Tracy L. Gonzalez-Padron

From Market Orientation to Stakeholder Orientation

Drawing on the marketing orientation and stakeholder literature streams, the authors define the concepts of market orientation (MO) and stakeholder orientation (SO) to explore their potential contribution to marketing. They discuss the potential contribution of each construct along with the similarities and differences that could be significant for marketing strategy. The MO construct focuses on customers and competitors and indirectly on other stakeholder groups. The SO construct does not designate any stakeholder group as more important than another, and the prioritization of stakeholders may change depending on the issue. As such, SO is more contingency based and is a function of contextual aspects surrounding the organization. The SO and MO constructs are not mutually exclusive; there is some overlap between them. The authors suggest further research to explore the most appropriate construct for firms to consider.

Stakeholder orientation: development and testing of a framework for socially responsible marketing

Drawing on the market orientation and stakeholder literatures, we conceptualize and operationalize stakeholder orientation to explore the potential contribution of the marketing function in a stakeholder view of the firm. Stakeholder orientation, similar to market orientation, is operationalized as both an organizational culture and a set of behaviors. The results of a managerial survey reveal that a new construct of stakeholder-oriented behaviors has a strong positive association with market performance, financial performance, reputation, and employee commitment. Overall, our study illustrates how a stakeholder view of the firm can help improve managerial practices that contribute to improved financial, social, and ethical performance.

Knowledge Management and Balanced Scorecard Outcomes: Exploring the Importance of Interpretation, Learning and Internationality

The topics of shared interpretation, organizational learning and firm internationalization have been studied extensively. Though considered important factors that shape the international competitive landscape, research synthesizing these interrelated areas has been limited to date. We use the balanced scorecard as a framework for assessing how organizational learning and sensemaking influence actions relating to a global marketing strategy and subsequent financial performance. Using data from 169 multinational corporations, findings indicate that a specific set of knowledge activities is related to balanced scorecard outcomes (e.g. customer performance, innovation and learning performance, and internal process performance). The hypothesized importance of customer performance is confirmed as the only balanced scorecard outcome significantly related to financial performance. A post hoc analysis revealed further insights for future research opportunities. Overall, these results suggest that firms can improve their competitive position by emphasizing shared interpretation within the organization and including balanced scorecard elements when assessing performance.

An Assessment of the Use of Technology in the Direct Selling Industry

Although research exists on the use of technology in sales, very little addresses the adoption, use, and success of technology in the direct selling industry. In response to this dearth of knowledge, we conducted an exploratory study to examine how direct sellers use technology to link the firm to its customers and its sales force, as well as how technology is used to facilitate interactions between the sales force and customers. In an industry that has historically differentiated itself by face to-face, personal relationships, we explore the possibly new direct selling environment brought on by the technology revolution. Through in-depth, open-ended interviews, we provide the groundwork for understanding how direct selling firms use technology to develop a competitive advantage while still maintaining strong personal relationships with consumers.

Market Responsiveness to Societal Interests

The authors provide evidence that firms can enhance their own objectives by internalizing the objectives of most stakeholder groups. This suggests that society’s objectives, as defined by stakeholders to the firm, can be augmented by the self-interest motivation at the heart of a market system. Specifically examined was the impact of stakeholder responsiveness on innovativeness. The second objective of this study was to explore the impact of compliance-based versus strategic-based regulation approaches on firm innovation and overall corporate social responsibility (CSR). Findings suggest that regulatory responsiveness decreases innovation when firms expend resources only on compliance. Firms adopting strategic-based approaches, such as voluntary regulatory programs and collaborative strategies between the firm and government, however, are more innovative and demonstrate greater CSR. This study presents empirical tests that provide a strong first step in understanding how society’s goals can be further internalized into the engine of the market system. The implication is that both firms and regulators can find areas of win—win, with society as the beneficiary.

Using a Service Audit Project for Improving Student Learning in a Service-Marketing Course

Service-marketing education provides students customer service skills sought by employers who recognize the relationship between service and profit. Students in service marketing benefit from active-learning activities with actual organizations to apply customer service frameworks taught in the course. The purpose of this paper is to describe an experiential team project taught through collaboration with a local Better Business Bureau (BBB). Descriptions of the class project address challenges with group and experiential-learning projects. The paper provides suggestions for working with a local business organization for service marketing team projects.

What Drives Publishing Productivity for Pretenure Marketing Faculty: Insights Using the Lens of Resource Advantage Theory.

The promotion, tenure, and salary of marketing faculty have been topics of intense interest recently. What has received less interest are the drivers of publishing productivity, especially for new, pretenure faculty. We use resource advantage (RA) theory to examine the drivers of pretenure faculty productivity, specifically in the top marketing journals. Positive predictors of productivity, and thus key faculty resources, are degree-granting department ranking, adviser productivity, and length of time in the new job. Following RA theory, the number of methods courses in a doctoral program has no effect on publishing.

Ethics in the Sharing Economy: Creating a Legitimate Marketing Channel

The sharing economy is a regulatory-disruptive business model in transportation, accommodation, household services, and other service sectors. In this article, we examine the ethical issues in the sharing-economy business model that depends on trust and reputation. We draw from the stakeholder, trust, and institutional theory literature to explore ways to encourage conformity of practices in the relatively infant marketing channel of the sharing economy.

A stakeholder marketing approach to sustainable business

Abstract Purpose Further understanding of how stakeholder marketing explains firm performance through greater customer satisfaction, innovation, and reputation of a firm. Methodology/approach Grounded in stakeholder theory, the study provides a conceptualization of stakeholder orientation based on cultural values that is distinctive from stakeholder responsiveness and examines the relationship of stakeholder responsiveness to firm performance. The study determines the mediating role of marketing outcomes on the impact of stakeholder responsiveness on firm performance. Multiple regression analysis tests hypotheses using a data set consisting of qualitative data obtained from corporate documents and quantitative data from respected secondary sources. Findings Our findings provide support for stakeholder marketing creating a strong relationship to organizational outcomes. There exists a positive relationship between stakeholder responsiveness and firm performance through customer satisfaction, innovation, and reputation. Research implications Our definition implies that stakeholder responsiveness is acting in the best interests of the stakeholder as a responsible business. This study shows that stakeholder marketing may not always represent socially responsible marketing. Further research could explore how and why firms may not respond ethically and responsibly to stakeholders. Practical implications We further the discussion whether stakeholder marketing equates to sustainability. Marketers can build on expertise of managing customer relationship and generating customer value to develop a stakeholder marketing approach that addresses the economic, social, and environmental concerns of multiple stakeholders. Originality/value We further the discussion whether stakeholder marketing equates to sustainability. Marketers can build on expertise of managing customer relationship and generating customer value to develop a stakeholder marketing approach that addresses the economic, social, and environmental concerns of multiple stakeholders.

Ethics in the Supply Chain: Follow-Up Processes to Audit Results

Ethics and sustainability audits are a common practice to evaluate the social and environmental performance of vendors, but firms struggle with proper follow-up to the auditing results. In a supply chain workshop, business participants identified four challenges that relate to communication and collaboration among the actors of a supplier audit. The first challenge is managing information from the supply chain, the second is motivating suppliers to pay for audits and complete questionnaires, the third is responding to audit results uncovering ethical violations in the supply chain, and the fourth is increasing awareness for a responsible supply chain among buyers. Considering the marketing, supply chain, and ethics literature, this article explores the ethical issues of a supply chain that drive supplier audits and defines the actors of a supplier audit. Core marketing theories on interorganizational relationships guide a research agenda for responding to challenges in effective follow-up to supplier audits.