Regina C. McNally

Simulating buying center decision processes: propositions and methodology

Organizational purchasing decisions can be thought of as rule‐discovery tasks in which members of the buying center develop proposals regarding the best choice of products and vendors. The uncertainty associated with buying center decisions causes the group to search for generalizations that describe the distinguishing characteristics of successful suppliers. Such generalizations identify the “rules” used to categorize future vendors; discovery of the best rules is key to accurate classification. Acknowledging the process of searching for patterns not only focuses attention on the information members use to derive patterns, but also provides a mechanism for investigating how members influence each other’s assessment of the patterns. Research into rule‐discovery tasks has the potential to enable monitoring of simulated organizational purchasing decision processes in the controlled environment of an experiment. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a set of propositions and a methodology for examining rule discovery task behavior in buying centers.

An Exploratory Study of the Effect of Relationship Marketing Institutionalization and Professional and Organizational Commitment in Business-to-Business Exchanges

ABSTRACT This research is an exploratory investigation of institutional theorys role in business-to-business exchange forms, examining relationship marketing as a potential social institution influencing exchange decisions. Relationship marketing is relevant to evaluate in the context of business-to-business exchanges because of its history and importance in the marketing profession, suggesting that relationship marketing may be an institution for that profession. The extent of relationship marketing institutionalization across three professions is compared, revealing significant differences between two pairs and supporting the institutional theory proposition that professions diffuse institutions. Furthermore, the empirical results demonstrate an association between relationship marketing institutionalization and the dependent variables of joint action and cultural control, suggesting that relationship marketing institutionalization significantly impacts the form of business-to-business exchanges. Finally, the role of affective commitment, or an individuals psychological bonding to a profession or organization as an antecedent to relationship marketing institutionalization is supported.

Mandatory adoption of customer relationship management information technology: the role of customer support in an attitude-intention model

We explore the applicability of attitude-intention models in predicting customer relationship management (CRM) information technology use in call centres, where information technology use is mandatory and the information technology application is integral to job performance. In voluntary adoption contexts, information technology use attitude is not a significant predictor of intention. However, information technology use attitude has not been investigated in mandatory adoption contexts. Our analysis of qualitative data from call centre managers, supervisors and agents suggests that both attitudes and intentions are necessary in obtaining use of CRM information technology systems. Additionally, we identify two new constructs causally linked in the manner suggested by the theory of reasoned action: attitude toward supporting customers and intention to support customers. The uncovering of these additional antecedents to CRM information technology adoption suggests that basic customer support training should be included in information system training.