G. Tomas M. Hult

Many firms make significant investments into developing and managing knowledge within their supply chains. Such investments are often prudent because studies indicate that supply chain knowledge (SCK) has a positive influence on performance. Key questions still surround the SCK–performance relationship, however. First, what is the overall relationship between SCK and performance? Second, under what conditions is the relationship stronger or weaker? To address these questions, we applied meta analysis to 35 studies of the SCK–performance relationship that collectively include more than 8,400 firms. Our conservative estimate is that the effect size of the overall relationship is .39.We also find that the SCK–performance relationship is stronger when (i) examining operational performance, (ii) gathering data from more than one supply chain node, (iii) gathering data from multiple countries, (iv) examining service industries, and (v) among more recently published studies. We also found that studies that embraced a single theory base (as opposed to using multiple ones) had a stronger SCK–performance relationship. Looking to the future, our meta-analysis highlights the need for studies to (i) include lags between the measurement of SCK and performance, (ii) gather upstream data when examining innovation, (iii) examine SCK within emerging countries, and (iv) provide much more information relative to the nuances of the SCK examined.

This study examines the influence of backward-looking, reference-dependent decisions on forward-looking capital allocation investment choices across business units within a firm. Specifically, we develop an integrated behavioral framework for predicting how aspirations for business unit performance affect the efficiency of the internal capital allocation process. Results suggest that, contingent on dispersion in business unit performance and on firm slack, performance aspirations have pervasive effects; current performance above and below aspirations influences the efficiency of the allocation process. Given that prior examinations of aspiration-driven behavior have generally focused on changes in strategic organizational actions (e.g., R&D investment) without further considering the quality or appropriateness of such actions, this study contributes by also focusing on the appropriateness of capital allocations with clear implications for allocation efficiency.

This study examines the citations used in the global branding literature (GBL), and evaluates the knowledge structure of this area of research to date. Our bibliometric analysis involves an examination of 120 global branding articles in business-related research. We employ multidimensional scaling to reveal a range of intellectual influences that have helped shape the GBL. The foundation of knowledge in the GBL is uncovered by analyzing co-citation data to identify important topical influences in the formation of global branding research. The conceptual framework developed incorporates five areas with important implications for the future development of global branding as an area of inquiry. These major research topics in the GBL are international branding strategy, brand positioning, brand/country origin, brand concept-image, and brand performance. We leverage resource- and capability-based paradigms, and use the five underpinning knowledge groups to propose an agenda for future research that fills existing gaps and offers the potential to advance and enrich the GBL.

We draw on extant literature on strategic sourcing and supply base rationalization to anchor our argument that measuring supplier performance diversity is germane to executing an effective supply base rationalization strategy. We explicate how a novel approach to data envelopment analysis (DEA) efficiency assessment can be utilized to measure this performance diversity. More specifically, our methods are anchored in cross efficiency analysis in DEA that allows for evaluating the efficiency of a supplier with respect to the optimal weights (strengths) of its peers. This methodology is applied to an actual supplier dataset of a large multinational telecommunications company in categorizing their supply base into groups for effective supplier rationalization. We conclude that measuring and analyzing the performance diversity within the framework of DEA provides a mechanism for firms to better balance a rationalized and diversified supply base with unique skills.

This special issue of JAMS is dedicated to the general concept of “international competitiveness,” viewed as a strategic phenomenon inherent in the broader fields of international marketing, international business, and international management. Broadly, international competitiveness is a measure of an organization’s advantage (or disadvantage) in marketing its products and/or services in global markets. The introduction to the special issue provides an overview of international competitiveness, examples of multinational enterprises and their indicators of international competitiveness, and a description of the 10 articles in the issue. Appropriately, in the spirit of JAMS’ breadth of coverage, the articles in the issue broadly address international competitiveness issues related to the scope of the field of international marketing, multinational enterprises, small-medium enterprises, culture, exporting, foreign market subsidiaries, and offshoring and outsourcing. Naturally, some of the articles span multiple areas as well.

