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1 – 10 of over 100000Ke Zhong, Fang Wang and Lihui Zhou
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether deferred revenue changes can serve as a leading indicator for firms listed on China’s stock markets, and whether China’s market…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether deferred revenue changes can serve as a leading indicator for firms listed on China’s stock markets, and whether China’s market participants can appropriately incorporate future performance implications of deferred revenue changes.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical/archival/regression analysis.
Findings
The authors find that deferred revenue changes are positively associated with the next two years’ sales growth, gross profit margin, profit margin, and return on assets, suggesting that deferred revenue changes can serve as a valid leading indicator for future financial performance. The authors also find that Chinese investors tend to underweight future performance implications of deferred revenue changes.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first research to examine deferred revenue changes as a leading fundamental indicator and market underreaction to reported accounting information for firms listed on China’s stock markets.
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David Ray, John Gattorna and Mike Allen
Preface The functions of business divide into several areas and the general focus of this book is on one of the most important although least understood of these—DISTRIBUTION. The…
Abstract
Preface The functions of business divide into several areas and the general focus of this book is on one of the most important although least understood of these—DISTRIBUTION. The particular focus is on reviewing current practice in distribution costing and on attempting to push the frontiers back a little by suggesting some new approaches to overcome previously defined shortcomings.
John Cheese, Abby Day and Gordon Wills
An updated version of the original (1985) text, the book covers all aspects of marketing and selling bank services: the role of marketing; behaviour of customers; intelligence…
Abstract
An updated version of the original (1985) text, the book covers all aspects of marketing and selling bank services: the role of marketing; behaviour of customers; intelligence, planning and organisation; product decisions; promotion decisions; place decisions; price decisions; achieving sales. Application questions help to focus the readers' minds on key issues affecting practice.
Gordon Wills, Sherril H. Kennedy, John Cheese and Angela Rushton
To achieve a full understanding of the role ofmarketing from plan to profit requires a knowledgeof the basic building blocks. This textbookintroduces the key concepts in the art…
Abstract
To achieve a full understanding of the role of marketing from plan to profit requires a knowledge of the basic building blocks. This textbook introduces the key concepts in the art or science of marketing to practising managers. Understanding your customers and consumers, the 4 Ps (Product, Place, Price and Promotion) provides the basic tools for effective marketing. Deploying your resources and informing your managerial decision making is dealt with in Unit VII introducing marketing intelligence, competition, budgeting and organisational issues. The logical conclusion of this effort is achieving sales and the particular techniques involved are explored in the final section.
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Angel Arturo Pacheco Paredes and Clark Wheatley
The purpose of this study is to refine what is characterized as real earnings management. Research on real earnings management (REM) has expressed concerns that firms deviating…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to refine what is characterized as real earnings management. Research on real earnings management (REM) has expressed concerns that firms deviating from normal business practices may endure a negative impact on future performance. Not all studies have, however, found a negative impact of REM on future performance. As a consequence, a new stream of research is emerging that examines whether actions that would mechanically be identified as REM are truly earnings management or are simply efficient business activities. The authors further this stream of inquiry by identifying factors, i.e. restructurings and expectations of future sales growth, that can be useful in making a distinction between earnings management and “just business”.
Design/methodology/approach
To measure REM, the authors rely on two of the proxies of Roychowdhury (2006), abnormal discretionary expenses and abnormal production costs, and regress interactions of these with measures of restructurings and expectations of future sales growth, on future performance.
Findings
The authors find that when they control for restructurings, reductions in discretionary expenses that would ordinarily be indicative of REM are instead associated with improved future return-on-assets and security returns. They further find that when they control for future sales growth, overproduction is also associated with improved return on sales as it is with future increases in cost of goods sold.
Originality/value
Together, the results may explain the contradictory results presented in prior research with respect to the impact of REM on future performance – that is, some of what has been identified as REM in prior studies may, in fact, be “just business”.
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John F. Tanner, Christophe Fournier, Jorge A. Wise, Sandrine Hollet and Juliet Poujol
This paper aims to present perceptions of sales executives from three countries regarding expectations for the future of the sales profession and sales position.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present perceptions of sales executives from three countries regarding expectations for the future of the sales profession and sales position.
Design/methodology/approach
Results of a thematic interpretation of in‐depth interviews are presented, using several agenda‐setting articles as a foundation.
Findings
Executives struggle with how salespeople should add value, especially in today's multi‐channel environment. Greater professionalization is needed in countries where the state of the profession is less developed. Emergent strategy is practiced but not universally. Sales executives generally believe that little incremental value in technology can be gained, though it is apparent that technology is not being fully utilized. Other findings are also discussed.
Research limitations/implications
Researchers should consider classifying sales research by sales strategy rather than industry or country unless those aspects are factors being studied; further, questions such as how do salespeople create value and when is human intervention in the sales process required are offered.
Practical implications
Executives should re‐examine sales technology, particularly in managing and transferring knowledge. Emergent strategy requires processes for identifying and transferring effective adaptation. Sales organizations must develop, at the salesperson level, greater business acumen, to be gained through training, experience or selection.
