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Article
Publication date: 1 April 2006

Arun Sharma

The paper seeks to present research that examines the success factors for key accounts within firms, i.e. what factors lead to successful versus unsuccessful key accounts.

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Abstract

Purpose

The paper seeks to present research that examines the success factors for key accounts within firms, i.e. what factors lead to successful versus unsuccessful key accounts.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from a consulting firm are analyzed to examine the success factors for key accounts within firms.

Findings

The results suggest that marketers' relational assets, personal/social bonds, dissatisfaction, and change in environment are the primary drivers of key account success.

Research limitations/implications

The paper summarizes one's understanding in this area and provides additional data that will allow firms to re‐evaluate their strategies regarding success of specific key accounts. In the light of the sample, additional studies are suggested.

Practical implications

Marketers need to invest more in relational assets, personal/social bonds, and satisfaction activities as well as monitor changes in the environment.

Originality/value

Key accounts have become an integral part of most business firms, as key account teams are created to provide extra attention to important customers and to allow a consolidation of selling activities to geographically dispersed large customer firms. Previous research has examined the success factors of key account programs between firms and this paper provides data on the success factors of key accounts within firms.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 21 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 April 2023

John DeLeon and Lee Warren Brown

This study applies traditional strategic management concepts to firms operating in digital environments. Specifically, this study examines the role of social media (SM) in the…

Abstract

Purpose

This study applies traditional strategic management concepts to firms operating in digital environments. Specifically, this study examines the role of social media (SM) in the financial performance of entrepreneurial firms and how perceived uniqueness and human capital impact this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

This study analyzes a sample of 797 independent music artists using ordinary least squares regression.

Findings

This study finds that SM presence is positively related to SM success and, in turn, that SM success is positively related to financial success. Further, this study finds that perceived uniqueness negatively moderates the SM presence to SM success relationship and that human capital positively moderates the SM success to financial success relationship.

Originality/value

Firms competing in digital environments should limit their perceived uniqueness and increase their human capital in order to maximize the positive benefits of a SM presence.

Details

Journal of Strategy and Management, vol. 16 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-425X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 March 2016

Manfred Fuchs and Mariella Köstner

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among organizational factors (export market experience, international commitment), external environment (competitive…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among organizational factors (export market experience, international commitment), external environment (competitive intensity), export marketing strategy and export success. The findings yielded by the analyses confirm that export market-specific experience and international commitment are significant drivers of export success. In addition, the results indicate that the degree of product adaptation is positively related to profitability and overall success, while price and distribution adaptation to local conditions have a direct impact on sales growth. Finally, the authors found evidence that international commitment exerts a positive effect on the adaptation of marketing strategies to country-specific requirements. Thus, the study findings can be used to formulate business and marketing strategies to improve firm’s success in overseas markets.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used PLS for dealing with formative and reflective measures and used a sample of 200 export ventures that exported on the average in more than 15 countries.

Findings

This study clearly shows that export venture success is linked to managerial commitment and experiential knowledge and that firms contribute to export venture success by adapting product to foreign markets. It is also shown that firms in more competitive environments increase their effort to adapt, leading to better export venture performance.

Research limitations/implications

Although Austrian companies are typically characterized as small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the study is limited to this sample.

Practical implications

Managers in SME should concentrate their effort on a small set of export venture countries of concentrate their capabilities and effort (commitment and personal) to increase adaptation in those selected market, which will lead to increasing export venture performance.

Originality/value

The study differentiates between formative and reflective measures which most studies in this genre do not, which is a fundamental conceptual shortcoming. This study shows with robust result the interrelation between commitment and managerial experience (intra-firm factors) and the degree of competition in foreign markets and how marketing mix adaptation affects export venture performance measured over a period of five years.

Details

Management Research Review, vol. 39 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8269

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 February 2007

Kathryn T. Cort, David A. Griffith and D. Steven White

The aim is to gain an increased understanding of the factors motivating managers toward internationalizing their firms.

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim is to gain an increased understanding of the factors motivating managers toward internationalizing their firms.

Design/methodology/approach

Attribution theory is employed in this study. Building upon the internationalization literature, an attribution model of internationalization is developed. A model of the influence of causal factors (i.e. uniqueness of offering, financial resources and competitive pricing) on a cognitive psychological consequence (i.e. expectations of success) and resulting behavioral consequence (i.e. international success) is examined in a sample of 152 managers of US‐based professional service firms through structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results, supporting the proposed model, suggest that attribution theory can provide a new lens through which greater insights into managerial mindsets driving the internationalization process can be gained.