This issue marks the beginning of the 40th volume of the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. The thicker-than-usual issue is designated as the 40th Anniversary Issue of the Journal. To commemorate the Journal’s anniversary, the collection of cutting-edge and innovative research articles in this issue addresses all of the broad topics in marketing (i.e., marketing strategy, consumer behavior, modeling, public policy, and methods/methodology) to exemplify the breadth of the Journal’s scope. In this spirit, our introduction to the 40th Anniversary Issue briefly provides (1) an overview of JAMS and some tidbits about the Journal, (2) a section on the impact of JAMS, (3) a description of the 11 articles in the issue, and (4) some concluding thoughts. Overall, JAMS has had remarkable impact in the field of marketing for four decades, escalating in the last two decades to become a top tier journal for the marketing professorate. By some accounts, some 500 of the roughly 1,500 JAMS articles published to date have made a remarkably high impact in the field of marketing (and social sciences). The incredible slate of authors contributing to the Anniversary Issue is a testament to the Journal’s standing in the field.

The marketing and management disciplines have a history of exchange and mutual benefit that dates back several decades (cf. Biggadike 1981). The contributions of each discipline to concepts such as market orientation, innovation, strategic types, and the product life cycle have enhanced the other discipline. In addition, many other topics have also received similar coverage across the scholarly marketing and management disciplines. This special issue of JAMS represents a collective effort of editors, authors, and reviewers to build additional important synergies between marketing and management within the context of organization theory.

The concept of sustainability is increasingly being addressed theoretically by scholars and practically by managers and policymakers. With this growing focus on sustainability efforts, marketing is in a unique position to elevate its focus from managing relationships with customers to strategically managing a broader set of marketplace issues. Overall, an organization achieves market-based sustainability to the extent that it strategically aligns itself with the market-oriented product needs and wants of customers and the interests of multiple stakeholders concerned about social responsibility issues involving economic, environmental, and social dimensions. To set the stage for marketing’s inquiry into sustainability efforts, I briefly review the concept of sustainability, compare it with corporate social responsibility, bring in stakeholders, argue for the notion of “market orientation plus,” and consider the possibility that the notion of what sustainability encompasses is converging in the marketing literature.

Common method variance (CMV) is the amount of spurious correlation between variables that is created by using the same method—often a survey—to measure each variable. CMV may lead to erroneous conclusions about relationships between variables by inflating or deflating findings. We analyzed recent survey research in IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Journal of Operations Management, and Production and Operations Management to assess if and how scholars address CMV. We found that two-thirds of the relevant articles published between 2001 and 2009 did not formally address CMV, and many that did address CMV relied on relatively weak remedies. These findings have troubling implications for efforts to build knowledge within information technology, operations and supply chain management research. In an effort to strengthen future research designs, we provide recommendations to help scholars to better address CMV. Given the potentially severe effects of CMV, authors should apply the recommended CMV remedies within their survey-based studies, and reviewers should hold authors accountable when they fail to do so.

"Now more than ever, marketing is assuming a key boundary-spanning role—a role that has also redefined the composition of the marketing organization. In this paper, the marketing organization’s integrative and mutually reinforcing components of marketing activities, customer value–creating processes, networks, and stakeholders are delineated within their boundary-spanning roles as a particular emphasis (labeledMOR theory). Thematic marketing insights from a collection of 31 organization theories are used to advance knowledge on the boundary-spanning marketing organization within four areas—strategic marketing resources, marketing leadership and decision making, network alliances and collaborations, and the domestic and global
marketplace.""

"This study evaluates the foundational intellectual structure of franchising research over the last four decades. Based on 1718 articles from a sample of 40 journals, we use co-citation analysis, employed in both multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis, to evaluate 67,073 citations and determine the theoretical underpinnings of franchising research. As the results indicate, the retailing literature has had an integral influence on studies related to franchising. To advance this research domain, we develop a three-dimensional typology (franchise structure,
consumer exchange, and strategic intention) based on established and emergent franchise-related topics. The typology indicates six suggested topics for examination to advance franchising research based on the domain’s accomplishments to date."

