Cynthia E. Miree

“TAP-IN” to strategic and tactical intelligence in the sales and marketing functions

This article describes the results of a benchmarking study of mechanisms used in corporate CI operations to coordinate strategic and tactical intelligence for sales and marketing. The American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC) sponsored the study, for which the authors served as subject-matter experts. The objective was to identify a set of mechanisms that establish a conceptual and operational integration of strategic and tactical intelligence. In-depth case studies of five best-practice companies (Amoco, Boehringer Ingelheim, Dow Chemical, Met Life, and SBC), supplemented with quantitative surveys from an additional nine firms, provided the study data. The findings show that best-practice firms use a set of five coordinating mechanisms that the authors label TAP-IN™: (1) Teams, (2) CI human-resource job design and Allocation, (3) the Planning process, (4) Interaction (dialogue), and (5) human intelligence Networks. The use of these five mechanisms in tandem provides a sophisticated means of coordinating strategic and tactical intelligence in the sales and marketing functions and throughout the firm. All of the companies in the sample used the TAP-IN mechanisms to some degree. The data reveal a relationship between the number of mechanisms used by a company and the overall effectiveness of the coordination process. For instance, Dow Chemical and Amoco used all five mechanisms. These two companies also reported they were able to achieve coordination between strategic and tactical intelligence to a very high degree.

Averting a tragedy of the commons: revenue sharing and competitive balance in the NHL

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to measure the effect of the National Hockey League (NHL) collective bargaining agreement (CBA) of 2005 between the NHL owners and the NHL Players Association, to determine whether competitive balance in the NHL increased after the CBA. Design/methodology/approach Competitive balance in the NHL was compared between 11 seasons before the NHL Lockout Season in 2004-2005 and 11 seasons after, with a new CBA and a new revenue sharing plan. Competitive balance was measured in multiple ways, within seasons, across multiple seasons, by the margin of victory in individual games, by the concentration of teams winning and playing in the NHL championship, in the correlation of winning percentage of a season with subsequent seasons, and the number of consecutive winning or losing seasons. Findings There was greater competitive balance after the Lockout Season and the new CBA than before on all of the measures of competitive balance. The NHL has found a management solution to the effective management of a common pool resource and avoided a tragedy of the commons. Practical implications While this research builds on previous work which examines the presence of competitive balance in the NHL, it encourages those engaged in labor policy to consider not only the merit of design when negotiating labor policy, but also to explore the impact of policy on organizational outcomes over time. Originality/value This paper combines perspectives and insights from multiple disciplines including economists’ ideas about competitive balance in a sports league, ecologists’ ideas about effective management of a common pool resource, and strategic management ideas about management solutions to a sustainability problem.