Originality/value

This study provides new theoretical insights for international marketing academics as well as practical advice for those involved in the practice of international marketing.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 July 2020

Abel Duarte Alonso and Seng Kiat Kok

This study aims to examine how owners and managers of micro and small enterprises perceive firm success and the future of their businesses. Entrepreneurial action theory is…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine how owners and managers of micro and small enterprises perceive firm success and the future of their businesses. Entrepreneurial action theory is adopted in the analysis and a modified theoretical framework is proposed.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 34 owners and managers representing 32 Italian and Spanish wine businesses; qualitative content analysis was used.

Findings

Eight dimensions common to both groups of participants emerged, with the most prevalent themes revealing strong links with opportunity maximisation. In particular, the importance of perceived critical success factors was manifested by continuous improvements, building relationships, and being perceived highly are in line with perceptions of wineries’ future, including entering demanding markets, becoming a referent for the region, or attaining global recognition.

Originality/value

In investigating critical success factors and the perceived future of businesses from two of the world’s largest wine producers and exporters, this study provides a theoretical, practical and international perspective concerning these dimensions. In addition, this study focuses on Europe’s largest business sector, namely, small and medium enterprises. Furthermore, this study proposes a theoretical framework, which brings together the findings and the insights of entrepreneurial action theory.

Article
Publication date: 28 September 2022

Yen-Chun Chen and Todd Arnold

Firms report varied levels of success in relation to using alliances to aid in new product development (NPD). This study aims to investigate internal processes that might…

Abstract

Purpose

Firms report varied levels of success in relation to using alliances to aid in new product development (NPD). This study aims to investigate internal processes that might influence the experience of alliance success. Specifically, this study investigates the role of mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying the alliance orientation (AO)–new product success relationship, while also investigating the impact of the level and consistency of AO. The primary goal is to understand the importance of a firm’s maintaining a consistent focus upon alliance scanning, coordination and learning.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted to collect data from 141 Taiwanese electronics companies. The proposed model and hypotheses were tested using path analysis in analysis of moment structures.

Findings

AO improves the success of new products indirectly through the enhancement of product program innovativeness and NPD decision-making flexibility. The positive effect of AO on product program innovativeness and NPD decision-making flexibility is heightened when a firm consistently carries out a series of alliance management activities, including alliance scanning, coordination and learning. Market turbulence and the intensity of competition differentially affect the association between product program innovativeness and NPD decision-making flexibility and new product success.

Research limitations/implications

The measures were self-reported and may result in the threat of common method bias. While this study focused upon protecting against and assessing this bias, collecting data from multiple sources would have helped to eliminate the bias. Further, the sample consisted of Taiwanese electronics firms. This makes it difficult to generalize this study’s findings to other industrial contexts.

Practical implications

While AO may be viewed as a dynamic capability, product program innovativeness and NPD decision-making flexibility represent competitive advantage in NPD program and process, respectively. Managers should not focus only on competitive advantage in NPD while overlooking the development of dynamic capabilities, as this study’s results demonstrate that both elements must work in tandem. AO is relevant at higher levels of the organizational hierarchy, while product program innovativeness and decision-making flexibility are operational, demanding cross-functional coordination and involvement within a firm. Senior executives ought to not only confirm the appropriate provision of their resources to activities and actions associated with product program innovativeness and decision-making flexibility in NPD but also continually monitor and assess whether the inputs of AO lead to desirable competitive advantage in the context of NPD.

Originality/value

This study sheds light on the underlying mechanism through which AO improves new product success. This research proposes two different aspects of AO, level and consistency, and empirically identifies their interactive effect in the context of NPD. The findings offer specific guidelines for the assessment and implementation of AO to improve new product success. Consistency, especially, has not been investigated in relation to alliance-generated new product success.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 56 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 September 2021

Jie Wang and Xingteng Li

Given the huge investment and complexity of information technology, it is imperative that boards of directors fully play their important role in promoting firms' IT success. This…

Abstract

Purpose

Given the huge investment and complexity of information technology, it is imperative that boards of directors fully play their important role in promoting firms' IT success. This study aims to investigate the effects of boards of directors' external ties on firms' IT success from the perspective of resource dependence theory.

Design/methodology/approach

According to the method of the matched sample comparison group, a total of 576 samples of listed enterprises in three periods were obtained.

Findings

Results show that both boards' political ties and boards' business ties have a positive impact on firms' IT success. Environmental uncertainty and the institutional environment play different roles in the relationships between two types of external ties and firms' IT success. Specifically, the results show that the institutional environment can regulate the influence of the political association of directors on firms' IT success negatively. In addition, environmental uncertainty regulates the influence of directors' political association on firms' IT success negatively, as well as the influence of directors' commercial association with firms' IT success.

Research limitations/implications

The external ties were measured by cross-sectional data. And the current study focused on two fundamental types of external ties.

