Avinash Malshe and Michael T. Krush
The purpose of this study is to understand one portion of the sales ecological system. This paper focuses on the mesolevel or intra-organizational system that includes the sales…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to understand one portion of the sales ecological system. This paper focuses on the mesolevel or intra-organizational system that includes the sales and marketing functions. This paper examines distinct tensions at three levels of the firm’s hierarchy and the mechanisms used to manage the tensions.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a qualitative data collection. A discovery-oriented process is used to understand the interconnections that exist among marketing-sales dyads at three organizational levels across several firms.
Findings
This paper uncovers distinct tensions and defenses exhibited by managers at each hierarchical level and this paper presents mechanisms that can are used to reduce the tensions.
Research limitations/implications
The multi-level perspective demonstrates the value of examining the intra-organizational aspect of the sales ecosystem. This paper uses a qualitative approach to highlight that sales-marketing tensions are unique to each of the hierarchical levels. This paper demonstrates that the tensions are a function of the unique roles each sales and marketing executive has within the organization.
Practical implications
To make the sales and marketing interface more effective, managers need to view tensions across the sales-marketing interface as complementary versus opposing forces. Managers must balance these tensions, rather than fight them and/or select one of the alternatives over the other. This paper suggests that paradoxical thinking may be a valued skillset for managers at each level of the organization.
Originality/value
The study uses a unique qualitative data set that examines the sales-marketing interface across three levels of an organizational hierarchy. Through this approach, this paper delineates specific tensions between marketing and sales within each level of the firm. This paper also describes mechanisms to manage the tensions common within the sales-marketing interface.
Details
Keywords
Jamal A. Al‐Khatib, Avinash Malshe, John J. Sailors and Irvin Clark
The purpose of this paper is to compare the antecedents of opportunism and its effect on unethical negotiation tactics among US and Belgian managers.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare the antecedents of opportunism and its effect on unethical negotiation tactics among US and Belgian managers.
Design/methodology/approach
Samples of managers in both countries are surveyed and cross‐country analysis using multi‐group structural equation modeling is conducted.
Findings
Across both countries, deceitful tendencies and relativism are found to be significant predictors of opportunism, which in turn predicts receptiveness to unethical negotiating tactics; however, Belgian managers were found to have higher levels of these constructs, possibly indicating a greater propensity to engage in unethical behaviors than US managers.
Research limitations/implications
The current research is limited by the relatively small size of the Belgian sample, differences in data collection method, and the lack of additional contextual measures, which may influence the managers' responses.
Practical implications
The finding that the same structural relationships hold across the US and Belgium samples provides insights for both groups of managers engaged in negotiations.
Originality/value
The paper offers a comparative perspective on US and Belgian managers and establishes the validity and applicability of frequently used ethics scales in Belgium, a country infrequently studied in this context.
Details
Keywords
The paucity of empirical research on the sales‐marketing interface necessitates a detailed exploration of linkages that can forge stronger connection between these two functions…
Abstract
Purpose
The paucity of empirical research on the sales‐marketing interface necessitates a detailed exploration of linkages that can forge stronger connection between these two functions. This paper aims to explicate the boundary conditions that may affect the role played by structure, language, and process linkages in forging sales‐marketing connections, and to identify additional linkages that may play an important role in this interface.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 47 sales and marketing professionals across different organizations in diverse industries were interviewed.
Findings
The research finds that certain boundary conditions (e.g. organizational hierarchy, time horizon) may influence how structure, language, and process linkages may operate in this interface. It also extends linkage repertoire by identifying two critical linkages: social and philosophical. Its managerial contribution lies in stressing the importance of: vertical and horizontal communication bridges; marketing's flexibility; interpersonal relationships; and the philosophical bond between the two functions, in forging stronger connections.
Originality/value
This is one of the few qualitative empirical investigations of the sales‐marketing interface. It broadens one's understanding of sales‐marketing linkages, adds to linkage repertoire, and extends the interface literature.
Stephen L. Vargo, Robert F. Lusch, Melissa Archpru Akaka and Yi He