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It is important for an exporting manufacturer to motivate its foreign channel partners to sell and promote its products. An excellent way to motivate such foreign channel partners is to give them exclusive territories. Unfortunately, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the determinants of territorial exclusivity. This study aims to investigate the relationship between organizational culture and territorial exclusivity and the moderating role of firm size in this relationship.

Survey data were collected from manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Japan. To test the hypotheses, a regression analysis was conducted using the ordinary least squares technique.

Empirical evidence shows that the cultural values of collectivism and uncertainty avoidance influence territorial exclusivity; collectivist exporters are likely to use territorial exclusivity, whereas exporters with high uncertainty avoidance are not likely to use it. Furthermore, the larger the firm size, the smaller the impact of cultural values on territorial exclusivity; this suggests that large SMEs do not rely on their organizational culture to make decisions about exclusive territories.

The export marketing literature emphasizes the advantages of exclusive territories. By contrast, the channel management literature suggests that exclusive territories also have disadvantages. As exclusive territories have both advantages and disadvantages, it is crucial to answer the following question: What kinds of exporting manufacturers grant exclusive territories to their foreign channel partners? By addressing this question, this study contributes to a better understanding of export channel strategy.

In dual distribution channel systems, integrated channels (manufacturer-owned) and independent channels (distributor-owned) are likely to adopt destructive behaviours. To suppress such behaviours, manufacturers need to implement conflict management systems. The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating role of conflict-learning capability (CLC) in the relationship between conflict management system and destructive behaviour. This study also investigates whether interactions between conflict management systems and CLC improve the overall channel performance.

Using survey data from 157 Japanese industrial manufacturers, this study conducted regression analyses and mediation analyses.

The results show that boundary and compensation systems have different effects on destructive behaviours. On the one hand, compensation systems with strong CLC have a larger impact, although those with weak CLC can also suppress destructive behaviours to some degree. On the other hand, boundary systems with strong CLC suppress destructive behaviours, but those with weak CLC do not. In addition, this study reveals that manufacturers with strong CLC can indirectly improve overall channel performance by implementing conflict management systems and suppressing destructive behaviours.

Previous studies reveal that boundary and compensation systems suppress destructive behaviours. However, these studies neglect the importance of organisational capability in the successful implementation of conflict management systems. By focusing on CLC, this study advances our understanding of dual distribution and channel conflict.

The literature on export channels suggests that intermediary resources, namely intermediary competence and availability, are critical for export success. However, little is known about how the beneficial effects of intermediary resources differ amongst integrated, independent and dual channel structures. One difference between these channel structures is the degree of reliance on independent intermediaries. This study aims to investigate (1) the impact of intermediary resources on export venture success, that is, export sales performance and channel maintenance costs and (2) the moderating role of the degree of reliance on independent intermediaries.

Empirical testing was conducted using survey data collected from 204 Japanese industrial exporting ventures. To test the proposed hypotheses, this study estimated a structural equation model with the maximum likelihood estimation procedure.

Evidence shows that two aspects of intermediary resources have different beneficial effects on export venture success. Specifically, intermediary availability leads to export venture success by decreasing channel maintenance costs, whereas intermediary competence is not always beneficial for it. Furthermore, this study finds that reliance on independent intermediaries positively moderates the impacts of intermediary competence and availability.

Previous studies emphasise the importance of intermediary resources and export channel structures. However, the question of whether export channel structures determine the performance benefits of intermediary resources is unanswered. By addressing this question, this study provides helpful insight into how exporting managers can implement channel strategy and access intermediary resources to achieve export success.

Many manufacturers implement a dual channel strategy, which can be defined as the simultaneous use of integrated and independent channels of distribution for the same product line. This study employs the resource-based theory and examines how manufacturers' and distributors' capabilities affect manufacturers' choices of dual channel strategy. The study also examines how fit between organisational capability and channel structure affects channel system performance.

Empirical testing was conducted using survey data collected from 262 Japanese business-to-business manufacturers. This study performed a multinomial logistic regression analysis to examine the antecedents of dual channel strategy and a t-test to examine its performance implications.

The results show that manufacturers' information capabilities and the availability of distributors' selling capabilities affect whether manufacturers choose a dual channel strategy, and that market turbulence moderates the effects of these two capability factors. The results also indicate that manufacturers can improve their channel system performance by choosing channel strategies that fit organisational capabilities.