Significant research has been devoted to studying the factors that affect firm multinationality. In this study, the authors organize the vast multinationality literature by levels of analysis using a multilevel framework based on the interaction paradigm and conduct a meta-analysis that aggregates the empirical findings from 154 independent samples reported in 145 studies. The cumulative evidence provides strong support for the upper echelons theory that emphasizes the central importance of executives’ characteristics as major determinants of firm multinationality. Moreover, the results indicate that the accumulation of the international experience embedded in human and relational capital is the most significant firm-level factor that affects firm multinationality. The meta-analytic results also reveal that the measurement and sample characteristics of original studies explain the inconsistent findings pertaining to the effects of firm size, firm age, and top management team size on multinationality. On the basis of the meta-analytic findings, several directions for future research are provided.

Supply chain risk uncertainty can create severe repercussions, thus it is not surprising that research interest in supply chain risk has been growing. While extant inquiry is informative, there is a lack of investigations that center on supply chain investment decisions when facing high levels of risk uncertainty. Given the potential dollar value involved in these decisions, an understanding of how these supply chain decisions are made is of significant theoretical and practical importance. Real options theory, with its focus on decision making under conditions of uncertainty, is an appealing theoretical lens for this endeavor. In essence, real options theory asserts that managerial decisions center on creating and then exercising or not exercising certain opportunities. To date, theorizing about and investigations of real options have used firms as their focus. Not yet examined are real options within supply chains that cross firm boundaries and drive much of the competitive activity in the modern economy. Accordingly, we extend real options theory to the supply chain context by examining how different types of options are approached relative to supply chain project investments. Specifically, we theorize how the options will be related to perceived value under conditions of high supply chain risk uncertainty. Overall, our investigation builds knowledge by extending real options theory to the supply chain context and by providing evidence suggesting some options operate differently in supply chains than they do in firms.

Drawing on the marketing orientation and stakeholder literature streams, the authors define the concepts of market orientation (MO) and stakeholder orientation (SO) to explore their potential contribution to marketing. They discuss the potential contribution of each construct along with the similarities and differences that could be significant for marketing strategy. The MO construct focuses on customers and competitors and indirectly on other stakeholder groups. The SO construct does not designate any stakeholder group as more important than another, and the prioritization of stakeholders may change depending on the issue. As such, SO is more contingency based and is a function of contextual aspects surrounding the organization. The SO and MO constructs are not mutually exclusive; there is some overlap between them. The authors suggest further research to explore the most appropriate construct for firms to consider.

Despite the importance of supply chains within today’s economy, we know little about how the knowledge of supply chains can contribute to superior performance at the firm level. Building on the resource-based view, knowledge-based view and strategic choice theory, we develop hypotheses linking two knowledge-driven supply chain phenomena (i.e., knowledge development capacity and intellectual capital), innovation–cost strategy, and action to firm-level performance. Using survey and archival data from 489 firms, we found that performance is influenced by how well knowledge development capacity and intellectual capital efforts complement alternative chain strategies. More specifically, each strategy type requires different constellations of knowledge development capacity and intellectual capital to enhance action and create superior firm performance. These results highlight the importance of supply chain phenomena for firm-level performance, and more broadly, the value of supply chains as a competitive weapon in contemporary firms.

This research presents entrepreneuring as a puzzle where entrepreneurs venture at a risk-return level that is worse than that of the private equity index and much worse than the public equity index. Under subjective rationality, we explain this puzzle by the possibility that entrepreneurs configure their outlook by dismissing some possible future performance states. Their forward view reflects a truncated and conditional distribution with overcredence. The unfavorable odds under a nontruncated distribution become very attractive after truncation.

