Mark Speece

Perceptions of Relationship Marketing Among Account Managers of Commercial Banks in a Chinese Environment

Relationship marketing is widely regarded as effective in developing competitive advantage. But views on exactly what activities constitute relationship marketing may differ in various cultural settings. In‐depth interviews with account managers in commercial banks in Hong Kong yielded a list of activities considered critical to building relationships. In a following survey, account managers in Asian banks rated the importance of the various social activities higher than did account managers in Western banks, although all respondents were ethnic Chinese. The Western banks rated business activities more important than did the Asian banks. Factor analysis shows that managers in Western banks perceive dimensions of business activities consistent with recent thinking about relationship marketing. Respondents in the Asian banks do not view social activities and business activities to be distinct, nor do they distinguish strongly differentiated dimensions of business activity elements.

The Effect of Perceived Characteristics of Innovation on E-Commerce Adoption by SMEs in Thailand

The study investigates factors that effect E-commerce adoption rate by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand. Based on Rogers’ Innovation Diffusion theoretical framework, five perceived characteristics of innovation are considered as factors affect E-commerce adoption rate. Security and Confidentiality is additional variable investigated this research. A multiple regression was conducted and the result shows that four characteristics of innovation – relative advantage, compatibility, security/confidentiality and observability – were positively related to the rate of E-commerce adoption by Thai SMEs.

Culture, Intercultural Communication Competence, and Sales Negotiation: A Qualitative Research Approach

Many companies are shifting their focus away from individual transactions toward developing long‐term, mutually supportive relationships with their customers. Salespeople are the main implementers of such relationships, as they act as the interface between companies and customers. Negotiation is an important part of relationship development, but salespeople’s negotiating styles are influenced by culture and the ability to adapt to cultures of specific markets and specific customers. This study proposes a simple conceptual model of how cultural issues at three different levels – national, organizational, individual – influence salespeople’s negotiating styles. Qualitative in‐depth interviews were employed to explore the impact of national culture, organizational culture, and individual sales rep competence in dealing with culture on salespeople’s negotiating styles.

Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction in Service Encounters: Retail Stockbrokerage and Corporate Banking in Thailand

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to examine customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction with interpersonal vs internet service encounters in Thai retail stockbrokerage and corporate banking.Design/methodology/approach – In each of two separate projects, in‐depth qualitative interviews were used to develop industry‐specific survey instruments that covered the same dis/satisfaction conceptual structure. The stockbrokerage survey had 460 usable questionnaires from retail customers, and the corporate banking survey resulted in 152 usable questionnaires.Findings – Results in each case show that customers actually have slightly higher satisfaction on the internet than with interpersonal encounters, but dissatisfaction on the internet is much greater. The net is that they still largely view the interpersonal mode as superior.Research limitations/implications – The paper shows that Thailand is a highly personal relationship oriented business culture. The results are probably most directly representative of oth...

Technology Integration: Perceptions of Sales Force Automation in Thailand's Life Assurance Industry

Sales force automation (SFA) is increasingly used to support customer relationships, and provides a good example of technology application on the supplier-customer interface. While research has begun to examine SFA, understanding it from the customer viewpoint is still vague. This paper reports results of exploratory qualitative research to investigate perceptions of SFA among both salespeople and their customers in the insurance industry in Thailand. Results suggest that customers want technology to be integrated into interpersonal relationships, not to replace them. Most customers, even those with extensive IT background, are not willing to interact with technology-based self service only. Much of the relationship with the company comes from trust in the salesperson, which is built up through the development of the relationship. This is probably more important in the relationship-based cultures of Asia, which are strongly familiar with interpersonal service.

Modeling electronic service acceptance of an e‐securities trading system

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the technology acceptance model (TAM) in the context of internet securities trading. It examines the antecedents of perceived usefulness and explores the role of trust and attitude of securities investors toward usage. The behavioural intention of investors to use the internet securities trading service is influenced by perceived usefulness, attitude toward usage, and trust.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses survey research to explore the determinants in the e-securities trading acceptance model.Findings – The findings show five antecedents have a positive impact on perceived usefulness. These are ease-of-use, information quality, accessibility, trust, and flow control of the securities trading process. Respondents identify the highest benefit as the flow control of the securities trading processes via the internet channel.Practical implications – The results suggest that investors prefer to have the freedom to control the details of the process when trading securities. In addition, trust is important for all levels of the TAM process. Trust has a large impact which is mediated through both perceived usefulness and attitude toward usage. There is a weaker direct impact on intention to use.Originality/value – This paper includes a more comprehensive measurement of the antecedents of perceived usefulness such as ease-of-use, information quality, accessibility, flow control, and trust. It also demonstrates the importance of trust in explaining the psychological attitudes toward the service.

Technology turbulence and environmental scanning in Thai food new product development

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of environmental scanning (ES) in the new product development (NPD) process among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Thai food processing industry. This study also shows that more extensive use of ES improves new product (NP) performance, and that perception of higher technology turbulence increases usage of ES.Design/methodology/approach – Data from a survey of 124 Thai SMEs through statistical package for the social sciences software shows that more extensive acquisition of ES information does improve NP performance.Findings – Managers who perceive more technological turbulence do use ES more extensively. The technology strategy of the company does not have much impact on the use of ES. The results indicate that even SMEs can benefit from ES, a practice more commonly carried out by larger companies. Some SMEs seem to recognize that more turbulent environments require more extensive scanning.Research limitations/implications – These result...

An empirical study of the relationship between absorptive capacity and technology transfer effectiveness

This study investigates the relationship of Absorptive Capacity (AC) and its elements to Technology Transfer Effectiveness (TTE) in the flexible packaging industry in Thailand. The relationship of each AC element to each dimension of TTE is assessed. Findings are that TTE is related to all AC elements, but not all to the same degree. While all AC elements were found to have a positive correlation with two TTE dimensions, namely product and process performance and human resources capability, only two AC elements, namely the ability to assimilate and the ability to apply the new technology, showed a strong positive correlation to the TTE dimension of business performance. The findings of this study help academics and practitioners to have a clearer understanding of the different elements of AC and TTE, the impact of AC on TTE, and especially the correlation of each AC element to each TTE dimension.

The Impact of Internet Banking on Thai Consumer Perception

In retail banking, the internet has allowed banks to offer information and services to customers at their convenience, and many Thai banks are following worldwide trends in implementing internet banking. Banks which offer this channel claim that it reduces costs and makes them more competitive. However, the majority of retail customers are not highly enthusiastic about internet banking. In-depth qualitative interviews with a small sample of Thai consumers suggest that while security is a major factor inhibiting wider adoption, it is not necessarily the key distinguishing factor in who will adopt versus who will not. Users seem to be more time and cost conscious, and especially value convenience. Non-users are much more service conscious, and do not like the self-service of the internet. However, the cumbersome process of setting up an internet account discourages many, and the difficult process of correcting problems reduces usage even among some who use the internet for transactions.

Globalization, Transformation, and Quality of Life: Reflections on ICMD-8 and Participative Marketing and Development

The authors reflect on the trends that inspired the 8th International Conference on Marketing and Development and some overarching sentiments that emerged during the conference. Trends indicate that globalization and transformation continue and are inextricably connected to marketing and development; many stakeholders in developing economies are enthused about opportunities provided by globalization and transformation. It is, however, becoming clear that quality of life only can be enhanced throughout the world during the long term if (1) more stakeholders are more fully included in the process, (2) concepts and measures of development are expanded, and (3) more cross-disciplinary, collaborative research endeavors and policies are designed and implemented.