals. Economic and political events, such as increased fiscal crises in Europe, slowing economic growth in the BRIC countries, and political gridlock in Washington, reduced confidence among many dealmakers. Despite companies’ record cash reserves, many were reluctant to execute new M&A deals. In this article, we discuss global M&A activity in 2011 and the first half of 2012. The article concludes with a discussion of factors for …

Success At The Base Of The Pyramid: A Relational View Of Competitive Advantage, Carol M. Sanchez, Alexandra Schmid

Peer Reviewed Articles

In this paper, we propose a new framework to measure the success of projects at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP), based on the relational view of strategy (Dyer and Singh, 1998; Lavie, 2006; Mesquita et al., 2008), and we test the framework using new case studies. We argue that the success of BoP projects depends on relation-specific resources and capabilities resulting from partnerships among participating organizations. Typical partners involved in a BoP project are firms that make a product or a service designed for BoP customers, a public or private agency that has local knowledge and presence, and a …

M&A Today: Great Challenges, But Great Opportunities, Stephen R. Goldberg, Carol M. Sanchez

Peer Reviewed Articles

The volatility in today’s financial markets creates challenges but also great opportunities for mergers and acquisitions (M&A). In uncertain times, there is a need to play it safe, but for some it is also the ideal time to seize opportunities to make great deals. As companies find distinctive ways to strategically navigate in these turbulent times, many continue to use a two-fold strategy: cut costs and stimulate growth through diversification, which includes M&A. Global M&A activity increased in 2010 and continues to increase in 2011. In this article, we report on Global M&A activity in the first half of 2011, …

The Spirit Of Family Business: A Comparative Analysis Of Anglo, Germanic And Nordic Nations, Vipin Gupta, Nancy M. Levenburg, Lynda Moore, Jaideep Motwani, Thomas V. Schwarz

Peer Reviewed Articles

Using GLOBE classification and findings, this paper compares the family characteristics and work cultures of family businesses in Anglo, Germanic, and Nordic cultures. Results indicate differing patterns in terms of the involvement of the family in the family business and other key organizational dimensions. While all three regions share their weak family orientation, the Nordic and Germanic regions share stronger future orientation and uncertainty avoidance. The Anglo and Germanic regions share stronger performance orientation and the Nordic region stands out for its low power distance and low assertiveness. Overall, the characteristics of family businesses in the three regions may be …

2010 M&A Update, Carol M. Sanchez, Christina Seeber, Stephen R. Goldberg

Peer Reviewed Articles

Most of 2009 was slow for mergers and acquisitions (M&A), due to financial turmoil and economic uncertainty that carried over from late 2008. But the deal market rebounded in the fourth quarter of 2009 and 2010 appears to be much better for M&A than 2009. Yet while the global economy shows signs of recovery, and many buyers and sellers are flush with cash, M&A activity may begin slowly in the United States in 2011 due to uncertainty about the business outlook and potential tax changes. In this article, we briefly review M&A activity in the first half of 2010, and …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Attitudes Toward Women Managers In China, Chile, And The United States, Carol M. Sanchez, Robert Scherer, Rajshekhar G. Javalgi, Lorena Pradenas Rojas, Victor Parada Daza, Chi-En Hwang, Wu Yan

Peer Reviewed Articles

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine if stereotypical perceptions of women as managers existed among men and women in three cultural settings: the U.S., China and Chile. Based on the extant literature, hypotheses were developed and tested.

Design/Methodology Approach : Participants in our study were students enrolled in degree programs. The data was collected from the U.S., China and Chile. Using the women as mangers scale (WAMS), the study explores attitudinal dimensions. Further, gender and country effects were identified at both multivariate and univariate levels.

Findings: The findings show that stereotypical perceptions of women as mangers exist …

A Thematic Analysis Of Cultural Variations In Family Businesses: The Case Project, Vipin Gupta, Nancy Levenburg

Peer Reviewed Articles

This article shows cross-cultural variations in family businesses using nine cross-cultural dimensions of family business from the CASE project. A content analysis of the emergent themes from a set of contextual articles on family businesses in 10 regional clusters worldwide, as defined by the GLOBE program, is conducted. This thematic analysis shows qualitative as well as quantitative variations in the family businesses of different cultural regions. Further research is required to understand the rich diversity of family businesses within each cluster and to refine scholars’ knowledge about how the dimensions of family business are manifested in different clusters.