A sizeable body of international business (IB) research is devoted to building knowledge about the determinants of organizational performance. A key precursor to accurately diagnosing why some organizations succeed in the international marketplace while others struggle is operationalizing performance appropriately. Yet, to date, no systematic investigation has considered how well IB research measures performance. We examine the measurement of performance in 96 articles published in the Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of International Business Studies, Management Science, Organization Science, and the Strategic Management Journal between 1995 and 2005. The findings reveal that most studies do not measure performance in a manner that captures the multifaceted nature of the construct. We describe the implications of these results, and offer suggestions for improving future practice.

Connor’s commentary offers a series of thoughtful comments on the ideas presented in Hult, Ketchen, and Slater (2005). We focus on two of his contentions in our response. First, we argue that the theory underlying our study—the resource-based view—is not tautological. This is because resources and performance are not directly related. Instead, realizing the potential value of resources depends on those resources being exploited through a firm’s strategic actions. Second, we disagree with Connor’s contention that market-oriented and customer-led firms lie along a continuum. We propose a richer conceptualization centered on a two-by-two matrix that contains market-oriented firms, customer-led firms, and two additional types.

Organization theory (OT) has the potential to offer provocative and helpful wisdom to the field of supply chain management, yet OT’s potential has remained largely underdeveloped in the supply chain arena. As a result, enormous opportunities exist to integrate insights from organization theory and supply chain management in order to build understanding of why some supply chains excel while others do not. We preview the contributions toward developing such a synthesis offered by each of the articles contained in this special issue. Collectively, the articles take a significant step toward closing the gap between ‘what we know’ and ‘what we need to know’ about supply chain management.

Rivalry is increasingly being contested at the supply chain level of analysis. Rather than competing “firm versus firm,” today’s organizations are battling “supply chain versus supply chain.” Within this context, best value supply chains are emerging as a means to create competitive advantages and superior performance. While traditional supply chains often focus primarily on one key outcome such as speed or cost, best value supply chains excel along an array of uniquely integrated priorities—cost, quality, speed, and flexibility. We describe how key organizational theories help to distinguish traditional supply chains from best value supply chains. To provide a foundation for future inquiry, we offer theory-based research questions that are focused on best value supply chains.

Emerging thoughts on quality suggest that three principal sources of customer-based value creation exist for firms operating in the online marketplace. These include a focus on delivering (1) service quality, (2) product quality, and (3) eBusiness quality. Drawing on strategic choice theory coupled with configuration theory, we conducted a profile deviation analysis among customers of online grocery firms using the “ideal” quality profile for four operational logistics strategies as the benchmark (semi extended strategy, fully extended strategy, de-coupled strategy, and centralized extended strategy). The findings suggest that service, product, and eBusiness quality-based fit with operational logistics strategy type are associated with customers’ behavioral (repurchase) intentions. This lends support to the notion that capitalizing on the appropriately weighted quality-focus represents a strategic vehicle to create superior outcomes in online businesses. The makeup of these ideal quality profiles that represent the strongest repurchase intentions of customers is also provided.

"Business strategy is fundamentally concerned with the actions required to create superior customer value in the firm’s target markets with the ultimate goal of achieving superior performance. Marketing theory suggests that two critical marketing activities required to achieve this end are: (1) the adoption of appropriate strategic behaviors (i.e., customer-oriented, competitor-oriented, technology oriented) and (2) targeting of the appropriate market segments (i.e., innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards). This study builds on prior research which demonstrates that the strategic behavior—firm performance relationship is contingent on the firm’s strategy by examining this relationship in high tech markets and by considering the incremental contribution of appropriate target market selection. Responses from 160 senior marketing managers in high-tech firms reveal strong support for our framework. Thus, this study provides useful guidance to executives and managers in high-tech firms regarding the steps that they should take to increase their probability of success.
"

An effective strategy formation capability is a complex organizational resource—a dynamic capability that should lead to superior performance. Strategy scholars have examined the strategy formation capability from many perspectives. However, no study has examined a comprehensive model of strategy formation in the context of the firm’s strategic orientation. We develop and examine such a model. The results show that strategic orientation moderates the relationship between different elements of the strategy formation capability and performance.

