John M. Rudd

Determining consumer satisfaction and commitment through self-service technology and personal service usage

This paper expands research into self-service technology in the service encounter. Self-service technology is where customers deliver service themselves using some form of a technological interface. There is still a great deal unknown about self-service technology, in particular its impact on consumer satisfaction and consumer commitment. With that in mind, this empirical study explores the relative impact of self-service technology on consumer satisfaction and on a multidimensional measure of consumer commitment containing affective commitment, temporal commitment and instrumental commitment. The results reveal that in a hotel context personal service still remains very important for assessments of satisfaction, and affective and temporal commitment. What is particularly interesting is that self-service technology, while impacting these constructs, also impacts instrumental commitment. This suggests that positive evaluations of self-service technology may tie consumers into relationships with hotels. A discussion and implications for managers are provided on these and other results, and the paper is concluded with further potential research.

Revolution in Sales: The Impact of Social Media and Related Technology on the Selling Environment

Over the years several articles have tracked the impact of technology on various aspects of the sales domain. However, the advent of social media and technologies related to social media has gone largely unnoticed in the literature. This article first provides brief attention to changing aspects of technology within the sales environment, leading to the identification of social media as a dominant new selling tool. A qualitative approach (focus groups) is employed to explore the breadth of current technology usage by sales managers and salespeople. Analysis of the data, collected in the United States and the United Kingdom, reveals six major themes: connectivity, relationships, selling tools, generational, global, and sales/ marketing interface. Results provide evidence of a revolution in the buyer–seller relationship that includes some unanticipated consequences both for sales organization performance and needed future research contributions.

Strategic planning differences among multiple stakeholder orientation profiles

Despite being a significant topic in the literature, research into stakeholder interests is at an early stage. Although a company has an orientation to each stakeholder group these orientations exist simultaneously, giving a multiple stakeholder orientation profile (MSOP). We theorize that firms with different MSOPs will approach their strategic planning in different ways. We tested our predictions in UK companies, and found that indeed there are many strategic planning differences among different MSOPs. The most striking differences are in learning and innovative management, but there are also differences in objectives, competitive positioning and sustainable competitive advantage. Implications for theory and practice are presented.

The influence of context on the strategic decision-making process: a review of the literature

This paper critically reviews the strategic decision-making process literature, with a specific focus on the effects of context. Context refers to the top management team, strategic decision-specific characteristics, the external environment and firm characteristics. This literature review also develops an illustrative framework that incorporates these four different categories of contextual variables that influence the strategic decision-making process. As a result of the variety and pervasiveness of contextual variables featured within the literature, a comprehensive and up-to-date review is essential for organizing and synthesizing the extant literature to explicate an agenda for future research. The purpose of this literature review is threefold: first, to critically review the strategic decision-making process literature to highlight the underlying themes, issues, tensions and debates in the field; second, to identify the opportunities for future theory development; and third, to state the methodological implications arising from this review.

Aligning employee service recovery performance with brand values:the role of brand-specific leadership

Abstract This study investigates the effects of brand-specific leadership on employees’ brand-aligned service recovery performance (SRP). In order to do so, we empirically test a conceptual model of relationships between brand-specific transformational leadership (TFL) and transactional leadership (TRL), trust in leader and in corporate brand, brand identification, and SRP from employees’ perspectives. It is the first study to incorporate trust in corporate brand into the framework. Results from a study of 246 customer-contact employees show that brand-specific TFL has a positive impact on all variables studied, while brand-specific TRL is ineffective in fostering brand-building behaviours. More specifically, brand-specific TFL’s effects on employee SRP are mediated by trust in the leader, trust in the corporate brand, and brand identification. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Editorial – Marketing Strategy: a history of the next decade

