Elias Kyriazis

Development of a Market Orientation Research Agenda for the Nonprofit Sector

Market orientation is the overarching framework by which practitioners and academics make sense of the interplay between customers, competition, stakeholders, and the organization within the commercial for-profit arena and is the way the marketing concept is put into practice. Many academics have argued that market orientation would also benefit nonprofit organizations by generating more funds in an increasingly competitive environment. The purpose of this article is to conduct a systematic review of market orientation, identify gaps, and develop a research agenda for market orientation research within the underresearched nonprofit sector. This research agenda highlights the structural, human resource, and cultural challenges nonprofit organizations face if they decide to adopt a market orientation, and the need to develop a praxis framework currently missing from the literature. The article offers suggestions for researchers to extend the concept of market orientation from the commercial for-profit into the nonprofit arena.

Modelling real-time online information needs: A new research approach for complex consumer behaviour

Abstract A major challenge for online vendor website operations is serving information that meets visitor needs at a given point in their purchase process. The problem arises from the complexity of human behaviour, as well as changing needs with the evolution of consumer knowledge and skills through the purchase process. The most difficult element, however, is determining the effects of information provided on the site, as well as from other sources that the consumer may access, and anticipating resulting consumer needs. This paper discusses the contributions and limitations of current modelling techniques and utility studies of online consumer information to model consumer needs in real time. An alternative basis for real-time customer need appraisal is proposed using clickstream and customer input data combined with online information utility to enable more effective information serving. This requires further academic research and changes in practitioner online marketing operations.

INTERDEPENDENCE AND COMMUNICATION BETWEEN TECHNICALLY TRAINED MANAGERS AND MARKETING MANAGERS DURING INNOVATION PROJECTS

Interdependence between Technically Trained Managers and Marketing Managers in new product development (NPD) teams is inherent, though few studies have investigated its effects within such teams. Here, interdependence is disaggregated into two underlying dimensions — the dependence of the Technically Trained Manager on the Marketing Manager, and the dependence of the Marketing Manager on the Technically Trained Manager during the project. Our model is tested using data from 184 Technically Trained Managers from Australian companies involved in NPD. The results suggest that interdependence is an important contextual variable during NPD projects. Senior managers should communicate its importance to NPD team members because of its positive effects within the NPD team. Where the Technically Trained Manager and Marketing Manager recognise their interdependence, they engage in more frequent, and more bidirectional communication. This is important because more effective communication between these two managers positively influences the quality and effectiveness of their working relationships, which in turn can increase NPD project success.

A Praxis framework for implementing market orientation into charities

There is a scarcity of research regarding the process of introducing market orientation into the not-for-profit sector. Understanding this process would greatly assist the not-for-profit sector, which is under increasing pressure to obtain funds to operate and offer appropriate services. In this article, we examine the successful introduction of market orientation into three Australian charities and identify the stages of implementation. The introduction of market orientation is analyzed from a discourse transformation perspective and a praxis framework is developed. This is amongst the first studies examining the transition to a market orientation discourse within charity organizations and the first study to develop a praxis framework to guide managers. The study also pioneers a discourse transformation perspective in market orientation research. The article thus extends our knowledge of market orientation within the not-for-profit sector and increases understanding of practitioner engagement in marketing activities.

Friend or foe? The effects of managerial politics on NPD team communication, collaboration and project success

Much existing work on new product development (NPD) team integration takes an economically rational perspective, specifying appropriate systems, structures and interactions. Few studies however have explored the effects of politics on working relationships between technically trained managers (TTMs; e.g., research and development managers) and marketing managers (MMs) during NPD. Our results reveal that intra‐team politics has positive and negative effects on TTM/MM communication. This is important because communication positively influences collaboration and NPD success. Moreover, the effects of communication variables on these two outcome variables differ depending on whether one is a TTM or MM.