Originality/value
This study identifies issues and factors that will influence sales practice and should influence sales research into the future. Particularly, the study is the first to highlight the use of emergent strategy, as well as the issue of identifying and creating value.
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Ramendra Singh and Abraham Koshy
Review articles on B2B salespersons' performance in the recent past have been limited. This paper seeks to provide a review, focusing on the conceptualizations of the…
Abstract
Purpose
Review articles on B2B salespersons' performance in the recent past have been limited. This paper seeks to provide a review, focusing on the conceptualizations of the salespersons' performance construct, and its determinants, in a B2B context. A synthesis of the relevant predictors is presented, and new customer‐centric measures of performance in industrial selling are also proposed.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides an exhaustive review and synthesis of the conceptual and empirical studies on salespersons' performance and effectiveness. It also posits a set of propositions from a customer‐centric perspective.
Findings
Far too many individual‐level variables are used as predictors of a B2B salesperson's performance and effectiveness. Future research must focus on context‐specific selling situations to identify the contextual skills required to perform the critical customer‐centric activities, rather than by using generic models that fail to apply to all situations.
Research limitations/implications
The review paper provides a conceptual synthesis of studies carried out in the past. Future researchers can carry out a meta‐analysis of empirical studies to provide more pointed results.
Practical implications
The study highlights the heterogeneity in B2B salespersons' performance, which makes unraveling its determinants more difficult. The paper makes a call for adopting measures that are customer‐centric, such that predictors are anchored in the activities of salespeople rather than their individual‐level characteristics.
Originality/value
The paper disentangles the inconsistencies in the conceptualization and measurement of the two key focal constructs, and highlights the conceptual overlap between these constructs. The paper also proposes performance measures based on customer‐centric activities, rather than being either firm‐centric or based on individual characteristics.
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Vishag Badrinarayanan, Andrea Dixon, Vicki L West and Gail M Zank
The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrative review of coaching research from different contexts (e.g. athletics, executive coaching, project management and sales)…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrative review of coaching research from different contexts (e.g. athletics, executive coaching, project management and sales), delineate professional sales coaching from other developmental activities and develop a research agenda for stimulating research on professional sales coaching. Professional sales coaching is considered an important sales force developmental program by both sales practitioners and researchers. Yet, research on sales coaching remains fragmented in the extant literature.
Design/methodology/approach
An extensive literature review of extant research and theoretical perspectives on coaching as well as insights gathered from exploratory, in-depth interviews of ten sales managers were used to develop the research agenda.
Findings
The review and research agenda identify a number of sales coaching-related topics that warrant further research. Specifically, the research agenda addresses salesperson characteristics, sales manager and coach characteristics, selling organization characteristics, sales coaching approaches, nature and effectiveness of the sales coaching process and, finally, outcomes of sales coaching. For each topic, extant research, relevant insights from exploratory interviews and directions for future research are discussed.
Originality/value
This paper is the first integrative review of coaching-related research in the sales literature. It offers an updated conceptualization of sales coaching and identifies opportunities for future research.
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Introduction Operations research, i.e. the application of scientific methodology to operational problems in the search for improved understanding and control, can be said to have…
Abstract
Introduction Operations research, i.e. the application of scientific methodology to operational problems in the search for improved understanding and control, can be said to have started with the application of mathematical tools to military problems of supply bombing and strategy, during the Second World War. Post‐war these tools were applied to business problems, particularly production scheduling, inventory control and physical distribution because of the acute shortages of goods and the numerical aspects of these problems.
Enping (Shirley) Mai, Jun Yang and Haozhe Chen
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between primary product network size and the sales of complementary products, and to suggest customer characteristics…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between primary product network size and the sales of complementary products, and to suggest customer characteristics moderating this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
A panel dataset in the online video game industry was used to verify the proposed theoretical framework. Two‐level hierarchical linear modeling is used to test several hypotheses.
Findings
The authors' analysis results suggest there is a positive relationship between the primary product network size and the sales of complementary products. Also, two customer characteristics (previous transaction value and customer purchase frequency) were found to positively influence the complementary product sales. The primary product's network size has a stronger impact on complementary product sales for light buyers compared to heavy buyers.
Research limitations/implications
This study only focused on online video industry, and the price differentiation of the products might not be adequately significant. Other relevant factors (such as word‐of‐mouth (WOM)) or other customer characteristics could also be relevant to complementary product sales. Therefore, future research could use data triangulation to collect data in different contexts, through a longer period of time, to test and verify the proposed relationships.
Practical implications
Product managers need to better understand the relationship between the primary product network size and the complementary product sales. They should adjust the marketing strategies toward different customer purchase frequency segments correspondingly. For example, to benefit further from the primary product network size, complementary product retailers can create online forums for all primary product users to influence light complementary product buyers.
Originality/value
This research is one of the first empirical investigations of establishing the relationship between primary product network size and complementary product sales, with customer characteristics as moderators.
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