Reinhard Kunz

Developing and validating the multidimensional proactive decision-making scale

On the basis of an extensive interdisciplinary literature review proactive decision-making (PDM) is conceptualised as a multidimensional concept. We conduct five studies with over 4000 participants from various countries for developing and validating a theoretically consistent and psychometrically sound scale of PDM. The PDM concept is developed and appropriate items are derived from literature. Six dimensions are conceptualised: the four proactive cognitive skills ‘systematic identification of objectives’, ‘systematic search for information’, ‘systematic identification of alternatives’, and ‘using a decision radar’, and the two proactive personality traits ‘showing initiative’ and ‘striving for improvement’. Using principal component factor analysis and subsequent item analysis as well as confirmatory factor analysis, six conceptually distinct dimensional factors are identified and tested acceptably reliable and valid. Our results are remarkably similar for individuals who are decision-makers, decision analysts, both or none of both with different levels of experience. There is strong evidence that individuals with high scores in a PDM factor, e.g. proactive cognitive skills or personality traits, show a significantly higher decision satisfaction. Thus, the PDM scale can be used in future research to analyse other concepts. Furthermore, the scale can be applied, e.g. by staff teams to work on OR problems effectively or to inform a decision analyst about the decision behaviour in an organisation.

Media Management and Social Media Business: New Forms of Value Creation in the Context of Increasingly Interconnected Media Applications

Media companies are facing the problem of modeling the increasingly volatile and complex forms of emergent media use and of channeling them through their services in order to create a sustainable business model. Anticipating these patterns and converting them into stable forms of use allows for companies to identify new ways of value creation.

RESEARCH ON THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY: STATE OF THE ART AND NEW DIRECTIONS OFF THE BEATEN TRACK AWAY FROM THEATRICAL RELEASE

The motion picture industry has been subject of extensive academic research over the last decades. However, most scholars focused on the U.S. theatrical motion picture market. The number of research activities regarding even more profitable release windows, such as home video or television, has been substantially lower. Although international distribution is essential for a motion picture project to break even, there has been little significant re-search on most other markets. This paper aims at summarizing the current state of research on the motion picture industry, particularly from marketing and management perspective, revealing research gaps, and proposing recommendations for future research endeavors. Therefore, a three-pillar scheme is developed to systemize previous findings: Research on intraorganizational decision making, contractual relationships between national stakeholders, and international market competition are differentiated. Since these insights are mainly derived from U.S. theatrical exhibition, they can hardly be applied to other markets and exhibition windows. Thus, potential research areas are identified to expand knowledge of posttheatrical and international markets.

Structuring objectives of media companies: a case study based on value-focused thinking and the balanced scorecard

ABSTRACT Objectives are fundamental to strategic management. However, while research exists on objectives of media companies, we know little about the relationships between them. In order to advance research in this field, we used value-focused thinking to investigate the objectives of a media company and the balanced scorecard as a framework to demonstrate their relationships. In interviews with 23 managers and employees of a German medium-sized local newspaper company, we found 698 distinct objectives and 1009 relationships. By concentrating on the most important objectives, we derived a balanced scorecard with 33 objectives and 65 relationships organised in seven perspectives. The results were then validated in a second case study on a Czech national media group.

Co-Branding zwischen Sport und Medien - Eine Analyse des Fallbeispiels Schalke 04 TV

Die Markierung von Produkten und Konsumgutern kann auf eine sehr lange Geschichte zuruckblicken. In Deutschland gab es nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg den entscheidenden Schub fur die Entwicklung neuer Marken. Erst im Laufe der 1970er Jahre entstehen neben Produktmarken erste Dienstleistungsmarken (Bruhn 2001, S. 216ff.). Die letzten zwei Jahrzehnte stehen wiederum im Zeichen hochst unterschiedlicher Markenentwicklungen: Zum einen finden sich so genannte Luxus- und Premiummarken, zum anderen treten aber auch Bereiche wie Sport, Kultur, Umwelt und Soziales, denen bisher keine Beachtung geschenkt wurde, in den Mittelpunkt des Interesses (Adjouri/Stastny 2006, S. 84). Einem neueren Markenverstandnis folgend, das weniger auf die Markierung, sondern mehr auf das Image abstellt, werden hier die Marken in Anlehnung an Esch definiert als „Vorstellungsbilder in den Kopfen der Konsumenten, die eine Identifikations- und Differenzierungsfunktion ubernehmen und das Wahlverhalten pragen“ (Esch 2005, S. 23).