Most previous studies employ transaction cost theory to identify the factors driving the choice of dual channel strategy. However, these studies neglect the heterogeneity of resources/capabilities. Little is known about whether capability factors affect the dual channel strategy, and how this choice can be linked to channel system performance. By addressing this knowledge gap, this study contributes to enhance our understanding of dual channels.

The purpose of this study is to review and analyze the status of word-of-mouth (WOM) research in the business-to-business (B2B) context and discuss and identify new possible future directions.

A systematic review was conducted and 36 articles on B2B WOM were collected to evaluate the current state of the literature and clarify possible future research directions.

This thematic analysis categorize these articles into three themes: WOM generation, WOM usage and reference marketing. Under each theme, the authors reveal research findings unique to B2B research and different from business-to-consumer (B2C) WOM research. This study identifies several research questions that should be addressed by future research.

Both academic researchers and business practitioners recognize that WOM plays an essential role in B2B marketing. However, no review paper focuses on WOM in the B2B context. Findings in the B2C WOM literature suggest that WOM substantially influences firms’ performance, but that managers cannot simply attempt to extrapolate B2C findings to the B2B arena. By synthesizing and assessing prior research on WOM in the B2B context, this study contributes to a better understanding of the B2B WOM phenomenon and facilitates future research on this topic.

This case highlights the challenges faced by a young and inexperienced Area Sales Manager (ASM), early in her career. This is an often-encountered situation by fresh graduates. Through the analysis of the case, the students will be able to: ■ understand challenges a young manager faces in taking over a new, unfamiliar and underperforming territory; ■ analyze and learn to manage data and identify performance gaps in the territory, by selecting the right metrics; ■ learn the factors for evaluating the performance of current intermediaries (distributors); and ■ appreciate the importance of managing all stakeholders – internal team and building a strong relationship with the intermediaries – both distributors and retailers.

Kavita Kaur, the new Area Sales Manager at Broadway India Pvt. Ltd. (BIPL), had just taken over the Chhattisgarh sales territory in January 2020. Fresh out of a B-school, it was her first job, and her allotted territory was severely lagging growth at only 1%, compared to an all-India country growth at 13% in 2019, over the previous year. The territory was operated by established intermediaries (distributors) with long associations with BIPL. Based on her data analyses of distributors’ performance, Kaur started her retail visit with the highest selling distributor’s area (Sharda Agencies) to confirm her understanding of what the data had shown her. Following her retail visit and a meeting with Sharda Agencies, the situation turned for the worse. An email bordering to a threat from him took her aback. Kaur now had to make a choice to ensure growth in her new territory. Her options were between placating the current distributor or appointing a new one – should she retain or replace? Both had their own risks.

This case is intended for use at the postgraduate level in courses such as sales management, channel management and strategic marketing courses, as well as in executive management programs. The case is relevant from the context of channel management in India, where channel intermediaries can be very demanding. The case will give students a practical hands-on decision-making situation, where there are complexities of quantitative and qualitative nature. It will also help young graduates prepare for real life situations where the assigned territory is struggling in performance and a lot is expected from the new recruits.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

This paper aims to examine whether agency costs predict disciplinary takeover likelihood for the UK listed companies between 1986 and 2015.

Using survival analysis, the approach is to identify candidates for disciplinary takeover on the basis of Tobin’s Q (TQ), which is consistent with the approach advocated by Manne (1965). This study then examines how indicators of agency costs affect takeover likelihood within the set of disciplinary candidates.

This paper provides evidence of the effectiveness of TQ, rather than excess return, in identifying disciplinary takeover candidates. Takeover hazard for disciplinary candidates is higher for companies with higher levels of asset utilization and sales growth in particular. Companies with stronger agency problems are relatively less susceptible to disciplinary takeover.

Given the UK context of the study, where anti-takeover provisions are disallowed and when compared to findings of US studies, the results imply some support for the effectiveness of an open merger policy.

While the connection between takeover likelihood and the market for corporate control has been made in previous studies, the study adopts a more explicit agency theory framework than previous studies of takeover likelihood. A key component of the contribution follows from differentiating candidates for disciplinary takeovers from other forms of mergers and acquisitions.