David Nickell

Sponsorship‐linked marketing: a set of research propositions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature on sponsorship‐linked marketing and to present a set of research propositions.Design/methodology/approach – The approach to the research propositions was to explore the existing literature to discover areas where opportunities for further research exist.Findings – The authors propose that not only does sponsorship‐linked marketing influence attitudes towards the sponsor, but that the relationship is that of an S‐shaped curve where the incremental impact of sponsorship is slight for brands with very little or very strong attitudes established towards the brand. The most dramatic influence that sponsorship‐linked marketing will have is for those sponsors with a moderate amount of established brand attitude. The authors also present an argument that extreme congruity or extreme incongruity will drive brand awareness more dramatically than an expected level of sponsor‐property congruity, thus suggesting a U‐shaped relationship between aw...

The role of knowledge intermediaries in co-managed innovations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how technological hubs (THs), defined as knowledge intermediaries, can assist companies in creating successful partnerships to develop innovations. Specifically, the authors ask how THs can help firms connect with horizontal networks and how THs can assist firms on finding suppliers and customers from the vertical network with whom to collaborate. By answering these two main questions, the paper sheds light on the important role of THs and its incubators as knowledge intermediaries in innovation co-creation. Design/methodology/approach – The research is founded on a longitudinal case study of an Italian technologic hub, ComoNExT, that aims to improve the competitiveness of its local economy. Specific attention is given to the role of the incubator that was formed as a joint effort in the technology hub. Findings – The authors find that THs can facilitate networking among tenants and among tenants and external actors within the same epistemic network. T...

Ethical climate and job satisfaction among organizational buyers: an empirical study

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between ethical climate and facets of job satisfaction among organizational buyers. Design/methodology/approach – This research is an empirical study. Data are collected from the industrial buyers using online panel. The INDSALES scale, the scale developed to measure job satisfaction of boundary spanners, was used to measure the job satisfaction. Partial least squares, a components-based structural equation modeling approach, was employed to conduct data analysis. Findings – The key finding was that buyer’s organizational policy mediates the relationship between buyers’ perception of ethical climate and buyers’ satisfaction with pay and promotion as well as satisfaction with coworkers and supervisors. The findings also show that work satisfaction can be achieved at different levels based on particular components associated to the work environment. Practical implications – The role of ethical climate in this study offers insights into manag...

Learning by Blogging: Understanding Salespeople's Learning Experiences on Social Media

We examined 200 salespeoples blogs using netnography method. Drawing on social learning theory and real salespeoples blogs, we illustrate how and why sales people can learn by using blogging, both reading and writing. For example, blogging, writing and reading blogs, can keep salespeople networked with their peers within and across industries and help salespeople learn a greater variety of things from their peers. Our findings illustrate that writing and reading blogs can be a helpful learning tool for many salespeople. Our findings also suggest that companies should not ignore blogging as a sales training tool. In addition, Information Systems and Sales should not ignore netnography as a research method. We conclude our paper with avenues for future research.

Creating employees’ motivational paths in the retail trade

Abstract This study examines the manifestation of intrinsic motivation by exploring the sources of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation among employees of a retail hypermarket. The research uses narrative and ethnographical analysis from 24 interviews. Two unique dimensions were created for motivational power—source and growth process—for a new typology of work motivation. The typology consists of four processes: intrinsic regulation, intrinsic valuation, extrinsic valuation, and extrinsic regulation. The results show how intrinsic motivation can be reinforced through these processes. Recommendations are presented for different personnel teams in the service sector.