Originality/value

Boards' external ties are studied from both political and business perspectives, and the effects of these two types of external ties on firms' IT success are compared. Additionally, the moderating effects of the institutional environment (macro level) and environmental uncertainty (micro level) in these relationships are investigated.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 51 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 September 2016

Tuccu Tewolde Selomon, Goodluck Charles Urassa and Issack Shimba Allan

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of organisational capabilities on the success of Eritrean wood- and metal-manufacturing firms. Specifically, the paper analyses…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of organisational capabilities on the success of Eritrean wood- and metal-manufacturing firms. Specifically, the paper analyses the effects of owner-managers’ innovativeness, personal relations and employees’ technical skills on the firmssuccess.

Design/methodology/approach

The study entailed a survey of 287 wood- and metal-manufacturing small and medium enterprises, which were selected using stratified random sampling. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data and generate the findings presented in this paper.

Findings

The findings indicate that owner-managers’ innovativeness and personal relations have a significant influence on the firmssuccess. However, although employees’ technical skills relate positively to the firmssuccess, the relationship is statistically insignificant largely because of the limited participation of workers in designing and developing the products.

Practical implications

The paper can enlighten owner-managers about the value of innovativeness and relational capabilities for the success of their firms. It generates insights that can guide policy makers to promote innovation and relational capabilities in the wood- and metal-manufacturing sub-sector.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the debate on firmssuccess by empirically testing the effect of the specific dimensions of organisational capabilities on the success of SMEs operating in a developing economy context. It widens the understanding of how organisational capabilities influence firm success.

Details

African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-0705

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 September 2014

Itzhak Gnizy, William E. Baker and Amir Grinstein

Although small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) account for a significant portion of international trade, little is known about the role of strategic orientation culture in…

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Abstract

Purpose

Although small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) account for a significant portion of international trade, little is known about the role of strategic orientation culture in improving their foreign launch success. Three orientations – market, entrepreneurial, and learning are all related to organizational learning priorities and reflect a higher order dynamic capability (DC), proactive learning culture (PLC). The authors assert that PLC is particularly important to SMEs whose lack of market power and resources render them vulnerable in risky foreign market launch. Marketing program adaptation and local integration are examined as behavioral mediators of the impact of PLC on foreign market launch success. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The DC framework guides the study. The authors employ a model with a higher order PLC, two mediating behaviors, and firm foreign market launch success to report on an empirical study of US SMEs that operate in foreign markets. The authors used hierarchical regression analysis and extensive post hoc analyses/robustness checks.

Findings

Consistent with the DC framework, SMEs’ foreign launch success is driven by higher and lower order behaviors. The impact of the higher order PLC construct was mediated by two lower order behaviors, marketing program adaptation and local integration. Notably, PLC's influence is stronger than the influence of any subset of its one/two/three first order components.

Practical implications

SMEs need to pay attention to an array of organizational learning processes that combine to engender a PLC, which help optimize the deployment of more tangible, lower order behaviors required for foreign launch success.

Originality/value

Introducing PLC as a DC that enables firms to proactively develop market-oriented, innovative capabilities using a knowledge-based approach. The elements of PLC reflect a more complete view of the role of learning in driving the assembly of lower order behaviors in foreign market launch, which requires both a market-oriented approach and the ability to innovate under conditions of uncertainty. While each element of PLC is valuable, the higher level impact of all three facilitates a more effective culture for those firms, which choose to enter new markets.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. 31 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 March 2017

Jung-Chieh Lee, Chung-Yang Chen and Yih-Chearng Shiue

The purpose of this paper is to identify the relationships among absorptive capacity (AC), organisational culture (OC), and software process improvement (SPI) implementation…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the relationships among absorptive capacity (AC), organisational culture (OC), and software process improvement (SPI) implementation success based on capability maturity model integration (CMMI). Specifically, the aim of this study is to understand the roles of potential and realised AC in SPI success.

Design/methodology/approach

This study proposes a research model and examines the relations among firm AC, SPI success, and OC. The authors surveyed 56 Taiwanese firms that adopted the CMMI-based SPI programme and received official certification.

Findings

The findings indicate that potential and realised AC have significantly positive effects on SPI success. In particular, realized (AC) partially mediates the effects of potential AC on SPI success. Furthermore, the effects of potential and realised AC on SPI success are significantly moderated by the adhocracy and hierarchy OCs, respectively.

Research limitations/implications

Given that the scope of this empirical study was limited to Taiwan, the findings might lack generalisability; however, this provides an opportunity for future research.

Originality/value

This is the first empirical study investigating the influence of AC on CMMI-based SPI success. The proposed research model also examines the moderating relationships of two types of OCs, namely adhocracy and hierarchy, on AC (potential and realized) and SPI success.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 30 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

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