Kenneth Le Meunier-FitzHugh

Does Collaboration between Sales and Marketing Affect Business Performance

Prior research proposes that greater collaboration between sales and marketing has benefits to the organization through improved business performance. This study examines the importance of this proposition and finds that there is a direct and positive relationship between these two constructs. In addition, this study identifies five antecedents to improving collaboration between sales and marketing and outlines the management implications of the study. The findings indicate that a positive senior management attitude toward collaboration between sales and marketing, the reduction of interdepartmental conflict, the improvement of communications, the establishment of organizational learning, and effective market intelligence systems are important antecedents to effective collaboration between sales and marketing.

Exploring collaboration between sales and marketing

Purpose – The study seeks to explore the antecedents and implications of collaboration between sales and marketing and further to identify whether there are benefits in terms of business performance of improving collaboration between sales and marketing.Design/methodology/approach – Three exploratory case studies and a review of the literature are used to examine the antecedents to collaboration between sales and marketing. The case studies allow this fuzzy and undefined area to be clarified and existing theories to be empirically tested.Findings – The study identifies that there are three types of factor influencing collaboration between sales and marketing: integrators, facilitators, and management attitudes towards coordination. The exploratory case studies establish that senior management plays a pivotal role in creating and improving collaboration between sales and marketing, and that there is a positive correlation between collaboration between sales and marketing, and improved business performance....

Collaboration between sales and marketing, market orientation and business performance in business-to-business organisations

The study considers whether improving collaboration between sales and marketing may provide benefits to organisations through greater market orientation and improved business performance. The influence of market intelligence systems and management attitudes towards coordination on market orientation and collaboration between sales and marketing are also explored. The study was carried out through a survey of senior executives in large, UK, business-to-business organisations from a number of industries and the results indicate that there is an interrelationship between market intelligence systems, management attitude towards coordination, and collaboration between sales and marketing. The results also confirm that collaboration between sales and marketing has a positive and significant impact on both market orientation and business performance.

Integrating marketing intelligence sources: Reconsidering the role of the salesforce

Research has identified that after 40 years of discussion the use of the salesforce as a source of market information is relatively widespread in business-to-business organisations, but that the majority of organisations do not always gather, store or disseminate this information effectively. The research highlights that the salesforce should be set clear objectives and incentives and, most importantly, be included in the dissemination of market intelligence for the organisation to gain maximum benefit. Unless sales personnel are able to understand how their information contributes to the organisations activities and feel that their participation is valued, they will be unable to provide timely and pertinent information to the organisation. Further, the research suggests that organisations that do not effectively disseminate market information across functional boundaries may be ignoring a potential source of competitive advantage. This paper provides a review of the current situation, a literature review, a discussion of management implications and suggestions for further research.

Exploring the Relationship between Market Orientation and Sales and Marketing Collaboration

The relationship between sales and marketing has generated considerable academic interest in recent years, with studies focusing on how the interface can be improved. However, prior research has neglected an important aspect of this interface: the relationship between market orientation and collaboration between sales and marketing. This study considers this relationship and was carried out through a survey of managing directors/chief executives. The results indicate that collaboration between sales and marketing has a positive relationship with market orientation and that collaboration between sales and marketing as well as market orientation have a combined positive effect on business performance.

Drivers of sales and marketing collaboration in business-to-business selling organisations

This paper focuses on identifying and exploring the antecedents and consequences of collaboration between the sales and marketing functions within organisations and empirically tests the resulting model. There is evidence to show that collaborative sales and marketing functions have benefits to an organisation in terms of improved business performance, but many organisations have not yet achieved collaborative internal functions. The study identifies five antecedents to collaboration between sales and marketing and tests the proposition that greater collaboration between sales and marketing is linked to benefits in terms of improved business performance.

Making value co-creation a reality – exploring the co-creative value processes in customer–salesperson interaction

Abstract We examine how value co-creation is engendered in transactional and relational interaction in a professional business-to-consumer (B2C) service industry through exploratory interviews with six organisations’ sales personnel and their customers. A dyadic model and propositions conceptualise the process of value co-creation at the interpersonal level. It was found that the customer and salesperson take on very distinct roles in the co-creative interaction, which is driven by characteristics previously unidentified in the context of value co-creation, such as a commitment to achieving common goals, establishing equitable dialogue and sharing interests. Examination of the value dimensions co-created found that reciprocal value realisation is not limited to business-to-business (B2B) contexts, as the involved parties create mutual episode value in discrete transactions, and mutual episode and relationship value in relational exchanges.

Improving the relationship between sales and marketing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the sales and marketing interface and to identify some of the elements that may influence collaboration between sales and marketing and provide a framework demonstrating how these elements may interrelate.Design/methodology/approach – This paper explores the sales and marketing relationship through qualitative research using one‐to‐one, tripartite interviews with senior executives and sales and marketing managers of three, UK‐based business‐to‐business organizations.Findings – The paper indicates that there are two types of factor that affect collaboration between sales and marketing. Those that are out of the control of sales and marketing staff – management attitudes to coordination, interdepartmental culture and structure and orientation, and four that are internal to the interface – inter‐functional conflict, communications, market intelligence and learning. The paper also identifies that senior managers play a critical role in influencing this interfa...

How Does Market Orientation Affect Sales and Marketing Collaboration and Business Performance

Studies into the sales and marketing interface have neglected the relationship between market orientation and collaboration between sales and marketing. We found that market intelligence processes and management attitudes towards coordination have positive impacts on market orientation, which then has benefits for collaboration between sales and marketing, and business performance. The sales and marketing interface has attracted considerable attention from researchers, but the relationship between market orientation and the level of collaboration between sales and marketing has not yet been fully explored. This issue is important to help understand how to improve collaboration between sales and marketing. As organizations are competing in increasingly crowded markets with more demanding customers and who are struggling to differentiate their offer from their competitors, the effective operation of the customer-facing interface of sales and marketing is critical in helping to achieve success (e.g. Homburg and Jensen, 2007). The objectives of this study are to help understand the relationship between market orientation and collaboration between sales and marketing; to identify the role of senior management and market intelligence in creating market orientation, and to explore if these variables directly or indirectly impact on business performance. Further, the study aims to contribute to the debate on the sales and marketing interface by bridging gaps found in literature.

Service Dominant Logic – An Example of Competitive Advantage

Value and the concept of value co-creation in marketing networks are growing in importance in providing competitive advantage in increasingly saturated markets. Service-Dominant logic (S-D logic) revolves around the concept that value is always co-created by customers and organizations together (Gronroos, 2006; Vargo and Lusch, 2004; 2008). This study provides a conceptual framework around the topic of co-creation, and identifies customer value creating processes, supplier value creating processes and encounter processes within a single case study of a pharmaceutical organization (called PharmCo for this study). This organization has successfully created its own competitive space, achieving 34% market growth, year-on-year, over a seven-year period. The paper summarizes some of the key conditions of service dominant logic (Ballantyne & Varey, 2007), including value in use, stakeholder interaction, co-creation and the role of integrated networks, the role of the marketer as managing communication, interaction and relationships, between networks of co-operators.