Are There Opportunities For Strategic Buyers? M&A Activity In The 2008 Downturn And Trends In 2009, Carol M. Sanchez, Anastasia Nowak, Stephen R. Goldberg

Peer Reviewed Articles

Global M&A activity declined since the world economic downturn hit in late 2008. Middle-market global M&As were down 26% from 2008, while middle-market domestic deals were down 18%. European M&As fared less well, down 45%, and even Asian deals were down 35% compared to 2008.1 The reasons for the downturn are obvious: both buyers and sellers felt uncertain about the market. Buyers were, and are still, unwilling and often unable to spend, and potential sellers of companies were and are trying to hold on to their companies, fearful of selling at too large a discount.

Do Values Or Goals Better Explain Intent? A Cross-National Comparison, Marianela Fornerino, Alain Jolibert, Carol M. Sanchez, Mengxia Zhang

Peer Reviewed Articles

Among six major lines of inquiry on motivations, two theories are especially pertinent to consumer behavior studies: values and goals. Several studies show that consumer behavior can be predicted on the basis of values or goals; this study examines which are the stronger predictors by presenting a cross-cultural comparison of the values and goals that may influence the behavioral intentions of U.S., Chinese, and French students to study abroad. As a service, study abroad has financial implications, represents a choice, and competes with other educational products. Therefore, goals appear to explain behavioral intentions better than do values, except among U.S. …

Strategic M&A’S: Stronger In Tough Times?, Carol M. Sanchez, Stephen R. Goldberg

Peer Reviewed Articles

Global acquisitions were worth $6.5 billion in the first quarter of 2008, were down 44% from the previous quarter, and down 41% from the first quarter of 2007.1 But the value of strategic M&As dropped less, only 33%, while the number of deals rose 8%, and cross-border deals represented 38% of the total value of global M&As. Kroll argues that strategic M&As, while likely to experience some drop in volume in 2008 and until the credit crisis bottoms out, will withstand the pressures of financial markets much better than financial M&As. Strategic M&As are deals conducted by companies that want …

Entrepreneurial Orientation Among The Youth Of India: The Impact Of Culture, Education And Environment, Nancy M. Levenburg, Thomas V. Schwarz

Peer Reviewed Articles

Expanding the level of entrepreneurial activity within all nations is an increasingly important political and economic goal, especially for developing countries. Literature suggests that culture, education and environment play key roles, yet these attributes vary greatly across nations. This study explores the level of interest in entrepreneurship among what may be India’s next generation of entrepreneurs, namely undergraduate business students, and draws comparisons with students enrolled in the US. Despite a combination of social structures and cultural values within India that historically constrained entrepreneurship, a number of efforts in recent years seem to have significantly shifted the national mindset regarding …

Succession Planning In Smes: An Empirical Analysis, Jaideep Motwani, Nancy M. Levenburg, Thomas V. Schwarz, Charles Blankson

Peer Reviewed Articles

This study reports the results from a survey of 368 family-owned small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) with regard to the importance, nature, and extent of succession planning. By categorizing SMEs according to their annual revenues, total number of employees, and number of family members employed within the firm, significant differences were found between larger and smaller firms. Consistent with extant literature, the findings reveal that most family members join the firm for altruistic reasons. Issues related to family relationships were rated as significantly more important in firms in which more family members were employed within the firm. Moreover, for …

M&A Update: Will The Rebound Stumble?, Carol M. Sanchez, Stephen R. Goldberg

Peer Reviewed Articles

After a multi-year lull, merger and acquisition activity has started again to pick up speed. In 2004, the value of global M&A activity grew 40% to just under $2 trillion, compared to $833 billion in 2003. This is the first time the market has seen such growth since 1998 when it increased 80% from 1997. M&A activity in the post-millennium years weakened because investors were jittery after the dot.com bust and September 11 attacks in the United States. By 2005, it seemed that much of that fear had abated, as M&A activity was strong through June. There were more large …