O. C. Ferrell

A CONTINGENCY FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING ETHICAL DECISION MAKING IN MARKETING

This article addresses a significant gap in the theoretical literature on marketing ethics. This gap results from the lack of an integrated framework which clarifies and synthesizes the multiple va...

The Management of Customer-Contact Service Employees: An Empirical Investigation

The authors develop and test a model of service employee management that examines constructs simultaneously across three interfaces of the service delivery process: manager-employee, employee-role,...

Corporate social responsibility and marketing: An integrative framework

This article introduces a conceptualization of corporate social responsibility (CSR) that emphasizes the role and potential contribution of the marketing discipline. The proposed framework first depicts CSR initiatives as the actions undertaken to display conformity to both organizational and stakeholder norms. Then, the article discusses the managerial processes needed to monitor, meet, and even exceed, stakeholder norms. Finally, the analysis explains how CSR initiatives can generate increased stakeholder support.

Corporate Citizenship: Cultural Antecedents and Business Benefits

The article explores the nature of corporate citizenship and its relevance for marketing practitioners and academic researchers. Specifically, a conceptualization and operationalization of corporate citizenship are first proposed. Then, an empirical investigation conducted in two independent samples examines whether components of an organization’s culture affect the level of commitment to corporate citizenship and whether corporate citizenship is conducive to business benefits. Survey results suggest that market-oriented cultures as well as humanistic cultures lead to proactive corporate citizenship, which in turn is associated with improved levels of employee commitment, customer loyalty, and business performance. The results point to corporate citizenship as a potentially fruitful business practice both in terms of internal and external marketing.

The Effect of Market Orientation on Product Innovation

Numerous scholars have debated whether marketing fosters or stifles innovation. The discussions, however, have been inconclusive due to limited empirical evidence. The authors investigate the relationship between two focal constructs in the debate: market orientation and product innovation. On the basis of a sample of U.S. manufacturing companies, the authors’ analysis shows that product innovation varies with market orientation. Specifically, (1) customer orientation increases the introduction of new-to-the-world products and reduces the launching of me-too products, (2) competitor orientation increases the introduction of me-too products and reduces the launching of line extensions and new-to-the-world products, and (3) interfunctional coordination increases the launching of line extensions and reduces the introduction of me-too products.

A Synthesis of Ethical Decision Models for Marketing

The contributions of current models of ethical decision making are described and evaluated on a comparative basis. From the synthesis of these frameworks an integrated model is derived. The integrated model combines both cognitive-affect and social-learning theory to produce a more complete perspective of the ethical decision process. This perspective acknowledges that ethical decision making is affected by both external (environment, peers, situation) as well as internal (moral value structure) constructs.

A stakeholder model for implementing social responsibility in marketing

Purpose – To provide a comprehensive managerial framework to understand and provide a well balanced and integrated stakeholder orientation for implementing corporate social responsibility in marketing.Design/methodology/approach – Many published articles provide significant findings related to narrow dimensions of stakeholder orientation in marketing. This article utilizes existing knowledge on this topic to support a methodology to implement a well‐integrated corporate social responsibility program that encompasses marketing.Findings – The findings provide a grounded framework based on previous research that provides a step‐by‐step approach for implementing corporate social responsibility from a marketing perspective.Research limitations/implications – The framework developed in this paper provides an opportunity to examine to what extent the step‐by‐step methodology has been implemented in organizations as well as alternative approaches for implementation.Practical implications – This is a managerial gu...

Measuring corporate citizenship in two countries: The case of the United States and France

Based on an extensive review of the literature and field surveys, the paper proposes a conceptualization and operationalization of corporate citizenship meaningful in two countries: the United States and France. A survey of 210 American and 120 French managers provides support for the proposed definition of corporate citizenship as a construct including the four correlated factors of economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary citizenship. The managerial implications of the research and directions for future research are discussed.

Corporate citizenship as a marketing instrument ‐ Concepts, evidence and research directions

Confronted with increasing pressures to limit government spending on social welfare, more and more public policy makers welcome the growing social involvement of corporations. Yet, inasmuch as corporate citizenship may be desirable for society as a whole, it is unlikely to be embraced by a large number of organizations unless it is associated with concrete business benefits. This paper presents past findings and proposes future research directions useful for understanding the potential value of corporate citizenship as a marketing tool. Specifically, after examining the nature of corporate citizenship, the paper discusses its potential impact, first on consumers, then on employees. Two conceptual frameworks are introduced to guide research on the value of corporate citizenship in terms of external and internal marketing respectively.

Antecedents and benefits of corporate citizenship: an investigation of French businesses

The authors first propose a conceptualization and operationalization of corporate citizenship. Then, they present an empirical study conducted among French businesses aimed at: (1) understanding whether an organizations culture affects its likelihood of engaging in corporate citizenship and (2) whether corporate citizenship is associated with specific business benefits. The results suggest that a market-oriented culture is conducive of corporate citizenship, which in turn is associated with greater employee commitment and business performance. The results point to corporate citizenship as a potentially fruitful practice not only for society as a whole but also for businesses themselves