The theme of the 2003 Academy of Marketing Conference, hosted by the Marketing Group at Aston Business School, Aston University, UK, was ‘Marketing: a history of the next decade’. The conference sought to facilitate an examination of our discipline, a state of the nation, providing possible signposts and directions as to the dominant thinking in marketing over the next decade. Marketing as a discipline has undergone many changes and developments to reach the current state-of-the-art. Indeed many histories of marketing are cited in the literature, one in particular suggesting that the first incarnation of the practice of marketing proper was in 1631 when a French newspaper carried the first classified advertisements. The initial disciplinary developments in marketing were mainly descriptive and it was not until the 1940s that theoretical attention by researchers was given, especially the questioning of marketing’s scientific integrity by Alderson and Cox (1948) and Bartels (1951). Marketing was slow to capitalise on initial developments and, in the mid-1960s, Halbert (1964) provided a damning criticism of the discipline on the basis that it had no defensible theory. This was promulgated upon the belief that marketing theory exhibited little if any logical consistency, experimental rigour or adequate philosophical grounding. The theoretical foundation of marketing was so scant that Bartels (1974, p. 73) concluded that there was an ‘identity crisis’ in marketing. Since this time, the contributions to the field of marketing have proliferated to such an extent that new theoretical observations emerge where marketing academicians are content to claim theoretical territory, in the spirit of inter-disciplinary research, that has foundations in economics, psychology, sociology, finance, organisational behaviour, strategic management, to name a few of the cognate social sciences such is the fact that marketing has become a synthetic discipline. Academicians have approached marketing from several standpoints; for example, the scientific content of marketing, its managerial perspective and its meta-theoretical foundations. These themes are no more poignant for academicians than those interested in researching aspects of marketing strategy.

(Re) defining salesperson motivation : current status, main challenges, and research directions

The construct of motivation is one of the central themes in selling and sales management research. Yet, to-date no review article exists that surveys the construct (both from an extrinsic and intrinsic motivation context), critically evaluates its current status, examines various key challenges apparent from the extant research, and suggests new research opportunities based on a thorough review of past work. The authors explore how motivation is defined, major theories underpinning motivation, how motivation has historically been measured, and key methodologies used over time. In addition, attention is given to principal drivers and outcomes of salesperson motivation. A summarizing appendix of key articles in salesperson motivation is provided.

The role of behavioural competences in predicting entrepreneurial funding resource orchestration

Abstract This study examines how a psychometric testing tool can be used to explain, predict and measure behavioural competences and how entrepreneurs fund the firm. Reference is made to studies of personality traits. More recent studies have called for research into behaviour and competences and specifically in the finance context of orchestration of resources. The authors take a pragmatic realism perspective using a mixed method study to explore the “reality” of the entrepreneur. Cluster analysis is used to identify the relationship between behavioural competences and funding outcomes. Applying Big 5 Theory of Personality and the Great 8 Competences indicates how behaviour impacts outcomes as entrepreneurs seek to access finance. The identification of three distinct groups in this longitudinal study means belonging to one of these groups predicts likely behaviour when searching for finance. A strong behavioural characteristic which emerged, validated through interviews and psychometric testing, was an orientation towards engagement and working with other organisations. In a funding context, this manifested itself in using networks, seeking advice and sharing equity. These co-operative, collaborative characteristics are different to the classic image of the entrepreneur as a risk-taker or extrovert. The study identifies entrepreneurs who are both successful and unsuccessful in finance applications and compares behavioural competency profiles, thus overcoming the limitations of many studies that are biased towards successful enterprises.

Corporate Identity at the Stakeholder Group Level

Abstract: There is a paucity of literature regarding the construction and operation of corporate identity at the stakeholder group level. This article examines corporate identity from the perspective of an individual stakeholder group, namely, front-line employees. A stakeholder group that is central to the development of an organization’s corporate identity as it spans an organization’s boundaries, frequently interacts with both internal and external stakeholders, and influences a firm’s financial performance by building customer loyalty and satisfaction. The article reviews the corporate identity, branding, services and social identity literatures to address how corporate identity manifests within the front-line employee stakeholder group, identifying what components comprise front-line employee corporate identity and assessing what contribution front-line employees make to constructing a strong and enduring corporate identity for an organization. In reviewing the literature the article develops propositions that, in conjunction with a conceptual model, constitute the generation of theory that is recommended for empirical testing.

Strategic Marketing and e-Business

The dramatic growth in e-business is manifest in phenomena such as the surge in internet retailing, the boom in social media based marketing communications, and the centrality of e-commerce to many organizations’ core strategies. Despite this the precise implications of e-business for marketing strategy remain little-understood. In order to guide theory development and practice in the marketing strategy domain, it is of fundamental importance to take stock of the impact that e-business has had upon strategic marketing. Therefore, this chapter develops a conceptual framework in order to explicate the implications of e-business for strategic marketing theory and practice. We find that the impact of e-business on strategic marketing is far-reaching; influencing not only isolated departments, but the organization as a whole. Finally, we conclude that whilst organizations should be alert to the dynamic opportunities and threats posed by e-business, the guiding principle of value creation should not be forgotten.