Despite the importance of supply chains to firms, we know little about the intangible aspects of why some supply chains excel while others struggle. Building on the resource-based view, strategic choice theory, and configurational research, we suggest that the relative fit among strategy and eight knowledge elements is a key to achieving superior supply chain performance. Using data from 913 entities in supply chains, we conducted a profile deviation analysis by using ideal ‘‘knowledge profiles’’ for five strategy types as the benchmarks. Separate analyses were conducted based on the ideal profiles derived from qualitative, quantitative, and theoretical inputs. Overall, the results indicate that the strategy-knowledge fit is associated with chain performance. Our findings lend support to the notion that capitalizing on knowledge can create superior performance in supply chains, but only if the relative emphasis on various knowledge elements matches strategy.

Extensive research has documented how firms’ learning orientation and memory are related to organizational performance. The objective of this study is to examine the moderating role of turbulence on the relationships between firms’ learning orientation and memory and their organizational performance and innovativeness. The study also provides insight into the differential relationships of firms’ learning orientation and memory to their performance and innovativeness. Using survey data collected from 200 supply management professionals, the results suggest that the extent to which learning and memory are associated with organizational performance is contingent on the level of environmental turbulence. Specifically, under low environmental turbulence, learning orientation and organizational memory appear to be related to performance and innovativeness; however, under high environmental turbulence, only learning orientation is a useful predictor.

This study presents an analysis of the growing market for groceries and other foodstuffs ordered via the internet or telephone for delivery to the customer’s home. This industry has been growing for the past 5 years at greater than 25% per year while the overall market for foodstuffs has been largely stagnant. The research utilizes data from surveys of over 2100 customers of five different home delivery grocers. The analysis utilizes two group variables (customer experience level and order picking method) and five primary constructs (service quality, product quality, product freshness, time-savings and behavioral intentions). The results indicate that customer perceptions of the primary constructs generally improve as they gain experience with this new method of ordering and receiving groceries. Furthermore, the operational choice of picking method is also shown to have a large impact on customer perceptions—in particular, more experienced customers generally rate the primary constructs higher for distribution center (DC)-based picking than for store-based picking. The study provides support for the hypothesis that direct to customer foodstuffs can be of better freshness and quality when picked from a DC because of the ability to shorten the supply chain than from a store. The data suggest that a DC-based picking strategy is viable if grocers can re-shape customer perceptions and master the numerous intricacies of the supply chain.

A series of five Strategic Management Journal articles has debated several issues concerning the role of market orientation in shaping firm performance. This debate has defined market orientation as a cultural emphasis. Yet, a large body of research in the marketing field views market orientation as an emphasis on certain market information-processing activities. Using data from 217 firms, we test a model that includes both cultural and information-processing elements. The findings suggest that both approaches to market orientation help explain performance, but their effects are mediated by organizational responsiveness. Thus, researchers should not only account for both definitions of market orientation, but they should also investigate market orientation in combination with other important performance antecedents.

This study reports results from case studies of four Internet-ordering and home-delivery grocers and 2440 of their customers. Each grocer follows a different operations strategy as determined by choice of where to fulfill customer orders (from existing stores or from a dedicated DC) and by choice of delivery method (direct to the customer’s home/office or indirect via customer pickup or third-party logistics provider). The survey data from customers are used to assess the degree of integration between marketing and operations and the relationship with customer behavioral intentions. The results indicate that eBusiness-, product-, and service-quality, all have a significant direct effect on customer behavioral intentions to purchase again. There is limited support for technology as a moderating factor. Finally, the relationships between the predictor variables and customer behavioral intentions differ across grocers. This supports the idea that grocers utilizing different operational strategies should focus attention on different facets of their business and provides insight as to where efforts should be directed.

