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This study aims to build a conceptual model based on socio-aesthetic value accentuation (SAVA), positional advantage and sales-network power as the bridging process for enhancing sales performance in the context of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

A structural study methodology is adopted. In all, 200 owner– managers of SMEs were involved in the study and voluntarily spent time for an interview in the data collection process. To test the model and hypotheses, the authors used the analysis moment structure structural equation modeling (AMOS SEM structural model software to analyse 178 usable questionnaires.

The results demonstrate three strategic pathways to enhanced sales performance, namely, anchors on SAVA, positional advantage and sales-network power and are the basis of the separate contribution of our proposed strategic equilateral triangle model for conceptual bridging.

The rejection of the hypothesis provides a room for further research. The sample frame of Indonesian SMEs limits the generalisation power of SAVA concept, which then calls for replication to achieve a broader generalisation. The theoretical implication of the study relates to strengthening the applicability of the theory of service-dominant logic in marketing studies.

There are several practical managerial implications for SME entrepreneurs seeking to improve sales performance.

This pioneering study explains the role of SAVA – positional advantage and sales-network power to bridge innovation capability and enhanced marketing performance.

Organisations are often reluctant to change their corporate cultures even when such change is essential to cope with the changing business environment. This paper analyses the three phases of change management adopted by the multinational company RWE Solutions and describes several steps that organisations can adopt in managing change strategies and establishing new corporate cultures. It is important to formulate and articulate the core statements and the “mission” of the company, making sure that the company’s business model and strategy are comprehensible and communicable to external publics. It is also important for managers to ask whether a gap exists between statements and reality, the real vision and claims of the vision, and assess how any existing chasms can be bridged. Next, assess whether the company’s “emotional presence” is evident in the corporate design, which should match the story of the company and be as close to the self‐image and the goals of the employees and management staff as possible. Finally, managed communication (and public relations) should be a critical component of any corporate strategy.

The aim of the study was to analyze the use of power in a strategic change process within a large forest industry company. The organization in question had a total of 7,700 employees, 6‐8 organizational levels, over 30 production units and a widespread international sales network. The study highlighted the organization's internal narration as an important element in the use of power. It started in conjunction with the appointment of the new management group and continued throughout the two‐year monitoring period, so that gradually all organizational layers were involved in interpreting their roles and positions in the new structure.

The empirical data were collected during a period of more than two years through participatory observation and the change narrative was made using the change report method. The use of power was observed from the perspective of the management group. The researcher had a dual role; he served both as a researcher and a member of the management group.

The first conclusion revealed that the change did not represent a separate process that was taking place outside the normal, established functioning and management process of the organization. The second conclusion was that implementing a transformative change in a large organization is a multi‐stage and challenging learning process, both for the change makers as well as for other members of the organization. The third conclusion was that there were no shortcuts to change. It took place through the thinking and actions of the people starting from the understanding of the measures required for the change.

There are three limitations to the study. First, its findings are based on the viewpoint of the new management group. Second, the role of the researcher and the episodic progress narrative edited by himself defined the change process as a five‐phased process. Third, and closely linked to the previous limitation, the possible narrowness of the researcher in his thinking is also a potential limitation.

The results of the study could pave the way to a more realistic understanding of power and change in large multinational companies.

This article is a genuine research paper with profound fieldwork. It broadens viewpoints considering power, change and the role of top management in a large and global Finnish forest industry corporation.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between sales networks and effectiveness in overseas government markets with a focus on overseas home‐country officials, and local key government officials.

A random sample of American firms and their affiliates that have engaged or are engaged in project contracting with African governments was surveyed to collect data for the study using a mail survey.

Connectedness to home‐country overseas actors is positively associated with network connections involving key government officials. This local network connection, in turn, has a positive effect on sales effectiveness.

The study is limited to bidding on projects and selling to government agencies in the African context. More research focusing on different industries and markets are needed to increase knowledge regarding the effect of network connections on international sales effectiveness.

The practical implications of this study include the need for international sales managers to engage in networking involving their home‐country official overseas as well as local government officials. Therefore, exporting advocacy is important. Also, the education and training of international sales people should emphasize the concept of sales network.

The study extends understanding regarding the network approach to international sales in government markets.

This article aims to quantify and analyse empirically how the geographic dispersion of a firm's supply chain impacts on intra‐firm supply chain performance.

Generalised linear modelling is utilised to analyse a sample of 95 large manufacturing companies operating in Finland.

Results indicate that the increased geographic dispersion of the upstream supply chain results in higher costs of warehousing and logistics administration. On the downstream side, inventory costs, inventory days of supply, and cash‐to‐cash cycle time tend to increase due to geographically dispersed sales network. Increased geographic dispersion in the upstream and downstream supply chain results in the decline of perfect orders, and increases order fulfilment cycle time. However, the increased dispersion of the production network reduces order fulfilment cycle time. The results also indicate that the larger the firm, the better it can alleviate the negative implications of dispersion on perfect order fulfilment. Make‐to‐stock companies suffer less from the supply chain dispersion related delays in comparison to companies that utilise more pull‐type production and inventory strategies.

Research limitations include the cross‐sectional nature of the data, the concentrated geographic origin of the respondents, and the small sample size.