Sport-related branded entertainment: the Red Bull phenomenon

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce a conceptual model of branded entertainment into sport marketing and highlight Red Bull’s strategy as a “best practice”. Branded entertainment, the full integration of advertising into entertainment content, is an innovative marketing strategy that can provide sport enterprises and sponsors with consumer attention and engagement. Design/methodology/approach Branded entertainment was theoretically framed and conceptualised. Using an inductive approach Red Bull’s portfolio of self-generated action/extreme sport content as well as its production, distribution and viral processes were analysed. Findings A communication model of sport-related branded entertainment was developed to distinguish actors such as athletes, sponsors, and co-operating companies, traditional and new (sport) media as well as sport consumers and prosumers and analyse their actions and relationships. Research limitations/implications This study is limited to Red Bull’s branded entertainment activities. However, a thorough conceptualisation and analysis of branded entertainment and findings of unique characteristics and anomalies related to branded sport entertainment allows academics and professionals to understand and apply the concept. Practical implications The research theme triggers a dialogue and encourages marketing practitioners to consider alternative ways to engage their target audiences and expand their integrated communication strategies via a unique and dynamic promotional tool. Originality/value This paper contributes to the sport value framework by addressing “value co-creation” in a sport media and marketing context. By highlighting the Red Bull phenomenon as an innovative approach a successful integration of branding and sponsorship activities into sport entertainment content production, distribution and viral marketing is presented.

Innovate alone or with others? Influence of entrepreneurial orientation and alliance orientation on media business model innovation

ABSTRACT Being able to innovate one’s business model has been a topic of paramount importance in media management research and practice. Recent studies suggest that the strategic orientation of a company is a central driver of business model innovation. However, empirical evidence is scarce. To fill this gap, we assess the impact of entrepreneurial and alliance orientation as two highly relevant strategic orientations with a quantitative survey of 50 companies. Our results show that a media company’s entrepreneurial orientation has positive effects on its ability to innovate value creation and value proposition, but not on its ability to capture that value. In addition, we could not find significant results indicating that being alliance oriented is beneficial for business model innovation.

The 2012 London Olympics: innovations in ICT and social media marketing

The 2012 London Olympics was a technological and marketing watershed event in the history of live sport mega events. A case study of the 2012 London Olympics was used to demonstrate how effective management of innovations in (a) collaborative information and communication technology (ICT) and (b) social media marketing (SMM) ushered in a new platform template for live sport events worldwide. A review of the literature revealed four primary factors responsible: (1) the foresight, planning, due diligence, and management effectiveness of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and their technology partners; (2) the confluence of dramatically increased mobile device use and social media engagement by prosumers; (3) the willingness of sponsors, marketers, and global media enterprises to take risks with innovative media and SMM strategies; and (4) the enthusiasm and passion for sport of prosumers worldwide.

Ist der Ausbeutungsverdacht im Handel heute noch existent

Vor kurzem haben wir uber Prof. Lothar Muller-Hagedorn gelesen, dass er der Doyen der Handelsbetriebslehre in Deutschland ist. In der akademischen Welt werden angesehene, altere Wissenschaftler als Doyens ihres Faches bezeichnet, wenn ihr Lebenswerk die allgemeine Denkschule ihrer Disziplin in herausragender Weise gepragt hat. Damit setzt er die Tradition seines akademischen Lehrers Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Rudolf Gumbel fort, von dem man seinerzeit dasselbe behauptet hat.