This research presents the development of behavioral scoring models to predict future customer purchases in an online ordering application. Internet retailing lowers many barriers for customers switching between retailers for repeat purchases; thus, retaining existing customers is a key challenge for achieving profitability. Survey data were collected from 1,089 online customers of two companies. The subjective survey data were then used to predict purchases over the ensuing 12 months based on data from the company databases. The analysis illustrates the general applicability of predictive models of future customer purchases while also demonstrating the need to develop specific models tailored for an individual company’s operating and marketing environment. The models provide insight on how companies can target marketing dollars more effectively and allocate investment across multiple operational areas for maximum return. The research answers a call for rigorous research in the area of predictive marketing, an area in which many companies are excelling but where there is a scarcity of detailed knowledge regarding application of such models.

Adopting a contingency perspective, the authors present and test a fit-as-moderation model that posits that overall firm performance is influenced by how well the marketing organization's structural characteristics (i.e., formalization, centralization, and specialization) and strategic behavioral emphases (i.e., customer, competitor, innovation, and cost control) complement alternative business strategies (i.e., prospector, analyzer, low-cost defender, and differentiated defender). Responses from 228 senior marketing managers provide support for the model and demonstrate that each strategy type requires different combinations of marketing organization structures and strategic behaviors for success.

Little is known about why some supply chains perform well while others do not. Drawing on the knowledge-based view of the firm and theory from the information processing and organizational learning literatures, we devised a model linking knowledge development to cycle time in strategic supply chains—chains whose members are strategically, operationally, and technologically integrated. Using data from 58 chains in a Fortune 500 firm, we found that the knowledge development process explained substantial variance in cycle time.

This study considers the potential role of organizational learning as a strategic resource in supply management. A model of learning in supply management processes is examined using samples representing three nodes of one Fortune 500 organization’s supply chains (internal SBU customers, n = 141; corporate buyers, n = 115, and external suppliers, n = 58). Organizational learning is viewed as a composite construct arising from four tangible indicators: team-, systems-, learning-, and memory-orientations (each of those orientations is measured with four to five items). The results indicate that learning has a positive effect on a set of learning consequences, supply management consequences, management consequences, and performance consequences.

This study examines the role of entrepreneurship in building cultural competitiveness in organizations. Cultural competitiveness is defined as the degree to which organizations are predisposed to detect and fill gaps between what the market desires and what is currently offered. It is examined in this study as the collective result of interactions among four variables: entrepreneurship, innovativeness, market orientation, and organizational learning. Among these variables, entrepreneurship represents the most influential and proactive means of developing a market-based culture. However, the role of entrepreneurship differs depending on organizational type. Based on data from a sample of 764 organizations, superior performance occurs when certain aspects of cultural competitiveness fit each of four organizational types. Specifically, large and young organizations achieve strong performance by focusing directly on entrepreneurship. In the other organizational types, entrepreneurship has an indirect effect on performance (i.e., large and old organizations perform better by focusing on organizational learning; small and old organizations benefit from a market orientation; and small and young organizations perform better by focusing on a balanced or selective approach where all four cultural competitiveness elements are emphasized or only one idiosyncratic element is emphasized, respectively).

The last decade has seen an increased focus on knowledge creation and knowledge deployment in organizations. Broadly, this stream of thought suggests that organizations should focus on belter utilizing their intellectual capacity by improving knowledge flows among members. The goal is achieving competitive advantage via effective knowledge deployment (Hult el al., 2000). In fact, the influence of the dynamic global environment and rapid advances in information technology during the last decade gave rise to the recognition that knowledge is the only resource that can facilitate a sustained competitive advantage (cf. Grant. 1996)…

Supply chains are increasingly important, yet little is known about the determinants of their success and failure. Drawing on the resource-based view and research on “adhocracy,” in this study we examined the effects of cultural competitiveness within supply chains on order fulfillment cycle time. The results indicate that entrepreneurship, innovativeness, and learning function as first-order indicators of a higher-order latent construct we label “cultural competitiveness” that, in turn, has a positive effect on cycle time reduction.