Building on the multidisciplinary body of prior literature on geographic dispersion, the research provides quantified insights into the general principles of international supply chain design in the presence of a performance related trade‐off between the dispersion and centralisation of operations across the tiers of the supply chain. Contributions are made to the discussions on supply chain complexity, international sales portfolio diversification and international purchasing.

The paper seeks to analyze the evolution of competitive advantage using both “classic” and “extended” resource‐based theory (RBT). The aim is to examine the different ways in which “classic” and “extended” resource‐based advantage develops and how they might combine to create long‐term advantage.

A single case study method is used to examine the process by which competitive advantage has accumulated over a 50‐year period at Food Services Group Inc., a highly successful food service company based on the West Coast of the USA with an annual growth rate currently running at 10 percent.

Preliminary conclusions suggest support for the sequential, iterative, and slow‐cycle development model associated with proprietary bounded resources and, the strategic resource‐rigidity paradox. The work also highlights preliminary evidence for a faster cycle development process possible with inter‐firm resources associated with extended resource‐based theory (ERBT) and, long‐run sustainable advantage requiring synchronization and integration of both bounded and relational resources.

This is the first rich empirical study of the way competitive advantage evolves using both RBT and ERBT. The research provides insights into how organizations can combine both classic and extended resources in seeking to establish competitive advantage. It illustrates how unbounded external resources, such as the role of suppliers engaged in new product development, can create an initial advantage for firms who then build on this by investing in bounded resources such as specific skills within their organization.

Describes Spanish distribution channels structure using figures and explanations and influences on the establishment of manufacturers' sales strategies will be studied. Attempts, in the light of the anticipated evolution of distribution channels, to make some general predictions for the future. Beings with a general analysis of distribution channels and becomes more specific with regard to larger fields of consumer goods. Says that there are many wholesale outlets in Spain almost 40 per cent of the total deal with food products — although these are not specifically food products a such, but those who specialize in serving grocery stores. Goes on to discuss this area in great depth, using tables for further emphasis, and analyses how the structure of distribution channels affects the manufacturers' marketing strategies for consumer goods in Spain.

This study is designed to describe the marketing practices of private entrepreneurs in mainland China.

Personal interviews were conducted with 200 private entrepreneurs in China. A structured survey instrument was used and data were analyzed using SAS tools.

Four key findings: Chinese entrepreneurs focus primarily on reaching an industrial client base among private companies in China; their marketing practices suggest that they prefer tight control over their operations; they use listed prices extensively and salespeople are typically given some flexibility in deviating from those listed prices; the development of sales/distribution networks is enhanced through the use of listed prices but is hurt by the flexibility salespeople have in deviating from those listed prices. Some marketing practices differ by geographic location of the entrepreneurial firm (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou) and by the type of entrepreneur (returnee, local).

It is imposible to offer a clear reference point for Chinese entrepreneurs; hence, apart from documenting their practices, it is not certain whether these practices are significantly different from others. All data are self‐reported (including financial performance). Sampling frame: although every attempt was made to have a representative sample, there was no way to guarantee this. More comprehensive research to validate the findings is needed.

The major contribution is insights into the marketing practices of Chinese entrepreneurs so far not documented in the literature. Hence, this study gives a descriptive but comprehensive picture of Chinese entrepreneurs as marketers.

The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding about the key persons (promoters) in project business organizations. By doing this, the managers may enhance the communication flow by connecting the experts and the executives more efficiently.

The paper is an in-depth single case study in which the case represents a typical industrial project sales process. The case is analysed through content analysis and social network analysis that offers a structured and rigorous method of analysing social networks.

The findings indicate that during project sales there may be numerous process promoters with the dual roles of power and process promoter. In addition, this study demonstrated the appearance of process promoters in the project supplier's social network. The findings of the present study contribute to the literature on promoters by focusing especially on process promoters during project sales.

The results of the present study suggest that the process promoters need to be identified and supported in order to build an effective cross-functional project sales team in project business.

While the extant literature identifies the promoters in organizations, there appears to be a dearth of studies that relate to the early phases of project sales, despite the fact that these phases have a substantial impact on subsequent phases. This study is a rare example to study empirically the promoters in the project business organization's social network.

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on improving value creation from intellectual capital (IC) through reducing causal ambiguity and finding effective IC interventions.

First, several guiding rules demonstrating the contribution of system dynamics (SD) to the field of IC management are introduced. Second, evidence for modelling resource dynamics is provided across a knowledge-based industry, insurance. Third, a management problem of an insurance company is modelled and then simulated using SD tools to monitor and improve the alignment of key resources with the firm’s market growth strategy.

The modelling and further simulation practice demonstrated the advantages of applying SD for analysing resource management problems to identify the critical IC components, intervention points and decision rules that may stimulate value-creating loops. Specifically for the case of an insurance company’s failure in market growth, it led to recognising the critical role of agency sales productivity as a key component of company’s relational capital and the intellectual liabilities that can lead to value destruction.

Reducing causal ambiguity in IC value creation through modelling and simulating firm resource dynamics is the main contribution of this paper. It enables finding the best intervention points for developing IC-based initiatives to stimulate value-creation mechanisms, as well identifying possible points of value destruction.