Cheryl Nakata

Instituting the marketing concept in a multinational setting: The role of national culture

A growing concern among international marketing managers is how to increase the market orientation and thereby performance of their transnational organizations. This study broaches this issue by investigating how the marketing concept, the heart of the market orientation, may be established in a multinational setting and the effects of national culture on that process. From a wide array of literature, the authors construct a theoretical framework and propositions on how global organizations may transform this philosophy from an abstract platitude to an operational reality. Their findings suggest that the process consists of complex, interdependent steps—interpretation, adoption, and implementation of the marketing concept. Cultural values shape interpretation and facilitate or impede adoption and implementation. The overall framework and findings can be used to guide institutionalization of the marketing concept across the organizational span, in particular by anticipating culture-based reactions from international subsidiaries.

Emerging market conditions and their impact on first mover advantages

Reports that, with sluggish growth in the developed markets of the world and increasing globalization, companies are turning to newly emerging markets for business expansion. Therefore, understanding entry strategies in emerging markets is likely to become an increasingly important issue for academic researchers and marketing practitioners. First movers are generally thought to garner fairly robust advantages over later entrants; however, the degree to which these advantages prevail in emerging markets is not known. Examines, by means of a literature review, the effects of emerging market conditions on first mover advantages. Advances several research propositions, based on the findings, presents a conceptual model, and identifies directions for further research.

Determinants of Korean and Japanese New Product Performance: An Interrelational and Process View

Firms in South Korea and Japan are designing and introducing new products to global markets, contributing to their strong export-led economic growth. To better understand how Korean and Japanese firms are succeeding, the authors conducted a study on new product development. They surveyed product developers in both countries about how strategic, organizational, and process factors influence new product performance (NPP). The authors learned that the determinants of NPP are interrelated and that the new product development process itself is central, namely the stages of initiation and implementation. These two stages directly determine NPP, though initiation appears to be more important. The stages are strengthened by factors such as customer orientation, cross-functional integration, and new product team proficiency; however, the effects are not uniform. Although the model and hypotheses are largely supported, indicating that, in general, they describe South Korean and Japanese new product development, the authors found a few differences between the countries.

Designing global new product teams

Companies are increasingly bringing personnel together into teams from different countries, physically and/or electronically, to develop products for multiple or worldwide markets. Called global new product teams (GNPTs), these groups face significant challenges, including cultural diversity. Differing cultural values can lead to conflict, misunderstanding, and inefficient work styles on the one hand, and strong idea generation and creative problem solving on the other. A study was conducted to identify team compositions that would optimize the effects of national culture so that product development outcomes are favorable. This began by developing a theoretical framework describing the impact of national culture on product development tasks. The framework was then translated into several mathematical models using analytical derivations and comparative statics. The models identify the levels and variances of culture values that maximize product development success by simultaneously considering four relevant dimensions of GNPT performance. Next, the utility of these models was tested by means of numerical simulations for a range of team scenarios. Concludes by drawing implications of the findings for managers and researchers.

Activating the marketing concept in a global context

There is limited understanding of how businesses, particularly in a global context, activate the marketing concept in order to become market‐driven. A study was conducted to delineate the activation process in an international setting, and some of the facilitating and impeding factors. In‐depth interviews were conducted with executives of 22 subsidiaries of a multinational firm. Activation appeared to consist of interpreting, adopting and implementing the marketing concept. Implementation is itself a sequence of market intelligence activities. Greater adoption and implementation, as well as higher quality intelligence work, are tied to stronger organizational performance. Facilitators (e.g. top management commitment) and inhibitors (e.g. over‐emphasis on profits) were identified. Other dimensions also surfaced including the slow, top‐down path of adoption, national culture, and market competitiveness. Recommendations were made on enhancing activation success.

Co-Production of Prolonged, Complex, and Negative Services An Examination of Medication Adherence in Chronically Ill Individuals

This study examines customer coproduction in a prolonged, complex, and negative service context—medication adherence in chronically ill individuals. We integrate services and medical perspectives to develop a novel theoretical framework of adherence as a nested system of coproduction behaviors, characterized by temporal and scope dimensions. Utilizing a qualitative approach, our findings point to two key insights about coproduction in the customer sphere. First, the enactment and form of regular-restricted, intermittent-intermediate, and irregular-expansive coproduction behaviors are determined by the characteristics of the customer sphere—that is, coproduction is contextualized. Second, the coproduction system in the customer sphere is complex and the different levels are interdependent. Our research contributes to the emerging literature on service coproduction by elucidating the behaviors through which customers strive toward adherence. The identified coproduction framework holds important implications for providers of prolonged and complex services and future research directions.

Going Beyond Hofstede: Why We Need to and How

In 1980 Geert Hofstede published his landmark study, Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work Related Values. The book described what has been the largest survey of work values, encompassing 88,000 employees in 72 countries. An updated version expanded the survey to an additional ten countries and three regions (Hofstede, 2001). Arguably more important than the scale of the study was the framework it introduced. Based on the survey data, Hofstede put forth a new and parsimonious conceptualization of culture, accompanied by measurements and indexes. He proposed that culture is the “collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another” (1980, p. 13), and more specifically identified five universal values occurring to varying degrees in each country: individualism, masculinity, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation. The framework translated the rather amorphous idea of culture into a tractable construct amenable to empirical research. Subsequently, the framework has been widely applied in various business disciplines, as well as spilling over into the social sciences.

A philosophy of reviewing: Taking cues from Henry James

More than a century ago, Henry James authored The Golden Bowl, The Portrait of a Lady, and The Wings of the Dove—said to be the finest American prose fiction ever written (Bloom 2002:748). These novels are enthusiastically read and appreciated to this day, reflecting not only James’s innate artistry but also his development as a writer in response to critiques of his work. He once commented about the indispensable and unique role of critics in this way:

Enhancing market exchanges at the base of the pyramid

Purpose – The base of the pyramid (BOP) is characterized by deep and wide poverty, which dampens market exchanges, or making/selling and buying/consuming activities. The purpose of this paper is to address the specific issue of how national culture distinguishes BOP markets in terms of exchange activities, and the broad issue of how market exchanges can grow and flourish by accounting for comparative differences across BOP markets. Design/methodology/approach – The study design is a conceptual framework drawn from the extant BOP literature and several theories such as Amartya Sen’s theory on poverty, and Anthony Bebbington’s concepts of human capital. The framework specifies research propositions for future empirical examination. Findings – The conceptual framework proposes that BOP poverty lowers or inhibits market exchanges but is countered by several factors: national culture (performance orientation), non-traditional assets (creative and social capitals), and transformative technologies (mobile teleph...

Consumer Co-production in Prolonged and Complex Services: The Case of Medication Adherence in Chronically Ill Individuals

This study examines customer co-production in a prolonged, complex, and negative service context—medication adherence in chronically ill individuals. We integrate services and medical perspectives to develop a novel theoretical framework of adherence as a nested system of co-production behaviors, characterized by temporal and scope dimensions. Utilizing a qualitative approach, our findings point to two key insights about co-production in the customer sphere. First, the enactment and form of regular-restricted, intermittent-intermediate, and irregular-expansive co-production behaviors are determined by the characteristics of the customer sphere—that is, co-production is contextualized. Second, the co-production system in the customer sphere is complex, and the different levels are interdependent. Our research contributes to the emerging literature on service co-production by elucidating the behaviors through which customers strive towards adherence. The identified co-production framework holds important implications for providers of prolonged and complex services and future research directions.