A recent series of articles in the Strategic Management Journal has discussed the potential value of an organization developing a market orientation in its quest to achieve success. We posit that market orientation can enhance success, but that its potential value should not be considered in isolation. Specifically, we draw on the resource-based view of the firm to suggest that four capabilities—market orientation, entrepreneurship, innovativeness, and organizational learning—each contribute to the creation of positional advantages for some firms. The data used are drawn from 181 large multinational corporations (MNC). The results indicate that positional advantages arising from the confluence of market orientation, entrepreneurship, innovativeness, and organizational learning have a positive effect on MNC performance (five-year average change in ROI, income, and stock price). Overall, the results support the contention that market orientation can enhance success, albeit within the context of other important phenomena.

Logistics excellence as become a powerful source of competitive differentiation within diverse marketing offerings of world-class firms. Although researchers have suggested that logistics competencies complement marketing efforts, empirical evidence is lacking on what logistics service quality means to customers and whether it has different meanings for separate customer segments. The authors present empirical support for nine related logistics service quality constructs; demonstrate their unidimensionality, validity, and reliability across four customers segments of a large logistics organization; and provide empirical support for a logistics service quality process. Although structural equation modeling offers support for the logistics service quality process across customer segments, the authors find that the relative parameter estimates differ for each segment, which suggests that firms ought to customize their logistics services by customer segments.

The strategic fit paradigm, originally derived from observations in market-based economies, asserts that an appropriate match between environment and strategy has significant and positive implications for business performance. Based on a random sample of Chinese electronics firms, this study systematically examines the applicability of the strategic fit paradigm in China’s centrally planned economy in transition. Results indicate that while environment-strategy coalignment is evident, coalignment only improves performance under certain environmental conditions.

The following study both synthesizes and builds on the efforts to conceptualize the effects of quality, satisfaction, and value on consumers’ behavioral intentions. Specifically, it reports an empirical assessment of a model of service encounters that simultaneously considers the direct effects of these variables on behavioral intentions. The study builds on recent advances in services marketing theory and assesses the relationships between the identified constructs across multiple service industries. Several competing theories are also considered and compared to the research model. A number of notable findings are reported including the empirical verification that service quality, service value, and satisfaction may all be directly related to behavioral intentions when all of these variables are considered collectively. The results further suggest that the indirect effects of the service quality and value constructs enhanced their impact on behavioral intentions.

The article explores the nature of corporate citizenship and its relevance for marketing practitioners and academic researchers. Specifically, a conceptualization and operationalization of corporate citizenship are first proposed. Then, an empirical investigation conducted in two independent samples examines whether components of an organization’s culture affect the level of commitment to corporate citizenship and whether corporate citizenship is conducive to business benefits. Survey results suggest that market-oriented cultures as well as humanistic cultures lead to proactive corporate citizenship, which in turn is associated with improved levels of employee commitment, customer loyalty, and business performance. The results point to corporate citizenship as a potentially fruitful business practice both in terms of internal and external marketing.

This research examines a model centered on organizational learning in purchasing. Two different studies are conducted to test the hypotheses among purchasing users (Study 1) and buyers (Study 2). The user sample consists of users representing 355 strategic business units of a Fortune 500 multinational corporation. The buyer sample consists of corporate buyers of 200 multinational corporations drawn from the membership directory of the National Association of Purchasing Management (NAPM). In each study, the focus is on the learning relationships between corporate buyers and internal users in the purchasing organization. Based on the two studies, the results suggest that organizational learning in the purchasing process is influenced by the organizational culture factors of localness, transformational leadership, and openness. Organizational learning has a positive effect on information processing in the purchasing system, which, in turn, has a positive influence on the cycle time of the purchasing process.